“Abero, stay here and deal with anyone who tries to escape,” Shin ordered.
Abero was proficient in Earth Release, making him the perfect choice to guard the entrance.
Anyone attempting to flee could be trapped and eliminated with an Earth Release technique.
“Alright.
Shin, Miyuki, you two be careful.” This had already been part of their plan, so Abero didn’t hesitate.
Not far away, a figure stood atop a tree.
It was Nakagawa Ichiryū.
“They’ve already infiltrated the stronghold?” Nakagawa Ichiryū had been watching the three from the beginning.
They had taken out six or seven hidden sentries without alerting a single person inside.
That alone left him puzzled.
“Could that kid have awakened his Sharingan?” It was a reasonable guess.
Finding every hidden sentry and planning such a precise route was impossible with a pair of binoculars alone.
Still, Nakagawa Ichiryū couldn’t be certain.
He would need to keep watching Shin.
“Miyuki, come with me.
We’ll clear out the bandits inside.
Remember, don’t hesitate.” “Understood.” Unlike Abero, who was visibly nervous, Ito Miyuki remained composed.
As expected of a Jonin’s daughter, she adapted quickly.
The two immediately headed up the mountain.
A Ninja’s physical conditioning far surpassed that of ordinary bandits.
Even under the cover of night, their vision was much sharper than a normal person’s.
And with Shin’s Byakugan leading the way, reaching the stronghold was effortless.
Under the pale moonlight, Shin and Ito Miyuki moved from branch to branch, closing in on the outer perimeter without making a sound.
The so-called stronghold was nothing more than a crude wooden fence.
Two tall wooden towers stood inside, each with a bandit keeping watch.
Farther in were more than twenty wooden houses.
Shin glanced over the crude settlement and frowned slightly.
With defenses this poor, why had they placed so many hidden sentries outside?
Were these bandits really that afraid of dying?
He shook the thought away and raised two fingers before pointing left and right.
One each.
Take out the sentries first.
Ito Miyuki nodded.
The two slipped into the darkness like shadows.
They reached the sentry posts almost simultaneously, drew their Kunai, and attacked from behind.
One hand clamped over each bandit’s mouth and nose while the Kunai punched straight through their hearts.
“Evolution Points +2.” A faint smile touched Shin’s lips.
He gestured toward the opposite side, and the two continued their silent advance.
They began cutting through the stronghold from the outer perimeter.
According to Shin’s earlier reconnaissance, there had been roughly 130 people inside, including the kidnapped women.
After eliminating more than twenty bandits along the way, fewer than a hundred remained.
The slaughter began.
Along the rows of wooden houses, Shin moved with cold efficiency, killing one bandit after another as though he had done it countless times.
But that was only what it looked like.
Every time his Kunai pierced flesh, something inside him recoiled.
His fingers would tighten around the handle, and he would force himself to breathe.
This was the Ninja World.
This was the battlefield.
If he wanted to survive, he had to adapt.
Phew.
Shin exhaled slowly.
After confirming the bandit was dead, he slipped out of the wooden house.
He stood outside for a moment, scanning the surroundings before moving toward the next building.
Through a narrow crack in the door, he looked inside.
One person.
Shin gently worked his Kunai into the door latch and lifted it.
The bolt clicked softly.
He slipped inside.
A moment later, he emerged with a Kunai dripping with blood.
So far, everything had gone smoothly.
Most of the bandits were sleeping.
They had grown careless after years of living in this remote stronghold, and that carelessness had given Shin and Miyuki the perfect opening.
He repeated the same process.
One house.
One target.
One silent kill.
Shin moved through the settlement like a Grim Reaper walking through a field of corpses, taking lives without making a sound.
Then something broke the silence.
A woman’s scream came from deeper inside the stronghold.
Shin stopped.
Through the crack in the door ahead, he saw a sight that made his expression turn cold.
A bald, heavily built man was viciously tormenting a woman.
She was pinned beneath him, begging desperately for mercy.
Blood covered her body, and the state of her clothes made it clear what she had endured.
“Beast.” Shin’s eyes hardened.
He kicked the door open.
Bang!
The bald man jerked around in shock.
“Who the hell are you?
Can’t you see I’m busy?
If you want a turn, wait your—” A flash of steel cut through his words.
His head flew from his shoulders.
Ah!
The woman, already terrified out of her mind, screamed when she saw the headless body collapse beside her.
Her cry tore through the entire stronghold.
Lights flickered on one after another.
Doors flew open.
Someone finally realized that something was wrong.
“Enemy attack!” “Don’t kill me!
Don’t kill me!” The woman was too terrified to even react to the corpse sprawled across her.
She kept screaming, her voice breaking.
“Don’t kill me!
Please, don’t kill me!” Shin kicked the corpse aside.
He picked up the man’s torn clothes from the floor and draped them over the woman, covering her as much as he could.
Then he turned and walked outside.
He didn’t regret what he had done.
The anger that had been building inside him finally erupted when he saw that scene.
She had nothing to do with him.
But those desperate eyes, that helpless expression, that humiliation—no person with a conscience could simply stand by and watch.
He was a Ninja.
But he was still a person.
He couldn’t become so numb that he could watch someone being abused and feel nothing.
“Everyone, get out here!
We’re under attack!
Enemy attack!” The bandit had barely shouted twice when a figure burst from a nearby house and slashed his throat.
It was Ito Miyuki.
She had no idea what was happening.
The moment she heard someone shouting “Enemy attack,” she rushed out.
Seeing Shin standing there, she frowned in confusion.
“What happened?” “Forget it for now.
Kill them all!” Shin’s voice was cold.
The hesitation he had felt with every previous kill was gone.
There was only anger left, burning through him.
“Okay.” Miyuki didn’t question him.
She tightened her grip on her Kunai and prepared to fight.
By then, twenty or thirty bandits had poured out from the surrounding houses.
Shin charged straight at them.
No techniques.
No elaborate movements.
No wasted motion.
His body moved on instinct, his Kunai flashing through the darkness as one life after another was cut short.
Blood sprayed across the ground.
A bandit raised his weapon.
Shin stepped inside his reach and drove the blade into his throat.
Another rushed from behind.
Shin twisted, ducked beneath the swing, and buried his Kunai beneath the man’s ribs.
He didn’t stop.
Ito Miyuki had only just started moving when she suddenly froze.
She stared at Shin’s back.
The boy she knew was gone.
“Shin, what’s wrong with you?” —- 📚 Want to read the next 30 chapters RIGHT NOW?