Kuromori looked coldly at Hyuga Arin, completely ignoring the provocation in his words, and asked bluntly,
"How do you plan to resolve this?"
If Hyuga Arin hadn't acted on his own and attacked the rogue ninja, how would Masakado have learned about what was happening here?
Hyuga Arin had no intention of actually fighting Kuromori either. Under his current disguise, he was no match for a proper chūnin.
He had ways to kill a chūnin—but no way to defeat one.
Those were two completely different things.
Touching his chin, Hyuga Arin thought for a moment, then changed the subject.
"I'm actually curious—how did Amegakure get this information?"
Kuromori frowned. "You're saying there's a spy for that old bastard Masakado among us?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hyuga Arin spread his hands. "I only acted today, and Amegakure already has the news. If no one tipped them off, how could it be that fast?"
The Land of Rain might be a small country, but even so, intelligence couldn't circulate that quickly unless someone was deliberately passing it on.
Kuromori thought about his other subordinates, but he really couldn't tell who might belong to Masakado.
And strictly speaking, all the Rain ninja were still nominally under Masakado's command. Hanzo was famous as a fierce double-flower enforcer, but he hadn't officially taken power yet.
"Who leaked the information doesn't really matter," Hyuga Arin said meaningfully as he looked at Kuromori.
"What matters is… Kuromori-sama, have you really decided who you're backing?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course it's Lord Hanzo," Kuromori replied firmly.
As Amegakure's strongest military force and leader of the hardliners, Hanzo of the Salamander enjoyed immense respect.
Masakado was nothing more than a decaying, sinking ship. Only Lord Hanzo was the vessel of the new era.
"Then what are you still hesitating for?" Hyuga Arin shot back.
"If you support Lord Hanzo, you should first complete his mission, then kill the ninja sent to replace you, and finally take control of this city."
"That's what you should be doing—instead of standing here looking forward and back."
What was the point of hesitating here? He couldn't even farm experience properly like this.
He wanted blood to flow like a river!
A look of sudden realization flashed across Kuromori's face. In truth, he had been wavering all along.
Though he had decided to follow Lord Hanzo, Masakado still represented Amegakure's orthodoxy. The banner of "legitimacy" made him hesitate.
That sliver of hesitation kept him from openly breaking with Masakado.
Even if Masakado didn't care about him in the slightest.
"As long as Lord Hanzo wins, we will be justice," Hyuga Arin said, his voice dripping with temptation.
Those words finally steeled Kuromori's resolve.
"Tonight, you'll act with me."
"Got it!" Hyuga Arin replied, his face splitting into a brilliant smile.
"Do we deal with the mission target first," he asked eagerly, "or the guy sent to replace you?"
Kuromori looked at Hyuga Arin, who seemed excited at the mere thought of killing.
This guy, Mu Yu, was seriously sick. He hadn't been this bloodthirsty before.
"We complete the mission first. Everything else can wait."
Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to turn his blade on a colleague.
"Tch." Hyuga Arin looked dissatisfied. Killing one less chūnin meant losing over a thousand experience points.
Kuromori really didn't understand how precious experience was.
…
Night. Rooftop of the City Lord's Manor.
Looking down from the roof, Hyuga Arin saw many soldiers patrolling. Because of the rogue ninja incident, security at the manor had been tightened considerably.
"Just the two of us?" Hyuga Arin turned to Kuromori.
Kuromori nodded. "Lord Hanzo's forces are still too few. In this city, it's only you and me."
In the struggle between Hanzo and Masakado, Hanzo held the advantage in personal strength, while Masakado held the loyalty of the masses.
"I'll draw everyone's attention. Mu Yu, you infiltrate and carry out the assassination."
"Mu Yu!?"
Kuromori looked on in panic as Hyuga Arin jumped straight off the roof.
Did this guy even listen to what I said?!
Hyuga Arin didn't care what Kuromori was thinking. An assassination mission, right?
No one in this world understood assassination better than him!
He jumped straight into the crowd. Everyone stared at him in stunned confusion.
They were stunned—but Hyuga Arin wasn't.
Shuriken were pinched between his fingers.
"Pulling the mobs."
"Shuriken Technique: Saturation Fire!"
Hyuga Arin turned into a merciless shuriken-launching machine. Shuriken flew in all directions, rapidly harvesting the soldiers' lives. Only then did they finally react.
"Enemy attack!!!"
A shrill scream rang out. Soldiers scattered throughout the manor rushed toward Hyuga Arin's position.
But what greeted them was an overwhelming storm of shuriken.
Kuromori cautiously poked his head out from the rooftop, staring at the battlefield below. Hyuga Arin had become a machine that reaped flesh and blood.
"Whoosh!"
A shuriken sliced past Kuromori's cheek, leaving a bloody gash on his face.
Noticing Hyuga Arin glance his way, Kuromori gritted his teeth and growled, "That bastard did it on purpose!"
But where was he getting so many shuriken? There was no way his ninja pouch could hold this many.
Even a ninja who ran a weapons shop couldn't pull out this many shuriken—and Hyuga Arin still hadn't stopped.
Kuromori could only hear the endless sounds of lives being harvested.
He carefully recalled the mission details.
This was an assassination… not a massacre, right?
Gritting his teeth, Kuromori decided that since Hyuga Arin was drawing all the attention, he would carry out the assassination himself.
His body dissolved into a puddle of water and vanished from the spot.
…
Hyuga Arin finally stopped throwing shuriken.
There were no enemies left appearing in the courtyard. Everyone who had shown up had already been stripped of their lives.
[Experience +1254]
Finally, enough to level up again. But just in case, he decided to max out the experience bar first.
[Level: Lv.15 (3499/3500)]
Just one more point and he'd level up immediately.
Glancing at the floating loot above the corpses, Hyuga Arin stepped forward and swept everything up.
[Low-grade Health Potion]
[Low-grade Mana Potion]
[Militia Hood: +10 Defense]
[Damaged Long Blade: +10 Attack]
[Skill Tome: Bone-Dislocation Technique]
Aside from the mana and health potions, the rest was useless to him. He tossed it all into his inventory to gather dust.
After stowing everything away, Hyuga Arin looked up at the sky. At some point, several umbrellas had appeared overhead, floating down toward the ground.
"NinTechnique: Senbon Rainfall!"
Countless senbon shot out from the umbrellas, surging toward Hyuga Arin and completely covering the ground around him, leaving no room to dodge.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Before the senbon landed, Hyuga Arin vanished from the spot.
Substitution Technique.
He reappeared outside the area of effect, his expression grim as he looked toward another rooftop.
Under the moonlight—
Three figures stood atop the roof.
"Hey. You're one of Hanzo's men, aren't you?" one slightly older ninja demanded coldly.
"Speak. What is your purpose here?"
Hyuga Arin's pupils glowed with a pale white light.
"Three genin?" he muttered. "The chūnin hasn't shown up yet."
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