In the same forest, the leader of the thieves stood amid his men, their presence crowding the clearing around him.
Irritation twisted across the leader's face as he grabbed a glass of wine and hurled it to the ground, shattering it at his feet.
"What's taking those stupid beasts and idiots so long?" he snarled. "I told them to bring me those little brats quickly."
Nearby, an elderly man was kneeling behind iron bars, trapped inside a crude cage, gripping the metal with trembling hands.
"Please," The elder man begged, tears running down his face. "Spare them. I'll do anything. I'll serve you. Just… spare my family."
The thieves' leader walked over and kicked the cage hard, the iron rattling violently.
"Keep your mouth shut, you worthless old shit!" he sneered. "What I want… is your young, pretty daughter?" A twisted grin spread across his face. "She'd fetch a fine price if I sold her."
That old man's expressions hardened with anger, "You bastard! If anything happens to my family or my daughter, I will kill you!" he shouted.
The thief leader smirked cruelly and turned his back on the cage. "Kill him," he ordered, already walking away, leaving the old man shaking behind the bars.
Three thieves drew their swords and began to advance towards the cage but before they could reach the air splits.
A hooded assassin descended from the sky and struck the ground between the thieves and the cage, the impact blasting dust outward in a rough circle around his stance. As the dust was settling, he began to straighten himself in slow deliberate motion.
The thieves were stopped dead in their tracks. Their instinct screams at them to retreat from the danger. Fear was cutting through their bravado as they began to step back, one by one.
The hooded assassin stood tall. A ninja mask hid his face, leaving only his eyes burning red beneath the shadowed hood. Around his arm, a sun-emblazoned armband marked him without question.
He drew his katana in one slow, seamless motion. Steel slid free in a soft whisper, his stare never breaking from the thieves.
Killing intent fell instantly, sharp and
suffocating.
The thief leader's face twisted with rage as he snapped, "Huh? Who are you!"
Unfazed, the hooded assassin remained perfectly still. His gaze slowly shifted to the leader, and with a calm, gentle voice he spoke up.
"Death. Your death."
The words carried no anger, only certainty.
The thief leader let out a rough chuckle, shaking his head. "You picked the wrong opponent, kid." His expression hardened as he barked, "Release the monster!"
At the command, a thief rushed forward and wrenched the massive cage door open. From within, a black bear burst free, its obsidian eyes sweeping the clearing as it stepped into the sunlight, the ground shuddering beneath its weight.
The beast rose onto its feet—undoubtedly the largest and scariest of its kind. A low groan rumbled from its chest, swelling as it drew breath to unleash a roar that tore through the air.
A katana came slicing through the air in a single, ruthless arc, piercing straight through the bear's face and bursting out the back of its skull. Blood gushed out of the wound as the monster collapsed instantly, its massive lifeless body crashing to the ground with steel still buried deep in its face.
Stunned into silence, the thief slowly turned toward the hooded assassin—who now stood empty-handed. In that moment, it became clear who had thrown the blade.
The assassin's posture remained relaxed, his presence unchanged, and with the same calm, almost casual tone, he spoke,
"Excuse me. Could I have my sword back so I can kill you?"
He tilted his head slightly, as if remembering something trivial.
"Actually, I'm in a hurry. Someone is waiting for me at home… and I'd rather not keep her waiting."
Enraged, one of the thieves stepped forward, planting himself directly in the path of the assassin's blade.
"By our master's name, I swear this little brat will die here by my hands!" The thief pointed his blade savagely at the hooded assassin.
"Stand with me. On this very ground, I will take his head and offer it to our master as proof of our strength."
His words ignited the rest who all quickly began to draw their katanas out in unison, and one by one, the thieves surged forward, standing with that thief, until nearly twenty of them formed a tightening circle around the assassin blades, confidence burning where fear once stood.
Unflinching, the hooded assassin remained where he stood, calm and unmoved, his gaze fixed on them when suddenly a thief burst from the nearby bush, sweeping a blade toward the assassin's neck in a killing arc.
The assassin moved with effortless grace to step aside, pulling out a hidden dagger from him behind his back, and in a single, ruthless motion he drove it straight up beneath the attacker's jaw, piercing through the throat. The strike was so fast the thief never even screamed.
Blood immediately flooded from the wound, spilling down his neck and pouring onto the ground, pooling at his feet.
The hooded assassin yanked the dagger free causing the blood to burst out violently as the thief's body went limp and collapsed to the earth, dead before it hit the ground.
Amid the stunned thieves, one of them let out a fierce roar before charging straight at the hooded assassin.
The assassin calmly drew another dagger from his boot, breathed in, and as he looked up, the thief's blade was already inches from his face, but before the blade could complete its swing, the assassin stamped his left foot and vanished from sight, leaving the thief slashing at nothing but air.
The agonizing shouts began to rip through the air, along with the sickening sounds of blades slicing into flesh, the blood was bursting outward, spraying blindly through the air and splattering on the ground.
Behind the bars, the old man was watching the slaughter with eyes blown wide in horror. Warm blood speckled his face, jolting him into numb shock. He couldn't move or scream, his body was frozen solid as death.
The hooded assassin now walked through the blood-soaked ground, stepping onto the corpses of the thief laying on the ground, some missing their hands, some their legs, and legs, a few even headless—cleanly severed. The assassin himself was drenched in blood clinging to his cloak and skin.
As he was walking forward, it became clear the assassin was dragging something with him.
His hand was clenched in the hair of that strongest thief, hauling the man's broken, barely living body across the ground. Blood smeared the dirt in their wake. Without stopping, the assassin reached out and pulled his sword free from the bear's neck, the blade sliding out with a wet sound.
He then turned slowly toward the thief leader who was in a terrified state.
The assassin then lifted the strongest of the thieves by the hair, holding him up like a trophy for their leader to see.
The strongest thief's body was ruined, flesh torn and soaked in blood, barely alive, barely aware, his limbs hanging uselessly as faint breaths rattled out of him.
The assassin pressed the edge of his blade against the thief's neck, slowly and deliberately, he drew it across.
The man writhed in agony, choking as pain tore through him, his body convulsing for a few final moments before life drained away. The assassin released him without a second glance, causing the corpse to hit the ground and collapse into a lifeless heap.
The thief leader watched it all with his face drained of color, terror stripping him bare as the reality of what stood before him finally sank in.
The thief leader lunged forward and clutched at the assassin's foot, desperation shattering what little pride he had left.
"Take everything," he begged, voice breaking. "The old man, all of it, just spare my life! Please!"
The assassin did not answer, he just reversed his grip, holding the sword like a dagger, and drove it straight down through the top of the man's head and In a single flash, the blade punched through and burst out beneath the chin.
The body stiffened once. The plea died with him. Silence swallowed the clearing.
The hooded assassin yanked out his sword causing the lifeless body to crumble on ground.
With a smooth, practiced motion, the hooded assassin swung his blade through the empty air, the blood scattering away from the blade in a sharp arc. He slid the sword back into its scabbard without haste, then turned toward the old man behind the bars.
The man stared at him in stunned disbelief, unable to look away from what he had just witnessed.
With unhurried steps, the hooded assassin approached the cage and struck the lock with a single, powerful kick, breaking the lock with a sharp crack.
The old man stepped out slowly, disbelief still clinging to his face before gratitude took hold.
"I am deeply grateful to you." His voice trembled with emotion. "And from this moment on, I am your slave, I'll serve my entire life to you. Command me as you wish."
The old man began to bow, but the hooded assassin stopped him mid-motion, a firm hand lifting him back to his feet. Looking at the old man, the assassin reached and drew his hood back and lowered his ninja mask.
An eighteen-year-old boy was revealed, red eyes steady and unblinking, crimson hair falling freely across his forehead. He stood there in silence.
"My name is Hiroto Minamoto" The hooded assassin introduced himself, "And I am an assassin from sugiyama and it's my duty to protect the innocents. I hope you are fine, come with me I'll safely escort you home."
The old man's voice broke as he pleaded, desperation spilling out. "Please… save my children. They're lost in this forest. Those monsters and thieves are hunting them. Please… save them."
"You don't need to worry," Hiroto said, his voice steady and absolute. "Your children will be rescued." He turned slightly, eyes already scanning the forest ahead. "My squad is monitoring this area."
The old man swallowed hard and nodded, relief finally loosening his rigid posture.
Hiroto didn't wait, as he turned and began walking, and after a brief hesitation, the old man followed, leaving the blood-soaked clearing behind them.