If You Don't Fight for Your Life, You'll Lose It

"This isn't something a samurai would do. You have no honor..."

Before he could finish, Ogawa Uemon's head lolled to one side, and he breathed his last.

Hatake Jiangyi snorted. "You ambush people, and you think you have the right to talk? And you want to fight me without ninjutsu, just with swords? I'm no samurai. I'm a ninja!"

Jiangyi raised his sword and struck again, slashing at his opponent's neck.

The blow was swift and decisive, cutting off Ogawa Uemon's head.

Hatake Jiangyi gazed at his enemy, finally satisfied, and thought, In your next life, don't ever mess with a Konoha Genin!

He remembered Lord Fucheng's teachings.

"Always finish off your enemies after a battle. Never give them a chance to strike back at the last moment."

Jiangyi shook the blood from his blade, called to his two Ninja Dogs, and hurried toward the place where "Moon Sister 1v3" had just been fighting.

He had already made up his mind. These ground traps are too sturdy. We'll team up to kill the three mud men first, then let Moon Sister figure out what to do.

When Hatake Jiangyi killed Ogawa Uemon, Uchiha Fucheng received an unexpected reward notification.

[Changed Ogawa Rijiao's (General Mifune's guard) fate]

[Reward: Ogawa Rijiao's Fate Dice]

Fucheng was a little surprised.

Huh? A reward out of nowhere?

He didn't know what special reward someone so insignificant might bring, so he rolled the dice for 10 Recognition Points.

[Obtained Land of Iron swordsmanship; obtained the ability to imbue weapons with chakra.]

Uchiha Fucheng understood at once.

It had to be connected to the mission he'd assigned in the occupied territory. Somehow, it had affected the fate of Ogawa Rijiao, the Land of Iron samurai.

"Mikoto, did you receive any special reports just now? About the squad's mission?" Fucheng asked.

Mikoto immediately recalled the intelligence report 0015 had just submitted.

"Yes! It was Hezi and the others!"

Mikoto checked the records. "They just found Nagashima Ryosuke in Sweet Water Town—the Land of Rain merchant who was hiding a large supply of Military Ration Pills."

That information made Fucheng realize that 0015 must have encountered an enemy!

The enemy had to be strong enough to earn Fucheng a reward. He didn't want to miss out.

"Let's go! Hezi and the others may be in trouble."

Fucheng called to Mikoto, and they hurried toward the last location reported.

In the cavern now, 0015 was still fighting the samurai covered in mud.

Although the samurai had used the mud to hide and ambush 0015, Moon Sister was an individual of the Misaka Network with exceptional regenerative abilities. Her fighting strength hadn't been noticeably diminished.

0015 wasn't especially strong in combat.

Her chakra was only at Chunin level, but her Taijutsu was clearly better than that of an ordinary Misaka Sister.

As she fought off the three samurai, she relied mostly on her White Zetsu-like regenerative ability, exchanging injuries with them by force.

"Come on! Cut me! Come at me head-on! In the name of the moon, I'll finish you off!"

By the time Hatake Jiangyi finished his fight and killed the samurai leader, Ogawa Uemon, 0015 had already reduced the three samurai guards to "one dead, two injured."

0015 had only held back because she didn't want to drive her opponents into a desperate last stand.

On the next level of the cavern, Kai Muyu was lying in wait beside a trap when he saw Uchiha Hezi and Yakushi Nonō fall down.

He launched an ambush at once.

Yakushi Nonō was still reeling from the fall when she was struck first!

The senbon carried a powerful neurotoxin. The colorless, odorless poison extracted from Ibuse spread through her wound and paralyzed her body.

Even after taking an antidote, Yakushi Nonō couldn't stop the poison from spreading.

This is bad! The poison is spreading too quickly. I'm going to die! Nonō didn't panic. Instead, she rapidly considered what to do.

Despite her young age, Nonō had excellent combat instincts and was remarkably decisive under pressure.

Without hesitation, Nonō cut off her left forearm.

By sacrificing her left arm, she temporarily stopped the neurotoxin from traveling back toward her heart.

Seeing Yakushi Nonō with only one arm left, Uchiha Hezi went nearly berserk. She glared furiously at their opponent.

The moment she fell, Hezi had used the Sharingan's keen visual tracking to narrowly dodge the poisoned senbon.

She had also fired two Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullets toward the enemy's hiding place.

She threw ten Kunai, each bound with an Explosive Tag, as well.

At that moment, Uchiha Hezi felt as though she could perform Hand Seals countless times faster than usual.

The battlefield really was a good place to awaken one's potential.

Firelight filled the cavern.

A middle-aged ninja wearing a Rain Ninja Forehead Protector was exposed before the two of them.

"Now's my chance!"

Uchiha Hezi decided to risk everything.

First, she used Sharingan Genjutsu to control him, then unleashed a powerful Fire Release technique to set the cavern ablaze!

Uchiha Hezi exceeded her usual limits, instantly igniting the poisonous smoke inside the cave.

Hezi had successfully used Fire Release to eliminate the danger of the Ibuse poison spreading.

The flames were so fierce that the enclosed cavern quickly became depleted of oxygen.

The hot air in the cave scorched Uchiha Hezi's hair, shoulders, and arms.

"How can a Konoha ninja this young be so strong?"

Having underestimated Uchiha Hezi, Kai Muyu was badly injured and staggered into a narrow passage.

Yakushi Nonō couldn't join the fight. She was trying to draw the poison out, and the composed Nonō was doing everything she could to treat her bloodless, pale upper arm.

Without her left hand, Nonō couldn't perform Hand Seals for many ninjutsu.

After using Fire Release, Uchiha Hezi immediately wanted to rush the Rain Ninja who had released the poison and finish him off.

But she had taken only a couple of steps when a huge hand dropped from above!

The enemy gripped her by the throat!

There's another enemy!

Hezi cried out inwardly as a somewhat strange face suddenly appeared before her.

This enemy had to be the Mist Ninja with a ten-million-rio bounty who hadn't shown himself until now.

He had a strange hairstyle and a manic, savage expression. Hanging upside down from the cavern ceiling, he appeared before Hezi and Nonō.

What a bizarre hairstyle!

On each side of his head, his hair formed two lumps above and below, like strange-looking topknots from ancient times.

His short eyebrows had been shaved almost entirely off, and an oval mark resembling a court-style eyebrow had been drawn above them.

His face was covered in jowls, his mouth was twisted open, and white foam bubbled at its corners from the poison.

"Is this guy sick or something?" Uchiha Hezi was so furious she could barely speak.

"Did he endure the poison just to hide on the cavern ceiling and ambush me?"

Choked by the hand around her throat, Hezi couldn't catch her breath.

He did all this just to ambush me? If he hid in the poisonous fog, he'd get poisoned by the Ibuse toxin too.

Yakushi Nonō threw a Kunai with one hand, trying to distract the enemy and give Hezi a chance to escape.

Unable to perform Hand Seals with one arm, Nonō could only force chakra into a Chakra Scalpel without using them.

She intended to cut through the enemy's wrist and free Hezi.

Ignoring the blood spurting from her left arm, Nonō rushed toward him at top speed and slashed at his wrist with the Chakra Scalpel.

Screech!

The Chakra Scalpel was exceptionally sharp, but it failed to cut through his wrist.

It left only a white mark!

Nonō was horrified to see that the Kunai she had thrown had also bounced off him.

"Is it bone?!"

Yakushi Nonō was stunned.

"Bone Release: Dance of the Clematis: Flowering Vine!"

Kaguya Eita laughed maniacally.

He pulled a bone from his body and shaped it into a barbed bone whip.

Like a giant snake, the bone whip twisted around Yakushi Nonō. Its spikes dug into her back, and blood stained her petite body red.

Taking advantage of Kaguya Eita's distraction,

Uchiha Hezi's Sharingan Genjutsu successfully disrupted him.

A Kunai held in Hezi's hand whistled toward his eye socket.

"Bone Release: Dance of the Clematis: Flower!"

A hard bone grew rapidly into a sharp spear and struck first, piercing through Hezi's right shoulder!

His savage, violent attack knocked Uchiha Hezi and Yakushi Nonō to the ground in fewer than two exchanges, leaving them completely unable to fight back.

Savage bones covered the cavern.

The two girls screamed as his bones pierced their flesh, becoming captives subjected to Kaguya Eita's cruel Bone Release torture.