Susanoo!

Whoosh!

After rushing nonstop for over ten minutes, Li stopped and stood on the trunk of a large tree, gazing at the Central Tower in the distance. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If they're planning an ambush, they should be somewhere around here!"

With that thought, Li jumped down and began walking slowly, staring straight ahead. He couldn't sense where the Sand Ninja were hiding, but he knew they were nearby.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several Kunai shot through the air. Just as they were about to strike Li's head, a purple skeletal arm formed behind him and swatted them away. Li's eyes had already turned into the Mangekyo. He looked toward the place the Kunai had come from, and the power of his left Mangekyo poured out. Space twisted at once, sucking in even the trees.

A scream rang out. A lean Sand Ninja stumbled out of the woods, clutching his severed arm in agony. His right hand was gone, and blood streamed from the wound. Kamui had nearly twisted his entire body apart. At the last moment, he had severed his trapped right arm and escaped with his life.

"So you've come out?" Li curled his lip and looked at the Sand Ninja's pained expression. "Hasn't your Sunagakure gone to great lengths to kill me? Well, I'm right here. If you've got the guts, come take my life. I know there's another one of you nearby. Come out already. You might have a chance if you work together!"

Li frowned slightly. The Bandaged Man had to be hiding nearby, but Li couldn't figure out where. If the lean Sand Ninja hadn't attacked just now, Li wouldn't have found him either. The two of them were remarkably skilled at hiding.

Li's words had done the trick. The lean Jonin had lost an arm and was much weaker. If the other man continued hiding, Li would pick them off one by one. Taking that into account, the Bandaged Man silently emerged from the woods nearby. His exposed eye fixed on Li, lifeless and cold.

"So you're both out now?" Li smiled at the two Sand Ninja across from him. In his eyes, they were already points—two walking treasure chests. Two Jonin were worth ten thousand points.

Whoosh!

The Bandaged Man said nothing. He charged straight at Li, moving so fast that he was in front of him in the blink of an eye. Li was quite surprised. He had never seen a ninja with such powerful Taijutsu.

"You might have had a chance before, but now..." Li shook his head. He didn't dodge the Bandaged Man's punch, letting it land squarely on his face.

Thud!

The Bandaged Man staggered back several steps, staring at Li in shock. His right hand trembled. He had punched Li in the face, but it hadn't felt like striking skin. It was as though he'd hit a block of iron.

"Is that all you've got?" Li sneered. Susanoo quickly took shape, and a purple giant surged upward. In the blink of an eye, its arms, rib cage, and head formed from bone, appearing above Li and sheltering him completely.

Roar!

As soon as Susanoo formed, it roared at the two Sand Ninja. A gale howled as its enormous energy poured out. Li's long hair whipped in the wind, and the Mangekyo in his eyes was streaked with blood, making him look especially terrifying.

"What the hell is that? Is that Ninjutsu?"

They had killed countless people and even fought in the Second Shinobi World War, yet they had never seen such a bizarre technique. The lean man and the Bandaged Man could no longer keep their composure. They stared at the dozen-meter-tall purple giant in terror.

"Retreat!" The Bandaged Man came to his senses. He knew that he and the lean Sand Ninja could no longer defeat Li, so he decided to flee.

The lean Sand Ninja didn't hesitate. He immediately followed the Bandaged Man toward the Central Tower. Once they reached it, Li wouldn't dare kill them. For now, that tower was their only hope of survival.

"You think you can run?" Li's eyes widened. Susanoo's hands conjured a purple bow and arrow. It drew the bow and released the arrow, which streaked toward the Bandaged Man.

Boom!

Susanoo's arrows were enormous. Fired by a giant over ten meters tall, the arrow was at least as thick as a man's arm, and it moved incredibly fast. It caught up with the Bandaged Man in the blink of an eye. He had no chance to fight back; the arrow pierced straight through him. It kept going until it blasted a huge crater into the ground, then vanished.

Seeing the Bandaged Man dead, the lean man was so terrified that he nearly lost his wits. He ran even faster, clutching his severed arm as he sprinted with all his might. But then the space above him twisted. His pupils dilated, and before he could even scream, the twisting space wrenched his head clean off. His headless body spurted blood and stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

A sharp gasp came from behind. Li turned and saw several ninjas from small villages staring at him tensely. A few were already preparing to run. They had just finished gathering their scrolls and were heading to the Central Tower when they witnessed the scene. The dozen-meter-tall giant and the bizarre technique that had silently twisted a man's head off had left them all shaken.

"W-we'll leave our scrolls here. Will you let us go?"

When they saw Li turn toward them, the ninjas who hadn't managed to flee grew terribly nervous. Desperate to save their lives, they hurriedly took out the scrolls they had worked so hard to gather, hoping Li would spare them.

There were twelve of them, all from small villages. Li had never seen them before and didn't know what village their Forehead Protectors represented. A few were kunoichi, and they were fairly pretty, but Wenxuan's display had already terrified them. The giant, towering over ten meters tall, radiated an overwhelming presence. They didn't even dare think of fighting back.

"Hmph!" Li gave a soft snort. The crimson Mangekyo faded, leaving his eyes black. The dozen-meter-tall Susanoo crumbled in an instant, then disappeared in a burst of purple energy. Since these people hadn't come looking for trouble, Li wasn't a killer. Besides, he had already gathered all the scrolls he needed.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have killed two Jonin and earned ten thousand points. Please check your balance!"

Hearing the system's prompt, Li curled his lip and muttered, "I guess I can go look for Kushina and Minato now."