Kusamori looked at Hyūga Ming coldly, completely ignoring the provocation in his words.
"How do you plan to deal with this?" he asked bluntly.
If Hyūga Ming hadn't gone after the rogue ninja on his own, Shōzō would never have noticed what was happening here.
Hyūga Ming had no intention of actually fighting Kusamori.
With his current disguise and situation, he wasn't a match for a proper chūnin in a straight fight.
He could kill a chūnin.
But defeating one head-on was a completely different matter.
Two very different things.
Rubbing his chin, Hyūga Ming deliberately shifted the topic.
"I'm more curious about something else. How exactly did Rain Village learn about what happened here so quickly?"
Kusamori frowned.
"You're saying… there's one of Shōzō's people among us?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Hyūga Ming spread his hands.
"I acted today, and Rain Village already knows. If no one tipped them off, how could the news travel that fast?"
The Land of Rain might be small, but intelligence didn't circulate at lightning speed unless someone pushed it.
Kusamori thought of his remaining subordinates.
Honestly, he couldn't tell who belonged to Shōzō.
And strictly speaking, all Rain ninja officially still answered to Shōzō. Hanzo had reputation, not authority—yet.
"Who leaked the information doesn't really matter," Hyūga Ming said calmly.
"What matters is this…"
He looked at Kusamori with meaning.
"Lord Kusamori—have you truly decided which side you're on?"
"What nonsense," Kusamori snapped.
"Of course I follow Lord Hanzo."
As Rain Village's strongest military force and leader of the radical faction, Salamander Hanzo was admired by countless shinobi.
Shōzō was nothing but a rotting old ship.
Hanzo was the vessel of the new era.
"Then what are you hesitating for?" Hyūga Ming pressed.
"If you support Lord Hanzo, you should complete his mission, kill the ninja sent to replace you, and seize full control of this city."
"That's what you should be doing."
"Not standing here second-guessing everything."
He didn't care about Kusamori's inner conflict.
He cared about experience.
And he wanted bloodshed.
Kusamori's expression shifted in realization.
He had been hesitating.
Even after choosing Hanzo, Shōzō still represented orthodoxy—the so-called legitimacy of Rain Village.
That label of "righteous authority" had shackled him.
Even though Shōzō didn't care about him at all.
"If Lord Hanzo wins," Hyūga Ming said quietly,
"then we become justice."
That sentence finally tipped the scales.
"Tonight," Kusamori said slowly,
"You move with me."
"Gladly."
Hyūga Ming's smile was brilliant.
"So—do we deal with Hanzo's mission first… or the replacement Shōzō sent?"
Kusamori watched Hyūga Ming's barely concealed excitement at the thought of killing.
This wasn't the man he remembered.
Wood Rain hadn't been this bloodthirsty before.
"Complete the mission first," Kusamori said.
"The rest can wait."
He still didn't want to raise his blade against fellow Rain ninja unless forced.
"Tch."
Hyūga Ming looked dissatisfied.
One less chūnin meant over a thousand less experience points.
Kusamori truly didn't understand how precious experience was.
Night – Rooftop of the City Lord's Estate
Hyūga Ming crouched at the edge of the roof, looking down.
Soldiers patrolled the courtyard below.
Because of the rogue ninja incidents, security had been tightened significantly.
"Just the two of us?" Hyūga Ming asked, glancing sideways.
Kusamori nodded.
"Hanzo's people are still few. In this city, it's only you and me."
Hanzo held the advantage in personal strength.
Shōzō held manpower.
"Wood Rain, I'll draw their attention," Kusamori said.
"You infiltrate and assassinate the target."
"Wood Rain—?"
Kusamori's eyes widened in shock as Hyūga Ming jumped straight off the roof.
Did this lunatic hear a single word he said!?
Hyūga Ming didn't care.
An assassination mission?
No one in this world understood assassination better than him.
He landed directly in the middle of the courtyard.
The soldiers froze, staring at him in confusion.
They were confused.
Hyūga Ming was not.
Shuriken filled his fingers.
"Boss fight start."
"Shuriken—Heavy Firepower!"
He became a merciless shuriken launcher.
Blades flew in all directions, harvesting lives indiscriminately.
The soldiers finally reacted.
"ENEMY ATTACK—!!!"
A shrill scream echoed through the estate.
Soldiers rushed in from every direction—
Straight into a storm of shuriken.
From the rooftop, Kusamori barely peeked over the edge.
Below him, Hyūga Ming looked less like a ninja and more like a slaughter machine.
A shuriken sliced past Kusamori's cheek, cutting his skin.
Blood ran down his face.
Kusamori noticed Hyūga Ming glance up at him.
"That bastard did it on purpose."
But… where was he even getting this many shuriken?
That tool pouch couldn't possibly hold this much.
Even ninja who ran weapon shops wouldn't carry this many.
And Hyūga Ming still hadn't stopped.
Kusamori listened as the sound of lives being cut down echoed endlessly.
He reviewed the mission again in his head.
This was supposed to be assassination, wasn't it?
Not extermination.
Grinding his teeth, Kusamori made his decision.
Since Hyūga Ming had drawn all the attention—
He would complete the assassination himself.
His body melted into water and vanished.
Hyūga Ming finally stopped throwing shuriken.
There were no enemies left in the courtyard.
Everyone who came had already lost their lives.
[EXP +1254]
Enough to level up again.
But to be safe, he filled the experience bar first.
[Level: Lv15 (3499/3500)]
One point away.
He quickly looted the bodies.
Low-Grade Health Potion
Low-Grade Mana Potion
Militia Hood: +10 Defense
Damaged Longblade: +10 Attack
Skill Scroll: Bone-Shedding Technique
Aside from the potions, everything else was useless.
Straight into storage.
Hyūga Ming packed everything away and looked up.
At some point, several umbrellas had appeared in the sky, drifting downward.
"Ninja Art: Thousand Needles Like Rain!"
Countless senbon burst from the umbrellas, saturating the ground around him.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Before the needles landed, Hyūga Ming vanished.
Substitution Technique.
He reappeared outside the affected area, staring grimly at a nearby rooftop.
Under the moonlight—
Three figures stood there.
"You're one of Hanzo's men, aren't you?"
The older of the three spoke coldly.
"Explain why you're here."
Hyūga Ming's pupils flashed pale white.
"Three genin…?"
"And the chūnin still hasn't shown himself."
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