The flaxen-haired kunoichi stepped forward, her voice low and firm.
"Muyū, your existence has begun to threaten our survival. That's why you have to die."
For genin like them, lofty ideals about the village meant nothing.
They became ninja for one simple reason—to stay alive.
And Muyū, who constantly caused them trouble, was an eyesore of the highest order.
What kind of superior tried to kill his own subordinates every single day?
Even if Muyū was only a temporary commander, it was still unbearable.
Over this period, they had cooperated flawlessly, giving Hyūga Akira no excuse to pick on them, all to make him lower his guard.
Because they knew—this man had been looking for chances to kill them as well.
"Sigh… was that really necessary?" Akira said with a shake of his head.
"If you'd just endured a little longer, I probably wouldn't even be here anymore."
He was planning to leave. He had no interest in playing house with them in this backwater.
It was just that Hanzo still hadn't sent any word.
Naturally, they didn't believe him.
The tall shinobi leapt down from the rooftop, joining the others.
"Today," he said coldly, "you die here."
They had been preparing for this moment for a long time.
Akira glanced around, counting calmly.
"Seven people total. Everyone's here, huh?"
He looked almost eager.
Excluding the two he'd already killed earlier, all of Kuson's remaining subordinates were present.
If he wiped them all out, it would truly be total extermination—erasing the last traces of Kuson's existence.
None of them made the first move.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the poison in Akira's body to take effect.
But as time passed, Akira even started stretching, warming up—without the slightest sign of being affected.
"Why… why are you fine?" someone finally blurted out.
Akira stopped mid-stretch and smiled.
"You mean the poison in the tea? I didn't drink it. I was lying to you."
Using poison in front of a medical ninja—what were they even thinking?
Of course, they didn't know he was a medical ninja.
Well, that explained it.
Akira lightly swung his bronze blade.
"Combat engaged."
Whoosh.
A sharp tearing sound echoed as Akira vanished from their sight.
"Where did he go?!" Panic rippled through the group.
A wave of scorching heat erupted behind them.
They spun around just in time to see Akira's bronze blade engulfed in flames as it split one of their comrades open from the abdomen down. The body fell apart in two neat halves.
[EXP +356]
"First," Akira said with a faint smile.
Bear's Hand plus Ignis—
This was Akira's close-combat style.
Two Rain ninja charged from the sides, one wielding an umbrella, the other a blade.
The tall ninja rushed in head-on.
Akira slashed toward the left attacker. The man tried to block with his own weapon—
—and instantly regretted it.
He had underestimated the force behind Akira's strike.
And the heat.
The bronze blade glowed red-hot, shearing straight through his weapon. The man's pupils shrank in disbelief—
—and the blade continued downward, cleaving him in two.
[EXP +412]
Akira spun midair, sweeping his blade from below toward the right attacker.
That ninja realized in time that the blade couldn't be blocked and attempted to escape with the Substitution Technique—
[Sap]
His pupils contracted.
His chakra froze.
In that instant, Akira's blade cut upward, splitting him cleanly.
[EXP +256]
Only then did the tall ninja finally reach Akira.
Akira kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him flying.
The man spun half a circle in the air before crashing to the ground.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Three dead. One sent flying.
"Two," Akira corrected himself with a grin, staring at the survivors.
In mere moments, nearly half of them were gone.
That toothy grin—
It looked like a demon smiling at them.
"Monster… this guy's a monster!" someone screamed, abandoning all thought of fighting as he turned and leapt toward the window.
Crash!
Glass shattered.
Two more ninja didn't hesitate, jumping after him.
In just one exchange, they had already realized the truth—
Muyū was far beyond them.
This man already possessed the strength of a chūnin.
Seeing them flee, Akira froze for a split second in surprise. By the time he reacted, he could only hurl a handful of shuriken.
The shuriken ignited into fireballs, striking the slowest runner. Bloody holes appeared in his body as momentum carried him out the window.
[EXP +457]
"Tch."
Akira walked over to the tall ninja, who was still sprawled on the floor, struggling to rise.
"Your comrades abandoned you just like that."
The tall ninja clenched his teeth.
Akira's kick had left his head spinning. He staggered to his feet, still trying to attack.
But his vision swam.
Even with Akira standing still, he couldn't land a hit.
Akira shook his head.
With one clean swing, the bronze blade severed the man's head.
[EXP +485]
He turned and looked out the shattered window.
Below, only one corpse lay on the ground. The other two had vanished into the darkness.
Night concealed their escape. Tracking them now would be troublesome.
And they were just genin anyway—not worth much experience or loot.
Akira let them go.
"Decisive," he muttered. "Didn't expect them to run that fast."
He searched the four corpses in the room.
In the end, only two items dropped. The other two provided nothing but experience.
[Scarlet Eyes]
[Attribute: Enhancement +1 (Unusable)]
"Completely useless," Akira said flatly.
The Scarlet Eyes were little more than decorative items—good only for selling.
"No idea if there's some pervert in the ninja world who collects these," he muttered, tossing the eyeball into his inventory.
The second item was no better—also unusable for now.
As Akira looked around the ruined office, wondering how to clean up the mess—
He suddenly turned toward the window.
A man was crouched there.
Seeing Akira's gaze, the man waved cheerfully, a foxlike smile on his face.
In his hand was a severed head, frozen in terror.
"So you're Muyū," the man said casually.
"Not bad. You've already got chūnin-level strength."
Akira's expression darkened.
Without a sound, he activated the Byakugan.
Jōnin-level chakra.
And the Rain Village headband on the man's forehead confirmed it.
So this is Hanzo's man.
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