Hayashi's speed was terrifying. With the Sand Ninjas and the Taki siblings only a short distance away, he arrived in just a few breaths.
Compared to Taki Yuu, who had already accumulated several wounds, the Sand Chunin was still in decent condition, aside from being coated in dust kicked up by the fighting. His puppet, however, was in pitiful shape. Its limbs were scorched black, and deep cracks ran along its joints and core. Even so, this level of damage meant little.
Unless a puppet was completely shattered beyond repair, it could still be controlled.
Taki Yuu, on the other hand, was in truly dangerous condition. Dark purple traces were spreading from his wounds, clear signs of poisoning.
Hayashi ignored the puppet entirely and appeared beside the Sand Chunin in an instant. The Chunin's eyes widened. His fingers twitched instinctively as he tried to recall his puppet to shield him, but his body suddenly froze in place as if bound by an unseen force.
And then, there was nothing after that.
Taki Yuu, who had still been mentally planning how to coordinate with his captain for a counterattack, watched the Sand Ninja fall lifelessly before his eyes. A complicated bitterness stirred in his chest.
They were both ninjas. So why was the gap this vast?
Almost at the same time, Himeji San finished off the other Sand Chunin on her side. In the blink of an eye, the Sand Ninja squad was reduced to a single remaining Jonin.
"With your strength, you should not be unknown," the surrounded Sand Jonin said slowly.
From the instant two Chunin were killed to his own puppet being dismantled so cleanly, he already understood that the boy before him was anything but ordinary.
Hayashi raised an eyebrow slightly. "You do not know me?"
"Should I?"
"Uh…"
Hayashi cleared his throat, momentarily embarrassed. He had assumed his reputation had already spread through the Sand forces. It seemed he had thought too highly of his own fame.
Putting that aside, he did not waste any more words.
He stepped forward hard with his right foot. Lightning Release crackled violently around his arm as he surged forward, driving straight toward the Sand Jonin's chest. There was no benefit in dragging out a conversation and giving the enemy time to recover chakra.
Faced with such ruthless pressure, the Sand Jonin felt completely cornered.
He had originally planned to rely on the soldier pills dissolving in his stomach to slowly regain strength. Now, that was no longer an option. Judging by Hayashi's terrifying speed, escape was impossible.
Three subordinates were already dead. Even if he survived and returned to the base, punishment was inevitable. In that case, it was better to gamble everything here and attempt to drag the enemies down with him.
Even so, the situation was truly desperate.
Sparks of lightning trailed behind Hayashi as he advanced. He suddenly leaped high into the air. At that precise moment, a shrill whistling sound ripped through the space behind him.
The puppet, manipulated by the Sand Jonin, had circled around in secret. A sharp poisoned spike shot out from its mouth, aimed directly at Hayashi's back.
Still airborne, Hayashi did not even glance behind him. Blue lightning erupted around his body, forming a crackling defensive net that stopped the poisoned spike cold.
The moment he landed, he drove his fist straight into the puppet's neck without hesitation. The head snapped free. With a follow-up kick, he sent it flying across the sand. The internal mechanisms and joint spheres were shattered instantly, leaving the remains completely irreparable.
Taki Toru, who had been healing her brother while watching the battle, could not help but gasp.
That was far too brutal.
At the same time, an absurd thought crept into her mind.
Was their captain really only ten years old this year?
For a fleeting moment, she even wondered if he was one of those ancient monsters who survived from the Warring States period, the kind that liked to disguise themselves as children to deceive their enemies. After all, those kinds of stories sold extremely well in Konoha's novel shops.
...…
After completely destroying the Sand Ninja's puppet, Hayashi straightened his posture and walked step by step toward the Sand Jonin.
For a puppet specialist, losing their puppets was akin to losing both hands for hand seals. Even if some danger remained, the bulk of their combat power was already gone.
On top of that, Hayashi's footsteps were now subtly laced with Genjutsu. Illusions overlapped with reality, constantly distorting the enemy's perception and disrupting his balance.
"I said before that I am an all rounder ninja," Hayashi said calmly.
Ignoring the Sand Jonin entirely, he turned to Himeji San and the Taki siblings.
"But just now, I only showed you Taijutsu and Ninjutsu."
"As for why I did not use Genjutsu earlier, it is because the opponents were too weak. They did not even give me the chance to use my full strength."
As his words fell, Hayashi snapped his fingers lightly.
Against an opponent like this, there was no need to even activate the Sharingan. A standard Genjutsu was more than enough.
Several seconds later, a kunai suddenly appeared in the Sand Jonin's trembling hand.
Without any extra movements, his arm rose stiffly. Then, under the horrified gazes of the others, he slowly drove the kunai straight into his own head.
Whether piercing the heart or slitting the throat, intense pain could still break a Genjutsu at the final moment, allowing a desperate counterattack with one's dying breath.
But brain death left no such chance.
The moment the chakra threads lost their controller, the last remaining puppet head fell lifelessly onto the sand.
"See, I told you I am an all rounder ninja," Hayashi said as he turned back with a faint smile.
The entire sequence of movements had flowed with terrifying smoothness.
Himeji San silently stared at the broken puppet on the ground. She had already personally experienced the horror of Hayashi's Genjutsu. As for Taki Toru, her eyes sparkled as she stared at him without blinking.
That was a Jonin.
A Jonin who had taken his own life under Genjutsu.
Invisible intimidation like this was far more lethal than any loud display of power. When extraordinary people said ordinary words, it always sounded like restraint and dominance rather than arrogance.
"What do we do next?" Taki Toru asked.
Hayashi brushed the dust from his clothes and replied evenly, "Retrieve the heads of the corpses."
Taki Yuu nodded. He pulled a sealing scroll from his ninja pouch. The healing he had received so far had already restored a fair portion of his fighting ability.
"Then the mission is complete," he said. "Let us withdraw."
_____
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