All Eliminated

They immediately realized something was wrong. Knowing the power of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan in Konoha, they also thought of retreating. Unfortunately, by then it was already too late.

Under Yang Xing's Sharingan, their real bodies were exposed without a doubt. Genjutsu was completely useless against the Sharingan.

"Fire Style: Fireball Technique!"

The fireball Yang Xing spat out slammed straight into the Water Dragon Technique, knocking it back. The enormous fireball crashed into the three men's real and fake bodies, instantly turning them to ash.

Not even a cry escaped them!

"Now, there are still a few more." After glancing at the smoke spreading across the water ahead, the relatively composed Yang Xing turned and headed in the opposite direction from the city wall.

Those Earth Style ninja probably had no idea that the people they had set out to hunt would turn around and chase them instead.

At that moment, two Chunin and a Genin stood to the right of the city wall, all looking rather displeased.

Seeing no sign of the brat Yang Xing anywhere, one of the Chunin grew even more annoyed and cursed, "Damn it, where did that brat run off to? If he's not here, he must be over there. That means that guy Li stole him from us. We won't get any credit now. I'd been hoping to get some praise from Lord Tsuchikage."

It seemed Yang Xing's death was already a certainty.

Of course. He was only an eleven-year-old brat. No matter how capable he was, those Chunin had plenty of experience and were no weaklings. On top of that, an experienced Jonin had cast genjutsu on him. The chances of that brat surviving were less than one percent.

"Forget it. Let's head back first and deal with the remaining ones."

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, leave the girls to me. I love seeing the pain on a little girl's face just before she dies."

"You're seriously twisted, you know that?" They burst out laughing.

The group turned and walked away, chatting and joking as if they had no care for their surroundings.

But the two Chunin walking ahead suddenly sensed something was off. The Genin behind them hadn't caught up, so they turned around and saw him standing there in a daze.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

The Genin's eyes rolled back. Without saying a word, he fell forward.

The Kunai sticking out of his back was impossible to miss. The two Chunin, who had been laughing moments earlier, were stunned and immediately went on alert.

"What the—You?" One of them spotted the person who had just withdrawn his throwing hand and gritted his teeth, his expression darkening. "Brat, you're still alive? Didn't that guy Li find you? Well, I was looking for you anyway. I can't believe you came right to me."

"Haha, looks like the credit's still ours." The Chunin gave a cold laugh and dashed forward, pulling out a Kunai as he charged.

He was confident in his Taijutsu. Among the Chunin, his Earth Style Taijutsu was one of the best. No one dared challenge him in close combat.

But when he swung the Kunai in his hand, his expression changed.

Yang Xing had clearly moved only when the man was a step away. His movement had been slight, yet incredibly fast.

"So fast!"

With his Sharingan enhancing his movements, Yang Xing was completely beyond the Chunin's expectations.

Yang Xing had vanished into thin air, and the sight of those blood-red eyes left the man's mind blank. Only after freezing for a moment did he realize his mistake. But there was no undoing it; his mistake had been utterly foolish.

Yang Xing leaped back, used the Substitution Technique, and appeared behind his opponent. He drew a Shuriken and hurled it with all his strength.

Thud!

Blood sprayed across the water. The Chunin fell, disbelief written all over his face.

[ ]

It had happened so quickly that it was hard to believe. The last Chunin went deathly pale. He stood frozen, swallowing hard, and didn't dare move.

"Hey, I have a few questions for you." Yang Xing didn't rush to attack. There were things he wanted to find out, so he calmly walked over.

Now that he had the Sharingan, he understood just how weak his opponent was. The man's physical ability was only that of an average Chunin. Even in a straightforward one-on-one fight, he would be no match for Yang Xing, so Yang Xing wasn't the least bit wary.

Whatever the man tried, a single ninjutsu would finish him.

The Chunin clearly understood how weak he was, too. After watching Yang Xing take out his companions in seconds, he backed away in terror. "Stay back! You—you're a demon!"

"Are you stupid? You're the ones who ambushed me. Enough with that expression." Yang Xing's face darkened, and his expression seemed far too stern for someone his age. "Weren't you just saying you'd kill the girls on our team? You were laughing about it, too."

"I, I..." The Earth Style ninja struggled to get a word out.

"Answer a few questions. If your answers are good, I'll let you go."

"What—what questions?"

Seeing Yang Xing smiling, the Chunin had no choice but to lower his voice and play along.

"What happened to this village?"

"Can't you see? Our people from the Land of Earth destroyed it all. And Konoha is our next target." His gaze sharpened as if he had just thought of something, and pride filled his expression.

It was faith in his country.

"Oh? You're planning to attack Konoha." Yang Xing looked at him in surprise, then muttered as if to himself, "There are only a few Chunin here and one fairly capable Jonin. That's nowhere near enough to threaten Konoha. You should know Konoha has two Kage Level figures right now. Most importantly, the Fourth Hokage is in the village. You think sending a few nobodies there will hurt the Fourth Hokage? They aren't even qualified to die for it. What exactly are you planning?"

The man didn't like being called a nobody, but Yang Xing's words left the Earth Style ninja looking troubled.

He hadn't expected the brat to be so sharp. It looked like hiding the truth wouldn't be easy.

"You'll find out soon enough. And even if you capture me, it won't do you any good. I won't talk. Not even if I die." The Chunin suddenly calmed down and smiled contemptuously, without a trace of fear.

Clearly, he had plenty of experience being interrogated.

Faced with pawns like these ninja, Yang Xing didn't think he had any way to get information out of him. Besides, he had no intention of handing him over to Konoha. From the start, he'd never planned to spare anyone who had seen his Sharingan.

"You don't have to talk. I'll find out another way."

"Impossible. Konoha will be destroyed, and the Land of Fire will become part of the Land of Earth. Long live Lord Tsuchikage!"

"Shut up! Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and enormous waves surged across the water.

"These guys, what are they, some kind of cult?" Yang Xing frowned at the smoke spreading ahead, then lowered his head in thought. "I didn't expect people with the title of Kage to have such a good reputation. So many people are willing to die for him. Being Hokage might not be so bad. Maybe I could even achieve my goal."

"No, no. Konoha is too messed up. With the Council of Elders in charge, I'd never get full authority. I don't want to play games with those old schemers." Yang Xing turned around, deactivated his Sharingan, and headed back to where Rin Nohara and the others were.

There were still several ninja guarding that area. Given Rin Nohara and the others' abilities, they would probably be in for a tough fight. It was better to get back quickly, before Anko and the others got hurt.