Control of the Entire Situation, Teammates' Shock

Although the Rogue Ninja had done everything he could to avoid the most fatal areas, several Shuriken still struck his body. With a scream, he collapsed to the ground.

Hyuga Keiko reacted almost immediately. She drove the Shuriken in her hand into the Rogue Ninja's throat, killing him outright. Only then did she finally let out a breath of relief.

She then looked at Kitahara Kaede, standing atop a high wall not far away, her heart filled with shock. How had his strength improved so dramatically all at once?

Could Shuriken kill people? Of course they could, especially against ninjas, a fragile class with high attack and low defense.

But against Chunin, or even Elite Chunin, their threat was greatly reduced. Their reactions were too fast, making it difficult to lock them down completely.

Yet Kitahara Kaede's barrage of Shuriken just now had been nothing short of miraculous. It was as if he had foreseen every possible move his opponent could make, shooting him straight to the ground.

Even without her finishing blow, Kitahara Kaede could have calmly finished the job himself. It would have taken no more than one Shuriken.

Sure enough, she saw Kitahara Kaede holding a Shuriken in his hand. If she had not acted just now, that Shuriken would probably have ended up in the man's throat.

Killing an Elite Chunin so easily with just a few Shuriken—his Shuriken technique was no worse than that of the Uchiha Clan in their heyday.

More importantly, how could Kitahara Kaede possibly have predicted all of his opponent's movements?

Even she, with the enhancement of the Byakugan, could not do that.

Hyuga Keiko knew all too well how powerful that Rogue Ninja had been. He was far stronger than any of them. If not for the dynamic vision provided by the Byakugan, she would likely have been cut down long ago.

After all, even a Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai was not invincible. Her eyes could barely keep up, but her body could not. She could only rely on the Byakugan's enhancement to anticipate some of his attacks in advance and barely hold on.

Kitahara Kaede had already quietly deactivated his Sharingan, so Hyuga Keiko did not know how he had done it. But soon after, she noticed the terrifying amount of Chakra within him.

Originally, she had possessed the most Chakra among the three of them, thanks to the Hyuga Clan bloodline. Soten Genryu and Kitahara Kaede had roughly equal amounts, though Kitahara Kaede had slightly more.

But now, the amount of Chakra in Kitahara Kaede's body had reached an astonishing level—at least several times greater than hers, and more than ten times what she had previously observed in him.

It was already comparable to some Jonin from her clan's Branch Family.

It had only been a few days.

And what made her feel as though she must have been seeing things was that she could clearly see Kitahara Kaede's Chakra continuing to increase at an astonishing speed, visibly rising before her eyes.

But she quickly looked away. Although she did not know how Kitahara Kaede's strength had increased so absurdly in such a short time, she also understood that everyone had their own secrets—especially ninjas.

She did not want to know what she should not know.

She then used her Byakugan to inspect the entire Bandits' hideout. After confirming that no Bandits remained, she deactivated it, ran to Soten Genryu's side, and began bandaging him. At the same time, she used the Mystical Palm Technique, which she had learned but was still not proficient in, to stop his bleeding and treat him.

Meanwhile, Kitahara Kaede had been watching Hyuga Keiko's every move. He knew she had probably noticed something. She should not have seen him awaken the Sharingan, but the immense Chakra within his body was probably impossible to hide from her.

What delighted him, however, was that after awakening the Sharingan, his Chakra—which had been growing slowly—had surged by another thirty percent in a short time. At this rate, it would not be long before he possessed One-Kakashi Power's worth of Chakra, Chakra comparable to that of an Elite Jonin.

Was this the boost brought by the Sharingan?

No wonder the Uchiha Clan had made such a huge name for themselves back then, even giving rise to the saying that one must flee when facing one of them alone.

These Ninja Clans with Kekkei Genkai were truly far stronger than ordinary civilian ninjas. As long as they awakened their Kekkei Genkai, their strength would enter a period of rapid growth.

What a miserable life he had lived before.

Take Hyuga Keiko, for example. Though she was an unremarkable member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family, and her talent as a ninja was roughly on par with the original Kitahara Kaede and Soten Genryu, her Chakra reserves were more than twice theirs. That was the advantage of bloodline.

Coupled with the secret ninja techniques passed down within the Hyuga Clan, despite Kitahara Kaede being the only Chunin, he might not necessarily be Hyuga Keiko's match in a real fight.

"Are you alright?" Kitahara Kaede asked with concern as he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Soten Genryu.

"I'm fine. Much better." Soten Genryu's face was somewhat pale, but Hyuga Keiko's unskilled Mystical Palm Technique had at least stopped the bleeding. All that remained was for him to rest and recover for a while.

Their squad was already considered well-equipped. Not every team had a support medic ninja who could use the Mystical Palm Technique.

The Mystical Palm Technique was extremely useful, but its entry threshold was high. It was not something ordinary ninjas could master.

Normally, a ninja in this situation could only apply some ointment and slowly recuperate.

"That bastard was too underhanded. He pretended to be asleep and launched a sneak attack. He had no sense of honor at all," Soten Genryu said.

"How many times have I told you to be careful? That's what being a ninja is like." Hyuga Keiko smacked Soten Genryu on the head, then said, "If you keep being so reckless, one day I won't make it in time to save you."

Kitahara Kaede nodded. Of the three of them, Soten Genryu was the most impulsive and had suffered for it more than once before. But back then, their main opponents had been handled by their squad leader, Akai Akimoto, so they had never had the chance to deal with such powerful enemies themselves.

That Rogue Ninja had been no weaker than their former squad leader, Akai Akimoto.

"You rest first. I'll set up some traps and wait to see whether any Bandits return," Kitahara Kaede said.

He planned to hide and ambush any Bandits who might have gone out.

That was what being a ninja was like. Underhanded? What did underhanded even mean?

The three waited another day. Soten Genryu's injuries had mostly recovered, and after confirming there were no other escaped Bandits, they finally set off for Konoha to turn in the mission.

Because the mission had involved an Elite Chunin-level enemy, its rank was raised from C-rank to B-rank. Konoha would later send Anbu to investigate and determine whether this Rogue Ninja had truly been a Rogue Ninja, or an infiltrator sent by another ninja village to cause trouble.