Shin looked at the three Elite Chunin and picked up the Jonin's Ninja Blade.
"Want to avenge your captain? Then come at me."
The three Elite Chunin exchanged glances. Now, they didn't dare attack.
The boy in front of them might have been young, but he was strange. He had already killed one of their comrades, and even their captain had fallen to him.
Of course, they no longer dared treat Shin like an ordinary kid. They were wary of him.
"If you won't make a move, then I will."
Shin vanished into the night. In the pitch-black woods, with his speed, they couldn't track him at all.
"Watch out!"
But as soon as the ninja said it, the blade in Shin's hand pierced his heart.
Shin pulled out the blade and charged at the Elite Chunin beside him.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
Sensing danger, the Elite Chunin quickly formed hand seals and used the Water Prison Technique to encase himself in a sphere of water for protection.
The Water Prison Technique
was a C-rank ninjutsu. It could trap an enemy, but it could also encase the user as a defensive measure.
"You think that'll stop me? How naive."
Shin wrapped his chakra around the Ninja Blade, greatly increasing its piercing power. The water sphere the Elite Chunin had formed for protection was pierced straight through.
Like the ninja before him, the Elite Chunin was pierced through the heart and killed.
"That leaves just one."
Shin looked at the last ninja. Killing Elite Chunin felt as easy as slaughtering chickens.
"Hatake Kakashi graduated at five and became a Genin, earning a reputation as a genius. I can casually slaughter Elite Chunin at five. So what does that make me? A monster?"
Shin muttered to himself.
"Monster! You're a monster!"
The last Elite Chunin pointed at Shin, terror in his eyes, then turned and ran.
"You're the monster. And you think you can run?"
Shin stomped on the ground, leaving a deep crater. Then he shot after the last Elite Chunin like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The man was crucial to Shin's mission. Shin
couldn't let him get away.
And even for the sake of his and Kushina's safety, Shin wouldn't let him escape.
"Die!"
Shin quickly caught up and swung his Ninja Blade at him. Though it wasn't made for slashing, Shin was strong enough to kill the man with a single blow.
The blade struck. Shin had just begun to relax when the figure he had hit turned into a log—a Substitute.
"Substitution Technique?"
Shin hadn't expected the man to use the Substitution Technique at the last moment to dodge his blade.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Chakra chains shot out from Shin and caught up with the fleeing Elite Chunin in the blink of an eye, binding him.
"Crush!"
Shin gave a sharp command. The chakra chains binding the man tightened, tearing him apart in an instant.
Shin stared at the man's mangled body, his face pale, then quickly turned away.
He was used to hunting animals in the forest and had seen plenty of blood, so killing the first person hadn't bothered him.
The next few kills had stirred something in him, but not much.
But after he tore this man apart with the chains, Shin couldn't take it anymore.
The chakra chains vanished. Shin braced one hand against a nearby tree and retched.
He swore he'd never make a scene like that again. Even he couldn't stomach it!
"Congratulations, Master, you have completed the mission. Your reward is an Advanced Copy Card."
"Whew, got the reward." Shin steadied himself, then called out to Kushina, "Come out, Kushina. It's over."
Kushina looked bewildered. It was over?
It was so dark that Kushina, who didn't have a Sharingan, couldn't see anything. She had no idea Shin had already dealt with them.
After coming out, she saw the Jonin's corpse and couldn't help asking Shin, "How did you do that?"
"Forget how I did it. Let's see what spoils they have."
Shin walked over and searched the Jonin's Ninja Tool Pouch, while Kushina cowered nearby in fear.
Even though the man was dead, Kushina was still frightened. Luckily, she hadn't seen the ninja Shin had torn apart with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, or she might have fainted.
After searching the Jonin's Ninja Tool Pouch, Shin found several Explosive Tags. Explosive Tags were valuable ninja tools.
There were also some Kunai, Shuriken, and other tools. Finally, Shin found two Ninjutsu Scrolls, each containing a technique.
"B-rank Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, and Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique."
Shin frowned. From these two techniques, he could roughly guess the man's identity. He was probably a ninja from Kirigakure.
"It looks like Kirigakure, in the Land of Water, was behind the attack on Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools."
Only the Five Great Nations had the strength to move against the Uzumaki Clan. The Land of Fire's Konoha was allied with the Uzumaki Clan, so Konoha was probably uninvolved this time.
Sunagakure in the Land of Wind and Iwagakure in the Land of Earth were too far away. The chances that they'd attacked the Uzumaki Clan were nearly zero.
But Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning and Kirigakure in the Land of Water could both attack the small island nation of the Land of Whirlpools by sea.
Shin was now sure that Kirigakure was involved. He just didn't know whether Kumogakure was involved too.
If any ninja village had the greatest ambitions, it was undoubtedly Kumogakure. So there was a good chance it had taken part as well.
After all, the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu was probably what Kumogakure wanted most. No, not just Kumogakure—all the major ninja villages wanted it.
The Uzumaki Clan had Sealing Jutsu that inspired both fear and greed, but lacked the power to deter the other nations. That was why the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed.
As the saying went, a man wasn't guilty for possessing a treasure, but for attracting envy by owning one. That held true in any world.
"I wonder whether Konoha played a part in the Uzumaki Clan's destruction."
Shin was somewhat suspicious of Konoha, the Uzumaki Clan's ally. After all, Konoha had Danzo.
Shin would never believe Danzo had no designs on the Uzumaki Clan's
Sealing Jutsu.
In the end, Shin shook his head and put those suspicions aside. He picked up the Ninja Tool Pouches of the other two Elite Chunin, then left with Kushina.
As for the last Elite Chunin, Shin didn't bother with his Ninja Tool Pouch. It was too gruesome. Just looking at it would probably ruin his appetite for a whole day.
With Kushina, Shin went to a stream in the forest, where they had practiced Water Walking earlier.
"Are you tired? If you are, get some sleep. We're safe now," Shin said to Kushina.
Kushina shook her head. After everything that had happened, how could she feel sleepy?
Before you continue