Fallen leaves filled the sky, blades flashed and clashed, and bloodthirsty ninja slaughtered one another. It was a hellish battlefield drenched in blood!
The scene was everything Nawaki had ever hoped for. He looked at the Land of Wind genin across from him and flashed what he thought was a bloodthirsty grin, though it was really just plain stupid. His blood surging, he shouted:
"Lowly Sand Ninja of the Land of Wind, I am the future Hokage of Konoha, a warrior determined to protect my village! Though I've already gained power at this age that would make you despair, I don't kill nameless nobodies. Tell me your name, you shamefully weak ninja!"
"Weak my ass! Have some damn shame, will you?"
The Sand Ninja opposite him looked pained and frantic.
"If it weren't for your potion taking effect, you wouldn't even have time to spout all this nonsense! I'd have killed you already!"
"Hmph! Only the weak make excuses. A true warrior would never say something like that!"
Nawaki looked at him with disdain.
"You're a rookie who got a cut on the leg from me in our very first exchange. With your life on the line, is all you can do spout this useless nonsense?"
"Do you have any idea why I got hit by that pathetic slash of yours?"
The Sand Ninja clutched his left leg, which kept swelling, and roared in anguish:
"If you've got the guts, undo your poison, then we can fight properly!"
"Fool! How can you call yourself a ninja and say something so naive?"
Nawaki's expression was solemn.
"A ninja endures what ordinary people cannot. This potion hasn't even put your life in danger, yet you've already lost your pride as a ninja and stooped to begging your sworn enemy on your knees!"
"Did I get on my knees? Did I beg?"
The Sand Ninja couldn't help shouting. Just like the ninja who had fought Nawaki before him, he wasn't merely enraged by Nawaki's infuriatingly over-the-top chuunibyou nonsense. What he found even more unbearable was how utterly sincere Nawaki looked!
Someone this impossibly stupid would be nothing but free kills for the enemy if he weren't backed by such a powerful squad!
Feeling the strange changes in his body, he glanced around the battlefield. His captain was tied up by the enemy, and his two teammates, both somewhat stronger than him, had already fallen behind after only a few exchanges. The low-ranking Sand Ninja from the Land of Wind realized he was on the brink of death. And the thought that he was about to die at the hands of this moron made him despair all the more!
But that despair only roused his fighting spirit. He could die at anyone's hands—anyone but that moron named Nawaki! Even if he had to blow himself up, he'd take the bastard down with him!
After just one round of fighting, the Sand Ninja had already determined that this guy named Nawaki had an atrocious sense of battlefield awareness. Though the bizarre potion had left him unable to move properly, he was still extremely confident in his ability to throw weapons. And against an opponent like the one before him, he was even more certain of victory!
"Sand Ninja Assassination Style: Scattered Stars!"
With a furious shout, the Sand Ninja sent more than twenty kunai and shuriken flying at Nawaki. His ninjutsu infused the weapons with Chakra, and after a cloud of smoke billowed up, their numbers suddenly tripled. More than a hundred concealed weapons surged toward Nawaki like a flood, swallowing him whole!
"Heh. Hahaha! Hahahaha! Go on, act all cocky! Go on, get all fired up! Some idiot with no battlefield awareness dared to mouth off to me, and now you're paying for it! Once I'm done here, I'll have earned enough to pay off all my gambling debts. Then I'll marry my childhood sweetheart, leave the Shinobi World, and live a happy, peaceful life with my family. How could someone like me ever lose to a fool like you?"
Perhaps the bizarre, desperate battle had made the Sand Ninja give up on living. Or perhaps Nawaki's words had sent his fury rushing to his head. After his attack, he stared at the cloud of smoke it had raised and didn't even try to slip away quietly. Instead, he laughed wildly at Nawaki, whom he believed he'd killed!
The countless bloody lessons in Shinobi World history had taught every ninja one thing: no matter the circumstances, never let your guard down. And a Sand Ninja as reckless as this one, raising his flag so high, was practically asking to die!
Sure enough, Nawaki didn't disappoint. A blade cutting through the air sounded from behind the Sand Ninja, making his eyes contract sharply. But his body could no longer dodge the fierce attack. A kunai stabbed straight into his back!
"H-how...?"
The stunned Sand Ninja turned around and saw, to his shock, that the branch behind him had disappeared, replaced by Nawaki!
"What's with that surprised look? Is it really so hard for a genius like me to make an Earth Clone?"
Nawaki looked at the Sand Ninja's shocked expression, deeply displeased.
"Sure, that bastard of a captain, Zhou Duan, ordered me to use this tactic, but I don't approve of such despicable tricks. Still, to help Zhou Duan as quickly as possible, I had no choice but to give up the most manly, most passionate fighting style I love!"
"So this guy really can only win because of his teammates..."
The kunai had pierced his heart. As his limbs grew weak and his life drained away, an indescribable humiliation welled up in him. The Sand Ninja had imagined many ways he might die. Dying gloriously on the battlefield was what he'd wished for most. But after being cruelly poisoned and dying at the hands of such an idiot, all his sorrow and fury came out in one anguished cry:
"I can't accept this!"
"Thud!"
The Sand Ninja's corpse crashed heavily to the ground. His wide-open eyes swore that even in death, he couldn't rest in peace!
"Phew, all done!"
Unbothered by the Sand Ninja's resentment, Nawaki threw a few more shuriken at the corpse. Once he was sure the Sand Ninja was dead, he turned and hurried toward Zhou Duan!
"Holy crap! Zhou Duan, are you okay?"
A kunai was lodged in Zhou Duan's right chest, and both his arms had been pierced. A long gash stretched from his left chest to his right side, and countless small wounds covered his body. Blood drenched him from head to toe, turning him into a bloody mess. That was what Nawaki saw when he reached Zhou Duan!
"Zhou Duan, I've been wrong about you all along. I never knew you had such a passionate side!"
Seeing Zhou Duan in such a terrible state, Nawaki was overcome with grief. He shoved Water Gate and Hundred Palms, who had only just arrived, aside and squeezed up to Zhou Duan, tears streaming down his face as he cried:
"But don't worry. After you die, I'll personally carve an inscription for you: 'The tomb of Hatake Shudan, younger brother of Konoha's greatest and most talented Fourth Hokage, Senju Nawaki!'"
"Hey, hey, you're asking for a beating again, aren't you? My injuries look scary, but they're not enough to kill me!"
Zhou Duan looked at Nawaki helplessly, then glanced at Water Gate and Hundred Palms, who were also worried about him. He sighed and pointed at the mid-ranking Sand Ninja from the Land of Wind across from them.
"Don't let my condition fool you. That guy's in much worse shape than I am!"
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