Worthy of the Name Ninja

"It's already too late. Honestly, you should have trusted me." On the hillside, as Yueguang Han finished speaking, over a dozen Sand Shinobi appeared around the four of them, surrounding them completely.

"Protect this reckless kid and prepare to retreat." Seeing the dozen Sand Shinobi surrounding them, Yueguang Xingye, who had been blocking Yueguang Han, shouted immediately. He pulled out a kunai and turned around, ready for battle. Yueguang Long and Yueguang Shiye also drew their kunai, and the three formed a triangular formation, shielding Yueguang Han in the center.

"Everyone, be careful! That boy they're protecting is the one who attacked our outpost. His abilities are very strange; his limbs can transform into bizarre weapons. Once he locks onto you, you'll be killed in an instant. He can't attack those hiding underground." At the same time, behind the Sand Shinobi surrounding the group, the Sand Shinobi who had lost his hands and fled earlier quickly burst out from the ground, shouting to warn his comrades.

He hadn't actually fled; he had been quietly following Yueguang Han and the others. He had already fired a signal flare during their initial attack, so he knew his companions who had escaped the camp by tunneling would definitely come to support him. If he didn't share this intelligence, his comrades might all be killed in a counterattack without knowing what they were up against.

"Too late!" As the handless Sand Shinobi revealed his intel, Yueguang Han made his move. The light machine guns his hands had transformed into opened fire, unleashing a frantic barrage directly at the Sand Shinobi in front of him.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!" Dense gunfire erupted in the forest, sounding like a string of firecrackers going off. Bright red bullets turned into streaks of crimson light, flashing through the air and burying themselves into the chests of the Sand Shinobi ahead, drawing fountains of blood from their backs.

"Dodge!" Only then did the handless Sand Shinobi manage to shout a warning to his comrades, but it was already too late. In the span of a single breath, four Sand Shinobi who hadn't yet processed the information were struck by multiple bullets. They collapsed instantly; even those who weren't dead had their internal organs shredded by the bullets. The cavitation effect destroyed their ability to move, and the immense pain left them lying on the ground, wailing and gasping for air.

Damn it! I underestimated him! The other Sand Shinobi cursed inwardly at the sight and scrambled from their positions, diving toward the surrounding trees. Even though their companion had warned them in advance, they had still underestimated the lethality of this boy.

"You wasted your best chance. You should have charged at me together to kill me first." Watching the Sand Shinobi scramble for cover, Yueguang Han said coldly. His electronic eye captured the movements of the dodging shinobi with full precision, and the light machine guns on his hands began to fire in continuous, controlled bursts.

"Tat-tat-tat, tat-tat, tat-tat-tat!" The gunfire echoed through the forest again, forming short, sharp bursts.

"Pfft, pfft...!" Blood sprayed from the bodies of the frantically dodging Sand Shinobi. In just a breath or two, three more who hadn't managed to reach the trees collapsed, never to rise again. The few Sand Shinobi still wailing on the ground were also silenced by Yueguang Han's precise fire.

"Damn Konoha Shinobi!" Seeing three more comrades fall and the wailing ones go silent, the Sand Shinobi hiding behind trees gritted their teeth and cursed. That boy had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

"Pfft!" With a spray of blood and brain matter, the head of a Sand Shinobi who had cautiously poked his head out to observe exploded. The suddenness of it terrified the other Sand Shinobi; they didn't even dare to peek out anymore, let alone attempt an attack.

Unfortunately, the trees here were too thick; even a Barrett firing armor-piercing rounds wouldn't penetrate them, so Yueguang Han didn't waste his ammunition. For a moment, the forest fell silent once more.

"This...!" Yueguang Xingye, Yueguang Long, and the third member looked at the eight corpses of the Sand Shinobi and the quiet forest, their hearts filled with a complex mix of emotions. They had gained a completely new, earth-shattering understanding of Yueguang Han's Kekkei Genkai.

Yueguang Han was right; they hadn't understood his Kekkei Genkai at all.

"Die!" Just as Yueguang Xingye and the others were lost in their thoughts, a middle-aged Sand Shinobi suddenly burst from the ground right behind Yueguang Han, inside their defensive circle. He gripped a katana tightly, charging forward with unstoppable momentum, aiming a direct slash at Yueguang Han's neck, swearing to take his head in one strike.

"No!" The sudden turn of events happened while Yueguang Xingye and the others were distracted. By the time they tried to intervene, it was too late. The Sand Shinobi who had launched the surprise attack was a Jonin; he had clearly chosen the perfect moment when their focus had slipped.

"Clang!" The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

To the disbelief of the attacking Sand Shinobi and the regretful, sorrowful cries of Yueguang Xingye and his team, the katana that had been aimed at Yueguang Han's neck had only bitten in half an inch before it could go no further.

Oh no! The next moment, the attacking Sand Shinobi Jonin felt alarm bells ringing in his head and tried to pull his blade back to retreat from Yueguang Han.

"Bang! Bang!" However, before he could escape, two consecutive shotgun blasts rang out. The steel pellets from the shotgun blew his feet clean off. Having lost his feet, he collapsed at Yueguang Han's feet.

"Phew!" Seeing that Yueguang Han was unharmed and had countered the surprise attack from the Sand Jonin, Yueguang Xingye and the others breathed a sigh of relief, holding Yueguang Han's Kekkei Genkai in even higher regard.

"I have to say, while you aren't on par with the elites led by Yakura, you are worthy of the name shinobi! Unfortunately, you ran into me." Looking down at the fallen Sand Jonin, Yueguang Han, whose right leg had transformed into a shotgun, pointed it at the man's head and spoke coldly.

With that, Yueguang Han blasted the Sand Shinobi's head into pieces.

It turned out that the moment the Sand Shinobi Jonin's katana struck his neck, Yueguang Han had instantly transformed his right lower leg into a shotgun. In the split second of the Sand Shinobi's shock, he performed a backward leg-bending motion and fired two shots in succession.

What the hell kind of ability is this? Underground, the Sand Shinobi who had burrowed into the earth cursed incessantly in their hearts, halting the sneak attacks they had prepared.

As it happened, after hiding behind the large trees, most of these Sand Shinobi had submerged themselves underground. They had not forgotten the intelligence provided by the Sand Shinobi who had lost both his hands.

"Burrowing underground—I really can't do anything about that! But if I travel through the trees, there's nothing you can do about me either." Yueguang Han spoke to the silent surroundings. With a leap, he sprang onto a large tree and once again dashed rapidly toward the Sand Shinobi stronghold in the valley. Seeing this, Yueguang Xingye and the other two hurriedly followed closely around Yueguang Han, keeping a constant watch for any movement, including from beneath the ground. They would absolutely not allow such a danger to occur again.

"Bastard!" Seeing this, the Sand Shinobi underground cursed one after another. One could imagine what would happen once this Konoha youth with such bizarre abilities charged into their stronghold. Almost all the ninjas in the stronghold capable of Earth Release had already burrowed out. Unfortunately, faced with Yueguang Han's ability, despite knowing the severity of the situation, they dared not appear easily again until they found a way to deal with him.