"Allen, do you have any plans?"
Neji, having lost his father at a young age, possessed a temperament worlds apart from his two more childlike teammates. His face remained masked in a cool indifference, devoid of the slightest longing or curiosity regarding the world outside the village.
"Me? No plans really. I'll probably just wander around; if I find anything interesting, I'll buy it," Allen replied with a shrug.
He certainly wasn't going to tell anyone that he intended to transform into Hidan or Kakuzu and head straight to the Hidden Grass Village to commence a slaughter. When it came to the ninjas who were the source of this world's upheaval, chaos, and suffering, he felt absolutely no moral burden in killing them.
On one hand, these people were far from civilians; every one of them had countless lives on their hands. On the other hand, every hidden village, regardless of size, was internally rife with darkness and cruelty. The Hidden Grass, in particular, had historically tormented Karin's mother to death in the original story. It was fortunate that Karin later encountered Orochimaru; otherwise, her fate would have been identical.
"Fine. I hope you find something that interests you."
Hearing that Allen also intended to just wander, Neji lost interest. He turned and followed Guy toward a nearby inn to rest.
Watching the two disappear into the distance, a faint smile finally played across Allen's face. In a voice audible only to himself, he whispered, "Well then... time for me to get moving."
Clone Jutsu!
In an instant, an identical clone of Allen appeared and began aimlessly circling the small town near the Hidden Grass Village.
As for his true self, he used Transformation Jutsu once more to disguise himself as Hidan. He commanded the Red Dragon to manifest a pair of wings and flew directly into the airspace of the Hidden Grass Village.
Looking down from his vantage point at the Grass ninjas below, completely oblivious to the approaching danger, Allen's eyes flashed with naked, undisguised disappointment. "Is this what a minor village outside the Five Great Nations looks like? Both the defense and the surveillance are pathetic. If this were Konoha, my high-altitude intrusion would have been sensed by the Barrier Team immediately."
"Do you need me to assume dragon form and destroy them directly?" Vaelastrasz proposed with predatory confidence. Within this village, she detected no target capable of posing a threat to her.
"No need. To deal with them, the Chakra system I've mastered so far is sufficient. After all, so-called ninjutsu is essentially converting energy into various forms and releasing it to the maximum extent. I don't actually need to obsess over established formulas; I can combine and create at will. Like this..."
As he spoke, Allen rapidly mobilized a massive amount of Chakra. Within seconds, a multitude of sharp, jagged stone spikes formed around his body.
Undoubtedly, this was an original ninjutsu he had created by combining the inspiration from Earth Style: Earth Pillar Spear with his own superior energy control. While the power of a single spike might not even reach C-rank, the sheer volume, numbering in the thousands, was overwhelming. He didn't even need to consciously direct them; the gravitational acceleration from several hundred meters up was enough to punch through roofs and deliver a devastating blow to anyone inside the buildings.
"Let's call this technique Stone Rain. Now, let's use it to say hello to the Hidden Grass." Allen raised his hand and pointed toward the wooden structures below.
Suddenly, thousands of sharp stone spears rained down like a torrential storm, slamming into the unsuspecting Grass ninjas.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Under this massive, indiscriminate carpet bombing, more than half of the village's buildings were instantly leveled. Countless Genin, unable to react in time, were killed on the spot. Only a few elites managed to survive the bombardment by quickly performing Substitution Jutsu.
"Enemy attack!!!"
"Damn it! We're under fire!"
"Who? Who has the audacity to attack the Hidden Grass?! Is it the Stone ninjas?"
"In the sky! That guy is right above us!"
The surviving Grass ninjas stood amidst the ruins of their village, staring up at the tiny black speck in the air. Before they could even formulate a counterattack, a second wave of Stone Rain descended. The Chunin and Jonin, who prided themselves on being elites, were forced to scramble for cover; those too slow were pinned to the ground where they stood.
Gazing at the corpse-strewn remains of the nearly annihilated Hidden Grass Village, Allen nonchalantly instructed Vaelastrasz, "Go. Devour them. Turn the corpses into nourishment for our continued growth. As for the survivors, I'll handle them myself."
As his last word fell, he rapidly descended. At about a hundred meters from the ground, he detached from the Red Dragon and landed steadily before the few remaining high-ranking Grass officials.
"Rogue ninja? Who are you? Why are you attacking us?" an older man, seemingly the leader, demanded. He had noted the Yugakure headband around the neck of the "Hidan" figure, complete with the horizontal strike across the symbol.
"Do ninjas need a reason to kill one another?" Allen retorted with a sneer.
"We may only be a small village struggling to survive between the Great Nations, but you must have a purpose for trying to destroy us," the man probed, narrowing his eyes.
"No special purpose. You were just close by, and I needed your blood and death as a gift for Jashin-sama. Talk is useless, just die quietly."
Allen clearly wasn't interested in chatting. He vanished from his spot instantly.
Squelch!
The heart of the nearest Chunin was pierced by a Chakra Scalpel, blood erupting like a fountain. At this moment, the advantages of his terrifying explosive muscle power and neural reflexes were on full display. Unless they were experts who had reinforced their cells with Chakra, most ninjas didn't even have the chance to weave signs for a Substitution Jutsu. By the time they realized what was happening, they had suffered a fatal blow.
"Hold your ground! Don't be afraid! He's only one man! Better to fight this bastard than be hunted like dogs!"
At the leader's shout, the remaining Jonin and Chunin rallied, launching a coordinated assault on Allen. Because the Hidden Grass was known for studying and adapting the techniques of other nations, their attacks were a chaotic mix ranging from Fire and Wind to Water, Lightning, and Earth. The only drawback was that most of the techniques did not exceed B-rank.
Using the two basic techniques of Substitution and Clone, Allen moved like he was taking a leisurely stroll through the dense bombardment, harvesting lives one by one.
As the last man fell, he couldn't help but shake his head. "Well, it seems this is the limit for the Grass. No Tailed Beasts, no Jinchuriki, and no noteworthy secret techniques. They belong to the weakest tier of hidden villages; they don't even compare to Orochimaru's Otogakure. I expect any member of the Akatsuki could have wiped them out with ease."
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