Kagutsuchi Shin, who had already approached Ishikawa Village, suddenly came to an abrupt stop.
Ahead of him, in an open clearing several hundred meters away from the village entrance, more than a dozen corpses were scattered across the ground.
They were the exact targets of the mission—the Bandits.
The thick smell of blood hung heavily in the air, enough to make anyone nauseous.
Under the pale moonlight, the corpses revealed horrifying wounds. Nearly all of them had been killed instantly with single, precise strikes. The cuts were clean and efficient, clearly not the work of ordinary villagers or internal conflict among the bandits themselves.
Shin's pupils narrowed sharply.
The moment his instincts sounded the alarm, his hands had already begun forming seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Four Shadow Clones appeared instantly around him, standing back-to-back with the original body as they scanned the silent darkness with absolute vigilance.
"Come out." Shin's cold voice echoed through the night.
In response, five figures silently emerged from shadows behind the surrounding trees and boulders.
Animal masks. Standard ninja gear. Perfect team formation. His every possible escape route had already been sealed off.
Shin's gaze swept across the group. They were disciplined, moved with excellent coordination, and every pair of eyes was locked firmly onto him.
And judging by their presence alone, there were at least four Chunin among them… along with one Jonin-level leader.
"Who are you?" Shin asked coldly, probing for information. "And why are you operating inside the Land of Fire?"
The five masked ninja remained completely silent.
After several long seconds of suffocating stillness, the ninja wearing the tanuki mask at the front finally spoke.
"Kagutsuchi Shin." He directly called Shin by name. "Your talent should not be wasted beneath meaningless light."
The moment those words were spoken, Shin instantly understood everything.
"Root…" His eyes turned ice-cold as a mocking sneer spread across his face. "So Danzo sent you?"
As expected, that bastard had held onto the humiliation from the Hokage's Office and resorted to underhanded methods like this.
The tanuki-masked ninja neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply continued speaking in the same emotionless voice.
"Darkness is the soil that nurtures true power. Abandon resistance and come with us to the place where you belong."
"The place where I belong?" Shin laughed coldly. "What, so I can end up branded with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal like the rest of you? Turned into another puppet hiding underground?"
For the first time, a slight stir flickered through the eyes of several Root ninja. But none of them spoke.
Without waiting for an answer, Shin continued mercilessly. "What I don't understand is why Danzo is so obsessed with me."
His gaze swept mockingly across the five masked ninja in front of him.
"Does he think I'm easy to manipulate because I'm young? Or because my parents were ordinary ninja without backing, he thinks he can do whatever he wants?"
A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Shin's lips.
"Hokage-sama rejected him directly to his face, but since he doesn't dare challenge the Hokage himself, he resorts to bullying a newly graduated Genin instead?"
"He's really fallen far."
The atmosphere instantly turned colder.
The eyes beneath the tanuki mask became completely emotionless.
"Insulting Danzo-sama is another offense added to your record." He slowly raised one hand, killing intent finally leaking into his voice.
"It seems surrender is not an option for you."
"Move. Capture the target. If he resists…" A chilling pause followed. "Severe injury is permitted."
The instant the order was given, the four Root Chunin exploded forward simultaneously. They became little more than afterimages as they attacked from four separate directions.
Cold flashes of kunai sliced straight toward Shin's vital points.
Four Chunin supported by a Jonin leader.
Shin's expression darkened slightly, but a fierce grin slowly appeared on his face. "You think that highly of me?"
"Then come."
The four Shadow Clones instantly met the attackers head-on without hesitation.
Each clone intercepted one Root Chunin, and violent close-quarters combat erupted immediately.
The sharp clang of metal colliding echoed repeatedly through the clearing.
At the same time, Shin's original body had already completed another set of seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Massive chakra surged out of his body without restraint.
A gigantic earth dragon, far larger than normal, erupted from the ground with a thunderous roar before charging directly toward the battlefield where the Root Chunin were engaged.
"What?!"
"This scale—?!" One Root Chunin's face changed instantly. He tried to retreat, only to be pinned down by the Shadow Clone fighting him.
At that moment, the tanuki-masked Jonin finally moved.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
A massive earthen wall rose from the ground, thick and solid, intercepting the charging Earth Dragon.
The next second—
Boom!!!
The giant earth dragon slammed violently into the defensive wall.
The explosion shook the entire forest like thunder, splitting the night sky apart. Dust and debris erupted everywhere as rocks and dirt blasted outward like a storm.
Even Ishikawa Village in the distance reacted as scattered lights began appearing inside several homes.
As the smoke slowly cleared beneath the moonlight, the massive Earth Flow Wall was revealed to be completely shattered.
The four Root Chunin behind it had been forced backward by the shockwave and looked visibly disheveled, though none had suffered serious injuries.
The tanuki-masked Jonin slowly lowered his hands from the completed seals.
For the first time, genuine seriousness appeared beneath his mask.
"As expected…you really are a monster." He slowly drew the short blade from behind his back. "Your chakra reserves are abnormal."
The arrogance in his posture vanished completely as he finally stepped forward personally.
"But battles between ninja are not decided by chakra alone." His voice turned cold. "I'll show you the true difference between a Jonin and a Genin."
Shin felt the pressure radiating from the man before him, but instead of fear, a rebellious grin spread across his face.
"Chakra alone?"
"Heh… you're right. Ninja battles aren't decided by chakra alone."
Shin slowly raised his hands once more.
The ocean-like chakra inside his body surged violently again, like a beast finally awakening. The sheer pressure distorted the surrounding air with visible fluctuations.
"But…" His eyes locked onto the masked Jonin. "I'd rather show you exactly what happens when this 'insignificant' amount of chakra erupts all at once."
Before the last word even finished leaving his mouth, his hands had already completed another sequence of seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!" Under Shin's terrifying chakra output, the power of the A-rank jutsu skyrocketed instantly.
A monstrous torrent burst forth like a collapsing tsunami, surging across the battlefield and sealing off every possible escape route.
Faced with a destructive attack large enough to swallow the entire area, the pupils beneath the tanuki mask contracted violently.
For the first time since the battle began, the Jonin completely lost his composure.