Victory

Victory

One minute. Not a second could be wasted...

Lin Ke paid no attention to what the scarred man thought. A brief clash had been enough for him to tell that the man was cannon fodder, not even worthy of having a name. If not for wanting to summon a Stand suited for combat, quickly deal with all his opponents, and perhaps join a battle on Yan Shui Teacher's level...

He could have dealt with the man without even using his Stand.

With that thought, he swiftly rushed toward the group locked in close combat. Yuan Wei and Xia noticed his arrival and decisively retreated—

Both had witnessed how terrifying their leader was after deploying his technique. Neither wanted to be accidentally killed by their own teammate.

"Whoosh!" Seeing Lin Ke approach as though completely unguarded, the Amegakure ninjas naturally showed no mercy. They charged at him, intending to kill their target.

As both sides rushed toward each other, every "Amegakure" ninja in the corridor entered within five meters of him in an instant. Metal Stand's range was five to ten meters. Since it had not been developed at all and was being used directly, five meters was the most effective range.

"Splurt!"

All kinds of sharp metal objects burst from the ninjas' bodies like blooming flowers, eagerly finishing them off in an instant.

They really were all cannon fodder.

Lin Ke did not even glance at the group that was thoroughly dead. He merely turned back to look at his two panting companions.

Yuan Wei and Xia had both grown considerably. As young genin—only eleven years old—they could now join forces and hold off nearly ten Amegakure ninjas. Though they could not win, and might lose if the fight dragged on, that was absolutely exceptional for genin.

The three said nothing. With only a glance exchanged, they almost simultaneously smashed through a nearby door and jumped out of the hotel window.

The hotel next door, where the Sunagakure ninjas and Land of Wind merchants were staying, was already belching thick smoke. It had probably been attacked as well.

On the street in the distance, Nara Yan Shui was entangled with a middle-aged man wearing an Amegakure Forehead Protector. Several samurai from the caravan were desperately resisting the attacks of two surrounding Amegakure ninjas, while the Land of Fire Merchant hugged his head and trembled behind a carriage.

Were these Salamander Hanzo's men, or ninjas under the Akatsuki Organization? What were they thinking, carrying out an assassination so openly with so many people?

Doubt surfaced in Lin Ke's heart. He gathered chakra and rushed over, kicking the battered allied units—the samurai—away. There was no helping it. He had only just acquired Metal Stand and had not developed it yet. The simplest and least exhausting method was to crudely make the iron in an area go berserk. Any slightly more complex or precise manipulation would waste too much energy.

"Splurt!" The two Amegakure ninjas met the same fate as their companions.

Stands were truly terrifying when it came to killing someone on first encounter. Without intelligence, it was impossible to withstand their attacks head-on, making it highly likely to be taken out instantly.

"Crack, crack, crack! Boom!" The hotel where Sunagakure was staying was swept up by a violent gale and exploded. The building's upper half vanished into thin air.

Lin Ke merely glanced over before continuing toward the jonin battlefield without stopping.

When the middle-aged "Amegakure" ninja saw the three Konoha brats emerge and his two subordinates instantly killed by such a bizarre method, then connected that with the Konoha brats' close-range approach, he retreated without hesitation.

"Whoosh!" Nara Yan Shui decisively seized the chance. He first used the Shadow Sewing Jutsu to disrupt his opponent's escape route, then rapidly formed hand seals as his shadow spread out and caught the man.

Shadow Imitation Technique

The strength of this technique lay in the fact that, as long as one had enough chakra, one could forcibly control an opponent. Its drawback was that the user would be controlled as well. That made it a godly technique for cooperating with teammates. Earlier, when the enemy had the numbers, he could only stall. Now that his side had the numbers, there was nothing more to say.

Seeing Lin Ke, who had used that strange technique, getting closer and closer, the middle-aged ninja caught by the Shadow Imitation Technique frantically refined chakra in an attempt to break free. The shadow on the ground trembled continuously.

Sweat also kept rolling down Nara Yan Shui's forehead. The two had already been fighting for a while. Since the other man had feared reinforcements from the Sunagakure ninjas next door, the battle had been extremely intense, with plenty of ninjutsu used.

As miraculous as the Shadow Imitation Technique was, it consumed no small amount of chakra when activated. If the opponent continuously refined chakra to resist, the technique could be broken if the user's chakra could not keep up.

Fortunately, neither of them possessed monstrous chakra reserves or physical strength. He did not have much chakra left, and his opponent probably did not either.

The middle-aged ninja revealed a do-or-die expression. Black markings rapidly spread from his neck, and his depleted stamina and chakra surged back. Almost in the next second, he broke free from the shadow binding on the ground, turned, and tried to flee.

This is?!

Lin Ke noticed that detail. It was as if lightning had struck through his mind, and his emotions churned.

"Whoosh!" Another spike controlled by the Shadow Sewing Jutsu briefly blocked the middle-aged ninja's path.

"Ghk—" He had entered within ten meters of Lin Ke.

The iron in his blood was stripped away. The middle-aged ninja, who had been nimble and had just dodged the Shadow Sewing Jutsu, staggered and nearly fell. Yet as the curse mark spread across his skin, he actually forced his severely oxygen-deprived body into motion again, attempting to kill Lin Ke, who was right in front of him, before escaping.

"Splurt!" Long needles pierced through his flesh and skin, freezing him in place and leaving him unable to move.

Yet even then, he did not die. The long needles embedded in his muscles were even squeezed bent and broken. After only a brief stiffening, he was about to move again.

"Whoosh!"

Nara Yan Shui used a Shadow Sewing Jutsu to sever the middle-aged ninja's head.

"Thud, thud, thud..." The pain-stricken head fell to the ground, rolled several times, and came to a stop.

"Huff... huff... huff..." Lin Ke dropped to one knee and gasped for breath. With trembling hands, he pulled out a Soldier Pill and stuffed it into his mouth.

Using a Stand's abilities consumed stamina. Forcefully stripping the iron from a jonin's body and turning it into physical attacks had cost him far too much.

The other man's body was vastly stronger than an ordinary person's, and the enhancement from chakra had seriously interfered with Metal Stand's operation. Then there was the sudden increase in strength caused by those black markings at the end...

In short, the Stand had drained his stamina to less than five percent in one go. The fact that he had not fainted on the spot was already a result of his years of training.

"Tap." "Tap." Yuan Wei and Xia landed to his left and right, abandoning the mission target to protect their leader.

Nara Yan Shui panted as he swallowed a Soldier Pill as well. After turning to confirm that the Land of Fire Merchant was still alive and the mission was proceeding normally, he looked at his three subordinates with gratification.

As a ninja, as a tool, one should not have unnecessary emotions. For the sake of the mission, one ought to sacrifice one's companions.

But as a Konoha ninja and an elder, he was glad to see the friendship and bond among his three subordinates.

Then he gripped his Kunai and looked toward the approaching figure—

A female Sunagakure ninja holding an iron fan.