Strike × Slaughter

The crowd ahead suddenly grew restless. Several men dressed like merchants burst out of it and rushed over at a ninja's speed.

A few shouts rang out close behind them.

"Stop!"

"In the name of the Konoha Police Force, I order you to stop!"

"Damn it! Stop!"

But the men dressed like merchants paid no heed to the Police Force behind them. They kept their heads down and fled, deliberately darting into the thickest parts of the crowd.

The crowd grew restless too. Seeing what was happening, the villagers scattered, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. That gave the spies a chance to escape.

Suddenly, a tall, distinctive figure stood motionless in the crowd. He didn't move away with everyone else. Instead, he stood rigidly in place, drawing particular attention.

"This guy! He's asking to die!"

The man at the front wore a murderous expression. As he ran toward the tall man before him, he slowly reached for the weapon at his chest.

Whether the tall man before him was a ninja never crossed his mind. Besides, Nara Dan had been summoned by the Third today and hadn't had time to change clothes. He was dressed in ordinary clothes.

The man at the front closed in at speed, but the tall man standing in the way remained motionless, as if he'd been scared stiff.

Then the instincts of a spy warned the leading man that something was wrong. But the arrow was already on the string. He had no choice but to release it.

"Die!"

Chakra surged through the man's body. A sharp Kunai appeared in his hand, and he thrust it forward.

The force of his passing stirred the wind, blowing Nara Dan's long hair aside and revealing a face as sharply chiseled as if carved with a knife and axe.

"Huh?!"

"That face... I think I've seen it at the intelligence station before. Could it be—"

But the leading man had no time to think it through. That became his final thought.

"Bam!"

A deafening crash erupted like thunder on a clear day. The air rippled again and again, forming a huge shock wave.

The shock wave swept the leading man's Kunai back and lifted him off his feet.

In the blink of an eye, Nara Dan's muscles had swollen. He pressed in close to the man and drove a fist into his abdomen.

The leading man shot through the air like a bullet.

Flesh and clothing flew everywhere with him. Under the crushing force, blood seeped from the man's skin and flesh all over his body. He writhed in agony as he hurtled through the air, unable to move.

At last—or perhaps only a moment later—he slammed into the wall of a building in the village. Another crashing boom rang out. Bricks and tiles flew, dust billowed, and no one could see what lay within.

The leading man was left with his eyes bulging in horror. Broken bones jutted through his flesh, and scarcely a patch of intact tissue remained on the front of his body. He lay sprawled on the ground, clinging to his last breath.

"Hiss!"

The shocking sight stopped almost everyone in their tracks, pursuers and spies alike. They all sucked in a sharp breath.

"Was that kind of power a Tailed Beast?"

"That man was almost smashed to pieces."

"And a punch can make that much noise in the air?"

In this world, where ninjutsu reigned supreme, physical strength was often underestimated. Before Nara Dan, few people had ever wielded Taijutsu with power approaching that of ninjutsu.

The spies were the first to react. Without hesitation, the remaining ones shouted together.

"Run!"

"Split up!"

"We can't fight him!"

One of the spies was drenched in cold sweat, his palms so slick he could barely hold his Kunai.

He recognized the tall man: his burly build, sharply chiseled face, long hair falling to his shoulders, inhuman physical strength, and savage way of striking.

"It—it's the Black Demon of Konoha!!"

But the instant the spy's thought surfaced, darkness engulfed him forever.

Nara Dan expressionlessly pulled his bloodied fingers from the man's skull. He ignored the body sprawled on the ground and turned to the next target.

"Damn it, that monster's looking this way!!"

The targeted spy felt the hairs on his body stand on end. The alarm bells in his ninja instincts rang madly, as if his heart were about to leap out of his chest! He didn't care if he gave himself away and fled at full speed in a ninja's stance.

"Pointless."

Nara Dan's voice sounded right beside him, like a demon's whisper.

Almost by instinct, the targeted spy abruptly changed direction and shot away from the whisper. But when he saw Nara Dan, his eyes nearly popped out of his head, and his legs almost gave way.

"Monster! I'll fight you to the death!"

Realizing he couldn't escape Nara Dan's uncanny speed, the spy formed Hand Seals faster than he ever had in his life.

"Fire Style! Great Fireball Technique!"

A vast blaze of high-temperature flames engulfed Nara Dan. The scorching heat warped the air before the spy's eyes.

But the spy didn't dare blink. He'd studied the intelligence reports and knew that ordinary ninjutsu had almost no effect on this Black Demon.

Sure enough, the intelligence had been accurate. As the spy stared in disbelief, the flames died away, revealing Nara Dan completely unharmed.

Aside from the faintly scorched ordinary clothes, not even a single strand of Nara Dan's hair had burned. A metallic sheen glimmered on his smooth skin. Heat hot enough to reduce a large tree to ash felt to him like soaking in a hot spring.

The System Panel displayed an Entry shimmering with an unusual violet glow.

(Blue) Copper Head Iron Bone: Years of digesting and absorbing metal have given your body some metallic properties. Ordinary physical or elemental attacks will have a hard time harming you.

"Tell me..."

"Using such a gentle technique on me..."

"Are you trying to light birthday candles for me?"

Nara Dan's words were full of references the spy ninja didn't understand, being a native of this world. And even if he had understood, he wouldn't have been able to answer.

With one hand shaped like a blade, Nara Dan thrust straight through the spy ninja's heart as easily as a hot knife through butter. It met no resistance at all.

Nara Dan expressionlessly pulled out his hand and looked at yet another corpse. Protected by Chakra, his hand didn't have even a drop of blood on it.

As for human life, after so many years in the ninja world, he'd long since lost the concept of mercy. He'd become indifferent to life and death.

The members of the Police Force finally arrived. Faced with this scene of ruthless killing, even the members of the Red White Fan were shaken.

The scene fell silent for a moment before the leading ninja spoke.

"Jonin Nara... Thank you for your help."

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