Farce

"Snap!"

The sound of bone breaking was sharp and piercing. The man let out a miserable shriek as his short blade slipped from his hand and fell.

Naoki caught the falling blade with his left hand and swung it backhand. The edge sliced across the second man's thigh, blood spraying as the man collapsed to the ground, screaming.

The third man swung his club down, but Naoki didn't even look. He raised his leg and kicked the man in the chest. Amidst the dull thud of breaking ribs, the man flew backward, crashing into a table.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

From the moment Hasegawa Kenichi launched his surprise attack to the three subordinates falling and screaming, only two or three breaths had passed.

Naoki stood where he was, the short blade in his hand still dripping with blood, yet his expression remained unchanged, as if he had just swatted a few flies.

In the distance, two people were observing the situation inside the tavern.

"Shimada Shinichi, do you think that kid is a ninja?"

Shimada Shinichi pinched his small mustache and nodded.

"I don't think there's any doubt. What kind of ordinary samurai has this level of skill? That kid is at least a Chunin!"

"Ah?" Koji was startled. "This... how are we supposed to deal with him?"

"Let's go back and discuss it slowly with our lord."

As he spoke, Shimada Shinichi prepared to leave, but he didn't expect a black shadow to dash over at high speed.

Shimada Shinichi quickly drew his sword and slashed horizontally.

Blood splattered.

Only then did he see clearly that what had flown over was nothing else but the body of Hasegawa Kenichi...

"Run!"

Shimada Shinichi grabbed Koji and ran, but the next second, he was kicked flying by the rapidly approaching Naoki.

Before he could catch his breath, he heard another scream. Ignoring his injuries, he scrambled up, only for Shimada Shinichi to realize that Koji, who had been observing with him, had already had his throat slit by Naoki.

Watching Naoki kill Koji and walk toward him again, Shimada Shinichi stepped forward and knelt, kowtowing before Naoki like a machine.

"My lord, I was just passing by. I have nothing to do with the people you killed."

Naoki sneered and stepped on the man's shoulder.

"Don't move!"

With that, he swung his blade and sliced off one of Shimada Shinichi's ears.

"Get lost! Go back and tell your master not to provoke me!"

Shimada Shinichi clutched his ear, enduring the pain, kowtowed, and turned to flee.

Naoki shook the blood off his blade and turned back into the tavern.

Aikawa Yumi was leaning against the bar, a glass of wine appearing in her hand at some point. She sipped it slowly, as if the bloody slaughter just now had been nothing more than a boring play.

"My Anu is truly amazing," she said with a smile, her gaze lingering on Naoki. "You took care of so many people in just a few moves. Even big sister here was stunned."

Naoki ignored her teasing, tossed the short blade onto the bar, and formed hand seals.

He used Water Release to transport the corpses lying scattered across the tavern outside and washed away the blood pooling on the floor.

"I'm going to dispose of the bodies." After saying this, he turned and walked out of the tavern.

On the other side, Shimada Shinichi fled in a panic back to a castle on the outskirts of Kannazuki Town.

Shimada Shinichi clutched his bandaged, severed ear, kneeling in the center of the great hall, his body trembling uncontrollably.

At the head of the hall, a man dressed in black, ornate robes sat behind a low table, twisting a string of prayer beads slowly. His face was gaunt, and his brows carried a sinister air.

"Chunin?" the man on the seat finally spoke, his voice as raspy as sandpaper rubbing together. "Are you sure?"

"Subordinate... subordinate saw it with his own eyes," Shimada Shinichi said, trembling. "That kid moved extremely fast. Koji didn't even have time to react before his throat was slit... and those men like Hasegawa Kenichi couldn't last three breaths under his hand..."

"Oh?"

The man on the seat stood up and walked slowly down the steps.

The candlelight illuminated his face—he was about thirty years old, gaunt, with a sinister air between his brows, his black robes shimmering with a dark luster in the light.

"So," the man said, his voice low and slow, "that person who killed your men is quite troublesome."

"Chunin?"

"Hmph!"

"So what if he's a Chunin? There has never been a woman I wanted that I couldn't get!"

He gestured, and several samurai stepped forward.

"Go, tell those Kirigakure ninjas who fled here from the Land of Fire that it's time for them to work!"

The moonlight was cold, and the sea breeze swept across the desolate, rocky coast, carrying a salty, fishy scent.

Naoki dragged the last corpse and threw it into the deep pit he had dug beforehand.

He stood at the edge of the pit, watching the twisted corpses piled layer upon layer at the bottom, and began to fill it in with a blank expression.

One shovel, two shovels, three shovels...

The soil landed on the bodies with dull, muffled thuds.

Naoki's movements were repetitive, yet his mind kept replaying the scene that had just unfolded in the tavern.

The ferocity of Hasegawa Kenichi when he erupted, the madness of his subordinates as they swarmed forward, and the warmth of the blood that splattered onto his face when he swung his blade...

He had killed before; he had killed many on the battlefield, but that was war—a struggle for survival, a matter of life and death.

Yet those people just now were nothing more than a group of thugs, ordinary men who did not even possess chakra.

Although they had struck first, and although they deserved to die, Naoki still felt a sense of unease.

It was not because of the killing itself, but because he had done it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, as if he were merely swatting a few flies.

When did I become like this?

Naoki stopped his work and looked up at the night sky.

The moon was full, casting its clear radiance down and stretching his shadow long across the ground.

He thought of Konoha, of Uchiha Zongxin's ever-smiling face, of Uchiha Zongye's steady gaze, of Itachi's eyes that held a maturity far beyond his years, of Uchiha Yashiro's nagging concern, and of Uchiha Fugaku...

And Hideko.

That gentle face, those eyes as clear as spring water, the girl whose cheeks had flushed when he grabbed her arm on that rainy night.

"Hideko..."

Naoki murmured, reaching out to touch his chest.

It was empty.

The amulet was long gone.

He took a deep breath and continued to fill the pit.

The pit was soon leveled, and Naoki covered it with a layer of gravel and withered grass, making it look no different from the surrounding terrain.

With that finished, he turned and began his walk back.

When he returned to Kannazuki Town, the town was silent.

For some reason, an inexplicable sense of unease welled up in his heart.

Moonlight spilled onto the empty streets, the doors and windows of the houses on both sides were tightly shut, and there was not even the sound of a dog barking; it was quiet to the point of being eerie.

Naoki frowned.

Something was wrong!

Something was very wrong!

He quickened his pace, sprinting toward the tavern.

The wooden door was left ajar.

Pushing it open, he found the tavern in complete disarray.

Tables and chairs were overturned, glasses were shattered, fresh blood splattered the walls, and the air was thick with the faint scent of iron.

"Yumi!"

Naoki shouted, but no one answered.