As Kirito’s figure just vaulted up onto the yin-yang tiled roof covered in night mist, before he could dash far away, a chilling aura suddenly struck from a secluded corner of the adjacent roof.
Swoosh!
A sharp shuriken tore through the air, hurtling straight at Kirito’s face. The supreme reflexes of a Shinobi honed through countless life-and-death exercises helped him tilt his head to dodge by a hair’s breadth. The shuriken embedded itself deeply into a wooden beam behind with a force so strong it vibrated violently.
Kirito stood firm on the slippery tiled roof, his cold gaze sweeping across. From the darkness, another figure completely identical instantly emerged. That was also a Shinobi belonging to the hostile faction, his entire body tightly wrapped in ash-gray night-attire, a sharp short ninjato clutched firmly in his hand.
The rival Shinobi narrowed his eyes at Kirito, his voice issuing in a hoarse wheeze through the mask fabric:
"So you were the one who broke into the general’s room. The commotion just now was caused by you?"
Kirito did not reply, only letting out a cold snort as he drew the familiar kunai from the waistband of his shirt. He understood that this fellow’s appearance was no coincidence; the opponent had surely been lying in wait inside the mansion area for a long time just in case of unexpected situations. If he didn’t resolve this neatly or stall for time properly, all the guards of the castle would rush over to surround him.
"Want to block my path? A bit too early for that," Kirito spoke in a deep, arrogant voice.
"Insolent! Today, don’t expect to walk out of this castle alive!"
The opposing Shinobi let out a roar, his feet stomping hard against the tiles, sending shattered pieces scattering everywhere. He lunged forward, flashingly executing a hazardous horizontal slash aimed straight at Kirito’s throat.
Clang! Clash!
The sound of clashing metal rang out harshly in the quiet atmosphere of the night. Kirito used his kunai to block the attack completely, the strong recoil from the opponent causing him to pause half a step. Giving Kirito no time to recover, the enemy Shinobi immediately morphed his techniques, continuously following up with a string of ornate, rapid, and vicious sword strokes.
The two plunged into a breathless battle right on top of the towering roof. The dim moonlight cast downward, reflecting off the razor-sharp blades, tracing deadly outlines in midair. Kirito moved his body fluidly, dodging a slash sweeping across his ribs, taking the opportunity to pivot and kick straight toward the opponent’s chest. The Shinobi agilely raised his hands to block, but the force of the kick also pushed him sliding backward a few steps on the sloped tiled surface.
The combat did not end quickly. Both sides possessed superior speed, reflexes, and top-tier assassination skills, making the battle seem endlessly deadlocked. The opposing Shinobi constantly changed tactics, attacking in rapid succession while tossing small smoke bombs to disrupt Kirito’s vision.
Thud!
A dense white cloud of smoke erupted across the roof. Kirito narrowed his eyes, collecting his mind, relying entirely on hearing and sensing the killing aura to judge. Just as the dark figure swung a sword to slash from behind, Kirito immediately dropped low, using a strong leg sweep to break the opponent’s stance.
Clang!
The two continued to grapple, repeatedly swinging their weapons and trading blows for dozens of rounds. The sound of metal slamming against metal echoed continuously throughout the area, turning the roof corner into a true life-and-death arena. Kirito fought while mentally calculating the time, intentionally dragging out the fight to create a safe distance for himself to escape while draining the opponent’s stamina. The back-and-forth sword strikes grew sharper, sweat drenching the black fabric across his forehead, but both of their gazes still burned with the utmost determination, neither willing to yield an inch.
Right as the battle reached its fiercest moment, Kirito suddenly did a backflip to create a safe distance from the opponent. Instantly, his right hand pulled a small pouch filled with thick liquid from inside his jacket lining, while his left hand quickly flicked on a convenient little lighter.
That was definitely not water, but highly refined, extremely flammable kerosene.
When the enemy Shinobi lunged forward to slash a fatal blow, Kirito took a deep breath and spat out the entire volume of oil from his mouth, aiming straight toward the flame blazing from the lighter.
Whoosh!
A massive wall of fire suddenly erupted, roaring into a fierce fire dragon hurtling straight toward the opponent with a heat that scorched the entire night space.
The opposing Shinobi’s expression shifted, and he panicked to a halt. Reacting with extreme agility, he whipped out a large piece of cloth soaked in salty seawater from his sleeve, spreading it wide in front of his face to block the wall of fire. The fire met the water and rose in billows of steam, driving the Shinobi sliding far backward across the tiles to avoid the heat scorching his face.
Affording the opponent no time to recover, the Shinobi retreated while swinging his hand to launch a rain of shuriken packed thick as locusts, piercing straight toward Kirito’s position.
Swish, swish, swish!
Kirito tumbled continuously, fluidly contorting his body to dodge by a hair’s breadth. The shuriken embedded themselves densely into the wooden beams and roof tiles where he had just been standing.
Right at that moment, from the castle courtyard below, shouting rang out noisily. Dozens of guards with bright, blazing torches in their hands had arrived thick as ants. The commander shouted out orders, and instantly a row of archers drew their bows with unerring precision, firing countless flaming arrows bright as the sky up toward the roof to destroy the intruder.
Kirito did not dare hesitate, stepping hard against the tiled roof, continuously moving in a zig-zag pattern to dodge the torrential rain of arrows shooting up from below while keeping a wary eye on the rival Shinobi closely pursuing him without missing a step. He continuously leapt across higher rooftops to find an escape route.
Noticing the distance to the fortified border wall was close, Kirito pulled a sharp steel rope coil with an attached grappling hook from his waist, swinging his hand to hurl it hard toward the top of the castle wall.
Thud! The iron hook gripped tightly onto the stone ridge. Kirito immediately grabbed the rope, utilizing inner strength to climb up at a dizzying speed like a lizard.
But the guards below spotted him with sharp eyes, shouting as they rushed toward the rope anchor, combining forces to yank hard and detach the rope entirely so it dropped to the ground with a thud.
Losing his footing midway, Kirito did not waver at all. As gravity pulled his body downward, he proceeded to pull another hooked rope from inside his clothing, swinging his hand to hurl it hard toward a section of the wall devoid of guards further away. The hook bit deep into the stone ledge once more.
Kirito swung his body fluidly, vaulted, and successfully clung onto the towering wall in the blink of an eye.
Looking down from above at the scrambling guards below and the aggressively pursuing Shinobi, Kirito smirked arrogantly. He pulled three special smoke bombs from his pocket, flipped the pins with his fingers, and threw them hard to the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three smoke bombs detonated simultaneously, releasing a dense layer of black smoke that covered the entire wall area, completely neutralizing everyone’s vision.
Taking advantage of that golden opportunity, Kirito vaulted off the top of the tall wall, gliding through midair before landing safely on the outside. He blended into the dense darkness of the surrounding dense forest, quickly vanishing without a trace and leaving total chaos behind at the enemy castle.