Bang!
The leader of the rogue ninjas slammed his palm against the wall, causing the wooden structure to shake violently and splinter.
Seeing their boss unleash his might, the surrounding ninjas fell dead silent.
"You fools! All you think about is killing!" the leader roared. "Do you want to draw out the Kumogakure patrols and have us all completely wiped out before you're satisfied?!"
The leader was originally a rogue ninja from Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass. He had survived countless deadly pursuits. Although he had managed to kill his pursuers, he knew clearly that living as a rogue meant one day he would inevitably be hunted down and slaughtered.
By sheer coincidence, he had recently been recruited by Kirigakure. The Hidden Mist had ordered him to infiltrate the Land of the Moon to gather intelligence on the Cloud Ninjas stationed there.
In the leader's view, he was now just a disposable pawn of the Bloody Mist—a tragic fate. However, in exchange for Kiri's financial backing and protection, he had no other choice. Taking over the town's tavern was meant to be his intelligence front.
By displaying his fierce chakra, the leader suppressed the restlessness among his subordinates.
"So what if a rich buyer showed up?" the leader spat. "We'll keep causing trouble. Poison the food, release insects and rats into the dining room. The new brat will fail just the same, and the tavern will still be ours."
Outside the building, Kyosuke's Shadow Clone was hanging upside down from the eaves, observing the interior through a cracked window and quietly gathering intelligence.
There were a total of eight ninjas. Since they hadn't discovered the Shadow Clone yet, their sensory skills and overall strength probably weren't exceptionally high.
Feeling its chakra running low, the Shadow Clone voluntarily dispersed into a puff of smoke. Miles away, Kyosuke's main body instantly received the memories.
Kiichiro was upstairs in his new tavern, checking the accounting ledgers. Kyosuke materialized from a shadowed corner and quickly relayed the information.
"Their backer is Kirigakure?" Kiichiro mused. "That actually removes a lot of future worries. The Land of the Moon is considered prime territory by the Cloud Ninjas; they won't tolerate Kiri running rampant here. Therefore, as long as Kiri doesn't want to provoke a full-scale war, they won't make any major retaliatory moves if their disposable pawns disappear."
Kyosuke shared the exact same thought. "So, as long as we eliminate them cleanly without causing a major disturbance, the Cloud Ninjas won't care, and the Mist Ninjas won't investigate. What ninja tools do you have on you? If we can set up traps, we can drastically lower the risk."
Kyosuke was still a struggling Genin and didn't have much money. His personal arsenal consisted only of kunai, shuriken, and steel wire—insufficient for setting up high-powered, lethal traps.
Kiichiro opened his heavy bundle, taking out ten premium exploding tags and two vials of potent poison. "The exploding tags make too much noise. Let's use the poison to thin their ranks first."
Kyosuke took three exploding tags for emergency self-defense, and the two boys set off into the dusk to prepare their hunt.
...
"Damn it, the leader is too much of a coward. He claims to be a Jonin from the Grass Village, but I bet he's lying to make himself look tough."
"Yeah, we should just loot the tavern outright. We could surely snatch a lot of money from that fat kid."
As evening approached, two rogue ninjas, disguised as ordinary villagers, grumbled as they walked through the quiet alleyways. They looked greedily at the shops lining the streets, clearly itching to pillage.
"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to..."
At that moment, a small child carrying a woven basket of apples accidentally bumped into one of the disguised ninjas. Seeing the murderous expressions on the men's faces, the child was terrified. On the verge of tears, he bowed repeatedly in apology.
"You blind brat, you're asking to die!"
The ninja, already in a foul mood, raised his foot and viciously kicked the child in the stomach. The child was sent flying several meters, landing hard on the cobblestones and immediately vomiting. The red apples scattered everywhere.
The ninja drew a kunai, fully prepared to slaughter the child to vent his anger, but his companion stopped him.
"Forget it. The boss specifically told us not to cause a public scene that would draw the Cloud patrols. Come on, let's just eat an apple to cool off."
It had to be said that the apples rolling on the ground were large, pristine, and faintly emitted a sweet, mouth-watering aroma. The two ninjas' appetites were instantly whetted, and they picked up two apples without a second thought.
In this chaotic world, simply avoiding starvation meant one belonged to a middle-class family; fresh fruit was a luxury. These two rogues felt absolutely no shame in stealing from a battered child.
The crisp flesh burst in their mouths, and the sweet juice flowed down their throats. The two ninjas felt a sudden sense of euphoria, their bodies becoming strangely light and floaty.
Before they could even react or draw a breath, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed heavily onto the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Seeing this from the alleyway, the 'child'—who was actually Kyosuke under a Transformation Jutsu—stopped pretending to vomit. He stepped forward, drew a kunai, and delivered two clean finishing blows to their throats, ensuring their silent deaths.
This was part of his and Kiichiro's strategy: silently pick off the isolated ninjas to reduce their numbers before launching the final assault on the hideout.
At the exact same time, in the wilderness just outside town, another rogue ninja was swinging a long sword, continuously practicing his chopping forms.
Suddenly, the sharp sound of air being split came from behind his head. He spun around and slashed flawlessly, batting away two incoming shuriken.
"Who's there?!"
The ninja shouted into the trees, reaching into his pouch to fire a signal flare and summon his comrades.
Before his fingers could even grasp the flare, the solid ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way. He was yanked violently into a deep pit trap. Before he could scream, a blade plunged down from the edge of the pit, piercing his heart.
Kiichiro wiped the blood from his sword, covered the pit with brush, and sprinted toward Kyosuke's position.
Kyosuke and Kiichiro soon arrived outside the rogues' main courtyard, their weapons already thickly coated with poison.
Although they had successfully eliminated three enemies, the remaining five were staying together inside, leaving no opportunity for silent assassinations. They had no choice but to attack head-on.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Kyosuke and Kiichiro each formed the hand seals simultaneously. Two identical clones materialized, each gripping a kunai attached to a lit exploding tag. Without hesitation, the clones vaulted over the wall and leaped directly into the courtyard.
Soon, chaotic shouts and the sharp sounds of clashing steel erupted from inside. Hidden on the roof, Kyosuke and Kiichiro silently observed the chaos.
Relying on the element of surprise, the two Shadow Clones managed to kill two panicked enemies before being overwhelmed by the remaining three.
Upon being destroyed, the clones vanished—and the exploding tags they carried detonated violently. Two massive explosions rocked the compound, instantly engulfing the remaining enemies in devastating waves of fire and shrapnel.
"Are they dealt with?" Kiichiro asked, squinting through the smoke.
"Seems not."
Kyosuke looked at the raging flames in the courtyard and saw a single, imposing figure rush out of the inferno. It was the Grass ninja leader.
The leader's clothes were severely charred, with embers still clinging to the fabric. He was bleeding from multiple shrapnel wounds, but his killing intent was completely unfazed. Gripping a kunai tightly, he locked eyes with Kyosuke on the roof and charged.
Kyosuke did not meet the attack head-on. He immediately leaped backward, continuously retreating to create distance.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Kiichiro rapidly formed hand seals from the flank. A powerful, concentrated gust of wind swept toward the leader.
The Grass ninja was forced to abandon his pursuit of Kyosuke, jumping back two steps to evade the violently cutting wind. But as he inhaled, he smelled a faint, sickly sweet scent mixed into the gale.
"The wind is poisoned!"
The leader's face changed drastically. He immediately held his breath.
Taking advantage of his hesitation, Kyosuke and Kiichiro attacked fiercely from the front and back in perfect synchronization.
The surrounding courtyard air was now saturated with toxic gas. Only Kyosuke and Kiichiro, having taken the antidote beforehand, could ignore its effects. The leader, however, had to fight while holding his breath.
The leader fiercely parried the dual assault while his lungs burned for oxygen. Although his superior combat experience kept him from losing ground, he knew he would certainly die if the fight dragged on and he was forced to breathe.
He wanted to blow the poison away, but he didn't know any Wind Release jutsu.
Desperate, he deliberately created an opening in his guard, feigning exhaustion and looking as if his legs were about to collapse. He hoped to lure Kyosuke into a reckless thrust so he could trade a non-lethal injury for a killing blow and eliminate one of the brats instantly.
However, Kyosuke and Kiichiro were extremely cautious. They completely ignored the tempting opening. Instead, they continued a relentless flurry of shallow, harassing attacks designed only to deplete the leader's stamina and force him to move. Landing small cuts was their only goal. They were focused entirely on bleeding him out and exhausting him to death.
In a short moment, two shallow gashes appeared on the leader's arm. Although they only broke the skin and didn't initially affect his combat power, he suddenly felt a terrifying, tingling numbness spreading from the cuts.
His heart sank as he realized the weapons used by these brats were also heavily poisoned.
He couldn't delay any longer!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The leader forcefully exhaled, spewing a massive wave of roaring flames. The fire instantly ignited the toxic gas, creating a massive ring of fire that violently forced Kyosuke and Kiichiro back.
Using the fiery smokescreen, the leader charged out of the courtyard walls, fleeing frantically toward the edge of the town.
"Chase him!" Kyosuke ordered fiercely.
The clothing on Kyosuke's chest was torn, revealing a shallow but terrifying gash from which bright red blood flowed.
He hadn't expected the veteran opponent to be this strong; the exploding tags, the toxic gas, and the poisoned blades still hadn't killed him. During their brief, intense exchange, the leader had nearly successfully baited him. If Kiichiro hadn't covered his flank in time, that kunai would have pierced Kyosuke's heart.
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