Subduing Zuomu-Duanlong

Three hundred kilometers northeast of Konohagakure lies a small village. According to intelligence Neji purchased from the Black Market, this village serves as a cover for a stronghold established by several rogue ninja. The leader of these rogue ninja possesses strength comparable to a Jonin and is quite cautious in his dealings; he rarely engages in robbery, which is why the village has never been wiped out by Konohagakure.

However, to make a living, they often accept commissions from the Black Market, which eventually led to some of their details being inadvertently exposed.

The rogue ninja leader, Saki Danryu, has an unknown origin. He is a difficult opponent who excels in both powerful Water Style ninjutsu and taijutsu.

Saki Danryu also has three subordinates with the strength of Chunin who require attention; the rest of his followers are of no concern.

This was all the intelligence purchased from the Black Market.

Neji set out from Konohagakure. Having shed his training gear, he felt better than ever and, moving at full speed, reached the outskirts of the village in just three hours.

Neji did not rush in. Instead, he stopped about two kilometers away from the village, activated his Byakugan, and quietly and carefully observed the village to verify the accuracy of the intelligence provided by the Black Market.

It was noon, and the village was quite busy. The villagers were gathered in small groups, engaged in various forms of labor. After observing for a while, he discovered that the village had about two hundred people. Most were ordinary villagers, and only a dozen or so possessed Chakra. Among them were thirteen Genin, three Chunin, and one Jonin. If nothing went wrong, this was the full strength of the stronghold. It matched the intelligence provided by the Black Market almost perfectly.

Since this was his first mission, Neji continued to observe the village from the outskirts for a while longer, just to be safe, until late at night. No new ninja appeared during that time.

Neji no longer hesitated. Under the cover of darkness, he donned his night-crawling gear and slowly approached the village. Because it was late at night, almost all the ordinary people were asleep, save for two Genin on guard duty at the village entrance. The discipline of the stronghold was not particularly strong; the two guarding Genin were drowsy and completely unalert.

When Neji crept within a hundred meters of the guarding Genin, he decisively released his Chakra and deployed the Eight Trigrams Formation. The two unprepared Genin were instantly suppressed. Neji followed up with two strikes of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, and the two Genin, who hadn't even had time to react, collapsed into unconsciousness.

After dealing with the gate guards, Neji once again snuck into the village. Ignoring the ordinary people, he headed toward the area where the ninja lived. With the suppression of the Eight Trigrams Formation, he easily tapped out all the Genin on the perimeter. The operation was proceeding quite smoothly.

Now, only the camp leader and his three Chunin subordinates remained. It would be difficult to deal with these four silently. When he approached within fifty meters of them, Neji once again fully expanded the Eight Trigrams Formation. He unleashed the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Empty Palms—a technique derived from the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms—at full power. The rain-like vacuum palms filled all four tents.

The three Chunin and the leader, Saki Danryu, were startled awake the moment Neji released the Eight Trigrams Formation. Saki Danryu proved worthy of being a Jonin; he instantly erupted with Chakra to violently break free from the constraints of the Eight Trigrams Formation. However, facing the dense barrage of vacuum palms right in front of him, he could only manage to dodge barely, taking a hit every now and then.

The three Chunin had it much worse. Even by erupting with all their Chakra, they could not completely break free from the constraints of the Eight Trigrams Formation and could only move their limbs with great difficulty. Facing the dense vacuum palms right before their eyes, they felt like ten thousand alpacas were trampling over their hearts. Fortunately, Neji held back slightly, avoiding their vital points and simply knocking them unconscious.

Once the vacuum palm attack concluded, Neji did not give Saki Danryu a moment to catch his breath. He activated the Body Flicker Technique, instantly closing the distance to the still-dazed Saki Danryu. Neji's right hand had already condensed a Rasengan.

Saki Danryu, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, had just finished dealing with the dense vacuum palms and hadn't even caught his breath before a sphere of azure Chakra appeared before his eyes.

Saki Danryu was indeed a Jonin; in this situation, he was still able to instantly release a C-rank ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Wall Formation.

However, it was all in vain. The hastily condensed C-rank Water Wall Formation was nothing compared to the A-rank Rasengan. It was shattered by the Rasengan without the slightest delay, and the attack, losing none of its momentum, struck Saki Danryu in the abdomen, sending him flying.

Neji continued his fine tradition of not letting up when he had the advantage. Before Saki Danryu could even hit the ground, he struck him in the abdomen once more with an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.

Saki Danryu spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out instantly.

Using his Byakugan to scan the battlefield, Neji confirmed there were no enemies left. He slowly lowered his fists, bound the three Chunin and Saki Danryu, and dragged them into the largest tent.

He poured a basin of cold water over Saki Danryu's face.

Stung by the cold water, Saki Danryu was jolted awake. Finding himself bound and feeling the intense pain in his body, he couldn't believe that he had been perfectly fine before going to sleep, only to wake up like this. Is this guy a devil? he thought. Did I dig up your ancestors' graves? Coming to mess with me in the middle of the night!

Neji did not know what the other man was thinking. He cast a faint glance at Samuki Danryu and said in a deep voice, "Samuki Danryu, is it? Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

Samuki Danryu was frantically complaining in his heart. Is that even human language? Can you speak like a person?

However, his mouth was very obedient and sweet. "I want to live, I want to live! Spare me, hero! My gold and silver are under my bed. I'm usually very honest and never kill anyone. Spare me, hero..."

This actually surprised Neji a little. Where was the integrity of a Jonin? Where was the dignity of a Jonin? Why wasn't there a scene of him refusing to yield even in the face of death? He hadn't even used any torture yet.

But surprise was just surprise. Neji turned his head and activated his Byakugan. Looking through the bed, he saw the meager amount of wealth underneath. That was it? He was living quite miserably, or perhaps there was another hidden treasury.

Samuki Danryu's desire to survive was still very strong. Seeing the look in Neji's eyes, he hurriedly said, "This is the Land of Fire, and Konoha is too strong. We never dare to rob houses; we just take on a few missions to earn a little money, barely enough to make a living! I would never dare to deceive you, my lord."

Neji was noncommittal. He said indifferently, "Submit, or die?"

Samuki Danryu could no longer stay calm. If someone this strong wanted to recruit a subordinate, just say so! Was it necessary to beat them half to death in the middle of the night? My heart is suffering!

However, his actions were swift. He slammed his head against the ground and shouted, "Greetings, leader!"

Neji was not lulled into carelessness by Samuki Danryu's performance. Regardless of whether the submission was genuine or fake, Neji struck him with an Air Palm, hitting Samuki Danryu's abdomen once more. He injected a wisp of his own Chakra into the man's gut, then pressed his right palm against the area. A small Eight Trigrams diagram emerged and sank into Samuki Danryu's abdomen, sealing the wisp of Chakra he had just planted inside.

After doing this, Neji slowly withdrew his palm.

Only then did Samuki Danryu snap out of his daze. He was frantically complaining in his heart, Is this to control me? The kind that will explode if I don't listen? I'm very obedient, there's no need for this...

However, Samuki Danryu also knew that his life had been saved. If he was controlled, so be it; it was much better than dying outright.

Often, some people like to talk eloquently, saying: "Even if life is like an ant, one should have the ambitions of a swan!" But reality ruthlessly slaps those who believe in this saying until they wake up.

As for Samuki Danryu, his motto was simply that living was more important than anything else.