Three hundred kilometers northeast of Konoha lay a small village. According to intelligence Neji had purchased from the Black Market, the village was merely a cover; in reality, it was a base established by several wandering ninja. Their leader possessed strength roughly comparable to a Jonin and acted cautiously, rarely engaging in robbery. As a result, they had never been eliminated by Konoha.
However, in order to make a living, they often accepted commissions from the Black Market and had inadvertently exposed some details about themselves.
The leader of the wandering ninja, Zuo Mu-Duanlong, came from an untraceable ninja village. He was skilled in powerful Water Style techniques and equally proficient in taijutsu, making him a troublesome opponent.
Zuo Mu-Duanlong also had three subordinates with Chunin-level strength who needed attention. The rest of his men were nothing to worry about.
This was all the intelligence purchased from the Black Market.
Neji set out from Konoha. Having shed his training clothes, he felt better than ever before. Going all out, he reached the outskirts of the village in just three hours.
Neji did not rush in. Instead, he stopped around two kilometers outside the village, activated his Byakugan, and quietly, carefully observed it to verify whether the Black Market's intelligence was accurate.
It was noon, and the village was still bustling. Villagers gathered in groups of three or five to carry out various productive tasks. After observing for a while, Neji found that there were roughly two hundred people in the village. Most were ordinary villagers, while only a dozen or so possessed chakra: thirteen Genin, three Chunin, and one Jonin. Unless something unexpected happened, this was the base's full strength. It basically matched the intelligence provided by the Black Market.
Since this was his first operation, Neji continued observing from outside the village for a while longer to be safe. No new ninja appeared until late at night.
Neji no longer hesitated. Under cover of darkness and dressed in black, he slowly approached the village. Since it was late at night, nearly all the ordinary people had gone to sleep. Only two Genin stood watch at the entrance. Discipline at the base was not particularly strict, and the two night-watch Genin were drowsy and completely unalert.
When Neji had stealthily approached within a hundred meters of the guards, he decisively released his chakra and deployed the Eight Trigrams Formation. The unprepared Genin were instantly suppressed. Neji followed with two Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palms, knocking the two Genin unconscious before they could react.
After dealing with the gate guards, Neji infiltrated the village once more. Ignoring the ordinary people, he headed toward the area where the ninja lived. With the suppression of the Eight Trigrams Formation, he easily struck down all the outer Genin. The operation went quite smoothly.
Only the camp leader and his three Chunin subordinates remained. Silently dealing with all four would be more difficult. When he came within fifty meters of them, Neji once again fully spread the Eight Trigrams Formation. The Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Empty Palms, derived from the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, burst forth at full force in an instant, Empty Palms raining down over all four tents.
The three Chunin and their leader, Zuo Mu-Duanlong, were all awakened the moment Neji deployed the Eight Trigrams Formation. Zuo Mu-Duanlong was indeed a Jonin. He instantly erupted with chakra and violently broke free of the Eight Trigrams Formation's restraints. Yet faced with the dense Empty Palms right before him, he could only barely dodge, taking a hit every now and then.
The three Chunin fared far worse. Even erupting with all their chakra, they could not fully break free of the Eight Trigrams Formation's restraints and could only barely move their limbs. Then they had to face the dense Empty Palms right before them. In that instant, ten thousand alpacas stampeded through their hearts. Fortunately, Neji held back somewhat and did not strike their vital points, merely knocking them unconscious.
Once the Empty Palm assault ended, Neji gave Zuo Mu-Duanlong no time to catch his breath. He activated the Body Flicker Technique and instantly closed in on the still-dazed Zuo Mu-Duanlong. A Rasengan had already formed in Neji's right hand.
Zuo Mu-Duanlong, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, had just finished dealing with the barrage of Empty Palms and had yet to catch his breath when a blue sphere of chakra appeared before his eyes.
Zuo Mu-Duanlong was indeed a Jonin. Even under such circumstances, he could instantly unleash a C-rank ninjutsu.
Water Style: Water Wall Formation. But it was all futile. The hastily formed C-rank ninjutsu, Water Wall Formation, was nothing before the A-rank Rasengan. The Rasengan shattered it without slowing and struck Zuo Mu-Duanlong in the abdomen, sending him flying.
Neji continued his fine tradition of pressing the advantage. Before Zuo Mu-Duanlong could hit the ground, he fired an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, striking Zuo Mu-Duanlong's abdomen again.
This time, Zuo Mu-Duanlong spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out immediately.
Sweeping the battlefield with his Byakugan and finding no enemies left unaccounted for, Neji slowly lowered his fists, bound the three Chunin and Zuo Mu-Duanlong, and dragged them into the largest tent.
A basin of cold water was splashed over Zuo Mu-Duanlong's face.
Startled awake by the chill, Zuo Mu-Duanlong found himself bound and wracked with pain. He still could not believe that he had been perfectly fine before going to sleep, only to wake up like this. Is this guy a demon? Did I dig up his ancestral grave? Why did he come mess with me in the middle of the night?!
Neji did not know what he was thinking. He merely glanced at Zuo Mu-Duanlong and said in a deep voice, "Zuo Mu-Duanlong, right? Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"
Zuo Mu-Duanlong cursed wildly in his heart. Is that even a human question? Can you speak like a human?
Yet his mouth was obedient, and his tone was sweet. "I want to live, I want to live! Spare me, hero! The gold, silver, and money are beneath my bed. I've always been honest and have never killed anyone. Spare me, hero..."
This caught Neji somewhat off guard. Where was a Jonin's integrity? Where was a Jonin's dignity? Why was there no scene of him refusing to yield even in death? Neji had not even tortured him yet.
Still, surprise aside, Neji turned his head and activated his Byakugan. Looking through the bed, he saw the meager valuables underneath. That's it? He's living pretty miserably. Or does he have another hidden treasure stash?
Zuo Mu-Duanlong's desire to survive was strong. Seeing that something was off in Neji's gaze, he hurriedly said, "This is the Land of Fire. Konoha is too powerful, so we never dared rob or plunder. We only took on a few jobs and earned a little money, barely enough to survive! I would never dare deceive you, sir!"
Neji neither confirmed nor denied it. He said flatly, "Submit or die?"
Zuo Mu-Duanlong could no longer stay calm. If someone this strong wanted subordinates, he could have just said so! Did he really need to beat us half to death in the middle of the night? This baby is suffering!
But he acted quickly, immediately pressing his head to the ground and shouting, "Greetings, Chief!"
Neji was not lulled into carelessness by Zuo Mu-Duanlong's performance. Whether his submission was genuine or false, Neji directly struck him in the abdomen with an Empty Palm again, sending a thread of his own chakra into Zuo Mu-Duanlong's body. Then he formed his right hand into a palm and pressed it against Zuo Mu-Duanlong's abdomen. A small Eight Trigrams Formation appeared and sank into Zuo Mu-Duanlong's belly, sealing the thread of chakra Neji had placed inside him.
After doing this, Neji slowly withdrew his hand.
Only then did Zuo Mu-Duanlong snap out of his daze again, cursing wildly in his heart. Is he trying to control me? The kind where I'll explode if I disobey? I'm very obedient. Was that really necessary...?
However, Zuo Mu-Duanlong also knew that his life had been spared. Being controlled was fine. It was far better than dying outright.
Many people liked to proclaim, "Though life be as lowly as an ant, one should harbor the ambition of a soaring swan!" Yet reality would mercilessly slap awake those who truly believed in those words.
Zuo Mu-Duanlong's motto, however, was that staying alive mattered more than anything else.
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