Mundo!!! Goes Where He Pleases

Rinto, who had ambushed Hinoe, was instantly swallowed by the incoming ninjutsu.

Just as Kinoe and Kinoto showed delighted expressions.

"Bang!" There was a soft pop.

The heavily struck Rinto turned into a puff of white smoke and quickly dispersed.

At the sight, Kinoe's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and he cried out.

"Damn it! A Shadow Clone! Watch the surroundings immediately!"

As he spoke at a rapid pace, Kinoe's gaze swiftly swept over Kinoto and Hinoe, an ominous feeling rising in his heart.

Sure enough, when he looked at Hinoe, his heart turned cold.

Hinoe stood where Rinto had been struck by 'Lightning Style: False Darkness,' while the wooden log from the Substitution Technique had long since vanished.

In its place was an arm drenched in blood.

The not particularly muscular arm protruded from Hinoe's chest. Its bloody hand clutched a still-beating heart.

Hinoe's face was stiff, blood constantly flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Slowly lowering his head, Hinoe saw his own heart—the heart that had once meant everything to him.

The night had deepened.

For the first time, the bright moon poked its head out from behind the clouds, casting its cold light over the silent battlefield.

Filtering through the branches and leaves, the moonlight illuminated the grim, cruel sneer at the corner of Rinto's lips behind Hinoe.

"Stop!" A shrill roar echoed through the forest.

"Too late!"

Rinto remained unmoved. With a slight squeeze of his hand, he crushed the fresh, beating heart before Kinoe and Kinoto's eyes.

In the distance, at the edge of the battlefield, Tsunade lay helplessly on her side. Her tilted head took in the entire scene, and it felt as though a huge stone were pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

She had never witnessed anything so cruel. Or rather, as someone still attending Ninja School, she had never had the chance to encounter such bloody scenes.

Yet toward Rinto, the instigator behind this cruel spectacle, Tsunade felt no disgust at all.

Gradually, she came to agree with what Hiruzen Sarutobi had said. She felt that Rinto was pitiful.

What kind of reality could force a boy not even ten years old to become so hard-hearted?

What kind of reality could make Rinto crush someone's heart without changing expression?

Cruelty was not innate. Only when the world gave him pain did he return its coldness.

At that moment, Tsunade suddenly, desperately wanted to know about Rinto's past—every single detail of it.

"Sakuta Rinto, i-if only you were a companion of the village..."

On the battlefield, Hinoe's hollow-eyed body slowly collapsed. Like Tsunade, who had been paralyzed by electricity, he fell—but unlike her, he had also lost the right to breathe.

He was dead. The kind of dead that even Reanimation Jutsu could not save, because his heart had already been crushed into pulp and scattered across the ground.

"Die! You have to die! I'll crush every bone in your body! Die!"

Seeing Hinoe's lifeless body, Kinoe's cold expression vanished completely, replaced by endless rage!

Kinoto, on the other hand, looked even more crazed.

"Die! Wind Style: Wind Blade Technique!" Kinoto formed hand seals frantically, his hands moving so fast they nearly became blurs.

In an instant, a rapidly spinning current of air shot toward Rinto.

Rinto sneered, instantly vanishing from where he stood as his mind continuously analyzed the situation.

He had thought the three looked alike before. Now that Hinoe was dead, these two were reacting so intensely. They were undoubtedly blood brothers.

Good. Lose control. Burn through all your Chakra. Once it's exhausted, I'll finish off you two idiots.

Ninjutsu erupted. Gale-force winds raged, flames surged forth, and the earth churned.

Having temporarily given up on attacking, Rinto darted up and down through the trees like an agile monkey.

Before long, the entire battlefield had been blasted into a barren stretch of flat ground by the endlessly erupting ninjutsu.

"Damn it, don't think you can run again!"

Kinoe, who had long since lost his composure, slammed his hands together, his expression twisting viciously.

It was obvious that he was going all out.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow River! Ha!"

In an instant, yellow mud surged across the battlefield, and the entire ground turned thick and soft.

Rinto quickly leaped into the air. Looking down at the slowly flowing yellow mud below him, he furrowed his brow.

"Fuck, these guys are tough!"

On the other side, Kinoto formed a series of hand seals, his chest swelling high.

"Fire Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The wind fed the flames, and the raging fire instantly swept into the sky.

Hovering in midair, Rinto saw that he could not dodge in time and formed hand seals at once.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A puff of white smoke flashed, and a Shadow Clone appeared beneath Rinto's feet.

Seizing the chance, he kicked off fiercely, sending himself much higher into the air and barely avoiding the combined ninjutsu.

"Bastard!"

Seeing Rinto evade even his trump card, Kinoto, already crazed, became even more hysterical.

He had little Chakra left, but Rinto was still full of energy, dragging around his severed left arm as he dodged left and right, as slippery as an eel.

His gaze swept rapidly over the battlefield before landing on Tsunade, trapped at its edge. A cruel smile immediately spread across Kinoto's lips.

"Big brother, hold him off. I'll be right back!" he said rapidly, glancing at Tsunade.

Kinoe, his eyes bloodshot, immediately understood. An equally cruel smile curled across his lips.

With a burst of speed, Kinoto rushed to the edge of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Kinoe began firing Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet without restraint.

With no other choice, Rinto pulled out the Door Panel Greatsword and held it before himself, but the Earth Dragon Bullets drove him farther and farther back.

Because of the yellow mud covering the ground, Rinto had lost his greatest advantage—his speed.

Without his speed, he could only continuously summon Shadow Clones to forcibly change his direction in midair.

By then, Kinoto had arrived before Tsunade, looking down at her helplessly collapsed body with a cruel expression.

As Kinoto pulled the iron rod from the ground and approached her step by step, Tsunade grew more and more anxious.

Her body was still terribly numb and weak, unable to move in the slightest.

He was close!

Kinoto walked up to Tsunade, slowly drew a ninja blade over a meter long from his back, and held it against her neck. Then he turned to Rinto, his face filled with cruelty and delight.

"Kid! You dared to chase us here alone. Looks like you like this little girl, huh?"

Hearing that, Rinto immediately became frantic.

Don't, big brother! Everything can be discussed!

If you cut Tsunade down with one stroke, then I'll be in deep shit no matter what!

As he thought, Rinto summoned another Shadow Clone and used it as a stepping stone to evade a barrage of Shuriken.

"Don't dodge again! Otherwise, I'll cut off this little girl's leg first!"

Kinoto roared hysterically, the ninja blade in his hand about to slash toward Tsunade's leg.

At that moment, Tsunade was already completely despairing. Taking a deep breath, she used the last of her strength to shout at Rinto.

"Get lost! You're not from Konoha. You don't need to save me. Get lost!"

As she spoke, crystal-clear tears slid down from her temples.

Upon hearing that, Kinoto abruptly turned his head, his face vicious as he kicked Tsunade in the face.

The little girl's delicate, pretty face immediately swelled.

The instant Rinto saw that, his expression turned cold.

As he slowly landed, Rinto's legs immediately sank into the slick yellow mud. His icy gaze locked tightly onto Kinoto in the distance.

Kinoto glared back fearlessly, an arrogant and cruel smile on his lips. He clearly had Rinto right where he wanted him.

Meanwhile, Kinoe took the chance to pull out a Kunai and throw it.

"Clang!" With both feet trapped in the ground, Rinto instinctively swung the Door Panel Greatsword and blocked the Kunai.

At the sight, rage burst from Kinoe's eyes.

"Damn brat, you dare block it? Kinoto, teach him a lesson. Slash up the hostage's face!"

Kinoto froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He began gesturing with the ninja blade.

Tsunade's heart fell completely into despair.

She did not want to die, and she wanted even less to be disfigured.

Yet even then, she clenched her lips tightly and did not make a single sound.

She was afraid—afraid she would not be able to stop herself from begging Rinto for help, afraid that this boy would throw everything aside to save her.

If possible, she hoped Rinto would simply leave.

After all, if he died, then even the tiny bit of pathetic Bonds he protected would be gone.

The ninja blade rose high, about to fall.

Then Rinto's gloomy face suddenly split into a grin, and a piercing gleam burst from his eyes.

"Throw!"

With that explosive shout, the other Shadow Clone Rinto had prepared appeared outside the battlefield, not far from Tsunade.

At that moment, the Shadow Clone suddenly raised its arm and threw a square object resembling a brick with all its strength.

Written crookedly on the brick were the words: 'Mundo!!! Goes where he pleases!'

"Now!" Rinto roared.

"Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Just as the ninja blade was about to fall, the brick appeared precisely between it and Tsunade.

At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

Rinto appeared directly over Tsunade, using the Door Panel Greatsword strapped to his back to block the strike—but both his arms were left behind.

Having already lost his reason, Kinoto could no longer endure Rinto's tricks one after another. He instantly snatched Rinto's Door Panel Greatsword and swung the blade again.

"Pshk!"

A wound deep enough to expose bone opened across Rinto's back, blood spraying everywhere.

Unable to hold it in, Rinto sprayed blood all over Tsunade's face.

Their eyes met. Blood stained Rinto's white teeth as he gave a bitter smile. "If you die, then nothing can be explained."