Summoning Technique

There was a shadow clone pursuing them along the cliffside, while his real body lay in ambush here. It all seemed to be under control.

But were enemies who could infiltrate the Land of Fire, wreak havoc, and hunt down Konoha Ninja for bounties really that easy to deal with?

Holding his breath and hiding among the thick branches, Byakuya suppressed his restless urge to kill.

Wait. Just a little longer...

He watched the two men from the shadows, comparing their faces with the images sent back by his shadow clone. There was no doubt they were the two men who had been hiding in the research facility.

As they hurried toward the great tree where Byakuya was concealed, about to pass beyond the best spot for an ambush, he finally made up his mind.

He formed Hand Seals.

"Storm Release: Torrential Lightning Flash."

He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of blazing blue-white lightning, like a continuous beam of laser fire, engulfing the two men from above.

The light was blinding, and far more powerful than the technique his shadow clone had used inside the research facility.

Storm Release was too fast.

Before they could react, their bodies were riddled with holes.

Byakuya had exposed himself, too.

The next moment,

the two men's bodies suddenly vanished.

They were shadow clones after all.

"The fish took the bait! Just as I thought, you're a greenhorn with no combat experience. From your build, you look like a kid. You clung to the rigid lessons you learned at Konoha Ninja Academy. Now go to hell!"

The ground split open on either side of Byakuya. The men had concealed themselves underground with Earth Release, using their shadow clones as bait. They had let Byakuya, thinking himself the mantis, stalk the cicada, while they played the oriole waiting to have the last laugh.

This was what it meant to lack real combat experience.

He'd been wrong from the start. From beginning to end, he was the one on the back foot.

The shadow clone had only seen the two men talking and making their move in the research facility's basement. Did that mean there were only two enemies? The clone had never gone deeper into the basement to investigate. What if others had been hiding inside? Wouldn't that have been a death wish?

In a fight to the death, even an elite Jonin could be caught off guard and get themselves killed. There were countless such cases in the Shinobi World.

"Die, Konoha brat! Let's see what kind of face you've got under that Shuten-dōji Mask!"

The two men leaped out of the ground, one in front of the other, and stabbed Byakuya with their Kunai.

"Destroying Konoha Village's ninja tool facilities and killing a Konoha Ninja—we'll collect two bounties for this. This trip was worth it."

"Let's go! The four of us split up to stay mobile. That way, those damn Konoha Ninja can't wipe us all out at once."

"Hm? Substitution Technique! He's behind you—move!"

The Kunai stabbed into a plank of wood.

Byakuya gripped his ninja sword and slashed at the man on the left, aiming for his neck.

His companion swung his Kunai with all his strength, barely managing to block the sword.

"Damn brat, you're strong!"

Byakuya pressed the mechanism concealed at the end of the hilt. Two thin needles shot out, their tails connected to Explosive Tags, and sank into one man's left chest.

"This is... an Explosive Tag? Where did that come from?"

The two men looked toward Byakuya, who wore the Shuten-dōji Mask, but he had already retreated and was flinging several shuriken at them.

Boom!!

The Explosive Tag detonated.

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

Byakuya still didn't dare let his guard down. He threw his last two Kunai at their vitals.

They struck true, burying themselves in the backs of their hearts.

Still worried they might be shadow clones, he waited a while longer. Only after confirming that these were the enemies' real bodies did he approach the corpses.

The fatal injuries weren't just from the Explosive Tag. The shuriken had also severed their arteries, making their blood gush continuously.

He found a ninjutsu scroll, two mission scrolls, a map of Konoha Village, two iron tags engraved with "Anteater Bounty Group," and more than three thousand ryō in cash.

The map clearly marked the Ninja Tool Research Branch, the Military Ration Pill development base, the Combat Uniform Factory...

A large X had also been drawn over the Ninja Tool Research Branch, with an arrow pointing to the Military Ration Pill development base, thirty li to the southeast.

He opened the mission scrolls.

"Destroy one rear facility belonging to Konoha Village in the Land of Fire. Bounty: five hundred thousand ryō, Mū upper limit."

"Return with the corpse of a Konoha Ninja. Genin: five thousand ryō. Chunin: ten thousand ryō. Mū upper limit."

Both mission scrolls bore the chakra seal of the Bounty Exchange.

"I'm only worth five thousand ryō?"

The ninjutsu scroll recorded the Summoning Technique.

It was a Space-Time Ninjutsu. The user signed a contract with a Summoning Beast and summoned it by forming Hand Seals.

There was nothing else.

Byakuya picked up the shuriken and Kunai, then headed toward a dense forest, repeatedly confirming that Mū other enemies were around.

"You're way too cautious."

As Byakuya walked over to the real Byakuya, who was hiding behind a tree and gasping for breath, he grumbled, "With your current strength, killing those two wouldn't have been difficult. Why use a shadow clone to kill them when you'd almost exhausted all your chakra?"

"Did you kill them both?"

"Yeah. Torrential Lightning lured out their real bodies, the Substitution Technique helped me evade them, and the Explosive Tags in the ninja sword finished them off. This sword's a great find. I don't know how it ended up in the Ninja Academy's warehouse."

"Were there only two?"

"Only two."

"Thanks for the effort."

The clone shook his head. "We're one and the same. No need to be polite."

Byakuya's real body struggled to lift his hands and form Hand Seals. "Release!"

The shadow clone disappeared abruptly. At the same time, the other clone, the one that had pursued the men along the cliffside, sent its memories back as well.

Just as he'd expected, the ones who'd escaped along the cliffside were the enemy's shadow clones. They'd run for a while before dispelling themselves.

He was exhausted, but this wasn't the time to relax just yet.

He picked up the Shuten-dōji Mask, ninja tools, scrolls, money, and the rest.

He put a Military Ration Pill in his mouth. It couldn't restore chakra, but he still needed it. Then, staggering, he left the area.

He'd finally experienced what combat between Ninja was like.

When their strength was evenly matched, the more cautious one won.

In truth, after completing several [Heaven Rewards Diligence: Fate Grid] tasks, Byakuya's various stats were still higher than those of the two bounty hunters.

First, he'd used up some chakra in the exchange in the basement.

Then they'd sent shadow clones to cover their retreat, and Byakuya had still sent a shadow clone after them.

The two bounty hunters had judged that the Konoha brat couldn't have much chakra left.

So they devised a plan: use their shadow clones to draw Byakuya out, while their real bodies hid underground and ambushed him, killing him in one blow!

Instead, Byakuya had killed them, using a shadow clone while his real body hid in the forest.

"The mission isn't over. I still have to go to the Military Ration Pill development base, but I need to recover my strength and chakra first."

After walking for half a day, he reached a stream. He drank until his belly was full, then toppled onto the grass and gazed up at the blue sky.

Water burbled beside him. Birds sang sweetly in the distance. The wind blew gently, and clouds drifted and stretched across the sky.

His emotions had been tense and restless, but now they relaxed completely.

He closed his eyes.

Byakuya felt as though he had become the wind, nudging the clouds, shaking the branches, patting the birds on their heads, and rippling the clear water.

And yet, he also seemed to be the clouds, the branches, and the water soaking the banks of the stream.

So this was Natural Energy.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence: Perseverance Leads to Success

Time limit: four days — comprehend Natural Energy (completed)

Reward: Sage Art Talent slightly increased]

When the stars emerged in the night sky, Byakuya had recovered a little over half his strength.

He put the Shuten-dōji Mask, with its wicked grin, over his face, then gathered his Kunai, shuriken, ninja sword, scrolls, and money.

He touched the mask's long, grinning mouth.

He thought to himself,

Good thing the mask has a mouth. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to use Torrential Lightning.

Unlike the shadow clone that had gathered information in the basement, this one had worn the Shuten-dōji Mask too, to make the act convincing when he killed the bounty hunters.

"Four greedy bounty hunters. I killed two, so two are still left."