Gekkō Hayate asked, "What should we do now—charge straight in?"
"Let's first deal with all the hidden sentries around the perimeter, so they won't run off once they hear something. Even though they definitely won't get away, chasing them down would still be troublesome."
"Alright, we'll do it your way."
Gekkō Kumomi followed behind the three of them the entire time without saying a word. This was the disciples' mission, and it was a process they had to go through.
He would only step forward to give a hint when the three made a wrong decision, like an emotionless novice guide in a game.
In fact, this was what a leading jōnin's job was like most of the time.
Higashino Makoto led the squad straight toward the position of the next hidden sentry. The perception ability that came with absorbing white natural energy was more like a comprehensive scanning radar—not only could it sense chakra, but even the terrain within range would be imprinted in his mind.
Of course, it was still nothing like the Hyūga clan's unfair advantage—those white-eyed people all had X-ray vision, opening their eyes and instantly getting full penetration.
When they reached the spot, Uzuki Yūgao suddenly spoke up, "Let me go. I'll handle it."
Higashino Makoto did not object. "Alright. Be careful. There are only two ordinary pirates inside."
The young girl clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and used the same method as Hayate, quietly slipping into the cliff cave.
By the time Higashino Makoto and the other two came up, Uzuki Yūgao was only trembling slightly, but she had completed her first kill very well.
That was how ninjas were. From the day they entered the academy, psychological conditioning had already begun, so very few people truly could not get past killing in their hearts.
If someone really could not get past it, then there were only two options: retire, or apply to be transferred to another department that did not require combat.
Everything was hardest at the beginning. With a good start, things went much more smoothly after that. The three spent some time clearing the outer hidden sentries one by one, and finally, under Higashino Makoto's lead, converged outside an inconspicuous wide island deep within the Dog Fang Archipelago.
Ahead lay a fairly open stretch of water, with a large ship moored on it.
Beneath the wide island, a simple dock had been built. The sloping cliff face had been carved with a stairway leading upward, connecting to a cave entrance halfway up.
Light spilled out from the cave mouth. This place was the Sea Shark Gang's lair.
After silently taking out the guards outside the cave, Gekkō Kumomi asked, "Makoto, do you sense any ninjas inside?"
"There are two. Their chakra fluctuations are about the same as the chūnin instructors back at the academy."
"Do you need me to step in?"
Gekkō Hayate immediately stopped him. "No need, sensei. Leave it to us."
"Alright. Go. Clean it out inside."
The three exchanged a glance, drew their weapons, and rushed in. The cave passage was not long. Inside, the lights were blazing, and the noise was deafening.
A group of burly men in all kinds of clothing were holding a godlike revelry inside. Some were drinking competitively, some were gambling, and some had drunk too much and were sprawled on the ground asleep.
There were also quite a few young women dressed in sexy, revealing clothes serving them. Some men dressed like ordinary villagers worked nonstop like slaves, bringing dishes and pouring wine. If they did anything even slightly wrong, they were pressed to the ground and beaten with fists and kicks, while the burly men watching nearby burst into gleeful laughter.
These bastards really knew how to enjoy themselves. This place was practically their paradise.
It was the first time Hayate and Yūgao had seen a scene like this. At this moment, there was only one thought in their minds: kill all these bastards.
Cut off every single one of their heads.
It could only be said that, compared to the other ninja villages in the ninja world, Konoha ninjas generally had a more righteous set of values. After all, it was a village founded by the great good man Senju Hashirama.
Hayate and Yūgao charged in first, sweeping through the crowd in the cave hall like a gust of wind. Blades rose and fell, and the boiling laughter was instantly replaced by screams.
Higashino Makoto formed the hand seal for Shadow Clone Technique, splitting off three shadow clones to handle other tasks. He himself followed the two into the crowd, striking like lightning. Every slash precisely cut across a pirate's throat.
Was killing disgusting? Not at all. After getting past the initial strangeness, he now only felt exhilaration. Watching the panicked pirates fall one after another, watching them clutch their throats and struggle on the ground like fish pulled out of water—this was simply art.
Is art eternal? Is art an explosion? No. Art was the red that burst forth the instant a blade sliced across a throat.
Higashino Makoto suddenly felt that once the gate of slaughter had been opened, he seemed to have become somewhat abnormal.
In his previous life, he had been an honest man who had never even killed a chicken, yet it turned out he also had another side hidden deep within.
...
After the slaughter, corpses covered the ground.
The people who had been abducted all huddled trembling in the corners, watching the scene before them in terror. Yet no one was crying. On the contrary, quite a few of them watched with grim satisfaction as the bastards who had been so arrogant just moments ago were now nothing but corpses.
They had died far too easily. They should have been tortured harshly for several days first.
Higashino Makoto had no time to torture people. He was not here to avenge them. This was merely a job, and the objective was to wipe out the Sea Shark Gang operating within the borders of the Land of Fire.
Now the job was already done.
After the rush of blood cooled, Uzuki Yūgao looked at the bodies strewn across the ground and felt a bit nauseous, but the sense of satisfaction was stronger. These bastards all deserved to die.
Gekkō Hayate walked up to the men and women cowering in the corner. "Are there any members of the Sea Shark Gang among you?"
They looked around at one another and all shook their heads. It seemed there were no clever ones trying to pretend to be victims and hide among them.
After confirming there were no omissions, he looked over the structure of the cave. There were several rooms with wooden doors around the perimeter, but all of them were wide open, with corpses lying inside.
"Makoto, where are those two ninjas hiding?"
"In the stone chamber whose door hasn't been opened."
When the chaos began in the main hall, the two ninja leaders of the Sea Shark Gang had already seen everything through the observation hole in the door. There was no need to think—only Konoha ninjas would come to a place like this.
They had no intention of risking their lives against Konoha ninjas. Even though the three opponents looked like underage kids, becoming rogue ninjas was about making money and living a free, carefree life. They could not afford to fight to the death. If they fought to the death, how would they make money?
So the two decisively chose to run. They had anticipated this day long ago. Cash and valuable items had already been packed away in advance, filling two large boxes to the brim.
Unfortunately for them, Higashino Makoto had already emerged through the hidden passage in their room and cut them off.
He had no interest in chatting with enemies. Facing the two who were holding kunai and preparing to kill him so they could escape, he opened with several Wind Release: Shadowless Sword.
The blade waves were extremely fast and nearly invisible. They were not something two fellows with, at most, chūnin-level strength could handle. By the time they sensed something was wrong, both of their hands—along with the kunai—had already been shredded by the sharp wind-attribute chakra.
Amid the two men's screams, Higashino Makoto lunged forward, snapping out a rapid kick that sent them flying toward the room's door. The pitiful wooden door shattered instantly, and the two were hurled out, landing heavily among the corpses in the main hall.
Both were adult men, not young, looking to be close to thirty. Their clothing was plain, but each had a forehead protector tied around his head—one bearing the mark of Iwagakure, the other Sunagakure. Both protectors had a slash cut across them, making it obvious they were rogue ninjas.
That was what really made this absurd. Why were these people, who had defected from their villages, still wearing slashed forehead protectors?
What—did having that mark, proving they came from one of the Five Great Villages, earn them more respect among the underworld's peers? Or were rogue ninjas from the Five Great Villages themselves considered proof of strength?
Put that way, it almost made sense.
Even if we're all grassroots, how could a Harvard graduate be on the same level as a trade-school graduate?
It seemed the ninja world had its own discrimination chain as well.
In the main hall, Higashino Makoto's original body looked at the two ninjas on the ground and asked curiously, "Aren't Sunagakure and Iwagakure still at war? Why can you two rogue ninjas get along just fine? Don't you hate each other?"
The tall, thin Sunagakure rogue sneered. "That's the village's hatred. What does it have to do with me? Throwing away my life for those inexplicable reasons would just make me an idiot."
"You really have things figured out," Makoto said.
Hearing that there might be an opening, the burly Iwagakure rogue immediately spoke up. "So you agree with that, Konoha ninja? How about it—let us go. All the money here can be yours."
Higashino Makoto felt his intelligence had been insulted. He slashed twice in reverse grip, sending them on their way.
Kill you, and the money is mine anyway.
But he was an honest man. He kept that line to himself; saying it out loud would not be in keeping with the Will of Fire.
At that moment, Gekkō Kumomi walked in, took out a sealing scroll, and sealed away the two bodies. Both were ninjas; bringing them back for the Intelligence Division to search might turn up something useful.
For ninjas, interrogation targets did not have to be alive. Dead ones worked too.
Given the strength of these two rogue ninjas, there was little chance there were any sealing formulas hidden in their minds.
"Is everything finished?" Kumomi asked.
After recalling his shadow clones, Higashino Makoto replied, "It's finished, sensei. I've cleared out all the Sea Shark Gang members hiding in the surrounding rooms. The cash and valuables are all in the room those two ninjas were using."
"Very good. Have the victims tidy themselves up. We'll take that large ship and head straight back to Hema Port. We need to inform the officials there and have them sign off to confirm the mission's completion, and also have them take care of disposing of this ship for us."
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