Dark Cloud Town was a remote little town in the northwest of the Land of Fire.
The town was small and had no tall buildings. A simple wooden fence surrounded it, meant to keep wild animals from sneaking in. After all, beasts roamed these desolate outskirts, and ordinary people could easily become prey if they weren't careful.
A child slowly approached along the road not far from Dark Cloud Town.
"According to the mission intel, he appeared in this area three days ago. Within hundreds of miles, Dark Cloud Town is the only place where people can live and restock food and water. Even a Jonin has to eat. If he plans to flee to the Land of Earth, he'll need to bring enough supplies for the journey."
The child was Uchiha Shin. Two days had passed since he received the mission, and he had spent them traveling day and night. At last, he had reached Dark Cloud Town in the northwest of the Land of Fire.
"Never mind. I'll go in first and see what happens."
Shin set off toward the town gate. Once inside, he looked around.
The town wasn't in the best shape. Its roads were made of uneven, rutted stone slabs, and the shops lining them looked old and worn, as if they hadn't been repaired in ages. There weren't many people about, either. After all, this was the Warring States Period, and battles were raging everywhere. It was no small feat for a town on the frontier to keep going at all.
Of course, Shin didn't care about the state of the town. He was here to kill the Blood Ninja, and he'd be leaving soon.
A two-story tavern stood in the center of town. Perhaps it was the busiest place in Dark Cloud Town; voices filled the air.
Second floor.
A burly man sat by the window. He wore gray clothes, and a wild mane of long hair spilled over his shoulders. His hand around the cup was broad and knobby, with thick, slightly blackened calluses. His face was unremarkable, though not ugly. A scar running from the corner of his eye to his jaw gave him a more fearsome air, while his sharp eyes kept watch all around him. He was clearly cautious.
After eating a few pieces of wild boar and drinking a bowl of wine, the burly man turned to the young man in blue at the next table. "Who are you? You've been watching me for a while."
The young man in blue set down his chopsticks and gave him a look. "You're the Blood Ninja?"
"That's right." The burly man licked his lips.
"Looks like I'm in luck. Will you kill yourself, or should I do it myself? Pick one."
The Blood Ninja burst out laughing. "You don't know your place, kid. Which clan are you from? You look like you've only just reached Jonin level. Not bad, but you came here looking to die. I'll grant your wish!"
He had once been a Jonin of the Kigen Clan and had fought on the battlefield, facing shinobi from all the great clans of the Warring States Period. He had plenty of experience. Ever since the Kigen Clan put a bounty on him, he had been fleeing from place to place. Jonin who came after the reward had cornered him before, but he had killed them all.
His luck had only failed him the last time, when he ran into a young Jonin from the Senju Clan. The man had outclassed him in both Taijutsu and ninjutsu, and had nearly killed him outright.
Fortunately, years of combat experience saved him. At the most dangerous moment, he launched a frenzied counterattack, fighting as if his life depended on it. The young Senju Jonin lacked experience with missions and feared being badly wounded by the Blood Ninja's last-ditch attack. Rather than face him head-on, he tried to create some distance and kill him with ninjutsu. In the end, the Blood Ninja cut him down with a single sword strike. The Blood Ninja himself was badly hurt, though, and the scar on his face had been left by that battle.
The young man in blue stood up. "I've eaten my fill and had enough to drink. Since you refuse to see reason, don't blame me for showing no mercy. I forgot to tell you: I'm Chiba Tengfei of the Chiba Clan, the man who's going to kill you."
"Heh." The Blood Ninja stood up too, but said nothing. His eyes were fixed on a point behind Chiba Tengfei, as if someone there had caught his attention.
Chiba Tengfei looked puzzled and turned his head slightly.
"I love it when you big-clan shinobi think you're so special. You're incredibly easy to fool! Hahaha!" the Blood Ninja crowed. He completed his Hand Seals in an instant, then raised his thick-knuckled right hand, wreathed in blood-red light, and chopped it toward Chiba Tengfei as he turned.
"You despicable coward!" Chiba Tengfei roared.
He hurriedly gathered chakra. There wasn't time to use a jutsu, so he struck back with a palm using his clan's Taijutsu.
BOOM!
A powerful shock wave of chakra swept in every direction, shattering the tables and chairs on the second floor. Some ordinary people couldn't get out of the way in time. Blood poured from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, and they died on the spot.
Fortunately, there weren't many ordinary people eating here, so the casualties weren't too severe.
When the noise died down, Chiba Tengfei had been blasted out of the second-floor window. He staggered onto the uneven street, his clothes in tatters and his face pale.
The next moment,
the Blood Ninja charged after him and struck with another palm.
"Taijutsu: Slaughtering Origin Blood Hand!" he shouted.
A palm-shaped mass of blood-red chakra condensed and bore down on Chiba Tengfei, making the chakra and blood in his body sluggish. His expression went blank.
At the critical moment, Chiba Tengfei bit the tip of his tongue and gathered the chakra in his entire body into both palms before striking back once more. He still had no chance to use a ninjutsu.
"Taijutsu: Blazing Sun Palm!"
Chiba Tengfei drove chakra into his palms, which grew hot. The air along their path boiled violently, like water brought to a rolling boil.
When the blood-red palm print collided with his palms, the air twisted violently. Then a brilliant burst of chakra flared up, trying to overwhelm the bloody palm. But the palm print was incredibly solid and had the power to erode chakra. The moment Chiba Tengfei's chakra touched it, it melted away like spring snow under the blazing sun. Three-tenths of it vanished in the blink of an eye, and the remaining seven-tenths crumbled at the slightest contact.
PFF!
Chiba Tengfei spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, unable to believe what had happened.
The Blood Ninja wasn't about to let such an advantage slip away. The instant his foot touched the ground, he chased after Chiba Tengfei, laughing arrogantly. "My Slaughtering Origin Blood Hand is an A-Rank Taijutsu. It's made to break through an enemy's chakra. Besides, you didn't have time to build up your strength just now. Even if your Taijutsu were also A-Rank, how much power could you have brought to bear? Die!"
"Blood Ninja, do you really think I'm a helpless fish on the chopping block?" A vicious look flashed across Chiba Tengfei's face. As he fell back, he forcibly formed Hand Seals, and strands of chakra coiled around him. It was the Chiba Clan's S-Rank Ninjutsu: Sacrificial Spirit.
"This is my clan's forbidden jutsu. It releases all my chakra, suppresses even the most serious injuries for an hour, and restores me to my peak. I'll be unable to move once it wears off, but I'm going to kill you now!" Chiba Tengfei's eyes were bloodshot. He was nearly mad with rage.
At that moment, a child slowly approached along the street not far away. Seeing what was happening, Shin frowned slightly. Someone beat me to it?
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