Explosion: Human Bombs

Although the blue Giant appeared in front of them in an instant, shielding them behind him, fear and panic still spread.

The crowd scattered and fled, stalls were overturned, and dumplings rolled all over the ground. Someone, running past the Blacksmith Shop, knocked over a branding iron, and a fire broke out in an instant.

Standing on the rooftop, looking down at the billowing smoke, Izuna instantly understood that this was the perfect opportunity for the assassins to strike.

He knew, and so did everyone else who was waiting for this moment.

In an instant, Chakra erupted from all directions.

Those Ninjas who had been hiding in the crowd, disguised as vendors, tourists, and performers, now revealed their true identities.

They rushed toward their respective targets from all directions, moving with incredible speed and precision, using the chaos of the crowd as cover to conceal their murderous intent within their panicked screams.

Wūwū Liánběi has made a move.

He stood at the entrance of an alley on the east side of the venue, his hands forming a mudra, his expression solemn.

His technique is simple: he implants Chakra threads through the wound and then detonates them.

The person with the buried fuse looks no different from an ordinary person, but as soon as they get close to the target, even a single blow can turn them into a human bomb.

He has already buried more than a dozen people.

Those people who were still looking around in terror had no idea that bombs had been planted in the bodies of those around them.

He hid in the shadows, controlling people to go to various places, targeting the people they wanted to kill, and directing the bombers to approach them.

He acted cautiously.

The people sent out carefully collected their Chakra, their blank faces downcast, blending into the fleeing crowd, looking no different from Ordinary People.

The surrounding Ninjas and Samurai were busy dealing with the chaos, and no one noticed that the seemingly normal "civilians" were slowly approaching their respective targets.

Only when they got closer did the people around the target finally realize something was wrong.

Someone drew a knife and slashed at the approaching "commoner," the blade cutting through flesh and blood seeping out.

The wound wasn't deep, but the next second, the person who had been slashed suddenly stiffened, and something swelled under their skin, as if some living creature was churning between their skin and muscles.

The man's eyes bulged out, his mouth was open, and his entire body swelled up in just two breaths, turning into a purplish-black ball of flesh radiating high temperature.

Boom.

The blast wave overturned half a street.

The target, the guards, and the innocent civilians around them were all blown away, crashing into walls, stalls, and stone pillars, falling to the ground without a sound.

Wūwū Liánběi stood in the shadows, watching expressionlessly.

He is usually an extremely loving older brother to his younger sister, and everyone in the Land of Lightning knows how gentle he is towards his family.

But he showed this gentleness to no one else.

Those targets, those civilian lives, were nothing more than the price to pay for completing the mission in his eyes.

If they can complete the mission and protect their sister, then their deaths will have been worthwhile.

He did the same thing and killed three more people.

The fourth suicide bomber had just reached the target when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

Izuna flipped down from the roof and landed in front of the civilian who was about to swell up. His Sharingan Mitsudomoe spun rapidly, Chakra flowed into his palm.

The purplish-black light beneath the man's skin was peeled away layer by layer, like pulling silk threads, as he drew it out of his flesh and blood, scattering it into the air.

The swollen body slowly deflated, and the man collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Izuna?"

Izuna turned his head and saw that it was Chekku, who had fought with him in the Arena before.

Chekku frowned at him. "What's going on?"

Izuna shoved the man into his arms and said urgently, "Never mind that for now, I have to keep searching. These people are triggered by injury, so don't draw your sword unnecessarily. Protect your employer."

After Izuna finished speaking, he vanished in Body Flicker Technique.

He slid across the rooftops to his next target, then stopped another, and another.

The Sharingan spun rapidly in its sockets, each strike precisely detaching the abnormal Chakra threads from the body and flinging them to the ground.

Lianbei buried more than a dozen fuses, Izuna dismantled more than a dozen.

He stood next to the last person, flicked the extracted Chakra onto the ground, watched the purplish-black light scatter in the wind, then straightened up and glanced at the Shitty Map.

A new marker has appeared on the map.

In the opposite direction from where those fuses originated, deep in the alley, a point of red light was shining.

Then the system popped up a task.

[Mission: Find the culprit behind all this.]

[Reward: Six Paths Divine Artifacts, Banana Palm Fan]

Izuna narrowed his eyes. "So it was you, you bastard, who was behind all this trouble, wasn't you?"

Luckily, I watched all 720 episodes of Hokage, otherwise I wouldn't know where to begin!

Ketsuryūgan, is that it? So brutal, you deserve to have your entire clan wiped out!

Wūwū Liánběi never expected that he would still be found even though he had never shown his face and had been operating from the shadows the whole time.

Izuna darted across the rooftops, his figure as swift as a shadow.

While Lian Bei was still in the alley, he suddenly heard a gust of wind overhead. He looked up and saw a cat mask fall from the eaves.

"Thief! Where do you think you're going!"

Lian Bei's pupils suddenly contracted.

He hadn't expected Izuna to find him directly.

He turned to leave, but as soon as he took a step, his foot tightened.

A black tentacle emerged from the shadows in the corner, wrapped around his ankle, and pulled him to the ground.

Kakuzu emerged from the shadows and looked at him expressionlessly.

"You're insane!" Kakuzu's voice was a little strained, but he was genuinely angry. "Those are innocent civilians!"

Without waiting for Lian Bei's reply, he reached out his hand, Chakra surging between his fingers, aiming straight for Lian Bei's throat.

But Lianbei is not one to be trifled with.

His blood-red eyes flashed, and Kakuzu abruptly stopped moving.

He then rolled away to dodge Izuna's punch.

The ground cracked, dust flew everywhere, Wūwū Liánběi took the opportunity to slash his wrist, blood gushing out and turning into Blood Snakes that coiled around Izuna, who had rushed out of the smoke and hadn't reacted yet, throwing him far away.

Kakuzu froze on the spot, his arm hanging in mid-air, unable to move.

Lian Bei stood up, dusted himself off, and sneered, "Kakuzu, do you think I didn't notice your little scheme? Do you think I kept you by my side for no reason?"

Renbei slashed Kakuzu's cheek with Kunai, and blood seeped out.

Immediately afterwards, a strange, throbbing pain rose from deep within his chest, as if something was growing inside his flesh and blood, pushing his ribs outward.

Kakuzu's pupils constricted, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, but he was unable to stop his mutation.

Lian Bei gave a silent smile, intending to leave.

But the next second, a blue blade of light slashed down from the side.

Lian Bei's pupils contracted, and he rolled on the spot.

Izuna appeared behind him without his noticing, the blade grazing the back of his neck, but Izuna's target wasn't him, but Kakuzu him.

The process of Kakuzu's distortion was unexpectedly halted by this single strike.

The brown-skinned, green-eyed youth exhaled sharply, the throbbing pain in his chest instantly subsiding. He staggered a step, grabbing the wall to keep from falling.

Lianbei still wanted to escape, but could he outrun Izuna?

He was subdued and pinned to the ground in an instant.

The speed was so fast that Kakuzu nor Renbei could see how it was done. Renbei fainted without uttering a sound.

Kakuzu looked at Renbei on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his back.

He was now incredibly grateful that he had just betrayed them.

These monsters from Konoha are far beyond their capabilities to deal with!

On the other side, Satō Ken intended to take advantage of the chaos to directly attack his target and end the battle quickly.

He disguised himself as a panicked vendor, blending into the fleeing crowd, clutching a poisoned Kunai in his hand. His target was just ten steps ahead, his back to him, running into the alley.

He quickened his pace, Kunai slipped silently from his sleeve.

But just then, he saw someone.

Kakuzu.

Kakuzu stood at the alley entrance, carrying the Renbei in his hand, with a young man wearing a cat mask standing next to him.

Satō Ken suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Damn it!

What on Kakuzu is Kakuzu doing?!

He gripped the Kunai tightly in his hand, his teeth grinding together.

Just when they were about to succeed, something went wrong.

Kakuzu was clearly paid to help, so why would he betray us at this crucial moment?

He realized he couldn't continue the mission, so he immediately put the Kunai away and turned to disappear into the crowd.

Satō Ken knew that he couldn't defeat those two on his own.

We must find another way to complete the task!

Satō Ken plans to find Ringo Hayato first, and then make further plans.

Knowing that Hayato had gone to the Shipyard, he headed straight for the dock.

The docks were in chaos.

The Chakra Storm just now blew the docked ships to pieces, broke several ropes, and a small boat was smashed in two by the waves.

The boatmen scattered and fled, some crouching behind cargo containers, trembling with fear.

Jian walked through the chaotic crowd, his eyes scanning every corner.

Then he saw Takahashi Yū.

The woman he had always looked down on was helping Hayato walk over from the dock.

Yu was completely soaked, her hair was plastered to her face, and there was blood on the corner of her mouth that she hadn't wiped clean.

The Hayato was in an even worse state than her; his arms hung limply at his sides, covered in dark red blood from his shoulders to his fingertips, his flesh torn and his bones likely broken.

His face was as white as paper, his lips were bloodless, and his steps were unsteady; he was only able to walk forward by being half-dragged and half-supported by You.

Jian's expression changed drastically.

He rushed forward, took Hayato's arm from the other side, and took most of the weight.

"What happened?" His voice was urgent and strained. "How did he get so badly injured?"

Yu's lips moved, his voice hoarse. "We encountered the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers; they're the ones who beat the Hayato into this state."

Upon hearing this, Jian's anger immediately surged from his chest.

He abruptly turned to look at Yu, his eyes filled with barely suppressed venom. "You vicious woman! I knew from the start that doing this with you was inappropriate! Even if it had succeeded, that would have been one thing, but you let Hayato suffer such a serious injury! I will make you pay!"

Upon hearing these words, Yu's taut string snapped, and her expression instantly turned extremely sorrowful, tears rolling down her cheeks.

It wasn't the affected tears of a delicate young woman; the tears were silent, one after another, falling onto her clothes, as if something had finally cracked open from within her.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice choked with sobs. "It's all my fault for dragging him into this. You can do whatever you want to me afterward, just get him to a safe place first."

Jian was stunned.

He didn't understand why You was suddenly so sad. He had thought that this woman would act indifferent as usual, or say a few perfunctory words to shirk responsibility.

But she cried so horribly, spoke so softly, and even forgot to hide it.

His body, which had just been holding on, suddenly went limp.

Ken immediately pulled Hayato over and lifted him up himself.

After helping Hayato to his feet, he looked at Yuu and noticed that her expression had returned to its previous resolute state, so he couldn't help but turn his face away.

He hoisted the Hayato onto his shoulder again, his tone firm, but noticeably softer than before.

"We'll talk about this later." He paused. "Kakuzu just betrayed us; our mission might not be successful."

You suddenly raised her head, her beautiful eyes wide open, tears still streaming down her face. "What? That seemingly honest guy? How could he..."

Ken rolled his eyes.

"You've been all Hayato- dovey with Yuuto these past few days, haven't you even bothered to observe our group?"

He turned his head, his tone sarcastic, "That guy has been plotting rebellion for a long time. If there were evidence, our interim commander would have killed him long ago."

Yu took the Lightning Blade from his pocket and held it in his hand, unable to help but sigh, "Oh dear... what a mess... I failed my mission, and your mission is ruined too. Now, forget about the mission reward, we'll have to pay a lot in breach of contract fees as well."

Ken rolled his eyes, hoisted Hayato onto his shoulder again, and said with a barbed tone, "You're still thinking about your breach of contract penalty? The Land of Hot Water is in chaos now, we have to run. If we don't, and the Land of Hot Water finds out and investigates us, we're all dead."

Yu said with great concern, "But Hayato is so badly injured... he simply can't make it to land by boat now."

Jian rolled his eyes again, this time even more forcefully, and his voice rose a half-octave. "I told this guy a long time ago that your wife is a menace! He just wouldn't listen! Now look what happened! We're all going to die here!"

Hayato had been too weak to speak, suddenly laughed. Halfway through his laugh, he hissed, his brows furrowed, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead, but the slight smile on his lips hadn't completely faded.

Jian was so startled by the laughter that he almost jumped up. "Holy crap! Why didn't you say so sooner?! You scared me to death!"

Yu immediately leaned over, placed her hand on Hayato's shoulder, and asked in a tone of urgency she herself didn't realize, "Hayato, how are you?"

Hayato coughed twice, turned his head, and half-opened his eyes to look at Yu's face, which was stained with blood and sweat. His lips moved, but his voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

"He... won't die."

Yu stared at him for two seconds, pursed her lips, as if she had made up her mind, raised her head, and scanned the alley leading to the foot of the mountain from the dock.

"Come with me," she said. "I know a Hidden Residence."