The Battle Ends

With a sharp, crisp crack, Jing Jiu collapsed to the ground opposite them.

In an instant, Jing Jiu's expression shifted drastically as he fired a row of shuriken, forcing Yahiko, who was preparing to charge, to retreat, while he rolled across the ground several times dragging his broken leg.

These few simple movements not only allowed him to dodge the Earth Flow Spear that Chiba followed up with, but also evaded the kunai thrown by Konan and Nagato.

The sequence of movements was fluid, decisive, and agile.

However, all these actions had become meaningless.

Silently watching Chiba and his group, cold sweat mixed with rain dripped continuously down Jing Jiu's face.

Since things had reached this point, both sides understood that this battle could be considered over.

With his leg already injured, he no longer possessed any power to resist; no matter what tactics he employed, Chiba and his group could easily finish him off.

Half-kneeling on the ground, Jing Jiu lowered his head in silence and said dejectedly, "I never imagined that I would actually lose to a group of children with no combat experience."

Looking at this guy who no longer had the strength to resist, even Chiba, the mastermind behind the final trap, had not expected him to be defeated so quickly.

Even Chiba, who had vaguely suspected it might work, had not expected a direct hit on the first attempt.

Clearly, this guy had previously dodged so many of their C-rank ninjutsu attacks and various hidden weapons with ease using his flexible footwork.

Who could have known that a simple, low-power D-rank ninjutsu would be the thing to trip him up?

In this instant, Chiba truly gained a measure of enlightenment.

The lethality of a ninjutsu does not depend entirely on its raw power; the key lies in how you use it.

When necessary, there is not much difference between a D-rank ninjutsu and an S-rank ninjutsu; both can equally lead to a person's death.

In fact, Chiba had known this principle all along, but at this moment, he undoubtedly gained a deeper understanding of it.

Watching the group slowly approach, Jing Jiu initially tried to struggle, but he was quickly left with over a dozen wounds on his body from the kunai and hidden weapons thrown by the group from all directions.

Especially after Chiba used another Earth Flow Spear to cripple his other leg, Jing Jiu finally gave up all resistance and dejectedly let go of the kunai in his hand.

For some reason, Jing Jiu suddenly let out a low laugh: "Heh, to die in such a way... it really is pathetic."

He suddenly raised his head and shouted loudly:

"Come on, take my head. It should be worth a fair amount of money, right? Heh, from the day I became a rogue ninja, I was already prepared for an end like this."

Slightly stunned, Yahiko shook his head and said, "We aren't killing you for the bounty on your head."

"Huh?"

Jing Jiu looked at them in confusion.

Since they lacked ninja village headbands, it meant these children did not belong to any village. Because if they were just killing a rogue ninja, there would be no need to hide their identities, so he had assumed they were members of some small, scattered bounty hunter families in the Ninja World.

But now, it didn't seem that simple.

Looking at Jing Jiu, Yahiko said firmly, "We are killing you to seek justice for the civilians you innocently murdered."

"Huh? Seek justice?"

He was slightly stunned at first, then Jing Jiu burst into loud laughter, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

"Hahaha, that really is an interesting reason."

"You guy, don't you feel even a shred of guilt for those innocent people you harmed? What did they ever do wrong? To be killed by someone like you..."

As he spoke, Yahiko lunged forward and slammed a heavy punch into the guy's face.

"Pfft—"

Jing Jiu was sent flying, rolling away in a pathetic state from the impact.

A moment later, Jing Jiu struggled to crawl up, looking at Yahiko with a face full of mockery.

"Why should I feel guilty? You ask me what they did wrong? I can tell you clearly: their greatest mistake was..."

"Being weak!"

Jing Jiu spat out a mouthful of blood with disdain.

"A bunch of naive brats, this is a world where the strong rule the weak. The weak should consciously offer everything to the strong. Today, you have the qualifications to stand here and say such things only because you are stronger than me. If I were strong enough, the ones dying here today would be you. As long as I am strong enough, I am never wrong; even if I am wrong, it will be right."

"You bastard."

With the guy's constant mockery and unrepentant jeering, Yahiko's eyes grew increasingly furious.

Chiba, however, felt a certain resonance upon hearing these words.

To be honest, it wasn't as if there weren't people in the Ninja World who would casually harm ordinary people like this; it might even be quite common.

The simplest example is Orochimaru.

Just looking at the number of secret bases Orochimaru had spread across the Ninja World, the number of ordinary people he had harmed was absolutely countless.

Then there is Danzo's Root and the secret agencies of various ninja villages; Chiba didn't believe for a second that they didn't conduct similar experiments.

Yet, these people always lived quite comfortably, and the reason was precisely their strength and their backgrounds.

Every time a great war occurred, ninjas suffered heavy casualties, but the casualties among the innocent people caught in the crossfire were absolutely even more severe. Yet, did anyone ever hear their cries?

Although Chiba did not agree with this guy's philosophy, a few of the things he said were, in fact, correct.

This is a world where the strong rule the weak; weakness is the greatest sin.

A moment later, a thoroughly enraged Yahiko drove a kunai into the man's chest with his own hands.

Even in the throes of death, the man continued to mock them.

"Heh, a bunch of naive brats. One day, you'll realize that your so-called justice is worthless and fragile in this world. Hahahaha!"

Silently watching the corpse before him, Yahiko's expression was slightly complex, yet that complexity soon transformed into an unprecedented resolve.

"It is precisely because people like you exist that I am even more determined to change this world."