Orochimaru's Praise

Of the thirty-four bandits, only nine were still alive without even touching Chiyu's clothes.

That was what a ninja was.

Ordinary people, even robust adults, could not threaten an underage ninja.

Take Kakashi, for example. He had graduated from the Ninja Academy and started cutting people down at five years old—and the people he cut down had been ninja.

In Chiyu's Sharingan, the nine men's escape speed was as slow as turtles.

Chiyu easily caught up to one of the bandits, and the longsword in his hand slashed toward the back of the man's neck without pausing.

The bandit felt that he was still running, but his vision kept lowering until it finally fell to the ground.

Looking at the headless body collapsing beside him, the bandit suddenly understood.

Oh... that was his body. He had been beheaded...

The beheaded bandit finally got a clear look at Chiyu's face.

He was just a child?

A single child had nearly killed all of them.

At this rate, the others probably would not escape either.

In my next life... in my next life, I'll definitely become a ninja, then go rob people!

Clinging to his hopes for the next life, the bandit's consciousness completely faded away.

Chiyu continued killing as he counted down.

Hearing Chiyu's somewhat childish countdown, the remaining bandits were terrified beyond measure.

Every number in that countdown was utterly and completely their death knell.

Each scream meant the death of a companion, and the despair in their hearts could no longer be suppressed.

When Chiyu counted down to "three," the two bandits ahead stopped running.

They could not escape even if they wanted to. Forget it, they were tired. Let it all end. Death was death. Once they died, they would not have to be this afraid anymore.

The two bandits laid down their weapons and waited for death to descend.

Chiyu showed no mercy to the two bandits who had laid down their weapons, directly beheading them.

Chiyu counted down to "one."

Only the bandit leader remained.

After watching Chiyu slaughter his men one by one as easily as chopping vegetables, the bandit leader had long since been scared out of his wits and fled.

The bandit leader was now nearly out of the village, still cursing under his breath.

"Bastard! They actually hired a ninja to deal with us! If I find out who it was, I'll torture him properly before killing him!"

"Damn it, all the money we robbed today is still back there. I can only give it up. Luckily, some of the money we stole before is still left."

"I can't stay in the Land of Rice Fields anymore. I'll stick to the previous plan and go to the Land of the Moon, recruit some men, then directly rob the villages there."

The bandit leader suddenly stopped.

He had felt his ankle brush against something.

Looking down, he saw Steel wire.

The bandit leader let out a breath of relief. When his ankle had touched something just now, he had inexplicably felt a sense of dread.

Just as the bandit leader dismissed it and prepared to keep moving, he heard a sizzling sound.

The bandit leader looked down again and saw a slip of paper. The character for "explode" was written on it, and it had already burned halfway through.

"Phew, so it was just a piece of paper..."

"Paper? An Explosive Tag?!"

The bandit leader's hair instantly stood on end. Just as he tried to turn and run, the Explosive Tag detonated.

BOOM!

The Explosive Tag exploded violently, and the blast wave slammed the bandit leader heavily into a wall.

Dazed by the blast, the bandit leader struggled to stand, only to fall to the ground again.

The bandit leader looked at his legs, and his pupils immediately shrank in terror.

His right leg had been blown off in the explosion, and blood was still pouring from the wound.

"Ahhh, my leg!!"

The bandit leader howled miserably as he clutched the wound where his leg had been severed.

Chiyu strolled up before the bandit leader, his scarlet Sharingan staring directly into the man's eyes.

The bandit leader stared blankly at Chiyu's Sharingan, even forgetting to scream.

Looking into Chiyu's Sharingan, the bandit leader felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, sending chills down his spine.

Chiyu raised the longsword in his hand and pointed its tip at the bandit leader's throat. He said quietly, "Zero."

Chiyu's longsword pierced through the bandit leader's throat, and blood immediately sprayed out.

The light in the bandit leader's eyes gradually scattered as he went down to hell together with his "grand ambitions."

Chiyu forcefully shook the longsword, flinging off the blood staining it. Then he wiped the blade clean against his arm before sheathing it.

"Phew..."

Chiyu let out a breath.

Eliminating thirty-four bandits was extremely easy for him now. Those bandits had no ability to fight back at all.

If he could use Thunder Breathing, it would have been even easier. Chiyu was confident that he could have killed all thirty-four bandits in an extremely short time, leaving none alive.

However, this was a mission Orochimaru had specifically accepted to test the results of Chiyu's month of training.

If he used Thunder Breathing, it would lose its meaning.

Still, using ninjutsu in training really did feel different from using it in actual combat.

It seemed to come more naturally now.

Just as Chiyu turned around to leave and find Orochimaru, Orochimaru had already appeared behind him.

Orochimaru looked at the bandit leader's corpse, a curve rising at the corner of his mouth as he praised, "Well done. During the assassination, you effectively concealed your presence. You used those few ninjutsu quite proficiently, and your ideas were very good as well. You fully made use of the properties of Water Release and Lightning Release, combining them together.

"Your actions were also quite meticulous. You set up an Explosive Tag trap beforehand to prevent any stragglers from escaping."

Hearing Orochimaru's praise, Chiyu could not help but smile.

This was the first time in the past month that he had heard Orochimaru praise him so much.

During every training session, Orochimaru could point out a whole pile of Chiyu's problems.

Several times, Chiyu had nearly thought that his talent was poor.

Now that Orochimaru had finally praised him once, Chiyu was in a very good mood.

Orochimaru continued, "Especially since you have one very good habit."

Chiyu froze. He had a habit?

What habit?

Chiyu pricked up his ears and listened carefully.

Orochimaru said, "Whenever you kill an enemy, you target their head. You either behead them or slit their throat. There are only a few vital points on the human body. Even if the heart is pierced, the opponent still has some time to act. During that time, it is very possible that they may launch a counterattack.

"Whether it is beheading or slitting the throat, both are effective methods of immediately depriving the opponent of their ability to fight. That is an excellent habit."

Hearing Orochimaru's assessment, Chiyu awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Thinking about it, slitting throats and beheading people had indeed become a habit for him.

And the reason was Thunder Breathing.

Thunder Breathing was a technique for killing demons, and demons' weakness was their necks, so every sword form targeted the neck.

Listening to Orochimaru praise it like this, Chiyu felt that this habit really was quite good~