"Boom!"
A thunderous crash rang out among the rocks and trees, sending dust and shattered stones flying. What a commotion.
The enormous explosion startled everyone in the stronghold. A dozen or so men with savage faces gathered together, chattering noisily.
"Damn it?! What was that?" "What blew up?" "Could someone be attacking us?"
"Bullshit! Master Dinghong is here. Who'd dare come?"
"What if it's a ninja...? What do we do then? I don't want to die! I've only been comfortable for a few days, and I haven't even had much white meat yet..."
The men huddled together, their faces showing every sort of expression, but the things they said were surprisingly similar.
Suddenly, a deep voice came from a particularly luxurious-looking house in the center of the stronghold.
"That's enough! Quiet!"
A bald man in a short robe emerged from the house, following the voice. He was none other than Master Dinghong, the man everyone had mentioned.
Lifting his sinister, narrow eyes, Dinghong surveyed the crowd and spoke in a low voice.
"Who's on duty today?"
"It... It's Stick, and the Buddha servant you selected," someone in the crowd replied.
"Did they sound the whistle as usual?" Dinghong pressed.
"The last shift reported in. It wasn't time for this shift yet, and after that noise just now, we didn't hear a return whistle either." The speaker kept his head bowed, his voice trembling slightly.
At that, Dinghong narrowed his eyes, panic rising in his heart.
This is bad... Have we been spotted after all? Dinghong's expression changed as he began giving orders.
"You lot, get to the storeroom at once and drive all those supplies and livestock over here. Move!"
The bald man pointed at several of the more robust men, his voice icy.
"Yes, yes... We'll..." The men he'd singled out hurriedly started to move.
"No need to go to all that trouble. Stop right there."
The clear voice of a young man rang in everyone's ears, ethereal yet chilling.
A cold-faced youth strolled toward them, followed by a man a head taller than he was.
The two removed their crude half masks in unison, revealing faces suppressing a surging tide of fury.
"Stay right where you are and prepare to die in agony."
At the sight of them, Dinghong's eyelids began twitching wildly. Unease and inexplicable fear filled his chest.
Such a young brat... He isn't even covering his face? This is bad. The monk's face turned ashen as he quietly took two steps back.
"What are you looking at? It's time to make your contribution!" Dinghong waved his hand, trying to stir up the crowd.
"Fear not death! Those who die for this cause will become the Buddha's soldiers in their next life! The time has come to attain enlightenment!"
"Those who survive this trial will ascend to paradise!!"
At that, the dozens of brawny men exchanged glances. A few wore fanatical smiles, but the rest looked terrified and uncertain.
"Shh~"
To Uchiha Kai, everything happening here was intolerable noise. The boy raised his index finger to his lips and softly shushed them.
"Poof!"
With a muffled thump and a puff of white smoke, a Shadow Clone appeared beside the boy. It crouched, bending its legs as it gathered its strength.
In the next instant, it shot into the crowd like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"What?! They really are ninja!"
"Damn! How are we supposed to fight them?" The men wailed.
But it was useless. The Shadow Clone charged into them like a wolf among sheep, its eerie Sharingan darting back and forth as it struck rapidly with both hands.
"Crack!" A powerful blow snapped an ugly brute's spine. He fell to the ground and writhed, gasping for breath.
The Shadow Clone pulled back its leg, twisted aside to evade two men closing in from the front and behind, and sent them crashing into each other, leaving them dazed.
"Creak~ Crack..." The Shadow Clone brought its hand down.
"Ugh... Ahhhhh! Ugh, ah...!"
A strange cracking sound rang out. A man clutching a woodcutter's axe shrieked like a slaughtered pig as the Shadow Clone ground his shoulder to pieces without changing expression. His arm dangled like a rag.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me... I was forced into this... They made me do it... Aaaah!" The man cried out in agony.
Hearing the wild dogs howl, Uchiha Kai felt a little better. At last, he had somewhere to vent the rage filling his chest.
"Squish..." A Kunai pierced the man's eye socket. It twisted once, then withdrew, snuffing out the life of the man beneath it.
The Shadow Clone straightened up, touched the blood smeared around its temples, and wore a terrifying smile.
"Ugh... No, please! A monster!" "What's wrong with those eyes?!"
"That thing's a demon! A devil!"
The crowd around the Shadow Clone began backing away. They could no longer suppress their terror, and their hands trembled as they clutched their weapons.
"Poof!" The Shadow Clone suddenly burst into a cloud of white smoke.
"They're ordinary people. There aren't any ninja," Uchiha Kai said quietly. "Let's do it."
"Good." Morino Kei's eyes blazed with fury as he ground out his reply.
In the next moment, Morino Kei's hands flashed through the signs.
Rat—Dog—Ox—Snake.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Morino Kei roared as the Chakra within him poured out wildly, unleashed without the slightest restraint.
"Rumble~"
A piercing roar surged upward. The crowd panicked, feeling the ground begin to shake beneath their feet.
The next moment, earth and stone surged upward, forming walls of stone that trapped dozens of bandits.
"What?" "We're going to die..." The bandits panicked.
"Damn it... A ninjutsu of this scale? How is that possible?!" Dinghong's eyes went wide as he stared at the stone walls that had suddenly burst from the ground, his mouth hanging open in shock.
Run... I have to run right now... Such a young monster... I can't beat him, and even if I could... The man's eyes darted about. He could feel people silently watching him from every direction.
There must be some old monster hiding nearby, watching me... Damn it, I can only hope this bunch of useless fools can hold them off for a while. There's no way I can escape otherwise... Dinghong's eyes shifted as he searched for a plan.
Right... Hostages! A kid this age must care about hostages. If I can reach that place and take some livestock as hostages, there might still be a chance.
With that thought, Dinghong's eyes turned vicious. He grabbed a fanatical man beside him and hurled him at the two boys, his arm astonishingly strong.
Uchiha Kai didn't dodge the man flying at him. With a flick of his hand, he drew Zhulu.
One slash met the incoming man, cleaving the bandit in two along the blade and leaving him headless.
Watching Dinghong scramble up the stone wall, Uchiha Kai smiled gently.
"Master Dinghong, we hit it off at first sight. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Before he had finished speaking, more than a dozen Shuriken flew out and reached Dinghong in an instant.
With the metal weapons at his back, Dinghong hurriedly tried to fend them off. In his panic, several Shuriken still grazed him, slicing open wounds on both arms. Blood began seeping from them.
"I appreciate your kindness, young friend, but I can't refuse such generous hospitality. This old monk will take his leave first!" Enduring the pain, Dinghong turned and resumed climbing the wall.
The boy's gaze was cold, but he made no further move. He simply let Dinghong try to escape.
Standing atop the raised Earth-Style Wall, the boy watched with icy eyes. A black Tomoe turned in the crimson of his Sharingan, shining with an eerie light.
The light rippled and twisted twice. Some of the people in the crowd bizarrely lowered their heads, then stiffly raised their woodcutting axes and pitchforks.
The next moment, they swung at the people beside them. As they attacked, they muttered to themselves, as if they were seeing their own enemies.
"Fuck you! I knew you weren't dead! This time I'll chop your head off! Let's see if you can come back to life now!"
"You old bastard! Being alive is a burden, and you can't even rest in death! Then I'll kill you again!" Voices like these rang out, as if they mistook the people around them for someone else.
"Open your eyes! A-Da! I'm your brother! Why are you hacking at me?"
"Don't kill me... Don't kill me! I really didn't mean to sleep with your sister-in-law..."
The scene descended into chaos, filled with angry shouts and cries for mercy. Morino Kei was moved and wanted to say something, but swallowed the words.
Uchiha Kai watched coldly, forming several hand signs.
Snake—Ram—Monkey—Horse—Tiger. Great Fireball Technique.
The enormous fireball crashed down at the corner of the cage. Before long, it would turn the place into a sea of flames.
Amid the boundless heat, the livestock tore into one another.
Before you continue