After Chen killed the bandits behind them with a Great Fireball, the bandit leader charged at him in a fury.
"Damn you! Die!" The bandit boss swung his long saber at Chen, but Chen caught it between two fingers. With a squeeze, he snapped the blade in two, then flicked the broken piece toward the bandit boss.
"Damn it!" The bandit boss cursed and twisted aside to dodge. But when he straightened, Chen was already in front of him, throwing a punch at his chest. The bandit boss hurriedly crossed his arms over his chest to block it.
When Chen's fist struck the bandit boss's arms, a bone-chilling crack rang out, followed by the man's scream. The bandit boss flew backward and crashed into the group of underlings. He was already dead, his chest caved in where Chen's fist had struck.
"Ding! Host has killed a Genin. Reward: 10 Points. Current Points: [unreadable]." Chen saw that killing a Genin had earned him only a few Points and demanded of the system, "System, why are there so few Points? Did you eat them?"
"Answering the host: as your strength has increased, killing Genin no longer yields Points. You can only receive a token amount."
"So that's how it is. What a cheapskate!" Since there was nothing he could do about it, Chen accepted his fate.
"How is this possible? The boss... the boss was so strong, and he was killed by that guy..." "Let's attack together and avenge the boss!" The remaining bandits, worked up into a frenzy, shouted and charged at Chen. But when they saw him watching them with a vicious grin, they suddenly came to their senses. This guy wasn't some pushover they'd met before. He'd killed their powerful boss in just two moves. They'd been fools to think they could take revenge. If they went after him, they'd end up just like the boss.
Terrified, the bandits scattered in every direction. Chen couldn't be bothered to chase them and simply returned to the carriage and sat down. The big man named Zongtian immediately jumped down from the carriage and said excitedly, "So you're an incredibly skilled ninja, little brother! No wonder you were so calm earlier. You didn't take those bandits seriously at all."
"Yeah, something like that!"
The old man came over to Chen as well. "I never expected you to be such a powerful ninja, young man. Thank you for coming to our aid. Otherwise, we would have lost all these carts of goods, and might even have been killed by the bandits. It's all the fault of those two bastards for deceiving me and nearly getting us killed. From now on, I'll only hire ninjas as guards. I'll never trust wandering samurai again."
"Don't mention it, sir. You should get everyone back on the road." Chen waved a hand at the old man, signaling that there was no need to worry about it.
"Quite right. I'll properly thank you when we reach the next waystation!" With that, the old man returned to his carriage and ordered his men to continue on.
Just then, the two samurai approached the old man. "Sir... well... actually, we were using a strategy earlier. We planned to wait until the bandits let their guard down before attacking. We..."
"What do you mean, 'we'? You shameless bastards, get out of here!" Seeing the two samurai shamelessly come back to him, the old man shouted angrily, "A strategy? Do you really take me for a fool?"
"But what about the payment we agreed on earlier..."
"What? You still have the nerve to ask me for money? Get out! Get out of here!"
Seeing the old man's anger, the two samurai could only leave in misery. They didn't dare force him to pay, after all, that ninja was still with the caravan.
After that, the caravan continued on its way without further incident. Just before nightfall, they finally reached a small town, where they rested for the night.
After spending the night there, the caravan continued toward the Land of Bears. After several days of travel, Chen's caravan finally arrived. Chen said goodbye to the group, and as he left, the old man gave him some money for the road as payment for guarding the caravan over the past few days. Having no money at all, Chen didn't refuse and gladly accepted it.
After leaving the caravan, Chen found an inn and rested for the night. The next day, he asked around and learned where Hoshigakure was. Then he set off alone for the village.
"So Hoshigakure is down there? I didn't expect it to be surrounded by poisonous fumes." Chen stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the yellow haze billowing below.
"This really is a natural barrier. Ordinary people would definitely need gas masks to get across. I don't have one, but that won't be a problem for me." After saying this, Chen leaped into the air and used Moon Step to run toward Hoshigakure. He soon crossed the poisonous haze. He had no intention of hiding his presence, so the village guards spotted him as soon as he cleared the fumes.
"Look up there! What is that?" one of the Star Ninja cried out when he spotted Chen.
"Good heavens, it looks like a person! He's flying without using the Mysterious Peacock Method. How is that possible?"
"Stop talking and get ready! Jiro, hurry back and report to Lord Red Star!"
"Ah... yes!" The Star Ninja named Jiro glanced at Chen in the sky, then immediately ran toward the village.
"So those are the Star Ninja of Hoshigakure. Heh! Get ready to welcome your uninvited guest!" Chen sneered and charged toward the Star Ninja. He landed forcefully in front of them, cracking the ground in several places and creating a stunning spectacle.
"You... who are you? How dare you trespass into Hoshigakure? What do you want?" The Star Ninja were shocked by the commotion Chen had made, but they still demanded an answer in stern voices.
"Relax. I just want to ask you about something." Chen spread his hands to show them there was no need to be so tense.
"Answer our questions, outsider! Who are you? What do you want in Hoshigakure?" Seeing that Chen hadn't answered them, the Star Ninja questioned him again and surrounded him.
"Tch! Looks like we can't have a civil conversation. I'll have to use force to make you talk!" Chen gave the Star Ninja a vicious grin.
"Attack! Whoever he is, subdue him first and then let Lord Red Star decide what to do with him!" The Star Ninja charged at Chen together, kunai in hand. That was exactly the kind of attack Chen preferred.
"Lightning Style: Chidori Stream!" As soon as the Star Ninja entered the range of his jutsu, Chen unleashed Chidori Stream, instantly paralyzing them and leaving them unable to move. They were only Genin, and weaker than Genin from the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They wouldn't recover anytime soon after taking the full force of Chen's Chidori Stream.
"So, can you answer my question now?" Chen walked over to one of the Star Ninja and crouched beside him. "Tell me, where is your star kept?"
"W-what? So your target is the star from our village!"
"That's none of your concern. Just tell me where it is."
"Hmph! I won't tell you!" The Star Ninja Chen questioned gave him a disdainful snort and refused to reveal the star's location.
"Oh? In that case, die." Chen wasn't angry. He simply cruelly snapped the Star Ninja's neck. Then he went over to another one. "You tell me!"
"Pah! You'll never get it out of me. Lord Red Star won't let you get away with this!" the Star Ninja said stubbornly.
"Oh, really? Too bad you won't live to see it." After saying this to the Star Ninja, Chen snapped his neck too.
"Those two wouldn't cooperate. What about the rest of you?"
Before you continue