Maria the Ripper

In the end, under Shiro's insistence, Nakamura agreed to his request. However, to be safe, Nakamura and the others would watch from nearby. Unlike with Taichi, where Taichi handled everything alone while Shiro's group merely waited for him at the designated location.

Still, that was only natural. After all, this opponent was no ordinary foe!

Kirigakure ninjas were already above average in combat ability, and this opponent had also trained in the Silent Killing Technique, making her even more troublesome!

Even so, Nakamura repeatedly sought confirmation from Shiro along the way. No matter how mature and outstanding Shiro seemed, he was still a child under eight years old. There was still a certain gap between him and an adult ninja.

And as Shiro's captain, Nakamura naturally had to take responsibility for Shiro's safety.

Therefore, after repeated persuasion proved ineffective, Nakamura began explaining the characteristics of the Silent Killing Technique to Shiro, hoping to cram in some last-minute knowledge. After all, Nakamura had accepted the cigarettes, so he had to teach him properly.

Of course, Nakamura had not accepted them because of the cigarettes. He did not even smoke. More importantly, Shiro reminded him of himself: both were commoners, both had a little talent, and both had fathers who cared for them.

Back then, Nakamura's father had also spent several years of savings to buy a gift for his son's team leader, all so Nakamura could receive better guidance.

That was why Nakamura had accepted the gift despite not smoking. If he had refused, Shiro's father would only have remained uneasy, thinking Nakamura would not properly teach his child.

Over the years, Nakamura had led quite a few Genin squads. Almost every year, he received gifts from his students' parents. At first, Nakamura firmly refused them, but gradually, he realized that doing so made those parents especially anxious, unable to rest properly every day.

So Nakamura stopped refusing gifts from students' parents. Sure enough, after observing them, he found that those parents relaxed almost immediately.

Of course, Nakamura had not truly kept those things. He stored them away, and once those students graduated from his Genin squad, he returned everything to them.

After all, nearly everyone who came to Nakamura was a commoner, and their lives were not particularly well-off.

At the same time, Shiro had none of those idiotic thoughts like, "I'm confident, so stop worrying," or, "Are you looking down on me?" Instead, he listened very seriously to Nakamura's explanation.

First, it would help with the upcoming battle. Shiro was confident, not arrogant. Those seemingly insignificant little tricks might prove useful.

Second, these were all practical experiences, Nakamura's own insights. Combined with the combat experience brought by Projection Magecraft, Shiro gained even more from them. This was very helpful for his grasp of the skill Mind's Eye (False).

Third, this was Nakamura's heartfelt concern, and listening would put him more at ease.

After all, Nakamura had no idea what effects Shiro's trump cards possessed, so this was still very necessary.

It would be troublesome if, out of excessive concern for Shiro, they rushed in and disrupted his plans.

Because Nakamura wanted to give Shiro a few more instructions and see whether he could change his mind, he slowed their pace slightly. Even so, two days later, they caught up with her trail outside a forest!

"Shiro, let me confirm this one last time. Are you really going to face her alone?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, Captain."

"You could die."

"I understand."

"Then go!"

"Ha, wait for my good news."

With that, he walked in alone.

Of course, Shiro was not doing this for some childish reason like proving himself. He had long passed that age.

The reason Shiro insisted on acting alone was that if he killed the enemy by himself, the system could absorb more energy. If anyone else interfered, its energy absorption efficiency would be very low.

Although Shiro did not understand why, that did not affect his collection of energy. After all, he still needed it to grow stronger. Right now, he was not qualified to consider whether there might be some conspiracy behind it.

That was why Shiro insisted on hunting her alone!

Yes, in Shiro's eyes, this was a hunt! Even if the other side possessed the strength of a Special Jonin!

That said, the difference between a Special Jonin and a Chunin was that a Special Jonin had reached Jonin level in one particular area, while the rest of their abilities remained at Chunin level.

In other words, there was a gap between them, but it was not that great. It was only because this opponent specialized in something particularly dangerous. Still, Shiro was not worried. They could fight, and Shiro was no weaker in terms of combat ability.

However, Shiro did not immediately pursue her. Instead, he summoned Gray Snake and had it follow her from afar.

He slowly waited for nightfall. That would make it easier for Shiro to gather the three conditions for his trump card—Maria the Ripper—and kill her in a single blow!

Noble Phantasm: Maria the Ripper

Rank: D~B

Wielder: Jack the Ripper, the midnight murderer of nineteenth-century London; a collective wraith formed from the resentment of London's abandoned infants.

Form: Usually four small knives.

Origin: Its English meaning is "Maria the Ripper." Maria refers to the Virgin Mary. In Jack the Ripper's murder cases, the victims were all prostitutes, and every incident took place on a foggy night.

Ability: When its conditions are fulfilled, it is imbued with the resentment of "the children cast aside and slain for the sake of living by the supposedly eighty thousand prostitutes in the slums of London at the time—children who could not even become prostitutes themselves," unleashing a vicious effect. The three conditions are: "nighttime," "the target is female," and "there is fog."

When all conditions were met and the Noble Phantasm was used, it immediately tore the target's internal organs from their body, leaving behind a dissected corpse. If the conditions were incomplete, it only dealt ordinary damage. However, its power increased for every condition fulfilled.

Because this Noble Phantasm did not attack with its knives but functioned as a curse, it could be used even at long range. What was needed to defend against it was not physical defense, but resistance to curses.

This Noble Phantasm had difficult activation conditions, so its rank changed according to how many conditions had been fulfilled.

However, it was worth noting that projecting it consumed only the equivalent of a D-rank Noble Phantasm. Once its conditions were fulfilled, it displayed its full effect without any increase in cost.

Even if, due to Projection Magecraft, its final performance could not reach B-rank, C-rank was already enough. After all, once this Noble Phantasm's conditions were gathered, even if Projection Magecraft lowered it by one rank, the Noble Phantasm's effect itself would not change!

Only the curse rank was reduced. For example, if the original Maria the Ripper required B-rank curse resistance to withstand it, then the current version could be resisted with C-rank curse resistance.

So the question was, did the world of the Hokage have any ninjutsu capable of resisting a C-rank curse?

The answer was no!

Otherwise, Hidan would not have been so absurdly overpowered in the original story.

Therefore, Shiro could say with certainty that the moment the Mist Shadow Technique appeared would be the moment his opponent died!

Unfortunately, Shiro could not use Water Release. Otherwise, Shiro could have arrogantly—

Well, he could not be arrogant after all. This thing only worked on women, and it could not deal with Kaguya Otsutsuki either. After all, she had the Rinne Sharingan. Who knew how high that thing's resistance was?

Shiro estimated that the Rinnegan alone would probably be enough to nullify this Noble Phantasm. The ocular techniques of the Rinnegan already felt beyond the scope of ninjutsu to Shiro, almost like rules themselves!