Fire Style Murder Case

Aoki was originally a ninja from Konoha in the Land of Fire, but he was now a rogue ninja.

Ever since he defected from Konoha three years ago, he had lived a precarious life on the run.

Aoki believed his talent was no less than any genius in Konoha, yet he had never been valued by the village's upper echelons.

He had repeatedly requested to exchange for ninjutsu from the higher-ups, but every request was rejected on the grounds of insufficient contribution.

Although Aoki lacked the guts to steal the Scroll of Sealing, he was bold enough to steal other ninjutsu from Konoha. Taking advantage of the negotiations between Konoha and Kumogakure, he stole the techniques he wanted and defected from the village.

As he walked along the road, Aoki thought to himself, feeling a sense of injustice whenever he recalled the past.

"Are you the Konoha rogue ninja, Aoki?" A voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

Startled by the sound, Aoki spun around to see a young man with a katana hanging at his waist standing behind him.

"Who are you?"

Aoki looked at the young man, who wore no ninja headband, and asked with a grave tone, "A wandering samurai or a bounty hunter?"

"Who I am is not important; what matters is that I am the one hunting you," the young man replied.

The youth with the katana was none other than Hyuuga Nen, using a new identity since arriving in the Land of Tea.

Hearing Hyuuga Nen's words, Aoki burst into laughter. "Who do you think you are? Konoha Anbu? I don't even know how many people like you I've slaughtered."

"Why not try and find out?" Hyuuga Nen replied indifferently before charging rapidly toward Aoki.

Clang, clang, clang, clang. Hyuuga Nen slashed at Aoki again and again, while Aoki drew a kunai to parry.

Feeling his arm go slightly numb, Aoki's expression turned ugly. His speed and strength are both superior to mine.

"Distraction in battle is never a good thing." Seizing an opening in Aoki's defense, Hyuuga Nen kicked him squarely in the stomach.

With a bang, Aoki's body dissipated into a puff of smoke, leaving only a log in his place.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Aoki's voice came from behind Hyuuga Nen.

Feeling the heatwave at his back, Hyuuga Nen pushed off the ground with both feet, lunged forward, planted a hand on the earth, and spun in the air before landing steadily.

Seeing that Hyuuga Nen had evaded his attack, Aoki continued to unleash ninjutsu.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

"Lightning Style: Ground Flash!"

"Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spear!"

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

Aoki unleashed four ninjutsu in rapid succession, launching a continuous assault on Hyuuga Nen.

Seeing the techniques he had unleashed, Aoki felt immensely smug. He panted and laughed, "How about that? Have you seen my power? I was born with all five elemental affinities; I am an undisputed genius. It's not too late for you to run."

After dodging the attacks, Hyuuga Nen stood in the distance, observing Aoki and forming a judgment based on the intelligence he had gathered.

Initially, upon seeing the report that Aoki possessed all five elemental affinities, Hyuuga Nen had felt it might be tricky, but after watching him perform, he realized his worries were unnecessary.

Slow. That was the impression Aoki left on him after seeing the techniques.

Hyuuga Nen had found it strange that someone with Aoki's talent wouldn't be valued by Konoha, making his defection hard to imagine.

However, after fighting him, he realized that both his chakra reserves and his chakra control were remarkably mediocre.

Talent that cannot be realized is not true talent. No wonder he wasn't valued by Konoha, and his personality is flawed as well, Hyuuga Nen added to himself.

Looking at the panting Aoki, Hyuuga Nen said with a mocking tone, "Then why did a 'genius' like you become a rogue ninja?"

"What would you know? The higher-ups in Konoha are blind! They have become corrupt!" Aoki gritted his teeth and spat.

"Were you just performing a circus act? All that flash and flair—your ninjutsu looks nice, but you haven't hit me once," Hyuuga Nen continued to taunt him.

"Damn you! What right do you have to mock me? I haven't even seen you use a single technique!" Aoki glared at him in fury.

"Then I'll show you what real ninjutsu looks like." With that, Hyuuga Nen began to form hand seals at a leisurely pace.

"What is this? I thought you were a samurai, but your hand-seal speed is far too slow. Let me show you my ultimate move."

Seeing Hyuuga Nen begin his seals, Aoki started his own. He first created a shadow clone, and then both the original and the clone began forming different sets of seals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough! Fire Style: Dragon Flame Technique!"

Aoki unleashed both Wind and Fire styles simultaneously. The wind fueled the fire, turning the long stream of flames into a ferocious torrent that surged toward Hyuuga Nen with overwhelming momentum.

Watching the combined ninjutsu rushing toward him, Hyuuga Nen maintained his rhythm of hand seals with a calm expression.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A massive fireball erupted from Hyuuga Nen's mouth.

The fireball and the torrent of flames collided in mid-air with a thunderous roar, appearing to be at a stalemate.

Seeing this, Aoki's eyes widened in shock. He hurriedly increased his chakra output, and as he watched the fireball being gradually suppressed by the long dragon of flames, a smug look returned to his face.

This is his limit, Hyuuga Nen thought as he watched his fireball being pushed back, and he subsequently increased his own chakra output.

Bolstered by the influx of chakra, the fireball grew exponentially. In Aoki's eyes, it seemed to blot out the sky. He watched in terror as his combined ninjutsu was directly overwhelmed, and the fireball surged straight toward him.

Because he was in the middle of channeling his technique, Aoki could not dodge. The fireball exploded directly in front of him. Amidst the massive blast and a single scream, he was blown into the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Hyuuga Nen had specifically controlled the fireball to avoid a direct hit, as he still needed to collect the bounty, but the sheer force of the shockwave and the intense heat were enough to extinguish Aoki's life.

Hyuuga Nen walked up to Aoki, frowning as he looked at the man, whose hair had been completely singed away and whose skin had turned a raw, unrecognizable crimson.

"Will I still be able to collect the bounty like this? I shouldn't have used Fire Style if I'd known."

Hyuuga Nen muttered to himself, though despite his words, he began to pack up Aoki's corpse.

Fire Style can kill people too, after all.

Having reached this conclusion, Hyuuga Nen headed in the direction of the Bounty Exchange.