Cleanup

Night—

When the bandit samurai were drunk, it was time for Lin Chuan and Terai to strike. They arrived outside the mountain stronghold, easily climbed over its crude wooden fence, and moved among the drunken bandits sprawled on the ground, finishing them off one by one.

They easily disposed of dozens of minor bandit samurai, but Lin Chuan's status panel remained unchanged. These people were merely passersby outside the backdrop. He had already killed no fewer than twenty samurai, but unfortunately, he could not gain any Life Points.

As he finished them off, he thought that if he unleashed a powerful AoE move among the Allied Shinobi Forces when they assembled, could he gain eighty thousand Life Points? Just thinking about it was thrilling. Unfortunately, he was not strong enough yet. That would have to wait until later.

Swish, swish—

Just as they finished dealing with the minor thugs in the clearing, the door of a thatched hut suddenly shattered. A blue glow emerged from the pitch-black wooden house. Only when it reached the brazier outside did they see what the blue light inside had been.

"A Chakra Blade. He's an expert." Neither Lin Chuan nor Terai wore ANBU uniforms, since they could not expose their identities. They could only wear black masks that covered their noses and mouths.

"Who are you? Shinobi? We have no grievances against each other, so why?" The samurai leader dispersed the chakra from his Chakra Blade and looked at the two short, masked figures. He had no idea how he had offended them enough for them to come wipe out his stronghold.

"Go." Lin Chuan exchanged a glance with Terai. Terai instantly understood the look in his eyes and charged forward with his blade, using the Body Flicker Technique.

Clang—

Terai's short sword was blocked by the samurai leader's raised blade. Lin Chuan followed with the Body Flicker Technique, drawing his sword and thrusting from another direction. In an instant, he pierced straight through the samurai leader from behind, taking him down with a single strike.

Because Lin Chuan's Body Flicker Technique was faster, they had devised a tactic where Terai would feint while Lin Chuan used Body Flicker to launch a surprise attack. This move was especially effective against a single enemy, particularly samurai whose reflexes were inferior to a Chunin's. It never failed.

Although this samurai leader possessed a Chakra Blade, his strength was only somewhere between a Genin and a Chunin. They held the advantage in a two-on-one fight.

"That hurts, brat." The bearded samurai leader did not seem to care despite having his heart pierced. His face twisted as he turned and glared viciously at Lin Chuan. One hand gripped Lin Chuan's blade while the other drew his sword and slashed at him, roaring, "Die, you little brat..."

"What?" Lin Chuan could not pull out his short sword. He immediately used Body Flicker to retreat and evade the blade. Terai seized the chance to step forward and cut off the samurai leader's sword arm in one stroke.

"What's going on? He was fine even after being stabbed through the heart?" Terai came to Lin Chuan's side and quietly asked as Lin Chuan drew a kunai. The short sword was still embedded in the samurai leader's chest.

"The Jashin Cult has been causing trouble in the Land of Hot Water. Their defining trait is immortality. I never expected to encounter a Jashin Cult follower here." Lin Chuan stared at the short sword in the samurai leader's chest and thought of Hidan from the anime. He likewise would not die even if his heart was stabbed. What a freak!

"What do we do now?" Terai secretly swallowed. It was his first time encountering a monster that could not be killed.

"What you just did was pretty good." Lin Chuan picked up the samurai sword from the ground and drew it. Looking at the rusted blade, he figured it could barely still be used, then used Body Flicker to rush forward again.

Slash—

The samurai leader wanted to retrieve the sword in his severed arm's hand, but just as he picked it up, Lin Chuan cut off his other arm.

Terai followed close behind and slashed twice at the samurai leader's legs, cutting off both of them.

"This sword is decent. It can barely conduct chakra." Lin Chuan picked up the samurai leader's Chakra Blade and poured chakra into it. The blade immediately began to hum. He discovered that seventy percent of the chakra fed into it dissipated, leaving only thirty percent to coat the blade in a pale blue glow that was extremely sharp.

Infusing chakra into a Chakra Blade to increase its sharpness involved chakra shape transformation. He picked it up easily, since its principle was similar to the Chakra Scalpel. He was simply reproducing on a Chakra Blade the chakra edge he usually used for carving wood.

"How should we deal with this guy?" Terai watched Lin Chuan fiddle with the Chakra Blade. He did not lack such weapons; once he was a little older, he could have his family prepare one for him.

"Obviously, cut off his hands and head, then bring them back for Captain Leopard to deal with." Lin Chuan put away the Chakra Blade. It could only conduct thirty percent of his chakra, but it would do as a temporary weapon. This mission had not been entirely fruitless. Working for Root came without a salary, so this Chakra Blade was his loot.

"Let's go. We can turn in the mission." Terai carried a large bag of severed hands and the Jashin Cult follower's head. Even after having his head chopped off, he was fine; the head was still shouting abuse from inside the plastic bag.

The two returned to the border outpost carrying the plastic bag. Leopard had been waiting there all along, and he was somewhat puzzled when he saw Lin Chuan and Terai carrying a talking plastic bag over.

"Captain, we encountered a Jashin Cult follower. We cut off his head and brought it back. He was also a samurai." Terai dumped all the severed hands and the head from the bag.

Leopard was also curious when he saw the head still blinking and cursing. He took out a sealing scroll and sealed the head inside a nutrient jar, then inspected the hands they had brought back. Finding that they met the mission requirements, he said, "Your mission passes. Once the others return, we can head back to the village..."

"Yes, Captain." Lin Chuan and Terai lowered their heads in acknowledgment, then returned to a room in the border outpost to rest. They found that Fū Yamanaka and Torune Aburame had already completed their mission and were wandering around the outpost.

Over the next few days, people gradually returned to the border outpost. When Leopard took attendance, he discovered that two squads were missing. After waiting three or four days without any sign of them, he had no choice but to summon Lin Chuan's group of four.

"Two squads are missing. Take this insect and find them. If it cannot fly, feed it some chakra. We need to see them alive or recover their bodies dead. You know what mission failure means. Go..."

"Yes, Captain." Terai took the insect. He felt nothing toward bugs, but Torune Aburame recognized it at once as an insect the Aburame Clan used to track scents.

Lin Chuan's team and Fū Yamanaka's team put on their ANBU masks and left the border outpost, following the insect's flight path to search for the other two missing ANBU squads.

The four who set out from two directions eventually followed the insects to gather outside a large estate. The four stared at one another, all silently cursing those idiots. How could shinobi be so blind? They had actually targeted samurai hired by nobles. Their peers were clearly too stupid and were bound to be eliminated.

"What do we do? The samurai guards at this luxurious estate are all very strong." Terai stood in a tree and observed the grand estate through binoculars, with no idea where the four unlucky men were being held.

"We can only infiltrate. Chuan and I will go inside. You two will support us from outside." Fū Yamanaka withdrew his gaze and looked at the other three, choosing Lin Chuan to act with him. This was a shared mission; one person from each side had to go in.

"Why you two?" Terai was somewhat dissatisfied. He wanted to go in and take a look too. Why was he not allowed to go?

"I have sensory ninjutsu, and Chuan has the fastest Body Flicker Technique. What do you have?" Fū Yamanaka looked at Terai speechlessly. Did this guy really have no idea what he was capable of? Was he that clueless?

"Ahaha, then you two go ahead." Seeing the contemptuous looks from the other three, Terai gave an awkward laugh and pretended nothing had happened.