Two Identical Scrolls, and They Wouldn't Even Spare Me One

Kanami was sleeping like a log when the three ninja returned.

One of them shouted at Kanami and the others, "Hey, hand over the scrolls."

Kanami clenched his fists, somewhat angered. "Why is it you guys again?"

The man thought Kanami had not heard him clearly, so he repeated himself.

"Hand over the scrolls, and we'll spare your lives."

Kanami stood up, dusted off his butt, and said coldly, "Hand over the scrolls, and I'll spare your lives."

The man's face darkened. "Are kids these days all this arrogant?"

"Stop wasting words on them. I told you we should've just attacked."

The burly man behind him suddenly flung several shuriken, then charged at Kanami at incredible speed.

Kanami raised a hand and knocked away the incoming shuriken. With a flash, he appeared directly in front of the man.

What?

So fast!

The burly man's expression changed. He hurriedly swung his kunai at Kanami.

But he was far too slow.

Before he could even touch Kanami, Kanami punched him in the stomach.

The force was so great that the man's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

He took him down with one punch?!

The remaining two men's eyelids twitched.

One of the thinner men asked shakily, "B-Bro, what... what do we do?"

Although the other man was sweating profusely, he put on a calm expression.

"Don't be afraid. He might be the type who specializes in taijutsu. I have an extremely powerful secret technique here, but it needs time to activate."

"You go stall him. As long as you can hold him off for five seconds, I can kill him with one hand."

"Uh..."

The thin man was extremely nervous, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

He was the same man Kanami had frightened with a shout while he had been reading the scroll earlier.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, the other man placed a hand on his shoulder, his face filled with determination.

"Little brother, do you trust me?"

It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't trust myself to last five seconds.

Kanami kicked the unconscious burly man aside.

He looked at the two men with disdain and said:

"Hand over the scrolls."

The thin man slapped his cheeks hard and shouted, "I'll do it! Big brother, you have to defeat him! Lead us through this round!"

The thin man grabbed his kunai and charged at Kanami.

But after running barely two meters, his left foot tripped over his right, and he fell flat on the ground with a smack.

"..."

Kanami looked at Yuzuki and asked, "Do people in the Ninja World run scams by throwing themselves down too?"

Yuzuki shook her head. "...I don't know."

Kanami watched the thin man lie motionless on the ground.

"Hey?"

He cautiously walked over, only then noticing a pool of blood beneath the thin man.

After Kanami turned him over, his expression froze.

The thin man had stabbed his own kunai into his chest and killed himself.

"Didn't you have two identical scrolls? Wouldn't it have been enough to just give me one? Why did you have to make such a life-and-death ordeal out of it?"

Kanami was thoroughly confused.

The last man still standing suddenly opened his eyes wide!

He seemed to have used some kind of secret technique. His entire body instantly swelled, and veins bulged from every patch of visible skin.

As his muscles continued expanding, his body grew larger and larger, even splitting with cracks.

Once the transformation was complete, he had become a two-meter-tall, heavily muscled brute.

The man laughed excitedly. "Hahaha, it worked! It finally worked! Little brother, I'm here to help you!"

When he raised his head and saw the figure in front of Kanami, his eyes immediately turned red as he roared in fury, "Little brother!"

"Good, very good! You dared to kill my little brother!"

Kanami glanced at him and explained, "He fell and died on his own. Look, he was still holding the kunai himself."

"Bullshit! How could he possibly have killed himself!"

The man's leg muscles suddenly tensed, launching him into the air.

The ground cracked beneath his force, leaving behind two huge pits.

He roared as he threw a punch at Kanami!

"Die!"

This was a secret technique his master had taught him. By using chakra to strike the body's acupuncture points, it could unleash dozens of times his usual strength for a short period!

The power contained in this punch was enough to seriously injure a Chunin in a single blow.

A mere Genin would only die beneath the raging force of his fist.

Boom!

With a deafening blast, the man's fist, as large as half a person, slammed into Kanami's body.

Kanami instantly flew several meters backward, crashing into a thick tree and smashing a deep crater into its trunk before finally stopping.

"Kanami!"

Fūka and Yuzuki both turned pale.

The massive man shouted through tears of joy, "Little brother, I've avenged you."

"Avenged what? I already told you, he fell and died on his own."

Kanami's voice came from the crater in the tree.

Fūka was overjoyed. "Kanami, you're okay!"

He jumped out of the crater and rolled his shoulders and waist.

"Of course I'm not okay. That almost knocked me apart."

He had not dodged the man's attack because he wanted to see just how far his body had progressed under the enhancement of Cell Activation.

His body truly was tough. Even such a powerful and violent attack had not injured him in the slightest.

But the tremendous impact carried by the man's fist had still sent him flying a considerable distance.

"How are you unharmed?!"

The man's eyes bulged as he roared.

Rather than answering, Kanami looked at him and asked, "Your secret technique is a variant of the Eight Gates, isn't it?"

"Who cares about your Eight Gates? If one punch isn't enough, then I'll throw two!"

Veins bulged across the man's face. His whole body rumbled as chakra burst from within him.

He gathered every bit of chakra in his body into his right fist.

The power contained in this fist was several times greater than before.

Kanami remained perfectly calm at the sight.

Possessing Yin-Yang Power, he could sense the man's life force rapidly draining away.

He had already seen that the man was at the end of his rope. Whether or not he threw this punch, his body would explode and he would die.

"Your little brother really had nothing to do with me," Kanami said, then shook his head with a sigh.

"Forget it. I can't be bothered explaining anymore. You wouldn't listen anyway."

He activated the ping-pong-ball-sized Yin-Yang Power within his body and gathered it in his throat.

If he had mastered the creative aspect of Yin-Yang Power, he might have tried to save the man's life. Unfortunately, for now, he had only mastered its destructive aspect.

The man's face instantly became seventy percent more haggard once he had finished gathering his power.

"Die!"

He threw his right fist with all his strength, attacking Kanami once more.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

The opponent was so fast that Kanami had no time to form hand seals. He could only stop pretending and form the Tiger Seal.

A small fireball containing Yin-Yang Power shot toward the man.

Driven mad with rage, the man saw the fireball, no larger than an egg, and had no thought of dodging. He punched straight into it.

But the instant his fist touched the flames, a sizzling sound rang out.

In an instant, the fireball pierced through his fist and forearm.

Wind Release: Wind Style: Gale Palm.

The wind from Kanami's hand blew toward the fireball.

The fireball instantly surged forward, piercing straight through the man's heart.

In the blink of an eye, the man's body rapidly shriveled. Before long, he became a dried-up corpse.

"He... died just like that?"

Fūka and Yuzuki stared in stunned disbelief.

Kanami glanced sideways at the burly man lying on the ground, his body trembling nonstop.

He said calmly, "Hand over the scrolls."