An Effortless Assassination Mission

An Effortless Assassination Mission

Along the way, scenes of such utter misery were almost everywhere.

Before crossing over, if Hyuga Yuto had seen something like this, he would surely have reddened his eyes, emptied his wallet, and wished he could strip off his own clothes to give them to these unfortunate people.

But now, Hyuga Yuto merely sighed inwardly. His steps did not pause in the slightest as he continued toward the city.

Environment could change a person. When a three-year-old child witnessed his parents' deaths, then had the Bird in a Cage seal branded onto his forehead, his heart would harden no matter what.

Perhaps Hyuga Yuto still felt compassion for these suffering people, but he no longer had the spare energy to stop and help them.

—Most people living in the world of Naruto had it rough.

After crossing this suffering land, Hyuga Yuto reached his destination before nightfall.

It was a town called "Flowing Fire City." The name sounded nice, perhaps praising the city's wealth as abundant as roaring flames.

Yet now, under the snow disaster, the Land of Hot Water's finances had nearly collapsed. Many afflicted civilians had lost their homes and migrated from small villages to Flowing Fire City.

But a town's capacity was ultimately limited. Flowing Fire City's guards blocked the ragged crowds outside. Other than thin porridge meant to soothe the people, they ignored the refugees and left them freezing beneath the city walls.

Yet while city walls and snow could stop refugees, they could not stop a ninja. With a simple Body Flicker Technique, Hyuga Yuto sped over the walls and entered the city.

"The security's decent..." Hyuga Yuto murmured. He entered a tavern without removing his conical hat, casually ordered some food, and narrowed his eyes as he observed the city.

The target of this assassination mission was a wealthy man in Flowing Fire City, within the Land of Hot Water.

The information Hyuga Yuto had received described the wealthy man like this:

"Asakawa Yoshio, male, fifty-five years old, a wealthy man of Flowing Fire City. He controls seventy percent of the city's pharmacies and taverns. Over the past two years, Asakawa Yoshio has continuously funded representatives of the Land of Hot Water's [Secessionist Faction]. He is a stumbling block to the brotherly friendship between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. He must be executed without mercy!"

The ninja who had written the mission scroll was clearly a meticulous person. He had even added a small note at the end:

"Note: [The Land of Hot Water's Secessionist Faction is a political force that has emerged in recent years. It advocates keeping a distance from the Land of Fire to avoid becoming a sacrifice in conflicts between the two great nations.]"

Whenever Hyuga Yuto finished reading the scroll, he could not help but observe a moment of silence for Asakawa Yoshio. The Land of Hot Water's Secessionist Faction had likely seen the painful history of the Land of Rain and feared that their own country would follow in its footsteps. That was why they so strongly emphasized breaking away from the Hidden Leaf Village, or at the very least, not relying on it completely as they did now.

To be fair, from the Land of Hot Water's perspective, there was nothing wrong with that idea. Getting tangled up with a major power in the ninja world meant either becoming a complete vassal or turning into a battlefield. More importantly, even an alliance with a major power might bring negligible benefits—now that the country had suffered a snow disaster, the Land of Fire had not even sent over a single cotton coat.

But from the Hidden Leaf Village's perspective, it was this: because of your Secessionist Faction's lobbying, we might lose a sturdy shield. That was a strategic impact that could not be ignored. The core members of the Secessionist Faction were stars of the political world, so it would be inconvenient to kill politicians directly—but did that mean we could not deal with you, their backer?

There were always reasons on both sides in matters like this. Hyuga Yuto saw that clearly, but he could only serve as a blade that killed for the Hidden Leaf Village.

Ninja were humanoid killing machines. Sometimes, they did not need so many feelings.

"Guess you're just unlucky... wealthy man..." Hyuga Yuto ate and drank his fill, paid the bill, and strolled slowly down the street.

The Byakugan opened, and the transparent field of vision unfolded once more.

In only a short time, Hyuga Yuto locked onto the location.

"The tallest building to the north, the second room from the left on the fourth floor... Tsk. What a dependable adult man. It's almost dark, and he's still working."

Expressionless, Hyuga Yuto tugged at the brim of his conical hat. After confirming that nothing revealed his identity, he strode toward the building.

Along the way, he secretly took a fire poker being sold at a roadside shop. Of course, Hyuga Yuto tossed enough silver into the vendor's money pouch.

"Stop! Who are you?!"

"I'm talking to you, shorty! This is Asakawa property. Outsiders aren't allowed in!"

"Get lost, get lost! You..."

Bzz!

Hyuga Yuto did not even raise his eyelids. Gripping one end of the fire poker, he lightly struck a guard's head. Even without using chakra, a ninja's physical abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people. With less than half his strength, the guard was knocked unconscious.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more strikes, and Hyuga Yuto effortlessly knocked out every guard.

He did not linger. His legs stomped heavily against the ground, and he instantly leaped to the fourth floor, smashed through the glass, and charged into the room.

For an "assassination," this method of entry was rather flamboyant. But as long as no one recognized the attacker's identity, it still counted as a success.

Doing business in this world was no easy matter. To become wealthy, one never knew how many people one might offend. Having a few enemies was perfectly normal.

Glass shattered everywhere as Hyuga Yuto burst into the room.

In the Byakugan's vision, several clusters of chakra nearby were rapidly rushing over.

As the target of an A-rank mission, Asakawa Yoshio was wealthy. Naturally, he had hired a few ninja to protect him.

"Unfortunately, you're far too slow... Are you really ninja?"

Hyuga Yuto smiled faintly and looked at the middle-aged man before him.

"You are... Wait! I have something to say. No matter who offered the price, I can pay dou—"

A sharp kunai cut off the rest of his words.

Without mercy, Hyuga Yuto plunged the kunai into Asakawa Yoshio's heart. With a slight flex of his forearm, the middle-aged man's heart exploded entirely.

Assassination mission complete.

From beginning to end, Hyuga Yuto had done it as easily as crushing an ant. The combat power of a jonin from one of the Five Great Nations was indeed somewhat unfair when placed in a city of a small country.

The branch family youth swung his kunai again and cut off Asakawa Yoshio's ear.

Wealthy men like this were public figures. Once he died, the upper ranks of the Hidden Leaf Village and the Land of Fire would immediately learn of it, so there was no need to seal the entire corpse into a scroll.

In the Byakugan's vision, the ninja bodyguards had already rushed into the room next door.

Were they truly too late? Or were they dragging their feet out of fear of losing their lives? Hyuga Yuto could not be bothered to think that much. He symbolically tossed down an explosive tag, then leaped out the window amid the firelight and smoke from the blast.

The entire assassination took less than five seconds.

With a bang, Hyuga Yuto landed in the snow. Chakra burst forth at full force, and in an instant, he was outside the city.

Next came his time for "free activity."

(End of chapter)