Massacre II

"What should we do now?" Gekko Hayate asked. "Go straight in?"

"Let's take out all the sentries around the perimeter first, so they can't hear us and run. Not that they'd get away, but chasing them down would be a pain."

"Sounds good. Let's do that."

Yugao Gekko had followed behind the three of them the whole time without saying a word. This was the students' mission, and it was a process they had to go through.

He would only step in to give them a hint if they made a bad call, like an emotionless tutorial guide in a video game.

In truth, that was what Jonin leaders spent most of their time doing.

Higashino Makoto led the team straight toward the next sentry post. His Perception Ability, gained along with White Natural Energy, was more like an all-purpose scanning radar. It could sense not only Chakra, but also map the terrain within range directly into his mind.

Still, it wasn't as unfair as the Hyuga Clan's ability. Those white-eyed people were all born with X-ray vision; open their eyes and they got a free scan.

When they reached the spot, Uzuki Yugao suddenly spoke up. "Let me do it. I can handle this."

Higashino Makoto didn't object. "All right. Be careful. There are only two ordinary pirates inside."

The girl clenched her pale fist and took a deep breath. Using the same method as Hayate, she crept into the cave.

By the time the other three caught up, Uzuki Yugao was trembling slightly, but she had made a successful debut in killing.

That was just how it was for Ninja. Their psychological preparation began on the day they entered the Academy, so few of them struggled with killing.

If they really couldn't get past it, their only options were to retire or request a transfer to a noncombat division.

Everything was hard at first, but after a good start, things went much more smoothly. The three of them took some time to eliminate the sentries around the perimeter one by one, then, led by Higashino Makoto, converged outside an inconspicuous island deep in the Dog Teeth Archipelago.

Ahead of them was a fairly wide stretch of water, where a large ship was moored.

A simple dock had been built at the foot of the island. Steps had been carved into the sloping cliff face, leading up to an entrance in the middle.

Light shone from the entrance. This was the Sea Shark Clan's lair.

After silently taking out the guards outside the cave, Yugao Gekko asked, "Makoto, can you sense any Ninja inside?"

"There are two. Their Chakra Fluctuation is about the same as the Chunin teachers at school."

"Do you need me to step in?"

Gekko Hayate immediately stopped him. "No need, Sensei. Leave it to us."

"All right. Go in and clear the place out."

The three exchanged glances, drew their weapons, and charged in. The cave passage wasn't long, and beyond it the place was brightly lit and noisy.

A group of burly men in all sorts of clothes were holding what looked like a heavenly feast. Some were drinking, some were gambling, and some had drunk themselves into a stupor and were sleeping on the floor.

Quite a few young women in revealing, sexy outfits were there to serve them. Men dressed like ordinary villagers waited on them like slaves, serving food and pouring drinks. If they made the slightest mistake, they were pinned to the ground and beaten. The burly men watching nearby roared with laughter.

Those bastards knew how to enjoy themselves. This place was practically their paradise.

It was the first time Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao had seen anything like this. At that moment, they had only one thought: kill every last one of those bastards.

Cut off all their heads.

Compared with other Ninja Villages in the Shinobi World, Konoha Ninja were generally more righteous. After all, their village had been founded by the great man Hashirama Senju.

Hayate and Yugao charged in first, sweeping through the crowd in the cave's main hall like a gust of wind. Their blades rose and fell, and the boisterous laughter was immediately replaced by screams.

Higashino Makoto formed the Shadow Clone hand sign and created three clones to handle other tasks. Then he followed the two into the crowd, striking with lightning speed and slicing each pirate's throat with pinpoint accuracy.

Did killing make him sick? Not at all. After getting past that initial unease, he now found it exhilarating. Watching the panicked pirates fall one by one, watching them clutch their throats and writhe on the ground like fish out of water—it was art.

Was art eternal? Was art an explosion? No. Art was the flash of red as a blade sliced across someone's throat.

Higashino Makoto suddenly felt that after opening the door to slaughter, he might have turned a little twisted.

Even an honest man like him, who had never killed a chicken in his previous life, had another side lurking beneath the surface.

After the slaughter, bodies littered the floor.

The people who had been captured cowered in the corners, trembling as they stared at the scene before them. But no one cried. Instead, quite a few looked with satisfaction at the bastards who had been swaggering around moments ago, now nothing but corpses.

They'd died too easily. They should have been tortured for days.

Higashino Makoto didn't have time to torture anyone. He hadn't come to avenge these people; this was just a job. The goal was to wipe out the Sea Shark Clan members who had committed crimes in the Land of Fire.

The job was done now.

After the rush of battle, Uzuki Yugao looked at the bodies scattered across the floor and felt a little sick, but she felt more satisfaction than disgust. Every one of those bastards deserved to die.

Gekko Hayate walked over to the men and women huddled in the corner. "Is anyone among you a member of the Sea Shark Clan?"

They looked at one another and all shook their heads. It seemed none of them had been clever enough to pretend to be a victim and hide among the captives.

After making sure no one had been missed, he surveyed the cave. There were several rooms with wooden doors around the hall, but all the doors stood open, and bodies lay inside.

"Makoto, where are the two Ninja?"

"In the stone chamber with the closed door."

When the hall erupted into chaos, the two Sea Shark Clan Ninja leaders had seen what was happening through a peephole in the door. They didn't need to think twice: the only Ninja who would come here were from Konoha.

They didn't want to fight Konoha Ninja. Even if the three of them looked like underage kids, they weren't going to risk their lives. They had become Rogue Ninja to make money and enjoy a free, easy life. If they got themselves killed, how could they make any money?

So the two of them immediately made a run for it. They had expected this day might come, so they had already packed up all their cash and valuables in two large chests.

Unfortunately, Higashino Makoto had already come through the hidden passage in their room.

He had no interest in chatting with enemies. The two men held Kunai and were ready to kill him so they could escape. His first move was to launch several Wind Release: Shadowless Swords.

The blades moved incredibly fast and were nearly invisible. There was no way these two, who were at best Chunin-level, could defend against them. By the time they sensed something was wrong, the razor-sharp Wind Release Chakra had already shredded their hands along with their Kunai.

As they screamed, Higashino Makoto charged forward and kicked them toward the door. The poor wooden door shattered instantly, and the two men flew helplessly into the hall, landing hard among the corpses.

Both were adult men, nearing thirty by the look of them. They wore ordinary clothes, but each had a Headband tied around his head: one in Iwagakure style, the other in Sunagakure style. Both had been slashed through, clearly marking them as Rogue Ninja.

This was fucking ridiculous. Why had these guys, after defecting from their villages, still kept their slashed Headbands?

What, did that symbol show that they came from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, so their fellow outlaws would respect them more? Or was being a Rogue Ninja from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages proof of a certain level of skill?

Well, that did kind of make sense.

Sure, we're all self-taught, but how could a Harvard graduate be in the same league as a Lanxiang graduate?

Looks like the Shinobi World had a Discrimination Chain too.

In the hall, Higashino Makoto's original body looked at the two Ninja on the ground and asked curiously, "Aren't Sunagakure and Iwagakure still at war? How can you two Rogue Ninja get along so well? Don't you hate each other?"

The tall, thin Sunagakure Rogue Ninja sneered. "That's the villages' grudge. What's it got to do with me? Giving up my life for some ridiculous reason would make me an idiot."

"You've got a pretty clear head."

The burly Iwagakure Rogue Ninja saw an opening and immediately said, "So you agree with us, then. Konoha Ninja, how about letting us go? You can have all the money here."

Higashino Makoto felt his intelligence had been insulted. He spun around and sent them both on their way with two slashes.

If he killed them, the money would be his too.

But he was an honest man. He kept that thought to himself; saying it aloud wouldn't fit the Will of Fire.

At that moment, Yugao Gekko walked in and took out a Sealing Scroll, sealing the two bodies inside. They were both Ninja, and once they were brought back, the Intelligence Division could search them for useful information.

For Ninja, an interrogation target didn't have to be alive. Dead people worked too.

Given the strength of these two Rogue Ninja, he doubted they had any Sealing Jutsu in their brains.

"Is it all over?"

Higashino Makoto recalled his Shadow Clones and replied, "It's over, Sensei. I cleared out the Sea Shark Clan members hiding in the rooms around us. The cash and valuables are in the room those two Ninja were just in."

"Good. Have the victims gather their things. We'll take that ship straight back to Hemo Port. We need to notify the officials there so they can sign off on the mission and help us deal with the ship."