My confrontation with Ichinose Yuki was balanced.
He was one level above me, but I had a slight advantage because of my speed and my better mental state compared to his.
Since the battle began, not even three minutes had passed, and already two of his companions had died by my hands.
The shock of realizing that the reapers who ended their lives were a group of children under fifteen years old, while he was an adult over thirty years old still fighting desperately for survival, weighed heavily on him and caused him to make several mistakes.
From the beginning, the plan was simple.
Pressure Tsukishiro Ren.
Teach him a lesson.
Kill the old man in front of him to show him how the world truly works.
To teach him that not everyone should be provoked.
Of course, that was already the second plan.
The first plan was to either recruit the talented boy who was strong enough to brutally defeat Tanaka Daichi...
Or, if that failed, take one of his arms as punishment.
They never intended to kill the boy.
The goal was to take one of his arms and kill the old man in front of him.
That plan was perfect.
They imagined the satisfaction of ruining the future of a genius.
But everything changed after Kurogane Tetsu, the guard captain who received small bribes to ignore some of Mukade's activities, returned from his visit to the inn where Ren's family was staying.
What he told them shocked everyone.
Ren's mother was as powerful as the Mizukage himself.
He had never seen the Mizukage in action, but the chakra released by Ren's mother was enough to force all of them to their knees.
That was bad.
Very bad.
Because by that point, they had already kidnapped and tortured old Kensuke, who was said to be close to Ren's brother.
So they created their second plan:
Scare the boy and kill old Kensuke in front of him, at least preserving the dignity of the Mukade group.
But who would have thought the situation would deviate so far from the original script?
In such a short amount of time, the boy's two siblings appeared...
And two of their main members died.
After another exchange of blows, we both retreated.
On Daichi's side, he was completely dominating Ichinose Kaede.
It was only a matter of time before he won.
But we couldn't waste any more time.
Hikari was under extreme pressure.
That old man possessed incredible combat experience.
He combined Water and Wind Release, making things extremely troublesome for Hikari.
And since he dared to disrespect my wife...
Don't blame me for being unpleasant.
"Don't pay attention to what he said, Hikari."
"He knows very well that if one of us dies, both they and their families will be buried together with us."
"Mother won't spare even the children of their families."
Kinsekiton: Kinzoku Ishi Toge (Metal Stone Release: Metal Stone Spikes)
Dozens of spikes flew toward me.
I was forced to move away to dodge them.
But I noticed that my words had shaken the two brothers.
Unlike the lonely old man, they probably had families.
"And as for that pathetic old man..."
"Don't listen to what he says."
"He's just a miserable soul who, while he was fighting in the war, his wife was being used by everyone in the neighborhood."
"His children were nothing more than cannon fodder during the war."
"And his youngest son probably discovered that his mother had always been a criminal and that he wasn't even his father's real child."
"So he decided to provoke the rich people in the neighborhood..."
"And died like the dog his adoptive father always was."
After those words, I found a small sofa nearby.
I kicked it toward Ichinose Yuki.
He was momentarily distracted.
And I used my greatest trump card.
Ankoku no Ki (Dark Ki)
I launched five dark energy blasts in five different directions, following the sofa that was being used as a distraction.
As Ichinose Yuki moved sideways to avoid it, he encountered a black energy blast.
It was too late to dodge.
He raised his arm to block with his kunai...
But it was already too late.
The Dark Ki sliced through his arm and chest.
I immediately rushed toward him.
And just as I was about to finish him...
Kinsekiton: Kinzoku Ishi Kabe (Metal Stone Release: Metal Stone Wall)
A stone wall protected him.
I looked at Ichinose Kaede, who was completely disheveled from the battle.
Everyone separated.
We stared at each other.
Goro looked at us with intense fury...
But there was also fear in his eyes.
He knew that after today, Mukade would probably cease to exist.
I reached into Hikari's bag and took out three bottles of water from the Space.
I distributed one to each of us who were still in fighting positions, while everyone waited for the first person to make a move.
The time they gave us to drink the water sealed their fate.
The spiritual water didn't just heal wounds.
It also relieved exhaustion and restored spent energy.
It brought us back to our peak condition.
"Now that the other brother has been knocked out, you two take care of the old man."
"I'll deal with the other one."
They nodded and looked toward the old man.
"You know, there is no great hatred between us."
"We can lower our weapons and each of us can go our own way as if nothing happened."
Arakawa Goro spoke.
"After all, nobody knows what might happen if we continue fighting."
"And while nothing truly serious has happened to you, we can stop."
"I accept today's loss."
"I admit what happened was our fault."
"But let's end this here."
"Everyone can continue living their own lives."
I looked at him with an expression that clearly said:
"Are you stupid?"
"Do you think we are fifteen-year-old children?"
After saying that, I couldn't help but blush.
Because technically...
I was a child.
"Do you think we are naive enough to believe such a weak lie?"
"We live in the Shinobi World."
"Wake up."
"If I let you leave right now, even if you don't have thoughts of revenge—which is extremely unlikely—I will never be able to rest peacefully again."
"I'll always be looking over my shoulder."
"And you already discovered our identity."
"Do you really think I would do something so foolish as letting you survive?"
"And third..."
"You touched the old man."
"The old man may be stubborn and hold grudges, which is honestly pathetic for someone his age..."
"But he is the closest thing my brother has had to a grandfather figure in recent years."
"So that old man is like..."
"John Wick's dog."
Nobody touches John Wick's dog.
Unfortunately for you...
You killed John Wick's dog.