Battle!

Before long, Shiro sensed through Gray Snake that the other party had not continued forward, but had been circling around instead.

Heh, did she notice? What sharp senses. Unfortunately for her, she ran into me.

That said, Shiro became much more cautious, carefully checking the way ahead for traps.

This was called despising the enemy strategically while taking them seriously tactically. It was not cowardice. Yes, that was right.

"Hm? She stopped?"

Shiro, who had been slowly following from behind, received word from Gray Snake that the other party had stopped.

Shiro frowned, then stopped and found a concealed spot to hide in before forming hand seals and linking his vision to Gray Snake's.

Through the image sent by Gray Snake, Shiro saw the woman standing in a tree, quietly watching in his direction.

Shiro guessed that she had some kind of secret technique and had discovered him following behind her. She also knew he was alone; otherwise, she would never have been so careless.

Still, Shiro figured she might have gotten a little overconfident. According to the intelligence he had obtained, she had already killed sixteen Chunin sent after her, as well as one Special Jonin.

Of course, she might simply have had great confidence in her secret technique and learned some of Shiro's basic information. Unfortunately, Shiro was a cheat with strength that did not match his appearance.

Since she had put on such a confident posture, Shiro naturally had to respond.

He decided to wait here and keep gathering intelligence.

What? Charge right in?

Come on, it was not even dark yet. If Shiro went up now, he would just be giving her a free kill. He would get reported for feeding.

Since there was still some time before nightfall, Shiro prepared to observe the ball—no, observe the intelligence.

There was not much to say about her figure. Most women in the world of Hokage preferred winning hearts over conquering kingdoms. She had long black hair. Mm, a black-haired, straight-haired older sister. One look into her eyes confirmed it: she was Shiro's type.

Unfortunately, she was not from Konoha. Honestly, Shiro could barely bring himself to use Maria the Ripper on her. But if he did not, he would die. And she could not bear him monkeys, so better a fellow cultivator die than himself.

She wore a Konoha forehead protector with a slash through it, as if she were afraid people would not know she was a Konoha rogue ninja. It could not have looked more fake.

And then there was nothing else, because she was simply standing there quietly. What else was he supposed to see?

After a while, night was approaching, but her expression had turned dark as well. She had never expected the other party to refuse to play along and still not come over after all this time! Was he not going to let her show off properly?

She decided to wait a little longer. If he still did not come, she would go over and kill him herself!

Mm, that decision was destined to come to nothing, because Shiro had already arrived!

"Heh, just as I expected. What, are you alone?"

"Tch, who are you trying to fool? Haven't you been waiting all afternoon? What, don't you know whether there's anyone behind me?"

Unfortunately, it was already dark, and they were in the woods, so the light was too dim to see her expression clearly. Still, Shiro guessed it must have been quite a sight!

"You little brat, I'll definitely kill you!" she said through gritted teeth.

With that, she rushed at him.

"Then give it a try!"

"Reinforcement, begin!"

Clang!

In a single exchange, Shiro knocked her kunai flying.

This brat is so strong. Is it because of those rays of light?

"What's wrong, big sister? Didn't you say you were going to kill me? Is this all you've got?" With that, he immediately pressed the attack!

Shiro still needed to put more pressure on her before she used the Silent Killing Technique! He was not afraid that she would refuse to use it!

After all, she only relied on the Silent Killing Technique. Her own strength and combat experience were not especially impressive. At the very least, Shiro could kill her!

So if she did not use it, she would die anyway. The only difference was how she died.

Bang!

Shiro did not look at the tree that had been smashed apart. Instead, he stared coldly at her. "What? Didn't you say you were going to kill me? Why are you dodging?"

"Damn little brat, I'm definitely going to kill you!"

With that, she rapidly formed hand seals.

Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!

As she completed the hand seals, dense mist rose all around them.

"Hehe, brat, your throat, spine, liver, kidneys, heart. Ah!"

Shiro was not stupid enough to stand there and wait for her to kill him. Her big move had already missed, yet she still dared to keep talking trash.

The moment she began forming hand seals, Shiro had already projected Maria the Ripper. At the same time the Mist Shadow Technique was completed, he released the Noble Phantasm's true name!

Maria the Ripper!

"Night," "the opponent is female," and "mist"—all three conditions had been met. Therefore, Maria the Ripper's effect activated, and clearly, she did not possess such high Curse Resistance!

Thus, before she could finish speaking, Maria the Ripper killed her. With the caster dead, the Hidden Mist Technique dispersed as well.

"Mission complete!"

Shiro said coldly as he looked at the dismembered female ninja.

It was not that Shiro was cruel. This world had forced him to become this way; otherwise, he would die.

Since he had become a ninja, he needed the resolve of a ninja. Danzo was not wrong, really. Ninjas had always been creatures who lived in darkness.

Even if they had now stepped into the light, their nature remained unchanged.

Of course, Shiro could choose to be a civilian instead. Then he would not have to go to war. But what then? Would that definitely be safe?

Not necessarily. The exact timing of the Nine-Tails Incident was unclear. Before transmigrating, Shiro had not remembered Naruto's birthday, much less after spending two years here. Even if he avoided the Nine-Tails Incident, who could guarantee Naruto would persuade Nagato as he had in the original story? Who could guarantee that the Sage who handed out cheats would appear in time during the Fourth Shinobi World War?

There were too many variables. Relying on others was ultimately only the worst option when there was no alternative. When one had a choice, who would place their hopes in someone else's hands?

Shiro restored her corpse, then placed it inside a Sealing Scroll. It was not so she could rest in peace; it was purely because corpses held considerable value to ninjas as well.

As for compassion, Shiro had it. But he would not waste it on her. After all, quite a few Konoha ninjas had died at her hands, not to mention civilians. She had come to cause trouble, not to spread warmth.

At that moment, Nakamura arrived as well. Seeing Shiro standing before a pool of blood, he quickly asked, "Shiro, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. She's already dead. The body is in the scroll." As he spoke, he handed the scroll to Nakamura.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"

"Nothing. Just had a few thoughts."

"Then let's go. We'll meet up with Shikaki and the others first, then rest at the town ahead."

Seeing that Shiro did not want to talk about it, Nakamura did not press further. He led Shiro toward Shikaki and the others.

Nakamura had set out as soon as he saw the mist appear. Shiro had also told them that he would only make his move at night; otherwise, Nakamura and the others would have rushed over long ago.

But considering Shikaki and the others' strength, Nakamura had not allowed them to come along. Instead, he had come by himself at top speed.

Still, Nakamura had not expected it. Shiro was already this strong. Even he would need to put in some effort to deal with that kind of ninja, yet Shiro seemed not to have exerted much effort at all.

Nakamura glanced at the completely uninjured Shiro and thought about it. But this involved Shiro's privacy, so Nakamura only kept it to himself and did not ask.

Thanks to Guangfu, Young Master Jie, Jieling, Wolf Howl Under the Sculpted Moon, Xu, Love of Light and Non-Light, Book Friend 20170929074001397, Celestial Immortal Yao Tianji, Keep It Simple, Sixth Master's Wine Gourd, Meow Silent Until Now, and Chainless Life for your recommendation votes. Thank you all for your support.