Yomi's Dubious Intelligence

Banner was killed, leaving Kusuna, Shizuku, Setsuna, and Yoshitai in complete shock; after all, Chen was far too young.

However, Chen did not intend to give them much time to be surprised. After cutting down one man with his Asauchi, he rushed toward Kusuna at top speed.

Facing Chen's attack, Kusuna dared not underestimate his opponent again.

"Earth Release, Earth Land Return!"

A wall of earth rose up, and Chen's attack could only land upon it.

However, this did not mean the end of the assault.

"Ninja Art, Shadow Clone Technique!"

The shadow clone appeared, and before Kusuna could react, the clone began weaving hand signs at maximum speed.

Beyond the blade in his hand, Chen was a ninja, and ninjutsu was a part of his strength.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

The massive fireball surged toward Kusuna with almost no distance between them, and Kusuna released his own ninjutsu at the very last moment.

"Earth Release, Earth Corridor!"

Kusuna wanted to use Earth Release to construct a corridor to divert Chen's fire away.

However, such a thought was far too naive. The Great Fireball Technique, already at LV2, possessed power not inferior to a B-rank ninjutsu, and with his Fire Style mastery, its potency was further amplified.

A mere C-rank Earth Release ninjutsu was clearly insufficient to block Chen's attack.

Not to mention that Kusuna was only a genin, having gained some power solely through the crooked paths of Yomi.

"Fire Release, Flame Bullet!"

The shadow clone successfully destroyed the Earth Corridor using the Great Fireball Technique, while Chen's true body seized the opportunity to use Flame Bullet.

As a newly learned ninjutsu, Flame Bullet was less powerful than the Great Fireball Technique, but its speed was far greater.

Poor Kusuna did not even have time to react before he was burned directly into ashes.

Ding, system notification: Successfully killed Kusuna, gained 100 proficiency points for Great Fireball Technique.

The system's voice rang out again, though what puzzled Chen was why the proficiency was added to the Great Fireball Technique when the enemy had been killed by Flame Bullet.

But now was clearly not the time to dwell on that. Having lost two men, the remaining few on Yomi's side charged at Chen simultaneously.

"Wind Release, Wind Blast!"

"Fire Release, Flame Dance!"

"Water Release, Water Snake!"

Shizuku, Setsuna, and Yoshitai unleashed their ninjutsu attacks at the same time, all aimed at Chen's true body.

There was no help for it; Chen was carrying Shion on his back, and the shadow clone could not manifest a living person, so the clone lacked Shion.

"Hold on tight. If you fall, I'm not taking responsibility."

Hearing this, Shion hurriedly hugged him tighter, as if terrified of being dropped.

"Genjutsu, Hell Viewing Technique!"

Using his speed to dodge the ninjutsu attacks, Chen immediately unleashed a genjutsu.

In the system display, the entire section regarding genjutsu was pixelated. Chen found this very difficult to understand; after all, if it were just a Hell Viewing Technique, there was no need to pixelate it, right?

Yet, this was the only genjutsu he could perform, a point that always left Chen somewhat confused, and the system guy wouldn't provide any explanation at all.

Shizuku, Setsuna, and Yoshitai were trapped by the genjutsu, and seeing this, Yomi immediately moved to dispel it for the three of them.

"Who exactly are you!

Whatever that Shrine Maiden promised you, I can give you double!"

Although the outcome was not yet decided, Yomi was deeply frustrated by the successive loss of two subordinates.

If this continued, even if he succeeded in killing Chen, his subordinates would be wiped out, and he would lose his value to Moryo.

"To be honest, the reward this girl gave me isn't really that great, but who told me to accept the mission?

This is my first mission; I can't just let it fail like this, can I?"

Chen wore a smile, while Shion on his back was extremely nervous. If Chen were to turn on her now, she would have no possibility of fighting back.

Although the Shrine Maiden's power was formidable, it was only effective against Moryo.

In front of a ninja, the Shrine Maiden's power was meaningless, and Shion was nothing more than a four-year-old girl in the face of a ninja.

"All I need is the power of the Shrine Maiden, and you are merely protecting the Shrine Maiden on her way to Lord Moryo's shrine, so we have no conflict.

As long as the Shrine Maiden breaks the seal on Lord Moryo, I will not harm her, and your mission will not be considered a failure."

Yomi continued, hoping for a peaceful resolution now that he knew of Chen's strength.

"Is that so? But if Moryo comes back to life and decides to kill me, wouldn't I be at a huge loss?"

Chen spoke indifferently, seemingly truly shaken.

"How about this? I see you don't belong to a ninja village. Why not follow me? When Lord Moryo rules the world, you will be a person beneath one and above ten thousand."

Seeing that Chen was tempted, Yomi continued his seduction, a glimmer of excitement flashing in his eyes.

After all, he had witnessed Chen's strength; given time, Chen would undoubtedly become a powerhouse. Once that day came, controlling Chen would surely provide him with a formidable weapon.

"It is indeed a decent proposal, but what about these subordinates of yours?"

"They submitted to you long before I did. In terms of seniority, they are far above me. I doubt they would agree to me being second only to you, would they? How about this: you kill the three of them, and I will hand the Shrine Maiden over to you. How does that sound?"

"Blood Moon, what are you doing!"

Hearing Chen's words, Shion was utterly shocked. She could not understand why Chen would make such a choice.

"Shut up. The reward you offered was a mere one thousand ryo, but what he offers is power."

Chen spoke viciously, leaving Shion completely stunned, clearly unable to believe any of this.

Yomi's eyes lit up upon hearing Chen's words.

"My lord, we..."

Shizuku, Setsuna, and Yoshitai tried to say something, but Yomi suddenly struck, killing all three of them in an instant.

Having disposed of his own subordinates, Yomi was just about to speak when he realized that Chen had already appeared right in front of him.

The Asauchi in his hand slashed down with incredible speed.

Caught off guard, Yomi had no time to perform any ninjutsu to defend himself and could only choose to dodge passively.

Although Yomi avoided being split in two, he still had one of his arms severed by Chen.

"How dare you deceive me!"

Yomi clutched his wound in a fit of rage, while Chen looked completely relaxed.

"A leader who can kill his own subordinates at will is not someone worth trusting. Yomi, with an IQ like yours, are you sure you haven't been eating too much crap?"

"You!"

System Notification: Shizuku, Setsuna, and Yoshitai have been killed. Gained 1,500 proficiency points for Great Fireball Technique. Great Fireball Technique level increased. Current level: LV3. Great Fireball Technique has gained a Burning effect. Targets hit will suffer additional burn damage, and their chakra will be continuously drained for the duration.

The system's sudden chime caught Chen by surprise. Most importantly, the Great Fireball Technique had actually gained an additional effect.

System Notification: Kill Yomi. Failure penalty: Buried alive!