Iron Fist Shakes the Bandits

"You're asking to die!"

The wandering samurai at the front roared, raising his tachi with both hands and slashing it down at Chiba's head.

Chiba shifted half a step to the side, clenched his right hand into a fist, and smashed it straight into the gleaming blade.

His fist collided head-on with the steel sword, producing a dull sound of shattering metal.

The finely forged tachi broke apart inch by inch, its fragments flying everywhere and burying themselves deep in the surrounding wooden pillars.

The force of Chiba's punch did not fade as it drove directly into the samurai's chest.

"Pfft!"

The samurai's breastbone caved in. His entire body flew more than ten meters backward, crashing heavily into a row of companions behind him.

"This brat's strength is wrong!"

The remaining samurai cried out in alarm, their charging steps abruptly stopping.

"Surround him! He's alone! Once he runs out of chakra, he's dead!"

The leader of the hired ninja shouted from the rear, rapidly forming hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A fierce wind mixed with countless shards of stone formed a small storm, sealing off every route of retreat around Chiba.

"Brat, fall back! Don't fight them head-on!"

Tsunade barked from behind.

Leaning against the wall, she dug her fingertips tightly into the wooden boards, her nails leaving pale streaks across the wood.

"Auntie, you should worry more about your twenty-million-ryo debt. Don't stick your nose into a wage worker's business."

Chiba pushed off with his feet, and the stone floor beneath him shattered in an instant.

He charged straight into the gale, moving so fast that only a blurry afterimage remained.

"Wind Release doesn't work on him? How is that possible?!"

The leader's face drained of color.

Chiba had already appeared beside a chunin. His right hand shot out like an eagle's claw and locked tightly around the man's throat.

"Too slow. In my eyes, your movements are no different from turtles."

Chiba sneered, tightening his fingers until his knuckles turned bluish white.

Using the chunin as a weapon, he swept him sideways.

"Bang!"

Two wandering samurai who had rushed forward were smashed away at the waist. The sound of bones breaking echoed through the hall, making everyone's teeth ache.

Chiba casually tossed the already unconscious chunin to the ground and brushed the dust from his sleeve.

"Who's next?"

He looked at the remaining enemies calmly, even with a trace of mockery in his expression.

"Monster... This guy is a monster from the Senju Clan!"

The wandering samurai began to retreat. Their sword-gripping hands would not stop trembling, and their eyes were filled with fear.

"Retreat? I paid you to kill people, not to come here and act like cowards!"

The Yamato-ya owner screamed hysterically from the back, his face flushed red.

"Whoever kills him gets another five million ryo! No, ten million!"

Driven by the enormous reward, the remaining samurai and ninja once again revealed wolfish ferocity in their eyes.

"For the money, let's do it!"

Three wandering samurai thrust their tachi from three directions at once, aiming for Chiba's vital points.

Chiba stood still. A faint golden chakra flowed over the surface of his body—the protective energy brought about by the awakening of his beginner Sage Body.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The three tachi stabbed into Chiba's shoulders and ribs, but only produced sharp metallic rings. They could not even fully pierce his clothes.

"How is this possible? Is your body made of iron?!"

The samurai's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, their hands numb from the impact.

"Senju basic taijutsu, combined with this body—trash like you can't even break my defense."

Chiba grinned.

His hands shot out like lightning, grabbing two of their wrists and twisting hard.

"Crack!"

The sound of splintering bones rang through the hall alongside agonized screams.

Chiba followed up with a powerful sweeping kick, sending the third man flying through the inn's front doors and onto the street outside.

"Chiba, watch out above! That leader is making his move!"

Shizune shouted from the stairs. Tonton in her arms let out a piercing squeal as well.

In midair, the hired ninja leader had somehow leaped up, clutching more than a dozen kunai tied with explosive tags.

"Die, Senju scum!"

His face twisted viciously as he hurled all the kunai, blanketing the area where Chiba stood.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of dense explosions erupted in the inn's hall, and fierce flames instantly swallowed Chiba.

The shockwave tore apart all the nearby tables and chairs. The entire inn trembled faintly as smoke and dust spread through the room.

"Chiba!"

Tsunade struggled to rush forward. The blood-red illusion before her eyes seemed ready to consume her, and her body shook even harder.

"Lady Tsunade, it's dangerous! Don't go over there!"

Shizune held Tsunade tightly, tears welling in her eyes.

"Hahaha! No matter how tough your body is, you can't withstand so many explosive tags detonating at close range!"

The Yamato-ya owner laughed smugly, as though he could already see Chiba blown into chunks of flesh.

"Is that so? Do you have some misunderstanding about the power of these little toys?"

Chiba's indifferent voice came from within the smoke.

The Yamato-ya owner's laughter stopped abruptly, his face full of disbelief.

As the smoke cleared, Chiba stood where he had been, completely unharmed.

His clothes were somewhat damaged, but the exposed skin beneath them did not bear even a scratch. Even the dust had been kept away by the chakra flowing over his body.

"The explosions were decent, but the heat wasn't enough. They weren't even worthy of scratching an itch."

Chiba rolled his neck and looked at the dumbfounded leader.

"Th-That's impossible! Your skin isn't even broken? What are you, a man or a ghost?!"

The leader staggered backward again and again, nearly falling to the ground.

"Now it's my turn."

Chiba vanished and appeared before the leader in an instant, moving faster than the naked eye could follow.

His right hand reached out and clamped around the leader's neck, lifting him into the air.

"S-Spare me... I was just doing this for the money..."

The leader kicked wildly, his face turning red as he desperately tried to pry Chiba's fingers apart, only to find them as unyielding as iron.

"A twenty-million-ryo debt, repaid with your life. Do you think that's a fair deal?"

Chiba looked at him, his eyes cold without the slightest warmth.

"Wait! You can't kill me!"

Seeing that things had gone bad, the Yamato-ya owner turned and tried to run outside.

"Think you can get away, big boss?"

Chiba casually threw the leader to the ground, moved in a blur, and instantly blocked the Yamato-ya owner's path.

"Y-You can't kill me! I have people under the Land of Fire's daimyo behind me! Kill me, and you'll never leave the Land of Fire!"

The Yamato-ya owner shouted fiercely despite his inner fear, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"The daimyo's people? So what? Until my contract is completed, anyone who comes has to follow my rules."

Chiba raised an eyebrow and slowly clenched his right hand.

At that moment, sharp whistling sounds suddenly came from outside the window.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several kunai bearing special markings struck the ground precisely between the Yamato-ya owner and Chiba, blocking Chiba's path forward.

"Chiba, Konoha's rogue ninja, this ends here."

A figure wearing a Konoha ANBU mask leaped in through the inn's shattered window and landed steadily on the ground.

Chiba's gaze shifted slightly as he sensed the familiarity and strength of that chakra.

"Looks like an even more troublesome fellow has come knocking."

Chiba turned his head toward Tsunade, a playful smile still hanging on his lips.

Tsunade looked at the mask, and her expression darkened further. "Konoha's pursuers... they came quickly. Looks like the old man is getting serious."

"Chiba, what do we do?"

Shizune held Tonton and looked nervously between Chiba and the ANBU.

"What else can we do? Since another worker has delivered himself to our door, we might as well take him too."

Chiba loosened his fist and glanced sideways at the ANBU.