Lao Ba casually tossed aside the bloodstained cleaver in his hand and walked over with a sinister grin.
"Nice to meet you. You can call me... Crow Ghost!"
Poof!
Smoke billowed around the spot. Then a ninja wearing a Cyan Crow Mask emerged.
"That mask..." Houka's pupils constricted, but he quickly composed himself.
"Looks like you're familiar with it," Lao Ba sneered. "That makes things easier. I inherited this mask, and with it, the mission of its previous owner."
"How interesting!"
Houka sneered. Danzo's Root again. They really never gave up, did they? Would Danzo lose sleep if he couldn't drag Houka into his schemes?
"You know what I'm after. Submit or die!" Lao Ba barked.
"Come on, spare me the tough talk you use to scare ordinary people," Houka scoffed.
Konoha kept a close watch on its ninja, especially Jonin. It would never let them leave the village lightly; anyone who did would be branded a Missing-nin!
Even Root members were still Konoha ninja and subject to the same restrictions. So Houka was certain the guy in front of him was, at most, a Chunin!
A Jonin?
No way!
"Is that your answer?" Lao Ba assumed a fighting stance, holding a Kunai in each hand and aiming them at Houka's throat.
"My answer is... my fate is mine to decide!"
"You're asking for it!"
Lao Ba lunged, closing in on Houka in an instant.
Houka formed Hand Seals at speed. His hand-sealing speed had improved by another 0.1 seconds; now he could complete one seal in 0.5 seconds.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Poof!
The fireball swallowed Lao Ba's figure in an instant, then blazed toward the woods on the opposite hillside.
"Kid, your ninja game ends here!"
Lao Ba leaped high into the air, his hands already finished