Encounter Battle

Chiba Shun's gaze swept over the four men. After checking the surroundings and confirming there was no one else, he began forming hand seals.

To be honest, a squad of four Chunin was not worth his attention.

If this had been when he had first become a Jonin, Chiba Shun would have needed to find a way to retreat safely with the three children.

Back then, although the Third Raikage had promoted Chiba Shun to Jonin, he had not yet mastered the methods of a Jonin.

His combat methods had essentially remained at the Chunin level, relying on Chunin-level swordsmanship supplemented by a few low-level jutsu.

But now...

Chiba Shun quickly formed four seals and created an Earth Release: Earth Clone, having the clone protect the three children while he charged directly at the four men.

By then, the four had realized something was wrong. Both Chiba Shun's hand seal speed and the chakra fluctuations he displayed while using the Earth Release: Earth Clone told them that he was a Jonin!

However, the four also knew they could not back down now.

They immediately split off one person to circle around from the side, preparing to harass Chiba Shun's Earth Clone.

Chiba Shun ignored him. As he closed in on the four men, his hands were already forming seals.

Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique.

Chiba Shun had simplified a B-rank Jutsu down to eleven seals and cast it at a speed of five seals per second. The speed was so incredible that the four men could scarcely believe their eyes.

Of the remaining three, some had been forming seals to prepare jutsu, while others had assumed a combat formation to receive Chiba Shun's attack.

But the sudden tremors in the ground immediately destabilized all four of them. The jutsu they had nearly completed were interrupted, and their formation fell apart.

As a B-rank Jutsu, the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique did far more than simply shake the ground.

In truth, Chiba Shun's chakra had permeated every patch of ground within the technique's range.

Trying to remain steady while standing within Chiba Shun's chakra was no easy task.

For example, one of the three Chunin before him had already fallen to the ground and could not rise.

Chiba Shun swiftly threw four kunai.

The fallen man was struck by two kunai and immediately lost his ability to fight.

The remaining two each dealt with one kunai.

Naturally, those two would not be taken down by kunai alone. Chiba Shun's goal had merely been to disrupt them.

They had just begun adapting to the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique and stabilizing themselves when Chiba Shun's kunai arrived.

To dodge the kunai, they could only lose their balance once more.

Chiba Shun formed seals again. This time, there was only one.

Body Flicker Technique!

Chiba Shun shot between the two men. His twin blades flashed, directly ending their lives.

Turning around, Chiba Shun cut down the man who had lost his fighting ability with another slash, then looked toward the last man.

That man had originally intended to attack the three children from the side, but before he could even reach them, Chiba Shun had already dealt with his three companions.

No longer daring to hesitate, he turned and fled.

But even his speed was inferior to Chiba Shun's.

Chiba Shun used the Body Flicker Technique again to close the distance between them, then formed four seals.

Earth Release: Earth Spear.

A long earthen spear suddenly erupted behind the man, piercing straight through one of his legs.

Aah!

With a scream, the last man also lost his ability to fight.

Chiba Shun did not approach. Standing more than ten meters away, he asked, "Did you deliberately come looking for trouble with us?"

The man stopped screaming and shot Chiba Shun a resentful look, saying nothing.

Chiba Shun felt somewhat regretful. He had not yet learned any Illusion Techniques.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to question him. A single Illusion Technique would have settled everything.

Still, he was not without options.

There were no other enemies now, so he had plenty of time for interrogation.

Chiba Shun first crippled the man's hands, then took out a kunai wrapped in steel wire. Holding the wire, he gave it a flick, easily winding it around the man's neck.

A moment later, unable to endure Chiba Shun's interrogation, the rogue ninja finally revealed everything he knew.

They had actually accepted a mission from the Underground Bounty Office to assassinate him!

"I'm actually on the Underground Bounty Office's list? And there's even a bounty of ten million ryo? Could Konoha be offering a reward for me?" Chiba Shun muttered.

"That shouldn't be possible. If Konoha wanted to deal with me, there would be no need for them to rely on the Underground Bounty Office."

"I heard Danzo's influence surged after the White Fang's suicide. He could easily send an elite squad after me."

"But aside from a major ninja village like Konoha, who else would spend so much money to put a bounty on my life?"

"There's another question. How did these people know my whereabouts? I had only just left the Land of Lightning, and this group had already found me!"

Shaking his head, Chiba Shun either could not figure it out or did not wish to think too deeply about it. He had his Earth Clone clean up the battlefield before preparing to leave with the three children.

The three children had performed well and had not panicked much.

Ayana and Shosuke had even thrown kunai from afar to interfere with the last Chunin.

The three were still young. Chiba Shun had brought them out merely to broaden their horizons, not because he expected them to truly help him.

It was certainly unrealistic to have them fight Chunin. But if they encountered bandits or Genin later, they could give it a try.

Of course, Ayana quickly proved useful.

She actually took the initiative to suggest sealing the four Chunin into a scroll.

Chiba Shun was somewhat surprised and asked, "Can you already use a Sealing Scroll independently?"

Ayana nodded, looking eager to try.

Chiba Shun shook his head and said, "There's no need to take all of them. Seal the one who used ninjutsu, the leader."

"The other three aren't necessary. Those three had only recently become Chunin and did not possess Chunin-level methods. There's no need to waste Sealing Scrolls on them."

"In the future, only seal Jonin or Chunin with special abilities."

Of course, there was one thing Chiba Shun did not say: the corpses of companions often needed to be sealed as well.

The four Chunin did not have much of value on them, nor did they carry much money.

Chiba Shun had no interest in their weapons and did not dare use them, so he only gained a few thousand ryo in cash.

Ayana carefully sealed the corpse of the ninjutsu-using Chunin into the scroll.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Chiba Shun continued toward the Land of Grass with the three children.

However, because a high bounty had been placed on him, Chiba Shun changed his appearance afterward.

The Ninja Academy taught even basic disguise techniques.

Chiba Shun altered his appearance into that of a middle-aged ninja.

The three children did not need disguises and merely changed their clothes.

In addition, Chiba Shun put away the forehead protector representing Kumogakure.

After changing their appearance, Chiba Shun's group no longer encountered any bounty hunters.

However, trouble still came one after another.

They encountered bandits, wandering ninja, and rogue ninja many times.

Most of the time, Chiba Shun chose to act and scare them away, so no true large-scale battles broke out.

When the other side had fewer people, he sent the three inexperienced children forward to gain practical experience.

Although the three did not perform well, after fighting and seeing blood, their bearing had changed.

Shosuke performed the best. If his chakra reserves had not been so lacking, he could already have been considered a Genin.

After passing through the Land of Moon and entering the Land of Hot Water, Chiba Shun took the three to experience the Land of Hot Water's hot springs.

Of course, the men and women used separate baths.

In fact, although Chiba Shun had become a Jonin, he had not traveled much through the ninja world either.

Other than his trip to Konoha and the occasion when the Third Raikage and Hiruzen Sarutobi signed their alliance, he had never left the Land of Lightning.

It was his first time soaking in hot springs as well.

After experiencing the Land of Hot Water's specialty, the group set out once more.

At this time, traces of the Jashin Cult had already appeared in the Land of Hot Water. Chiba Shun merely observed from afar as members of the Jashin Cult recruited followers and did not interfere.

Beyond the Land of Hot Water lay the Land of Fields, and it was truly chaotic there.

The moment Chiba Shun's group of four entered the Land of Fields, they encountered a major battle.

Both sides had dozens of people, and the leaders of both sides were actually Jonin.

Although neither of these two Jonin came from a major ninja village, and their methods likely could not compare with those of ninja from such villages, anyone who had reached the Jonin level would certainly not be weak in terms of willpower or chakra.

Furthermore, both commanded many subordinates, so Chiba Shun did not wish to come into conflict with either group.

Chiba Shun had originally planned to avoid them, but before he could act, a scouting ninja from one side discovered them.

The other side directly sent out two squads, eight people in total, to deal with Chiba Shun's group.

Chiba Shun did not want trouble, but trouble had come looking for him. There was nothing he could do.

He drew a deep breath. His fingers moved rapidly, forming fifteen seals in roughly three seconds, before he slapped both palms against the ground.

Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!

The eight ninja from the two squads watched in terror as enormous masses of rock rapidly closed in from both sides.

The closing speed of Chiba Shun's Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique was no longer as slow as it had been when he first encountered Akira Hyuga. These eight ninja, whose strongest members were merely Chunin, had no time to escape.

Boom!

There were no screams and no blood to be seen, but everyone present knew that the eight were finished.

The movements of the ninja battling on both sides slowed for a beat.

Several were even wounded by their opponents because they had lost focus.

After the brief chaos, both sides separated.

The two groups, along with Chiba Shun's group of four, entered a standoff.

Chiba Shun did not linger on the others. Instead, he looked directly at the two Jonin and said, "We're only passing through. I hope you can make this convenient for us."

The Jonin from the side that had caused trouble for Chiba Shun's group was unwilling to let them go. He called out to the other Jonin, "Yuchuan, let's put aside our grudge for now. Let's join forces and deal with this man first, then settle our life-and-death struggle afterward. What do you say?"

The Jonin opposite him rolled his eyes and said to Chiba Shun's side, "You heard him. I was planning to let you go, but that fellow named Sakamoto Kei over there doesn't want to."

"So? Shall we join forces?"

Sakamoto Kei's expression changed as he angrily said, "Yuchuan, fighting over territory is an internal matter among us Sound ninja. How dare you bring outsiders into this?"

Yuchuan ignored him and looked at Chiba Shun, waiting for his answer.