Zhou Duan's Senbon-Slaying Journey

My name is Asano Yuta. This was my first time on the battlefield. My greatest strength was the art of concealment. My other ninjutsu grades at the Ninja Academy were average, but I'd scored full marks in stealth and assassination. My camouflage technique was my signature move, and the skill I relied on to survive!

I'd thought hiding on a chaotic battlefield would be easy. Then a senbon struck me in the butt. I swear, if the heavens gave me another chance, I'd give up camouflage and learn how to burrow underground...

"Aaaaah!!!!!"

"Boom!"

"What a delightful ambush!"

Accompanied by a scream of excruciating agony, Zhou Duan watched as the nameless ninja in front of him, stinging with humiliation, charged into a powerful Sand ninja squad that was slaughtering its way across the battlefield. Then, amid a violent explosion, they all died together in disgrace. Zhou Duan felt a little better.

"That's more like it. Comrades from the same village should die together in a nice, neat group!"

Only after seeing the Sand ninja squad's gruesome end did Zhou Duan feel some of his resentment fade. He glanced at the direction indicated by the Ninja Turtle on his shoulder, then took off at a run!

Zhou Duan was in the heart of the battlefield, where the fighting was vicious and deadlocked. Ninjutsu and concealed weapons flew everywhere. Broken limbs littered the ground, and blood sprayed in every direction. Before he'd gone even three hundred meters, Zhou Duan had already deflected five shuriken, seven senbon, and more than a dozen attacks from shattered weapons that had flown out of who knew which corner!

"Clang!"

Zhou Duan deflected another incoming attack with his kunai. His gaze sharpened as he looked at the ninja blocking his way. The man wore a Sand ninja combat uniform and looked about Zhou Duan's age. His hair was green, and he had an innate "stay strong" vibe. He held a katana in each hand, with a third clenched between his teeth. Whether he was any good remained to be seen, but his three-sword style certainly had the presence to intimidate an ordinary ninja!

"Konoha ninja, halt and give me your name! I, Hokamon Gotaro, don't kill nameless nobodies!"

The sun blazed overhead, and the air shimmered with blood. There was something strangely beautiful about fighting an enemy on such a battlefield. At the thought, Zhou Duan's gaze turned serious. He looked at Hokamon Gotaro and coldly spat out one word:

"Get lost!"

As if! Zhou Duan was in a hurry to find his troublesome teammates. He had no time to fight some guy who looked like the most over-the-top chunibyo imaginable. His goal had been clear from the start: find his teammates, then use ambush tactics to stab Sand ninja on the battlefield!

It might not look very bushido, but as a ninja, the only goal was to take out the enemy as quickly and simply as possible. Fighting head-on might seem thrilling, but people like that were always the first to die. By the time they did, they wouldn't have killed more than a handful of enemies!

At the thought, Zhou Duan grew even more annoyed. He looked at Hokamon Gotaro, who seemed determined to pick a fight, clicked his tongue in disdain, and charged with his kunai!

"Bastard! Do you really think so little of your opponent on the battlefield?"

Seeing how contemptuously Zhou Duan treated him, Hokamon Gotaro roared in fury, nearly dropping the katana in his mouth. By the time he'd adjusted his stance, Zhou Duan had already vanished!

"Not good!"

Any ninja who could wield three or more weapons at once had to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Hokamon Gotaro had mastered the three-sword style only through countless hours of effort. That effort had given him an exceptionally fast reaction time. The instant the despicable figure in front of him disappeared, he turned his gaze behind him. What appeared before Hokamon Gotaro's eyes, however, was a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life!ŴŴŴ.

Zhou Duan put away his kunai and pulled a scroll from his clothes. As he formed Hand Seals, he unsealed a senbon as thick as a finger and over half a meter long. Gripping its end with both hands, he let out a shout and ignored the look of shock, pleading, helplessness, and despair in the man before him. Then he thrust the senbon straight into the middle of Hokamon Gotaro's butt!

"Bastard, aaargh..."

"Boom!"

"Found on the battlefield, defeated in battle, and in the end, blown up in battle..."

Watching Hokamon Gotaro choose to self-destruct rather than endure the unbearable pain, Zhou Duan couldn't help but sigh.

"Such was the end of a ninja who left no regrets!"

"I think you have a slight misunderstanding about how ninjas are supposed to meet their end!"

The Ninja Turtle perched on Zhou Duan's shoulder had witnessed his outrageous stunt, and its eyes were wide as saucers.

"Ninjas are supposed to die on the battlefield, but I doubt Hokamon Gotaro would have been happy to die so disgracefully!"

"Water Gen, you're still young!"

Zhou Duan looked at the Ninja Turtle on his shoulder.

"Since he blew himself up on the battlefield, he must have accepted this ending. Otherwise, he would've pulled the senbon out of his body before blowing himself up!"

"Fine, you're the boss. I'll listen to you!"

Water Gen clearly ignored Zhou Duan's explanation and stretched out his right foreleg.

"We shouldn't be far now. If we keep going in this direction a little farther, we should reach the place you're looking for..."

"Whoosh!"

A fierce slash interrupted Water Gen. By the time Zhou Duan, who had leaped back, steadied himself, a burly man holding a two-meter-long greatsword stood where Zhou Duan had been moments earlier, glaring furiously.

"You bastard! You used such a despicable method to kill my brother, and you don't feel even a shred of shame? I, Hokamon Yuta, won't let you get away with this! I'll use the greatsword in my hands to hack you to pieces... Wait!"

"Still so young!"

That was the problem with rookies who'd just joined the battlefield. In such a dangerous place, who had time to listen to a long speech? While Hokamon Yuta was delivering his impassioned lecture and letting his guard down, Zhou Duan created a clone. His real body flashed behind Hokamon Yuta!

As he formed Hand Seals, Zhou Duan unsealed another senbon. He crouched and thrust another senbon into Hokamon Yuta's butt!

"Oooh~~~ Yeah~~"

With a foreign object stabbing into his body, Hokamon Yuta let out an indecipherable sound. But when he saw Zhou Duan, who had dispelled his clone and reappeared in front of him, his face flushed red, and he roared in fury once more.

"Bastard! Are you going to use such a shameless trick for the rest of your life? A senbon this short can't do much damage to me!"

Hokamon Yuta reached back and grabbed the senbon.

"I'll use this senbon to kill you... Ah!"

"Wondering why you can't pull it out?"

Zhou Duan gave a sinister smile as Hokamon Yuta failed to pull out the senbon and instead let out a scream.

"This is a specially made double-blossom senbon!"