"Fight to the death?"
Hearing those words, Hikaru paused for a brief moment—then an uncontrollable smile crept onto his face.
Interesting. Truly interesting.
He'd originally been unsure whether these people were really the remnants of Shouqi City. But now, he was certain: these were exactly the people he'd been looking for.
And even if he couldn't get the scroll from them directly… that wouldn't be a bad outcome either, would it?
Luck was always the hardest thing to judge. What looked like misfortune to others might be the greatest stroke of luck in your own hands.
If it were anyone else, running into people like this would feel like terrible luck.
But Hikaru felt the opposite.
He was far too lucky.
"So you want to decide life and death with me?" Hikaru's voice remained gentle—almost soft. "I understand. But don't bluff. Bluffing only makes your weakness more obvious."
"You arrogant brat!" The middle-aged man's voice warped slightly, fury burning through it. "You're dead!"
"Is that so?" Hikaru murmured.
The senjutsu chakra within him stirred.
"Then… good night."
"Watch out—!"
The instant Hikaru's words fell, the man felt a terrifying sense of danger and shouted instinctively.
Too late.
Hikaru's figure vanished.
Like a ghost, he appeared beside a shinobi with genin-level chakra. The ninja blade in his hand flashed free, carving a thin silver arc through the pitch-black graveyard.
It passed lightly—almost gently—across the man's throat.
The shinobi only felt a brief chill at his neck. Then warmth spread rapidly across his chest.
He opened his mouth, trying to speak—but only a hoarse, rasping sound escaped. His vision blurred, consciousness collapsing in on itself as he fell, blood soaking into the earth beneath him.
Fast.
Far too fast.
Hikaru's ghostlike speed shattered their expectations. One man was dead without a sound—and fear exploded through the group.
But Hikaru didn't stop.
His speed surged again as he charged straight toward another target—a shinobi with chūnin-level chakra.
There were roughly eight of them in total. Aside from the middle-aged man, whose chakra clearly reached jōnin level, the rest were nothing more than chūnin and genin.
Clear the fodder first.
Then deal with the jōnin.
That was Hikaru's plan.
These people might not pose much of a threat individually, but Hikaru refused to risk accidents. Besides—cutting them down would reveal the jōnin's mental state.
Maybe he wouldn't even need to finish the cleanup. Maybe the man would break on his own.
Unfortunately, when Hikaru cut down the second chūnin, the middle-aged man showed nothing but rage—no hesitation, no surrender.
"Don't underestimate us!"
As Hikaru flashed beside another chūnin, the man suddenly roared and drew a kunai, desperately trying to block the blade.
Pshhk!
Hikaru was in Sage Mode.
His perception, speed, and reflexes were at their absolute peak.
In midair, he adjusted the angle of his blade by the slightest margin. The sword pierced through the man's body as easily as slicing tofu.
"Hm?"
Hikaru frowned faintly.
The man wasn't dead yet.
With his last strength, he clamped down on Hikaru's blade.
At the same time, Hikaru noticed something else—
Explosive tags, tied to the kunai.
This man had already given up on living. He was trying to drag Hikaru down with him.
BOOM!
A violent explosion tore through the darkness of the graveyard.
For an instant, the entire cemetery was illuminated—every grave, every tree, every twisted shadow laid bare beneath fire and thunder. Smoke and flames swallowed everything.
As the blast faded, the chūnin collapsed completely.
Half his body had been blown apart. The other half was mangled beyond recognition—wounds torn open like grotesque mouths, exposing twitching pink flesh within. Blood poured out in streams.
Shards of metal were embedded throughout what remained of him.
Moonlight filtered weakly through the trees, glinting off the fragments with an eerie blue-green sheen. As blood slowly coated them, the light flickered and dulled.
They were fragments of Hikaru's blade.
"Hmph."
Hikaru landed steadily, his expression dark.
Someone who faced death without flinching deserved a measure of respect—but they were also the most troublesome kind of enemy.
His ninja blade had been destroyed.
Still, using the brief flare of firelight—and his perception—Hikaru had now pinpointed everyone's position.
And more interestingly…
They had also seen him land.
They were already charging.
"Kill him!"
"For Hikaru and the others!"
"Don't let him live!"
Four shinobi—chūnin and genin—rushed him all at once the moment he touched the ground.
They knew the masked ANBU from Konoha was terrifyingly strong.
But they also had something they had to protect.
Three of their companions were already dead. Friends. Comrades.
They had to avenge them.
"Stop—come back!"
The jōnin moved as well, but just before reaching Hikaru, his face changed drastically.
Something was wrong.
He possessed sharp sensory abilities—skills that had allowed him to monitor passing shinobi all this time, preventing them from disturbing the fallen warriors of Shouqi City.
Preventing them from defiling Lord Shouqi's rest.
That same perception had saved his life countless times in battle. He always sensed danger first. Always saw through disguises.
And now—
He could clearly tell.
The Hikaru standing there wasn't real.
It was a clone.
And inside it… terrifying chakra was already swelling.
BOOM!
Even with his warning, it was over.
Chūnin and genin didn't possess his level of perception. And Hikaru had anticipated their movements long ago—leaving them almost no time to react.
The explosion erupted again, shaking the ground violently. Dust and debris blasted skyward.
Several graves shattered outright, coffins broken open, white bones spilling into the open air.
Hikaru stood coldly atop a tree branch, looking down at the fallen shinobi.
Their hoarse, broken screams echoed weakly through the graveyard.
At last, his gaze settled on the lone remaining jōnin.
"Now it's just the two of us," Hikaru said calmly. "I warned you—don't bluff."
"Because bluffing only makes your weakness stand out more."
…
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