“You…
didn’t you fall for my genjutsu?”
The Iwagakure Chunin double-checked, confirming that he had indeed injected his Yin-release chakra into Kiyohara’s body and that the genjutsu should have taken effect.
How could he be acting like nothing had happened?
Dispelled in an instant?
No, that wasn’t right—he hadn’t seen Kiyohara make any kind of countermove, and his chakra fluctuations had remained perfectly calm.
“There are plenty of things you don’t understand.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara, controlling Kiyohara’s body, smiled.
The next moment, he pulled a kunai from his ninja pouch and rushed at the Iwagakure Chunin at full speed.
It was so fast that before the Iwagakure Chunin could even react, he crashed to the ground.
A line of blood appeared on his neck as his gaze locked desperately onto Kiyohara.
Even at the moment of death, he was still filled with confusion—why was Kiyohara, wearing Genin attire, able to instantly kill him, a Chunin?
Could it be a Jonin fishing for low-ranked prey?
Unfortunately, there was no time to think about it further.
The massive loss of blood made his vision go dark, and he fell silent.
Body Flicker Technique!
“Such a fast Body Flicker Technique…”
Kurenai Yuhi watched Kiyohara, who seemed to vanish and reappear out of nowhere, knowing that his sheer speed was creating the illusion in her vision.
“Kurenai, use your remaining genjutsu to control the other Chunin.”
Having regained control of his body, Kiyohara crouched low and dragged the Iwagakure Chunin’s corpse into the bushes.
The scent of blood hadn’t drifted over yet—he had to take out the other Iwagakure Chunin guarding a different position at the base.
This way, even if the two Genin discovered them, it would be much easier.
“Okay.”
Kurenai Yuhi nodded.
She followed Kiyohara as they moved stealthily.
Because they had dispatched the Iwagakure Chunin so quickly, the other Iwagakure Chunin hadn’t even registered what was happening.
By the time he noticed, he saw a woman with curly black hair casting a genjutsu at him.
“Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!”
Kurenai Yuhi formed hand seals and unleashed her signature technique.
“Aaaaahhh!”
The scar-faced Iwagakure Chunin stared in terror at the illusion suddenly appearing before him.
He saw his comrade die right in front of him, powerless to stop it.
Unable to do anything.
Unable to change anything.
The day he lost his close friend, lost that bond, was the deepest pain of his life.
“Alright, he’s under the genjutsu now.”
Kurenai Yuhi let out a breath.
Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique could dredge up the deepest fears buried in a person’s heart, causing them to lose their sanity and freeze in place.
Looking at the terror-stricken Iwagakure Chunin, Kiyohara had already thrown a shuriken.
Shhk.
The shuriken pierced through his neck, spraying blood.
When people are killed, they die.
If Kiyohara didn’t kill these enemies, they would turn around and kill him instead.
After all, these bastards were planning to cut straight through the Land of Grass into the Land of Fire’s territory.
To put it bluntly, they were a bunch of invaders.
Kiyohara didn’t hold back in the slightest.
Having spent so long in the ninja world, he had gradually grown accustomed to this kind of atmosphere.
“Enemy attack!
Enemy attack!
Captain Hikari and Captain Tatsutomo are both dead!”
The remaining two Genin finally spotted Kiyohara and Kurenai Yuhi.
“Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!”
One of the Iwagakure Genin quickly formed hand seals, condensing a spear of mud-like material from the ground and launching it at Kiyohara.
The one on the right followed suit, using the same ninjutsu.
Two mud-like spears shot toward them rapidly.
“Lightning Release: Earth Flash!”
Kiyohara clasped his hands together in hand seals, and a burst of pale-blue electric arcs exploded from the ground right in front of him.
Crackle!
The arcs easily dissolved the two spears formed by the Earth Release ninjutsu.
“Damn, he’s a Lightning Release shinobi.”
Kaguya Otanigawa’s expression turned ugly.
Chakra natures had inherent advantages and disadvantages against one another.
And Earth Release was countered by Lightning Release!
Facing Kiyohara, they were inherently at a disadvantage from the start!
“Demonic Illusion…”
Kurenai on the side seized the opportunity, preparing to cast a genjutsu.
“Retreat!”
Kaguya Otanigawa said to his companion.
Then the two of them fled without looking back, charging into the bamboo forest and sprinting into the distance.
“Kurenai, don’t chase them.”
Kiyohara stopped Kurenai Yuhi from releasing her genjutsu.
“Shouldn’t we take them down, Kiyohara?”
Kurenai Yuhi was puzzled.
Judging by how Kiyohara looked, he still had plenty of chakra left to use ninjutsu, so why didn’t he act just now, and even stopped her from acting?
“Our goal is to draw the attention of the Iwagakure shinobi, not to wipe them all out.”
Kiyohara explained.
Even if they managed to kill one or two more, it wouldn’t change the situation here.
Better to let them spread the information, so more Iwagakure shinobi would take notice of them.
That way, they would have accomplished their mission.
With Rogue Ninja Kiyohara around, Kiyohara wasn’t afraid of sneak attacks.
He finally understood just how broken Dan Kato’s Spirit Transformation Technique really was.
The enemy couldn’t even see where his soul body came from, nor how it possessed and killed them.
It was a ninjutsu that maxed out both intelligence gathering and assassination capabilities.
Its only weakness was that while the soul left the body, Dan Kato’s physical form would be left in an unguarded state.
But Kiyohara didn’t have that problem.
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara could wander around freely without affecting him at all.
“I see.”
Kurenai Yuhi nodded.
So that was it.
As expected of the team captain, Kiyohara didn’t let the thrill of battle cloud his judgment.
He knew when to stop.
“Alright, let’s split the loot…
I mean, inventory the goods.”
Kiyohara said.
This was a stronghold, and a portion of food supplies was stored here.
That part, they couldn’t take.
The capacity of a sealing scroll was limited, so they couldn’t take everything.
But there were also items like ninja tools and armor—these didn’t take up much space, and they could be stored in a sealing scroll to carry away.
Meanwhile, Genma Shiranui, who had been lying in ambush outside, noticed that the enemies had fled in the opposite direction from Kiyohara, and never passed by the spot where he was hiding.
“Come on out, Genma.
I only had you guard that spot because I was worried I couldn’t kill the Chunin and they’d escape.
Now that the two Genin have fled, whatever, let them go.”
Kiyohara said as he lifted his clothes and pulled a sealing scroll from his chest, stuffing items into it.
“Don’t be shy, take some too.”
Kiyohara said.
“Uh…”
Genma Shiranui finally realized—this guy Kiyohara had intended for him to take on the Chunin all along!
“Kiyohara, you brought a sealing scroll with you?”
Kurenai Yuhi asked in surprise.
Not many shinobi carried sealing scrolls on a regular basis—a ninja pouch was enough for daily use.
Carrying an extra sealing scroll would affect one’s agility.
After all, whether it was the chainmail worn underneath or the flak jacket on the outside, they were designed for light equipment, not the heavy armor of the Warring States period.
“If I hadn’t brought a sealing scroll, wouldn’t all this have gone to waste?”
Kiyohara said matter-of-factly.
He was still carrying a load of debt on his back.
It totaled seven hundred thousand ryō.
A hundred thousand had gone to Tsunade, most of the remaining six hundred thousand had been spent on medicinal herbs, and the rest, aside from essential ninja tools and tools for making forbidden pills, had gone toward this sealing scroll.