The Hyūga-brand Shuriken Firing Machine finally came to a stop.
Sore arms were one reason—but more importantly, everyone standing in front of Hyūga Ming was already dead beyond dead.
Only a handful of cautious survivors remained, hiding behind trees and rocks.
"What a pity," Ming sighed regretfully.
"My throwing power still isn't enough."
Even with chakra reinforcement, shuriken couldn't pierce through solid trees or stone.
That said, none of them dared to come out anymore.
With that many shuriken flying around, popping your head out was an instant death sentence.
Who would be stupid enough to try?
[EXP +328]
He'd wiped out over thirty people in one go.
Bandits really weren't worth much.
He glanced at the drops.
Only he could see them—each item had a concrete form, faintly glowing.
Ming quickly moved forward to collect everything.
Most of it was silver.
Small amounts, sure—but silver was silver.
He'd spent a fortune on shuriken.
His family's savings were almost gone.
If he hadn't graduated and become a genin soon, he'd be eating dirt.
This money had come at exactly the right time.
[Silver: 96 taels]
"Finally got some return on investment," Ming muttered with relief.
"With this, I don't have to tighten my belt anymore."
Besides money, there were other drops.
[Iron Ore ×3]
[Wool ×2]
Useless to him—materials for crafting professions.
He tossed them into his inventory without a second thought.
The real prizes were two pieces of equipment.
[Bandit's Left Leg Guard: Movement Speed +5]
[Bandit's Right Hand Guard: Strength +3]
"Bandit Set," Ming's eyes lit up.
"The best starter set."
He remembered clearly—once the full set was assembled, it unlocked a skill:
[Sap] — forcibly silences the target for three seconds.
Only effective below level 30, but in the early game?
Absolutely broken.
He equipped both pieces immediately.
Clenching his fist, he felt strength surge through his body.
Then he sprinted forward again.
As he passed a tree stump—
Ming suddenly stepped back.
A bandit burst out from behind a tree, blade slicing through empty air.
The man stiffened, then slowly turned his head, giving Ming an awkward smile.
Ming returned an equally awkward—but polite—smile.
Then calmly slit his throat with a kunai.
[EXP +12]
[Silver: 3 taels]
Ming pushed off the ground.
His speed increased noticeably, his figure blurring like a phantom as he leapt and landed again and again.
Bandits kept appearing—
Each one died either to a slit throat or a kunai through the chest.
Screams echoed one after another.
Those still hiding didn't dare make a sound—
not even breathing too loudly.
A crouched bandit clutched his head, silently praying.
Don't find me. Please don't find me.
Suddenly, everything went quiet.
Heart pounding, he slowly raised his head.
A face peeked out from behind the rock in front of him.
"Found you."
"AAAAH—!"
Ming flicked the blood off his kunai.
The Byakugan swept the area.
No living presence remained nearby.
Under its X-ray vision, hiding was meaningless.
The rest had fled.
"Sooner or later, I need to farm a barrier technique," Ming muttered.
In games, mobs stayed put until fully cleared—and even respawned.
But this world was different.
Here, mobs ran away.
Two kunai flew at him from behind.
Ming tilted his head twice, dodging cleanly.
The kunai embedded deeply into a rock.
Sunlight glinted off the steel wires attached to them.
"Fire Style: Twin Dragon Flame!"
In the distance stood a man with bandages on his face, only one eye exposed.
He bit down on the other end of the wire as flames erupted from his mouth, racing along the steel toward Ming.
At the same time, a short, compact man with steel claws on both hands leapt down from above.
So even the bosses came looking for him.
Ming's left.
His right.
Above.
All sealed.
Front and back blocked.
He was completely trapped.
Boom!
Smoke burst forth.
A curved shield appeared in front of Ming, with rock covering his back.
Flames washed over the shield, only turning it red-hot.
The clawed man struck it, sparks flying.
"Where the hell did that shield come from?!"
What kind of ninja carried a shield?!
"Substitution Technique," Ming's voice came calmly from behind the shield.
"That's your Substitution Technique?! What kind of Substitution uses a shield?!"
The clawed man was losing his mind.
"I used a spiked mace earlier," Ming muttered.
That was the final straw.
The short man charged straight at the shield.
Ming kicked it.
The shield flew forward—
taking the clawed man with it.
"Whoosh!"
The man crashed into the fire-style user.
The smell of roasted meat filled the air.
"AAAH—!"
The clawed man shoved the shield away, his clothes charred black, skin blistered and bleeding.
"Damn brat!!"
He glared furiously at Ming.
Ming shouted back, even angrier:
"COULDN'T YOU JUST STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP?!"
He hadn't even finished clearing the mobs yet!
At the very least, he wanted the rest of the Bandit Set.
He'd gotten four pieces so far.
Besides the first two, there were also:
[Bandit's Right Leg Guard: Movement Speed +5]
[Bandit's Right Hand Guard: Strength +5]
Another right-hand guard.
But he didn't have two right hands!
Still missing a left hand guard, a necklace, and a ring.
Bandit bosses usually dropped armor or weapons.
If he killed these two too early and the rest escaped—
Whose fault would that be?!
Definitely not his.
The two men stared at him in confusion.
Were they… not allowed to come down the mountain?
He was the one attacking them.
So why did he look angrier than they were?
Before they could figure it out—
Kunai appeared in Ming's hands once again.
He hurled them.
Hyūga · Stationary Kunai Turret · Ming
had returned.
Seeing the sky filled with kunai, both men felt their souls leave their bodies.
One drew his blade.
The other spun his steel claws wildly.
They blocked while retreating.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
What kind of ninja carried this many kunai?!
Were kunai free or something?!?!
They dove behind a rock and finally caught their breath.
Though they'd been hit, none of the wounds were fatal.
But Ming was stronger now.
Under the relentless barrage, the rock began to crack and crumble.
"What kind of MONSTER is this guy?!" the short man roared, too afraid to peek out.
"That eye… isn't it from the Hyūga clan?" the taller man said hesitantly.
He'd only heard rumors, never seen one in person—but those eyes matched the description.
But this fighting style—
This wasn't ninja combat at all!!!