Ruthless

"That's about right. Any further and they'll get suspicious." Nichito, now in Ryosuke's form, felt this distance was sufficient. As long as the fighting wasn't too intense, the caravan wouldn't be able to detect what was happening on the battlefield.

"Huff, huff, huff..." Nichito stopped and panted heavily, pretending to be exhausted, and put the box he was carrying on the ground.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." Several Shuriken flew from the jungle toward Nichito, who rolled to the side in a very disheveled manner, narrowly avoiding the sneak attack.

Looking up, he saw a child wearing Konoha Forehead Protector standing high in a tree, looking down at him with a Kunai in his hand, completely disregarding him.

Before Nichito could say anything, Shuichi swiftly appeared beside him, his Kunai held in reverse, and thrust at him.

"You..." Before he could finish speaking, Nichito's head was blown off, but there was no blood. His body disintegrated and turned into a puddle of water on the ground.

"Water Clone?" Unsurprised by this result, Shuichi picked up the box and carried it on his back without changing his expression, acting as if no one else was around, as if his sudden attack had never happened.

"Kid, you're too arrogant!"

Seeing that Shuichi completely ignored him, Nichito rushed out from behind the tree before any help arrived, wielding a machete and slashing at him.

With a deft sidestep, the blade's wind whistled past his face, "Whoosh!" Shuichi followed up with a kick, striking Nichito squarely in the waist, "Thud!"

Nichito was sent flying more than ten meters away and crashed into a tree. When he fell to the ground and looked up, his expression was full of disbelief. "How could he be so strong!" He couldn't keep up with the opponent's attack rhythm at all.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish." Just as Nichito was defeated, the rest of the Wildfire Group arrived in time, surrounding Shuichi in four corners.

"Be careful, he's very strong." Nichito felt like his waist was dislocated; even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain, but he still immediately warned the others.

"Takeda Shuichi is very fast. We need to surround him and restrict his movements, while also trying not to give him time to Hand Seals, and then find an opportunity to attack him." The members of the Wildfire Group immediately remembered their leader's information. After exchanging glances, they immediately began to act according to the original plan.

With a "whoosh!" the man holding the iron chains swung out two chains to tie Shuichi up. Just as he was about to bind him, the man's figure disappeared from the middle of the chain.

"So fast!" The Wildfire Group members who used the Iron Claw immediately became alert. Shuichi moved like a blur, rushing towards him without any concealment, and a Kunai slashed upwards towards his upper body.

"Clang!" Sparks flew as the iron claw clashed with the Kunai. Before he could strike again, Shuichi threw the Kunai at Nichito and then jumped aside.

"Water Release: Water Whip!" The belated Water Release failed to bind anyone and almost hit a teammate instead.

Nichito never expected Shuichi to have time to launch a counterattack, and his accomplices didn't even bother to help him. He could only dodge with all his might. He managed to avoid the Kunai that was originally aimed at his heart, but because his waist injury reduced his mobility, he was still pierced in the shoulder blade. It can be said that one of the Wildfire Group members' combat power was rendered useless.

Seeing that the two consecutive attacks had failed, the expressions of the people present became solemn. This kid's strength was completely beyond their expectations, and the only way to have a chance to hit him was to risk injury and further tighten the encirclement.

"Clang!" The man controlling the chains attacked again, and the man with the iron claws, who had known him for many years, followed suit in time, while another person beside him also used his Ninjutsu.

Water Release: Water Wave!

A large body of water surged towards Shuichi from the side, and there were iron chains behind him, so he could only fight the Iron Claw Man head-on.

"Clang clang..." After only a few exchanges of blows, the person wielding the iron chain closed in from behind. Because his teammates were too close to Shuichi, he had to change his attack method.

Earth Release Earth Splitting Palm!

Just as the pincer attack was about to take place, the two were still thinking about how to coordinate their attack, or how to pursue after Shuichi dodged again. They never expected that the ground beneath their feet would suddenly crack open, covering the positions of all three of them.

"Raiya, you..."

Before he could even get angry, the other person, who was using Water Release, unleashed Ninjutsu combo in the blink of an eye.

"Earth Release: Earth Spear." Multiple sharp spikes instantly sprouted from the bottom of the underground fissure, leaving the two members of the Wildfire Group with no way to dodge while they were in the air.

"Thud!" Earth Spear pierced through the two men. "Ah, damn it..." They never expected that their accomplices would wipe them Shuichi.

At the same time, Shuichi inevitably fell down, and just as he was about to be poked, he quickly threw the box on his back far away.

"BOOM!" The spike pierced through him, but then a puff of smoke appeared and he disappeared.

"What? It was Shadow Clone! The power it displayed just now wasn't even its true form! How is that possible?!" Raiya and the other person's eyes widened in disbelief.

They didn't see how Shuichi defeated Nichito, nor did they notice his fighting strength weakening during the siege, so they planned to seize this opportunity to kill him in one blow.

As for the other members of the Wildfire Group, they were meant to be sacrificed anyway. Even if they succeeded, the leader wouldn't teach them Ninjutsu. This way, by making use of them, they would have a good opportunity to make Takeda Shuichi lower his guard.

They never expected that this seemingly powerful Shuichi wasn't the real Xiu Yi, but just a Shadow Clone who had been playing with them for a while.

Before dying, the two men who had been stabbed heard the sound of their Shadow Clone disappearing at the same time. A surge of resentment rose from the bottom of their hearts, "To be buried with someone else's Shadow Clone, what kind of life is this..." Then they lost the ability to struggle and their bodies were devoid of life.

A large crate containing valuable goods flew to one side, about to crash to the ground, when a figure flashed past swiftly. The person calmly caught the crate and stood on a tree, watching the remaining Wildfire Group members.

"Five people in total. By the standards of the Underground Black Market, all five are Chunin." Shuichi slowly slung the suitcase over his shoulder, mentally assessing the individuals based on his experience with the Shadow Clone. "Only these two are strong enough to be considered for the Five Great Shinobi Villages."

"Judging from the situation, the mastermind is not Sunagakure." During the Third Phase of the Chunin Exams, the people of Sunagakure were very wary of Shuichi's Body Flicker Technique, knowing that he could use unpredictable movement techniques, but he didn't use it much, only demonstrating his very fast speed.

Speed-type ninjas are not afraid of being surrounded as long as they have room to maneuver, let alone someone like Shuichi who can use Continuous Body Flicker. If he wants to leave, the opponent can't catch up at all.

If the Sunagakure Village was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt, the Wildfire Group wouldn't have launched such a foolish encirclement. It seems the other side devised a strategy based on information from the Third Exam.

"I'm very curious, who dared to assassinate me right under my teacher's nose for 30 million taels? Can you tell me?" Shuichi smiled as he looked at Raiya and the other person below. "Otherwise, you won't be leaving today."

Raiya remained expressionless. He had been shocked by Shuichi's true strength, but now he was completely calm. He knew that today would be the day he died, and he ignored Shuichi's questions.

The other Chunin did the same; the two exchanged a glance and then charged directly at Shuichi without hesitation.