Spirit Summoning Technique

With a Shadow Clone pursuing from the cliffside and his main body lying in ambush here, it seemed as though everything was under control.

But could enemies who dared to infiltrate the Land of Fire to commit sabotage and hunt Konoha ninja for bounties truly be so easy to deal with?

Holding his breath and focusing his spirit, Byakuya suppressed his restless killing intent while hidden in the lush, leafy tree.

Wait, just a little longer...

Observing their faces in the shadows and comparing them to the images transmitted back by his Shadow Clone, there was no doubt these were the two who had been lurking at the research facility.

As they rapidly approached the tree where Byakuya lay in wait, and were about to pass the optimal striking position, he finally made his decision.

He formed hand seals.

"Storm Release: Torrent Lightning."

He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of fierce, blue-white lightning, like a continuous laser, enveloping the two men head-on.

The light was blinding, far more powerful than the technique his Shadow Clone had unleashed inside the research facility.

The Storm Release ninjutsu was too fast.

It was so fast that they had no time to react before their bodies were pierced through like sieves.

Byakuya was exposed as a result.

The next moment.

The two bodies suddenly vanished.

They were Shadow Clones as well.

"The fish has taken the bait! You really are a greenhorn with no combat experience. Judging by your build, you must be a brat relying on the rigid knowledge taught at the Konoha Ninja Academy. Go to hell!"

The ground on both sides of Byakuya cracked open; they had used Earth Release to hide underground, using Shadow Clones as bait to let Byakuya, who thought himself the mantis stalking the cicada, become the prey for the oriole waiting to strike last.

This was the consequence of insufficient field experience.

He had been wrong from the start; from beginning to end, he was the one in the passive position.

His Shadow Clone had only seen the two talking and attacking in the basement of the research facility—could there really only be two enemies? The Shadow Clone hadn't ventured deep into the basement to investigate; what if others were hiding inside? Wouldn't that be courting death?

In a life-or-death struggle, even a Jonin could capsize if they were the least bit careless, and such examples were countless in the ninja world.

"Die, Konoha brat! I want to see what kind of face is hidden under that Shuten-dōji Mask!"

The two leaped out from the ground, one in front and one behind, simultaneously stabbing their kunai into Byakuya's body.

"Destroying Konoha's ninja tool facilities and killing a Konoha ninja—earning two bounties—this trip was worth it."

"Let's go! The four of us are operating separately; we need to stay mobile and flexible to avoid being wiped out by those damn Konoha ninja."

"Hm? Substitution Technique! He's behind you, dodge!"

The kunai struck a wooden log.

Byakuya gripped his ninja sword and slashed toward the neck of the man on the left.

His companion swung his kunai with all his might, barely managing to block the sword.

"Stinking brat, you've got quite a lot of strength."

Byakuya pressed the mechanism hidden at the end of the sword hilt, and two thin needles flew out, trailing explosive tags that instantly pierced one man's left chest.

"This is... an Explosive Tag? Where did you get an Explosive Tag?"

The two looked at Byakuya, who wore the Shuten-dōji Mask, but he had already retreated far away and flung several shuriken at them.

Boom!!

The explosive tags detonated.

When the smoke cleared, the two were sprawled on the ground, motionless.

Byakuya still dared not be careless; he threw his remaining two kunai at their vital points.

They struck true, right into their hearts.

Still worried they might be Shadow Clones, he waited a while longer until he confirmed they were the enemies' true bodies before walking over to the corpses.

The fatal injuries they sustained were not only from the explosive tags; the shuriken had also severed their arteries, causing blood to continue gushing out.

He searched them and found one ninjutsu scroll, two mission scrolls, a map covering Konoha, two iron badges engraved with "Anteater Bounty Group," and over three thousand ryo in cash.

The map clearly marked the ninja tool research branch, the Military Ration Pill development base, the combat uniform factory...

There was a large "X" drawn over the ninja tool research branch, with an arrow pointing thirty miles southeast to the Military Ration Pill development base.

He opened the mission scrolls.

Destroy a facility in the rear of Konoha, Land of Fire: bounty 500,000 ryo, no limit.

Bring back a Konoha ninja corpse: Genin 5,000 ryo, Chunin 10,000 ryo, no limit.

Both mission scrolls were stamped with the Bounty Exchange's chakra seal.

"Am I only worth 5,000 ryo?"

The ninjutsu scroll contained the Summoning Technique.

This technique belongs to space-time ninjutsu; the caster signs a contract with a summoning beast and invokes it through hand seals.

Aside from these items, there was nothing else.

Byakuya picked up the shuriken and kunai, walking toward a dense forest while repeatedly confirming there were no other enemies.

"You are too cautious."

The approaching Byakuya complained to his main body, who was hiding behind a tree and gasping for air: "With your current strength, killing those two wouldn't have been difficult. Why waste almost all your chakra using a Shadow Clone to finish them off?"

"Are they both dead?"

"Yes. The Torrent Lightning lured their main bodies, the Substitution Technique dodged their attacks, and the Explosive Tags on the ninja sword finished them. This ninja sword is a fine piece of gear; I have no idea why it was left in the Ninja Academy warehouse."

"Only two of them?"

"Only two."

"You've worked hard."

The clone shook its head: "You and I are one, there is no need for such formalities."

Byakuya's main body raised his hands with difficulty and formed a seal: "Release!"

The Shadow Clone vanished abruptly. At the same time, the other Shadow Clone that had pursued toward the cliffside transmitted its visual feedback back to him.

Just as he had expected, the one who chose the cliff route to escape was indeed an enemy Shadow Clone, which dissipated after running for a short distance.

Although he was exhausted to the point of death, now was not the time to rest easy.

He gathered the Shuten-dōji Mask, ninja tools, scrolls, and money.

He shoved a Military Ration Pill—which could not restore chakra—into his mouth and staggered away from the area.

He had finally learned what combat between ninjas was truly like.

When strength is equal, the one who is more cautious wins.

In reality, having completed several tasks for the [Heaven Rewards Diligence · Fate Grid], Byakuya's various stats were actually superior to those two bounty ninjas.

First, there was the skirmish in the basement, which consumed a portion of his chakra.

They had sent Shadow Clones to cover their retreat, and Byakuya had still used a Shadow Clone to pursue them.

The two bounty ninjas judged that this Konoha brat couldn't possibly have much chakra left.

Thus, they formulated a tactic: their Shadow Clones would lure Byakuya out, while their main bodies would lie in wait beneath the surface to ambush him and kill him in one strike!

The result was that Byakuya killed them, even doing so using a Shadow Clone while his main body remained hidden in the forest.

"The mission isn't over yet; I have to get to the Military Ration Pill research base, but I need to recover my stamina and chakra first."

After walking for half a day, he arrived at a stream, drank his fill of water, turned over to lie on his back in the grass, and gazed at the blue sky.

The sound of rushing water filled his ears, pleasant birdsong drifted from afar, the breeze was steady and unhurried, and the clouds in the sky curled and stretched at their leisure.

His emotions, having been tense and agitated, completely relaxed in this moment.

He closed his eyes.

Byakuya felt as if he had transformed into a gust of wind, pushing the clouds, swaying the branches, patting the heads of the small birds, and rippling the clear water.

It was as if he were the clouds, the branches, and the water soaking the banks of the stream.

So, this is what natural energy feels like.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence, the persistent shall succeed.

Time limit four days: Comprehend natural energy (Completed)

Reward: Sage Art Talent slightly increased]

When the stars leaped onto the night curtain, Byakuya had recovered about half of his stamina.

He donned the grinning Shuten-dōji Mask, packed up his kunai, shuriken, ninja sword, scrolls, and money.

He touched the mask's long, grinning mouth.

He thought to himself.

It was fortunate the mask had a mouth; otherwise, he wouldn't have known how to cast Torrent Lightning.

Unlike the Shadow Clone that had been scouting for information in the basement, he had even worn the Shuten-dōji Mask on this clone to make the execution of the bounty ninjas more convincing.

"Four greedy bounty ninjas. Two down, two to go."