[You have successfully destroyed a damaged mechanical puppet (Special Jonin-level).]
[Achievement Points +102!]
Seeing the system notification pop up, Amamiya Ayane finally confirmed that the puppet before her was completely scrapped.
From what she'd previously learned, the safest course of action in situations like this was to dismantle the puppet entirely—so puppet masters couldn't recycle the remains.
But with the system's authoritative confirmation, there was no need to waste the effort.
She lifted her leg and viciously kicked the metal hunk.
"Hiss—!"
The puppet flew off into the distance.
She inhaled sharply.
Good thing she had kept chakra reinforced on her feet during the fight.
Otherwise, surviving the battle only to injure herself on a final kick would've been utterly embarrassing.
Who decided ninja sandals had to expose the toes anyway?
Did they know how inconvenient that was in the Land of Rain?
The complaint flickered through her mind and vanished.
Ayane paused where she stood.
Rather than chase after Woodpecker recklessly, she cautiously made her way toward the center of the village.
The sounds of fighting that had drawn them here had been clear earlier—
But now, there was nothing.
Light rain began to fall again.
Under the night sky, Ma Dam Village was eerily silent.
Corpses lay soaked in mud, twisted in unnatural poses.
A woman reaching outward in desperation.
A man glaring with fury frozen on his face.
A small child curled tightly into a ball.
Without exception—
They would all be swallowed by the endless rain, like a drop lost in the ocean, like dust settling into earth.
Ayane swallowed, lips pressed tight.
This was the first time—past life or present—that she had seen such a hellish scene.
"Someone's here…"
"Is it Mom? It has to be Mom…"
"Not Mom. It's… it's a ninja! Shut up! Junlang, be quiet!"
Ayane's ears twitched.
The voices were faint, nearly drowned out by rainfall—but enhanced by chakra, she heard every word clearly.
She turned.
The sound came from a half-shattered water jar lying on its side.
Two children, by the sound of it.
Even so, Ayane did not lower her guard.
Zheng—
Arankiri slid from its sheath.
Step. Step. Step.
The whispering ceased.
Only the trembling of the cracked jar remained.
"Come out. I know you're in there," she said coldly.
No response.
Only rain.
Ayane inhaled slowly, recalling villainous tones from anime memory.
"Fire Release…"
That was the final straw.
"Die! Die! You demons, just die!"
A gray-haired boy burst out of the jar, clutching a brick.
His movements were wild and untrained, yet he charged fiercely at Ayane.
To a vigilant ninja, he posed no threat.
Ayane didn't even need her blade.
"Ow—!"
A simple deflecting strike with her left hand—
The boy fell into the mud, brick knocked from his grip.
"Big brother!"
A younger child scrambled out next, sprinting over on short legs.
"Junlang! Didn't I tell you not to come out?! And don't cry!"
The older boy tried to maintain authority despite defeat.
Junlang didn't answer.
He simply clung to his brother, sobbing.
"Mom… where are you… Junlang misses you…"
The older boy's voice softened.
Like a cornered cub, he curled around his brother.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't protect you…"
Village orphans?
Sympathy stirred within Ayane—
But Arankiri remained steady in her hand.
Ninja battles were battles of intelligence.
Without sensory ninjutsu—
Who knew whether these "children" were disguised enemies?
Verification was simple.
Ayane steadied her emotions.
Her blade flashed in the rain—
And slashed toward Junlang's neck.
"Don't!"
The older boy tried to shield him—
Too slow.
The blade descended—
Poof!
White smoke exploded.
Ayane halted her strike and seized the older boy, yanking him aside.
"Cold-blooded, aren't you? Is everyone in Amegakure like this?"
A mocking voice emerged from the smoke.
The sobbing "Junlang" transformed into a short, stocky ninja, grinning wickedly.
"Such a touching scene didn't move you at all? Ah, people like me—so kind—are rare in this world."
Ayane lifted her gaze.
His forehead protector bore no symbol of the Five Great Nations—
Only a deep scratch across it.
A missing-nin.
A wandering rogue.
Ayane gave a faint laugh.
"Oh. So just a stray dog with no home."
The rogue's expression shifted instantly.
"Hey, kid," he turned to the stunned boy with a grin. "Want to know where your mom and little brother went?"
The boy glared silently, like a wolf with nowhere left to retreat.
"Don't look at me like that."
The rogue's grin widened grotesquely.
"If I remember right… I tossed them into the kitchen stove."
He chuckled.
"That meal tasted pretty good. And you ate it up so happily, didn't you?"
"AAAAAAH—!"
The boy clutched his stomach, shrieking in horror.
Ayane's gaze turned utterly frigid.
Something indescribable detonated in her chest.
"You animal."
She struck the boy beside her, knocking him unconscious with a precise blow.
Her pale pink lips parted slightly.
"I'm really… angry now."