Chapter 31

"I have rations." Saitama still adhered to his dietary principles during missions.

"I wonder how the capital is doing now..." Hayaharu Shimo chewed on a chunk of meat and suddenly said, "There's a minister who insists on putting me to death, but I won't just sit back and wait to die."

Saitama listened quietly. This time, he was unusually interested in his superior's grievances. After all, the spectacle of ministers tearing each other apart drew attention in any era.

"The Daimyo chose to stand aside, so this is a private contest between him and me." Hayaharu Shimo's voice was low. "Most civil officials support him, while I represent the military faction. This time, I absolutely won't let him continue running wild!"

Saitama rose to his feet. "I'll patrol."

Though he was injured, his chakra had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent. Moonlight flowed like water over the temporary camp. The woods to the east seemed especially quiet in the darkness, opposite the direction the convoy was traveling.

After finishing his patrol, Saitama returned to camp. The day's battle had taken quite a toll, and fatigue quietly crept over him. Not far away, Hayaharu Shimo and his subordinates sat around the campfire, speaking in low voices. Meanwhile, the mustached man sat alone atop a carriage, gazing up at the stars alongside Saitama on the roof.

The mustached man had practically taken a stroll through the gates of hell today. If Saitama had not insisted on saving him, he would already have lost his life.

"Saitama, do you think my lord can win after returning to the capital?" The mustached man nervously rubbed his fingers together. Even Shimada, who had been so highly trusted, had betrayed them. He truly dared not imagine what state the capital was in now.

Their family had served the Early Spring Clan for generations. If anything really happened to Hayaharu Shimo...

Perhaps they would follow their master into the Yellow Springs?

"My mission is only to escort him." Saitama dangled his legs over the carriage shaft, his fingertips lightly tapping the wooden boards. "Everything else is none of my concern."

"Yes..." The mustached man forced out a bitter smile, but his gaze gradually became unfocused.

"My lord will surely win!" he suddenly muttered, his voice as light as a falling leaf.

"Perhaps."

Saitama looked up at the river of stars, and the corner of his mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve.

When dawn drove away the night, the mustached man had already returned to his deferential manner.

Several days passed without incident, and even the chirping of birds in the forest sounded especially pleasant.

"We'll reach the capital tomorrow." Hayaharu Shimo lifted the carriage curtain, his complexion rosy.

"Mm."

Saitama stood with his sword in his arms, his eagle-like gaze sweeping over the road ahead.

"Whoosh—"

He abruptly rose.

At the end of the road, a man in splendid robes stood atop a carriage. "Hayaharu Shimo, how have you been?"

"Sanjishi!"

"Didn't expect me to come in person?"

"I certainly didn't." Hayaharu Shimo sneered. "With just this rabble?"

"I knew it the moment Shimada failed." Sanjishi narrowed his eyes as though looking at dead men. "Did you really think... I hadn't left myself a backup plan?"

(

"So you're the Konoha ninja hired by the Early Spring Clan? Beating a jonin at such a young age is impressive, but this is as far as you go today." Sanjishi slightly raised his chin as he spoke to Saitama atop the carriage.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!" Three crisp claps rang out, and three ninjas slowly emerged from behind the carriage.

"That Kusuna is worthless. He couldn't even deal with a brat like this." The lead ninja stared at Saitama with a vicious grin, as if looking at a trapped beast in a cage.

"Kid, you never should've been born into this world!" The pockmarked ninja spat, the huge hammer on his back glinting coldly in the moonlight.

"You're quite pretty, though. After we kill you, don't rush to dispose of the body..." The last ninja grinned, and the dense scars across his face twisted and writhed with his smile, making one's skin crawl.

Saitama silently frowned.

The three before him were clearly a jonin squad that worked together seamlessly. Protecting Hayaharu Shimo under these circumstances would be harder than climbing to the heavens.

"There are at least a hundred samurai around us." Hayaharu Shimo lowered his voice, his Adam's apple bobbing uneasily.

"M-My lord, what do we do?" The mustached samurai curled up in front of the carriage, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

In the deathly silence, Hayaharu Shimo's face looked like dead wood, and even his breathing became heavy.

"I'll hold them off. Find a chance to break through." Saitama leaped down, pushing the sword guard with his thumb. Three inches of blade slid free, flashing with cold light.

So a B-rank mission really wasn't this simple. He shook his head inwardly, then lowered his stance, his sword tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

"Heh, you've got some backbone. I thought you'd be crying for your mommy!" The lead ninja sneered as he advanced. The three men closed in from three directions. Against an opponent who could kill a jonin, they naturally would not be careless, though their mouths showed no mercy.

Sizzle—

Lightning Style chakra wrapped around the blade, and the scarlet Sharingan stood out sharply in the darkness.

"Whoosh!"

The enemies suddenly burst forward from twenty meters away!

"Boom!"

A shockwave exploded beneath Saitama's feet, and he moved later yet arrived first! He knew he should not rashly charge in, but right now, offense was the only defense. His blade flashed like lightning toward the pockmarked ninja—the only weapon user among the three. He had to cripple this heavy hitter first.

"Clang!"

The huge hammer barely blocked the katana, and the pockmarked ninja staggered several steps back from the impact. Saitama used the momentum to pull back and retreat rapidly, slipping out of the battle zone like lightning before the encirclement could close.

Saitama suddenly exerted force to pull back his sword, only to find the blade firmly embedded in the hammer, utterly unmoving. He frowned and looked up, meeting the sinister grin on the pockmarked face behind the hammer.

"Bang!" The lecherous man seized the opening and threw a punch. At the same time, the ninja who had been flung aside earlier drew a kunai and stabbed straight at Saitama's back.

At the critical moment between life and death, every hair on Saitama's body stood on end. He decisively abandoned his sword and vaulted into the air. Before he had even finished turning midair, three weapons had already torn through the space where he had been standing.

"Not bad swordsmanship~" The pockmarked man casually pulled the katana from his hammer and smugly flourished it. The lecherous man grinned viciously. "Let's see how arrogant you can be now."

"Finish this quickly!" The ninja leader stared hard at the unruffled Saitama and barked. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hayaharu Shimo fighting more than ten men alone, while Sanjishi stood calmly atop the carriage watching the battle. Lightning flared around Saitama's body—he had to finish these enemies quickly.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique! The instant his hand seals were complete, a blazing fire dragon roared forth. As the enemies hurriedly scattered, Saitama became a streak of lightning and charged at the leader. Chidori!

Water Style: Water Formation Wall! The hastily formed curtain of water was split in two by the lightning. The ninja leader's pupils contracted sharply as the lightning-wreathed hand blade stabbed toward his chest—

"Clang!" Sparks flew as the huge hammer blocked it sideways. Saitama used the force to flip backward, barely avoiding the sweeping kick. The ninja leader ran a hand over the spiderweb-like cracks on the hammer's surface and rasped, "Interesting."

For an instant, he had almost thought he was finished. If not for his companion's hammer blocking in time and taking that fierce ninjutsu attack, his miserable life would probably have ended there. Even so, Saitama's ninjutsu had driven the hammer heavily into his chest, knocking the breath from him, while the scattered current left his chest numb in waves. Fortunately, the injury was not fatal.

"I have to split them up!" Saitama knew very well that facing all three at once was far from a good strategy.

"My lord!" the mustached man suddenly cried out.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hayaharu Shimo get slashed in the back amid the melee.

"Damn it!" A nameless fury surged through Saitama.

"Boom!" The hammer smashed into where he had just been standing, but he evaded it with a sidestep—the enemies had launched a surprise attack the instant he was distracted.

"Bang!" His right leg, wrapped in electricity, collided fiercely with the lecherous man, electrocuting him until his face flushed red and his entire body convulsed uncontrollably.

The power of Chidori Stream truly did not disappoint. Saitama was quite satisfied with his ninjutsu.

Before he could press his advantage, another ninja's attack was already upon him. The three men coordinated flawlessly, their attacks coming in an endless tide. Though Saitama had not been hit, he could find no opportunity to counterattack.

"Hehehe!" The lecherous man charged again with a strange laugh, clearly having recovered from the paralysis of Chidori Stream. The three reformed their encirclement.

"I can only gamble..." Saitama's gaze swept toward Sanjishi, who remained atop the carriage watching the battle.

"Smack!"

A fist carrying electric current slammed into the pockmarked man's face, and the burst of lightning seared scorch marks across it.

"Boom!" The ninja behind him attacked again, forcing Saitama to give up following through and retreat several steps.

"Hah!" The enemy leader followed like a shadow with a whip kick, viciously striking Saitama's back.

"Bang!" The instant he took the blow head-on, blinding lightning suddenly burst from his injured spot.

"Whoosh!" The other man nimbly retreated to evade it.

"Die!" The lecherous man charged forward with a vicious grin, unaware that he had fallen right into Saitama's trap—

Saitama had noticed from the beginning that this lecherous man was the weakest link among the three. He had been waiting for this moment.

"Whoosh!" A fist wrapped in a chakra glove tore through the air, and the lecherous man believed victory was in his grasp.

Sizzle... Lightning flickered at Saitama's fingertips, and his Sharingan spun rapidly. What Saitama wanted was a single killing blow, to tear open this breach first.

"Die!" His lightning-wreathed right palm shot out like a venomous snake.

Yet the enemy seemed prepared. The instant Saitama made his move, he dodged to the side—certain his companions' support would force Saitama to withdraw his attack.

In that split second, Saitama's originally thrusting right arm abruptly changed course. The instant his opponent dodged, he hooked the man around the waist, and blinding lightning erupted from his palm.

"Urgh!"

The lecherous ninja let out a heart-rending howl, caught off guard by Saitama's scheme. His aura rapidly weakened, and terror appeared on his twisted face.

"Slash—" The other two enemies' movements faltered slightly at the sight. In the instant they were distracted, Saitama's left arm, wrapped in savage lightning serpents, pierced the enemy's throat like a venomous fang. Warm blood sprayed out, and the man crashed to the ground with a confused expression frozen on his face.

"Bastard!" The pockmarked ninja's eyes split with rage as his warhammer whistled toward Saitama's skull. Seeing his companion beyond saving, he completely abandoned all restraint.

"Bang!" Saitama threw the dying enemy out as a human shield. Amid the dull impact of warhammer striking flesh, a rain of blood and shattered bones sprayed everywhere.

"Tuwen!" the ninja leader cried out, but he did not check on his companion. Instead, his sinister gaze locked tightly onto Saitama. "Konoha trash, I'll take your life today!"

Saitama retreated several steps and mocked, "You still think you can suppress me after losing a man?"

The remaining two exchanged looks and swallowed crimson pills at the same time. Saitama's pupils narrowed slightly as he bent his knees and took a defensive stance.

Chakra rose from the bodies of the medicated ninjas like raging flames, while their eyeballs filled with spiderweb-like blood vessels. Their faces twisted, and beastlike growls spilled from their throats.

"Berserk drugs?" Saitama narrowed his eyes.

"Whoosh!" The ninja leader lunged like an afterimage, his chakra cloak snapping in the wind. Saitama sprang into the air to evade the descending heavy punch, and the ground where he had stood collapsed into a crater.

The other ninja swung his warhammer, setting off bursts of air. His attacks came endlessly like a rampaging bear. Both men's speed and strength had increased exponentially, and the battlefield was instantly filled with flying sand and stones.

"Die!" "Give me your life!"

When Saitama blocked the heavy punch, the overwhelming force sent him flying. His boot soles plowed two deep furrows through the ground. What crushing force! he thought in alarm, but snarling lightning serpents had already wrapped around both his arms. While flying backward, he suddenly released chakra, and Chidori Stream surged up the enemy's arm in a counterattack.

Electricity hissed, but the enemy showed no reaction.

"Can the pills even block pain?" Saitama tested his opponents' weaknesses as he fought.

Their legs collided, and lightning exploded. Saitama used the force to retreat, barely evading the whistling warhammer. The shockwave still made his chest tighten.

"The drug's effects shouldn't last much longer..." Out of the corner of his eye, he looked toward Hayaharu Shimo—only four battered subordinates remained protecting him, and one samurai's severed arm hung limply at his side. More than fifty enemies still watched them like tigers from all around.

Several compressed fireballs suddenly erupted, forcing the two enemies to split up and dodge. Saitama seized the gap and attacked. The hammer struck the ground, grazing his clothes. He stepped on the weapon and closed in, lightning tearing a bloody gash across the enemy's cheek.

"Die!" The enemy panted as he locked Saitama in a bear hug, his knotted arms tightening like iron pincers. The instant a kunai stabbed into Saitama's back, the last of Saitama's chakra transformed into rampaging lightning serpents, exploding in blinding light between them.

The enemy grinned viciously and tightened his hold, seemingly unaffected by the bloody hole in his chest. Saitama's vision darkened, and all he could hear was the groan of his own bones.