"Die!"
"Lightning Release: Thunder Lion Roar!"
In the forest, the bald man wearing the blue-and-white Kumogakure flak jacket unleashed crackling arcs of lightning from his hands. In an instant, the two blades he threw forward began to spark with electric currents.
Midair, the lightning gathered around the blades.
Moments later, the electricity condensed into the shape of a beast.
It looked somewhat like a lion, but even more like a wild dog with invisible wings.
Bai Xing calmly tilted his body to the side.
The so-called "Thunder Lion" attack missed him completely.
"That's it?"
He sneered with disdain.
Standing beside the bald man, the black-haired ninja Vey laughed coldly.
"As expected—Captain is the strongest!"
The moment Vey spoke, Bai Xing suddenly realized something.
He hadn't even turned around, but judging from the sword-finger gesture the bald man maintained with his right hand—
If I'm guessing correctly…
That dog can be guided.
Sure enough.
The blue lightning beast shot upward, slicing through tree branches as it rose.
Halfway through the sky—
It abruptly turned back, linking with the faint electric current extending from Ayai's fingertip.
"This," Ayai declared, "is the real finishing move!"
"Lightning Release: Lion Flash!"
Ayai slammed his right hand onto the ground and instantly leapt away with Vey.
A lightning arc traced along the ground like a compass needle, connecting with the lion of lightning in the air.
"I figured."
Whoosh!
This time the lightning moved ten times faster, like a missile falling from the sky.
It struck precisely where Ayai's hand had been moments before.
A deep-blue streak tore through the forest and slammed into the leaf-covered earth.
Watching closely, the two Cloud ninja saw that Bai Xing hadn't reacted in time.
The lightning pierced straight through his body—
BOOM!
The ground exploded, leaving a crater several meters wide.
The technique was extremely complex.
To someone unfamiliar with Lightning Release, it might seem like an S-rank difficulty technique.
But in Bai Xing's estimation—
Its power was only around A-rank, and its utility barely B-rank.
Jōnin combat was ruthless.
Once they attacked, it was meant to kill instantly.
If Bai Xing hadn't been pretending to be a genin who couldn't even perform basic techniques, perhaps Ayai would have immediately checked the corpse and scanned the surroundings.
Instead—
He was busy admiring the final result of his self-created A-rank technique, completely unaware that the black-haired boy had already used Substitution Technique and Earth Release to slip underground.
"Time to capture the Uchiha ninja," Ayai said smugly after admiring his work.
He raised his head—
"Not good!"
"What's wrong, Captain?" Vey asked.
The place where Bai Xing had been now contained only a substitution log with a burned hole in the center.
"Creating such a complicated lightning technique that interferes with hearing and vision… I really don't understand what you were thinking."
From beneath the ground, Bai Xing's upper body emerged.
From his right hand spread an invisible ROOM space, instantly expanding outward into a 180-degree translucent blue dome.
"What kind of jutsu is this?!"
"Is it… a Bloodline Limit?!"
Ayai roared and tried to struggle.
But Bai Xing had already fully emerged, sword in hand.
He flicked it lightly.
"ROOM — Slaughterhouse."
Within the ROOM, distance meant nothing.
Ayai and Vey's bodies were instantly cut in half.
The strike was so fast that both ninja activated Substitution Technique almost simultaneously.
Inside the ROOM, Bai Xing could sense everything within the pale blue sphere.
When he saw them substitute—
he simply watched calmly.
Substitution wasn't space-time ninjutsu.
It required movement.
After completing their seals, the two suddenly realized—
They hadn't moved at all.
They were still standing exactly where they were.
Both froze in shock.
"What's wrong?" Bai Xing's voice sounded from behind them.
"Did you notice you can't move?"
His voice was low, almost demonic.
"Don't worry~"
"It won't hurt."
"The doctor will give you a free surgery."
"No… what did you do to us?!" Ayai shouted.
He hadn't even noticed that although his body appeared connected—
his upper and lower halves were already separated.
"Captain! Let's kill him!"
Vey tried to turn his body.
His hands clutched a kunai.
But his legs didn't move at all.
"Vey?"
"What's wrong, Captain?"
Vey turned his head—
Only to see pure terror on Ayai's face.
"Y-y-you—!"
"Alright."
Bai Xing casually waved his sword again.
It looked like he hadn't even moved.
"Just missing your lower half."
"You still have plenty of life ahead."
In an instant—
Both of their arms were severed and fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Vey finally realized what had happened.
Looking down at himself, he screamed hysterically.
"That's impossible!"
"You're definitely not a genin!"
"We were tricked!"
Even Ayai, who had seen many things in life, had never witnessed such a horrifying ability.
"My comrades… will avenge me."
He instinctively tried to perform a Summoning Technique to send out a final message—
Then he looked down.
His arms were already lying on the ground.
Damn it.
It's over.
"Really?" Bai Xing smiled like a devil.
"No one will know what happened here."
"In this space…"
"Time, space, objects, and even your lives are under my control."
"Even… your voices."
The sky hadn't even turned dark yet.
But with the cold wind blowing and the oppressive blue dome surrounding them, the two Cloud ninja felt as though they were staring into hell.
They shook their heads desperately, trying to crawl away from the approaching boy.
"Relax."
"You won't die until I finish my experiments."
Without brain signals connecting to their limbs, the Cloud ninja were reduced to something resembling the ancient torture called human pigs, helplessly lying on the ground while the handsome but now terrifying young man conducted experiment after experiment.
"But I gave your arm back. Why aren't you moving?"
Vey looked at his right arm—
It had been attached to Ayai's toe-less left leg.
His vision went black.
Even Ayai, a jōnin, couldn't endure long.
The surgery didn't hurt.
But the visual horror alone shattered his sanity.
Eventually he began muttering:
"Kill me… kill me…"
"Boring."
Having lost interest, Bai Xing separated the experimental body parts.
He dispelled the ROOM and stabbed both men through the heart.
"With that kind of mental strength, don't become ninja in your next life."
He then crushed their skulls with his foot to prevent any intelligence units from discovering his true strength.
If he hadn't had teammates nearby—
he might have played with them longer.
Meanwhile…
Ritsu had attempted several sneak attacks from the grass.
Every single one was detected by Uchiha Mikoto and failed.
"Damn it!"
"You didn't even mention the Sharingan in the intel!"
"What kind of spies are we paying for?!"
He gritted his teeth.
But now there was no turning back.
He needed to capture someone as a hostage to force the Uchiha genin to surrender.
On the surface, Mikoto still looked calm.
But in reality, her chakra was nearly depleted.
She had already used:
Two C-rank Fire Release techniques
Multiple chakra-enhanced attacks
Several taijutsu engagements
Even Dai had exhausted himself fighting the blond Cloud ninja earlier.
And Nono had only half her chakra left.
"Mikoto," Nono said quietly.
"Don't relax. He might appear at any moment."
Just as the two girls stood back-to-back protecting the carriage—
BANG!
A sudden noise exploded from the grass.
Both girls, the client, the guards, and the exhausted Dai jumped in shock.
Then—
Rustling sounds came from the bushes.
Nono gripped her kunai tightly.
Mikoto kept staring forward without turning around.
Then a familiar voice came out.
"These guys are so poor!"
"They only had three thousand ryō on them!"
"With that kind of money, they still dare work as ninja?!"
Mikoto and Nono immediately face-planted in perfect anime fashion.
"That useless teacher…"
"That trash teacher…"
The danger on the road was finally over.
The horses, however, were too frightened to move quickly.
The group could only travel slowly.
But before nightfall, they finally reached the port city of Iron Ridge Fortress near the coast of the Land of Iron.
Later That Night
Clouds covered the moon.
After a while, a gap opened, and pale moonlight illuminated a silent forest.
"Three Cloud ninja…"
"At least chūnin level."
"All heads missing."
"Two bodies mutilated."
"One killed instantly…"
A man with a cloth mask, green eyes, and a hoarse voice examined the chaotic battlefield.
He was none other than Kakuzu.
Bai Xing had told his teammates the enemy team was probably chūnin.
He claimed he had barely defeated them with taijutsu.
He even left the corpses in the forest, saying wild animals might destroy the evidence.
But Nono had noticed something strange.
Bai Xing's clothes were torn—
yet he had no injuries at all.
(The real reason: Bai Xing was afraid the sword wounds might cause tetanus.)
Unfortunately—
Kakuzu had arrived afterward, hoping to collect the 30,000 ryō bounty.
"Thirty thousand…"
"You expect me to kill a jōnin-level team for thirty thousand?"
"Heh…"
Kakuzu turned and walked away.
According to the intelligence he gathered, the merchant had been escorted by a four-person genin squad.
But seeing the battlefield—
He snorted.
"A pure genin team?"
"Konoha really knows how to lie."
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