The Little One Was Beaten, So the Old One Came?

The few of them turned around in terror. The moment they saw his face, their breathing grew rapid, their nostrils flaring uncontrollably.

"How are you here?!"

The man who had killed them, covered head to toe in mud, was Kanami.

He chuckled at their bewilderment.

"I've been here the whole time."

Then three more Kanamis appeared around them, looking at the group with mocking expressions.

"It was only a Transformation Technique. You really know nothing."

The four Kanamis had merely used the Transformation Technique to turn themselves into grains of sand. Once Hinata had left, they could kill them.

There was no benefit in letting them go.

Kanami did not waste words with them. All four attacked at once.

Before long, blood flowed across the ground like a river.

Only one man remained in the end.

He had long since been scared out of his wits by the horrific sight around him.

"I-I have over a million ryo hidden somewhere secret. Please spare me.

"As long as you let me go, I swear I won't say a thing!"

Sweat covered the man's face. Seeing that Kanami remained unmoved, he hurriedly added,

"You can cut out my tongue if you want! Just don't kill me!"

Nearly fifteen people had come, and now every last one of them was dead. From the depths of his heart, he truly feared Kanami.

Kanami glanced at him and asked, "Do you know who that man who escaped is?"

"I do! His name is Huizhong Jingbian. He makes money through things like assassinations in various villages.

"Oh, right! He seems to have connections with people in Konoha. When we entered the village, not only did no one stop us, but even the people in this alley had been cleared out beforehand."

"How can I find him?"

"That... I don't know. Huizhong Jingbian always contacted us, and we don't know one another personally either."

"I see. Thank you."

Kanami stood and slowly walked away.

The man's face turned deathly pale as he asked in despair, "Are you still going to kill me?"

Kanami did not answer. The four of them formed hand seals at the same time.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River."

The ground before them instantly turned into a mud pit several meters wide. The corpses on the ground, along with the despairing man, sank into it.

Then the four changed their hand seals and used Water Release.

"Water Release: Water Shock Wave."

A massive amount of water poured from their mouths.

Before long, the mud pit became even softer, and the bodies trapped within it sank completely into its depths, with no possibility of ever being dug up again.

Then, with several pops, the four Kanamis turned into clouds of smoke and vanished.

The secluded alley fell silent once more.

Elsewhere, Kanami was walking down the road when his head suddenly sank.

The moment the Shadow Clone Technique was released, everything the four shadow clones had seen and felt flooded back into his body. The chaotic information nearly made him stumble.

Hinata quickly supported him.

Her face filled with concern as she asked, "Were you hurt just now?"

Kanami patted his head.

"Maybe I used too much chakra just now. I'm fine."

Hinata placed her hand near his temple and gently massaged it with the base of her palm.

"Does it hurt here?"

Kanami took both her hands and smiled. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Hinata lowered her head shyly. "Th-That's good, then."

Kanami gradually processed the information flowing in from the shadow clones, sorting it out clearly.

Someone in Konoha had deliberately let them in?

The first person he thought of was Takeshi. With his position in the security force, it was indeed somewhat possible for him to pull strings.

"So, they beat the little one, and now the old one has come?"

That night, two men in black cloaks stood atop a remote hill.

If Kanami had been there, he would definitely have recognized them both.

One was Tai Yong's father, Takeshi. The other was Huizhong Jingbian.

Takeshi snarled at him, "What the hell are you people good for?! I gave you so much money, yet you couldn't even deal with one brat!"

Huizhong Jingbian was equally unwilling to back down. With an icy gaze, he snapped,

"You have the nerve to say that? I even suspect you deliberately set us up to die! You said he was at most Chunin level, but what happened? More than a dozen brothers, as close to me as my own hands and feet, all died miserably!"

"Every one of them was a brother I'd gone through life and death with! Your two hundred thousand ryo isn't even enough to cover their burial expenses!"

Takeshi's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

What brothers? Would a rogue ninja like him even have brothers?

He was clearly trying to extort more money.

"I'll give you another million ryo for their burial expenses."

Huizhong Jingbian shook his head and stared at Takeshi.

"They were fifteen brothers who had gone through life and death with me. Their funerals must be handled properly. One hundred thousand ryo per person isn't too much, is it?"

"For my brothers' sake, I covered the two hundred thousand ryo you gave me before. Just give me another one million three hundred thousand ryo, and that will be enough."

This was going too far!

Takeshi clenched his fists, his face extremely grim.

"Be too greedy, and you might not even know how you died."

Huizhong Jingbian paused for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed.

"Ha ha ha! You've been a lackey for the security force for a while, and now you really think you're somebody? One million five hundred thousand ryo. If even one ryo is missing, you die."

"I'll burn it as an offering for you."

"A mere Genin dares speak to me like that? You're courting death!"

Killing intent appeared in Huizhong Jingbian's eyes. With a flick of his hand, five or six shuriken flew toward Takeshi.

Clang!

A figure appeared before Takeshi in an instant, using the kunai in his hand to knock away the shuriken.

"Rogue ninja really can't be trusted. You even dare kill your employer."

Huizhong Jingbian immediately raised his kunai before him and cautiously took a step back. "Who are you?"

"The one who'll kill you." The man swiftly formed hand seals with both hands.

"Water Release: Water Shock Wave."

A torrent of water burst from his mouth and attacked his opponent.

Huizhong Jingbian quickly formed hand seals as well.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."

A wall of earth rapidly rose from the ground in front of him.

The water struck the earthen wall and scattered in every direction, flowing onto the ground with pitifully little force.

Huizhong Jingbian chuckled. "That's all, yet you dare talk so big?"

"Let me show you what real Water Release looks like!"

His hands swiftly changed through another series of seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

Using the water the man had sprayed out, he formed a water dragon that coiled through the air, opened its jaws, and charged at the man.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

The man used the same technique.

The two water dragons crashed together violently, then exploded apart.

By then, Takeshi at the side had finished forming his hand seals and suddenly attacked Huizhong Jingbian.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique."

The exploded water instantly gathered into a sphere around Huizhong Jingbian, trapping him within and leaving him unable to move.

Huizhong Jingbian's expression changed abruptly.

He had actually been ambushed by a Genin.

His body suddenly trembled as he tried to break free through brute force.

The Water Prison Technique showed faint signs of breaking.

Takeshi hurriedly shouted, "Captain, he's about to break free!"

Captain?

"You're Shunta Shimura, captain of the security force!"

Huizhong Jingbian's eyes widened, and he immediately gave up struggling.

At slightly above Chunin level, he had no confidence whatsoever that he could escape from Shunta Shimura.

He understood everything now. The reason they had been able to bypass Konoha's security so easily was that it was not something Takeshi could have accomplished at his level. Only Shunta Shimura could do it.

Shunta Shimura looked at Takeshi and said in a low voice,

"Everything that happened today was your own doing. Do you understand?"

Takeshi bowed deeply. "This subordinate understands."

Then a kunai pierced through the Water Prison Technique and sank into Huizhong Jingbian's chest.

Before long, the blue water turned red.

Until the moment he died, Huizhong Jingbian could not understand why a Jonin would assassinate a brat.