"Faster... faster!"
The bald monk fled through the enormous camp on all fours. Remembering the terrifying scene from earlier, he couldn't stop his calves from trembling.
"Those two monsters... How is that possible? How can such little brats use that kind of ninjutsu?" Master Dinghong muttered, still shaken.
After vaulting over another tent, the bald monk's eyes lit up. A cave had appeared ahead.
"If I can just make it there..."
"I can survive!"
Seeing the cave just ahead, Master Dinghong couldn't hide the joy spreading across his face.
"Master Dinghong, you're in such a hurry to leave. Doesn't that make it seem as if we haven't been good hosts?" A chilling voice came from behind him as shadows flickered through the trees.
"Why not stop for a moment and have a heart-to-heart?"
Uchiha Kai flickered among the branches, his figure elusive, like an underworld messenger come to claim a life.
"I can't stay any longer! I've had a sudden spiritual revelation and must retreat to meet the Buddha for a while. Please go back, benefactor!" Dinghong shouted as he ran, never daring to slow down.
"Heh... What a coincidence. I happen to know a little about Buddhism too." Uchiha Kai used the Body Flicker Technique to close in on Dinghong, speaking in a chilling tone.
"How about this? I'll be a good Samaritan and see the Buddha all the way..." The boy grinned savagely, transforming into a bloodthirsty Asura.
"I'll personally escort Master Dinghong to meet the Buddha. How does that sound?"
"Fuck you! You little bastard, you've gone too far!" Dinghong finally lost it and cursed. His hand flicked, sending a spray of Senbon Needles toward the boy racing at him.
The Senbon Needles, dense as an iron net, sliced through the air, reflecting a sinister green sheen. Who knew what they had been coated with?
The next moment, they passed straight through the center of Uchiha Kai's face in an uncanny fashion, then embedded themselves in the tree stump behind him with a series of metallic chinks.
"How can a monk speak such foul language? That's where you've gone wrong. You've broken your vows. That tongue of yours is nothing but trouble, so I'll take the effort to help you rid yourself of it!"
Uchiha Kai spoke in a chilling voice. He flashed forward, suddenly accelerating into a streak of black light.
A fierce gust swept up behind him. Dinghong knew something was wrong and hurriedly turned to raise his arms in defense.
But Uchiha Kai casually knocked aside his attack and slammed a fist into his stomach.
"Ugh...!"
Pain shot through Dinghong's abdomen. The blow to his stomach made him retch, and he let out a miserable groan.
The next moment, Uchiha Kai struck again. His iron-hard palm clamped down on Dinghong's jaw and forced his mouth open.
The boy lifted him up. Because of the difference in their heights, Dinghong's lower body hung in a posture like he was kneeling before thin air. His gaze began to quiver. Looking at the handsome boy smiling before him, he felt his heart freeze.
"You... Y-you... what are you... doing...?"
With his jaw held in place, Dinghong's words came out in broken, indistinct fragments.
"Mm..."
The boy said nothing. He drew a Kunai from his ninja pouch, scraped it twice against Dinghong's thigh, and left two long gashes.
"Of course I'm removing your source of trouble, Master, and clearing your path of cultivation..." Uchiha Kai said in a chilling voice.
"Don't worry, I'm not a professional. I won't make this easy for you. I'll make sure you suffer so much you'll wish you were dead..."
As the black Kunai drew closer, Dinghong struggled desperately to break free.
But Uchiha Kai drove a knee into him, making his eyes roll back until he nearly lost consciousness.
The sharp Kunai sank into Dinghong's mouth. Smiling, the boy kept twisting his wrist, the blade slicing through flesh with ease.
Blood poured out freely. A pain no ordinary person could endure was inflicted on Dinghong.
After the Kunai had churned through his mouth, it was little more than a mass of gaping, mangled flesh. It was impossible to tell whether his tongue had been destroyed or mixed in with the rest.
"Ughh...!"
His furious cries never stopped, but without a tongue, Dinghong could only make a series of muffled, incoherent whimpers.
Uchiha Kai then tossed him aside, hurling him against the stone wall at the cave entrance.
"Smack! Clang!"
Dinghong slid down the wall and hit the ground, but after struggling for two seconds, he actually managed to get back up.
"Oh? Interesting."
The boy raised an eyebrow and walked toward him at an unhurried pace.
"Thud... thud... thud." His combat boots struck the gravel path. In truth, they weren't making much noise.
But to Dinghong, each footfall sounded like a death knell, growing faster, louder, and closer.
Death was approaching him with light footsteps.
"Ugh... Aah!"
Dinghong's face twisted in terror. He opened his mangled mouth and let out a frightened whimper.
Scrambling on all fours, he crawled toward the cave entrance, like an old dog with a broken back dragging itself along.
I can't die. How could I die? I can't die here... I'm someone who has met the Buddha... Dinghong roared in his heart.
How could I die in a place like this?! How is that possible?!
At last, he reached the cave entrance. He could even hear the women crying inside.
I made it! I made it! I made it! Hahahahaha! Dinghong laughed maniacally inside.
He crawled into the cave in a pitiful state. At once, he saw the nearest woman. Her clothes were disheveled and her face was pale. Something in her vacant gaze flickered, making her seem strange.
He hurried toward her, intending to seize her as a hostage and force Uchiha Kai to stop chasing him.
"Hahaha! That stupid kid really has no brains. He charged around recklessly and gave me an opening. Let's see if you can act so righteous now."
As Dinghong thought this, his gaze turned crazed and vicious.
"Thump—"
The next moment, a figure dropped from above and slammed a foot into Dinghong's back, pinning him to the ground with a dull thud.
"What?" The man was horrified. He tried to lift his head, but his position and the pressure held him down. His face was pressed into the dirt, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Scum. I'm going to skin you alive." The girl's voice was cold.
"Crack!" The girl swung a palm. An invisible shockwave struck, and one of Dinghong's arms shattered on the spot.
"Crack!" His other arm was smashed into a pulp.
"Thud!" His left leg was broken by a heavy blow.
"Ugh... Aah!"
Hot tears poured from Dinghong's eyes like a broken dam as he howled in a voice no human should make.
"Don't think you'll get off that easily... For the evil you've done, this death would be far too gentle."
Hyuga Rei grabbed Dinghong by the scalp and lifted his head so he could see the cave's horrors.
The mangled bodies, large and small, hung overhead. Women lay sprawled across straw mats, their lives uncertain. Bones were piled up in the depths of the cave.
With each horror she looked upon, the fury in the girl's eyes grew.
"We can't let him die just like this! Kai!" Hyuga Rei's voice quivered with the faintest trace of tears.
The girl turned to Uchiha Kai.
"Of course not. I'll make him understand the preciousness of life..." Uchiha Kai walked over, speaking in a chilling voice.
The next moment, the boy's pupils contracted. He instantly threw a Shuriken toward the girl's back.
At that instant, Hyuga Rei also sensed the warped killing intent behind her.
A woman whose clothes barely covered her body and whose whole body was bruised pulled a crude blade from her clothes and stabbed viciously toward Hyuga Rei.
The girl's pupils widened in shock, her eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.
The woman who had just been weeping to her in gratitude—why was she suddenly doing this?
Then a twisted voice filled with boundless hatred rang out.
"Why do I have to suffer like this? Why are you still so calm?!"
Before you continue