Sudden Instant Kill

"Come with us, and you'll find out." The thick-lipped Anbu was growing impatient, waving his hand as if to signal Xing Ran to follow immediately.

"Do you have the relevant documentation?" Xing Ran's own nerves were frayed, making him deeply wary of these Anbu. Normally, when Anbu took someone in, they carried paperwork issued by the Hokage Building; otherwise, their authority would be far too unchecked, easily breeding bad practices.

Still, Anbu rarely abused their power. Their missions were grueling, leaving no time for strolling around and throwing their weight around, so village ninjas usually complied without question when summoned.

But Xing Ran's demand to see the documents struck the thick-lipped Anbu as stalling or evasion. Given that this guy was the sole survivor of a wiped-out squad, unusual behavior was understandable—but understanding didn't mean accepting his dragging feet.

The earlier wave turned into a downward chop, and the next moment, Xing Ran heard a rustle behind him.

He'd been talking to the thick-lipped Anbu, sandwiched between two ninjas, with another Anbu at his back.

That rustle came from the rear Anbu. Clearly, the pair had lost patience—if he wouldn't go willingly, they'd make him.

Xing Ran felt something odd. Not that the Anbu had attacked from behind, but that he had an unusually clear read on the strike. It was like he could see through the move completely, even without eyes on the back of his head.

He tilted his head slightly, dodging the chop aimed at his neck. The Anbu behind him wore a Dog mask. The missed strike threw off his balance, his forearm swinging past Xing Ran's shoulder. Without thinking, Xing Ran's body moved on its own. He grabbed the Dog-masked Anbu's forearm, yanked him forward, and as the man lost his footing, slammed his back into the Anbu's chest. In the same motion, he seized the Anbu's shoulder and hurled him—a flawless shoulder throw completed in an instant.

The moment the Anbu hit the ground, Xing Ran had a knee pressed into him, locking down any possible counter, pinning him helplessly.

"Stop! What are you doing?" The thick-lipped Cat-masked Anbu hadn't expected Xing Ran to fight back. In the blink of an eye, his comrade—a ninja whose file showed only genin-level strength—was subdued. He barked out the order while drawing a kunai. Survivors of wiped-out squads often developed war sickness; maybe this guy was no different.

"You want to take me in, so you should have the paperwork. Let me see it, and I'll come quietly." Xing Ran knelt on the Dog-masked Anbu, his knee pressing down so hard the man could barely breathe. It was a brutal, almost inhumane way to restrain someone, but when he looked at the Cat-masked Anbu, his tone and expression were gentle and amiable, sending a chill down the Cat-masked Anbu's spine.

"The paperwork... is on me. Let me go first... I'll show you." The Dog-masked Anbu beneath Xing Ran was struggling, the suffocation growing worse. Besides, the request was reasonable—showing it didn't count as chickening out... right?

As soon as the Dog-masked Anbu finished speaking, Xing Ran released him. The man gasped for air, fuming inwardly. He was a chunin-level Anbu—how had he been so careless, getting pinned by a genin who'd only done C- and D-rank missions? Was it because the Third Shinobi World War was finally ending, letting his guard down?

Xing Ran, of course, had no idea the Dog-masked Anbu was questioning his life after being taken down by a lower-ranked ninja.

Taking the "assist investigation" document, Xing Ran used the pretense of reading it to let out a heavy internal sigh. His body had moved on its own just now—that wasn't something he could normally do. And that split-second sense of control wasn't just from his Yamanaka Clan's perception talent; there was something else at play.

Plus, when he'd thrown the man, he'd easily tracked the trajectory mid-throw and adjusted before the shoulder throw was complete, locking in the restraint first. That wasn't something he could have managed before either. It wasn't just combat experience—without sharp insight, he couldn't have pulled it off so cleanly.

The sharper insight was easy to explain. X-ray vision was one expression of Super vision, and since he'd never effectively controlled his X-ray vision, overlooking his enhanced perception made sense.

Did the stronger perception mean the Super Brainpower he'd always ignored was awakening too?

In DC comics, Superman could learn a foreign language after just seconds of conversation. He'd mastered every known language on Earth and knowledge from 28 known galaxies. In one storyline, he read all published medical books in five minutes, absorbing what would take an ordinary person ten years.

That came down to the brain's processing power—and the control it brought?

Forcing the connection felt shaky. He'd test it later by memorizing a few books.

With that thought, the shock of his body moving on its own began to settle. Xing Ran skimmed the document quickly.

So that's why the Anbu had come—to help reconstruct the scene. It made sense; they'd encountered a large group of enemy ninjas within the village's territory, and the Intelligence System needed to piece together the whole incident.

Handing the document back to the Dog-masked Anbu, Xing Ran and the group soon arrived at the Hokage Building.

The Hokage Building wasn't just the Hokage's office. The village's advisory council and various departments also had offices here, making the structure massive.

Standing before the Hokage Building, Xing Ran looked up. Following the chirping hawks circling in the sky, his gaze landed behind it—the Hokage Rock, famous across the entire shinobi world. If not for the wars, tourists alone would flock here in droves.

The Hokage Building itself looked like a big head wearing a Hokage hat, identical to the original story. Besides the above-ground structure, the underground facilities were said to be enormous, though no one knew their true extent. Perception barriers covered the area; Naruto's easy infiltration in the anime was purely the Hokage going easy on him.

This time, Xing Ran's destination was the underground. In reality, unlike the manga, the Hokage wasn't someone you met casually, nor did they waste time on trivial matters.