(All Chapters are available on patreon: patreon.com/CanonBreaker )
The moment the mist rose, Uchiha Hazuki knew their operation could no longer be halted. As soon as the high-temperature steam capable of obscuring vision appeared, he immediately fired a signal flare and ordered the remaining forces to circle around to another direction of the Kirigakure camp—cutting off any chance of the enemy escaping by boat or crossing the sea to land in neighboring countries: the Land of Iron or the Land of Hot Water.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
"Captain!" A Konoha Special Jōnin with sensory abilities stepped forward. "Kirigakure has deployed the Hidden Mist Technique! My perception is already being disrupted—I can't probe ahead anymore. We can only rely on Chiya's Byakugan now!"
Uchiha Hazuki frowned and looked toward Hyūga Chiya, who had just arrived. The Byakugan user's eyes flashed with a hint of smugness. Ignoring Hazuki's darkened expression, he nodded slightly at the sensory ninja.
"Leave it to me."
"Byakugan—activate!"
In an instant, within Hyūga Chiya's field of vision, the Kirigakure ninjas had begun burning intelligence and supplies, destroying one temporary structure and facility after another.
At the same time, in another direction, Kirigakure's assassination unit had already made contact with the man who had released the Fire Release—an adult-looking man with a Japanese-style ponytail.
Unfortunately, to see through a mask with the Byakugan required fine, precise control under calm conditions. Now that combat had erupted, combined with the interference of Water Release mist, Hyūga Chiya couldn't focus well enough. He couldn't see the face beneath the mask—only the chakra pathways within Baixing's body.
—And even if he could see, it wouldn't be Baixing's true face, but rather that of a more mature, lazy-looking man around twenty-four or twenty-five.
After dodging a sudden horizontal-to-vertical slash from a Kirigakure ninja, Baixing countered with a kick—slamming hard into the man's waist. The impact left a visible concave imprint in the flesh.
If it had been the real body, that kick alone would've been enough to strip him of combat capability.
Baixing then leapt backward. Moments later, from the spot on the sea surface where he'd just been standing, hidden weapons shot out from two directions—four shuriken and seven or eight steel senbon.
The Kirigakure ninja who'd been kicked in the waist transformed into a body of flowing water, the concave imprint still visible, before slowly sinking and merging into the sea.
"What a pain."
"You damn Kirigakure bastards—so insidious."
"Put any jōnin into your territory, and they'd be heavily injured at best… or dead."
As the words left his mouth, Baixing gripped a kunai and turned—clashing directly with a ninja blade. This time, it was the real body.
Clang!
Sparks flashed, briefly illuminating the cold, ruthless face of the man commanding the assassination unit.
A Kirigakure Special Jōnin.
The man spoke icily, "Daring to attack a Kirigakure force all by yourself."
"You're clearly tired of living."
Baixing replied with a teasing tone, "But I'm still alive and kicking, aren't I~? On the other hand, you're about to die~~~"
"Arrogant!!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the pitch-black night—nearly moonless, with visibility further crushed by dense Water Release mist—the sharp sounds of blade and kunai colliding rang out again and again.
The assassination unit captain was shocked.
This mist was his domain. With his Water Release, he could faintly sense the opponent's approximate position—yet Baixing, seemingly without any special sensory technique, was still able to judge the angle and direction of every strike.
After more than a dozen exchanges, the two separated slightly.
Baixing narrowed his eyes. He tossed the kunai in his right hand upward, the blade spinning and catching the captain's gaze for a split second.
Why throw away his weapon?
The next instant—
It was as if invisible eyes opened in the darkness and looked down upon them.
The assassination captain felt the air solidify. Breathing became difficult.
"One-Sword Style—X-Type Hunting Net!"
The Z-Type was a triple slash delivered in an instant, fast enough to sever steel if performed with sufficient focus.
The X-Type, however, unleashed two slashes at once—faster than the Z-Type due to less force condensation.
In the midst of combat, it couldn't reach steel-cutting levels—but it was more than enough to carve two fatal wounds into a ninja protected by chakra and light armor.
Rip—
They say fresh blood is warm.
At this moment, a Kirigakure chūnin who tried to step in and shield his captain—just a fraction too late—experienced that warmth firsthand.
And its taste.
Metallic.
"Captain…"
As the stunned Kirigakure chūnin froze, Baixing's cold voice sounded from behind the assassination captain.
"They say Kirigakure ninjas are cold-blooded, masters of assassination, almost never failing their missions."
"Looking at you now, you're no different from me."
"Your blood is just as red."
Before the words fully landed, Baixing had already slashed at the captain's neck.
The head slid free, trailing blood as it fell—hot, heavy—dropping before the chūnin's eyes.
He dodged.
Splash!
"To die on a mission as a ninja, yet your comrades won't—or don't dare—to catch your head."
"What a desolate way to die."
Fwoosh—
With the head gone, a fountain of blood erupted from the neck. Fortunately, Baixing had anticipated this and retreated early, muttering his dramatic lines to steady his own heart—step by step walking further down the path of the "monster" Dai had described.
"Y-you… you…"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Step step step!
Three shuriken screamed past above a Kirigakure chūnin's head at blinding speed—far too fast for normal eyes.
Baixing still saw them.
He casually raised his kunai and knocked them aside. Trash like this wasn't worthy of a blade.
More importantly—he didn't want to damage his sword again.
That thing cost three hundred thousand ryō to make!!!
At this moment, two more members of the assassination unit emerged from the mist, standing beside the terrified Kirigakure chūnin. Beneath their feet, the sea surface was awash in blood.
Before them lay a headless corpse floating on the water—and a blood-soaked head, eyes wide open, bobbing gently with the waves.
"Don't look down on us."
"Even if you beat our captain in swordsmanship, the ninja world ultimately relies on ninjutsu!"
"..." Baixing's grip on the kunai loosened slightly. He stared blankly, thinking, Does this guy have amnesia?
His guard, however, never dropped—he still watched closely for any attempt at a blind-spot ambush.
But the Kirigakure chūnin who'd spoken was… remarkably straightforward.
"You already used such a large-scale Fire Release."
"If you still had chakra left, you wouldn't need to struggle against our captain with just a kunai for so long."
"Or rather—"
"From the start, you should've used that sword. The one that looks ordinary, but clearly isn't."
"That blade of yours… it's made from some special material, right? Just like the powerful weapons our village plans to create—"
Baixing: "..."
If I say it's not, will you casually lend me one?
I'm just a Konoha genin, you know—please send me off~
Just as Baixing was wondering how to respond to this overly talkative Kirigakure chūnin—
A sudden explosion of blazing Fire Release light and a thunderous roar erupted behind him.
BOOOOM!!!
Baixing: ???
There's… another expert?!
◇ Why are You waiting—this story is fully complete!
You can now read the entire book from start to finish in one uninterrupted binge.
If you're interested, feel free to check it out and enjoy the full journey! on P@treon
◇ if you're interested: patreon.com/CanonBreaker