“Man…” One of the rogue ninja crouched beside a corpse, searching its belongings as he complained to the companion behind him without looking back.
“If the Third Hokage hadn’t sent us on a suicide mission, I actually liked the old man.” “He really did treat shinobi from civilian families pretty well.
But honestly…
I’d rather fight those Uchiha bastards than deal with those damned sealing techniques.” Trusting both his captain and the Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique, the Kirigakure Missing-nin maintained only the bare minimum of vigilance.
Unfortunately for him…
It wasn’t nearly enough.
“I’m talking to you.
Cat got your tongue?” Receiving no reply, the Missing-nin frowned and turned around.
His mouth fell open.
His soul nearly left his body.
An ene— The last thing he saw was a gleaming kunai…
…and the corpse of his companion.
Slash!
Jiyun silently watched as Unkawa killed one man before vanishing like a ghost, only to reappear behind another.
Compared to when he had been demonstrating while guiding her…
He was even more decisive when working alone.
After ensuring his target couldn’t make a sound, Unkawa simply slipped his kunai into the man’s brain with surgical precision before quietly dragging the twitching body into the shadows.
Not a single person noticed.
In less than a minute…
Every scattered Missing-nin aboard the ship had been eliminated.
He was like a silent reaper harvesting lives.
Only the leader remained, seated at the stern, gazing into the distance.
“Hm?” At that moment, the rogue leader wrinkled his nose.
Confusion flashed across his eyes.
Has the bloody mist gotten thicker?
It clung to his skin like strands of spider silk.
“I don’t remember putting this much chakra into the Hidden Mist Technique…” The moment those words left his mouth, his pupils contracted.
He abruptly looked up, his eyes darting around.
The ship had suddenly become…
Silent.
Sometimes, no matter how noisy a place had been moments before, everything would inexplicably fall silent in an instant.
In his previous life, Unkawa had once heard a strange explanation for that phenomenon.
Whenever it happened…
…it meant an angel had just passed by.
But compared to some mysterious angel…
Unkawa thought he resembled a ghost far more.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind suddenly swept up behind the rogue leader, scattering the crimson mist and revealing that ghostly silhouette.
The leader’s eyes spun toward the movement.
He saw only a flashing blade rushing toward him.
His mind reacted.
His body didn’t.
He could only remain frozen where he sat, silently awaiting death.
Slash!
A thin line of blood appeared across his throat.
He instinctively clutched at his neck.
Blood continued pouring through his fingers.
Thump!
Unkawa watched expressionlessly as the man collapsed to his knees.
His slash had nearly severed half the man’s neck—from the vocal cords and larynx down to the cervical spine.
Within seconds, blood would flood his lungs with every breath.
“Ghk…!” Blood spilled from the rogue leader’s mouth as disbelief filled his eyes.
“How…
is this possible…?” Before defecting, he had served in Kirigakure’s Hunter-nin Corps— The dreaded Corpse Disposal Unit, feared even by fellow shinobi.
A special unit operating directly under the Mizukage’s ANBU, every member was an elite specializing in assassination and medical techniques.
They hunted Missing-nin.
They disposed of bodies.
Whether it was assassination, pursuit, or close combat…
The first skill every Hunter-nin mastered was instinct.
Countless life-and-death battles had allowed them to develop what they called a “red line.” The instant anything entered that invisible boundary, they would detect it and react immediately.
His own red line extended five meters.
Nothing could enter that range unnoticed.
Nothing.
Not even a mosquito.
Yet today…
He had encountered an exception.
Body Flicker Technique?
A kekkei genkai?
Too fast.
Too silent.
It was completely beyond his understanding.
“Ghk…” Clutching his throat, he stared fixedly at the young man before him as though looking at a ghost that shouldn’t exist.
Even the Hidden Mist Technique had detected neither sound nor chakra.
Had he not seen Unkawa with his own eyes…
He would never have believed someone was actually standing there.
He had survived countless deadly missions.
He was a Special Jonin who had successfully defected from Kirigakure.
To die so absurdly at the hands of a mere teenager…
People would probably laugh if they heard the story.
“Heh.” Unkawa actually laughed.
“Nice acting.” The next instant…
The body trembling on the deck suddenly became completely still.
Pop!
With a crisp sound like a bursting bubble…
The “corpse” at Unkawa’s feet dissolved into a puddle of water.
Behind him, a cloaked figure burst from that puddle.
A kunai shot straight toward Unkawa’s heart.
Invisible killing intent enveloped him.
The rogue leader slashed with his kunai, the blade whipping up a fierce gust that blew away the crimson mist.
Yet when the fog cleared…
Only the gray curtain of rain remained.
Along with a shadow in the corner.
Corpses.
Nothing but corpses.
Bodies were piled high against the side of the ship.
Dark red blood pooled across the deck, slowly releasing a crimson haze that filled the gaps left by the dispersed mist.
As for where Unkawa had been standing…
There was no one there.
“Damn that brat…” The rogue leader couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trapped inside a nightmare.
It was as though he had wandered into a genjutsu made from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
He cursed under his breath.
At the same time, he instinctively held his breath.
The ship once again fell into absolute silence.
Only the blood-red mist remained.
Along with the thunder of his heartbeat.
And his ragged breathing.
He could see nothing.
Hear nothing.
Sense nothing.
“What kind of joke is this?!” His furious roar was filled with unmistakable fear.
The caster of the Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique could sense targets through the chakra dispersed within the mist.
That synergy with assassination techniques was precisely why it was a signature jutsu of Kirigakure shinobi.
As long as someone used a ninjutsu…
As long as chakra fluctuated…
He should have been able to detect it.
Everything he knew had been built upon that technique.
Yet now…
Slash!
The sound of flesh being pierced was barely audible before the wind carried it away.
This time…
He never had the chance to use the Water Clone Technique.
“Cough…!” The rogue leader stiffly lowered his head.
A ring-shaped line of blood had appeared around both wrists.
As blood gushed out…
Both severed hands slid from his arms and struck the deck.
The cuts were perfectly smooth.
Every muscle fiber was cleanly exposed.
Steam rose from the crimson edge of Unkawa’s bloodstained kunai as though the weapon itself were alive, greedily breathing the air.
The sight left the rogue leader speechless.
His scream died inside his throat.
“Shh.” Unkawa gently covered the man’s mouth.
His voice drifted softly like willow catkins in the wind.
“Would you mind being a little quieter?” Please don’t frighten that timid child.
Suddenly…
Unkawa raised an eyebrow.