Chaotic Otogakure

Chiba Shun looked at the two of them. Neither wore a forehead protector, and he could not understand what their relationship with Otogakure was.

But since Yuchuan did not intend to join forces with the other man against him, that suited him just fine.

He nodded. "Alright!"

Chiba Shun did not waste any words. Since he was going to fight, he immediately began forming hand seals.

Sakamoto Kei's expression changed when he saw this, and he immediately shouted, "Attack!"

As he spoke, he began forming hand seals as well.

Some of his subordinates threw hidden weapons at Chiba Shun, while the rest launched attacks at Yuchuan's group.

The battle erupted once more.

However, Sakamoto Kei's hand seals were clearly slower than Chiba Shun's, not to mention that Chiba Shun had seized the initiative.

Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!

The ground beneath Sakamoto Kei's group instantly turned into a swamp.

One after another, they sank into the mire, unable to move.

Sakamoto Kei's prepared jutsu was interrupted as well.

The Jonin named Yuchuan was delighted by the sight. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to use long-range attacks to kill Sakamoto Kei's men one by one.

After casting the jutsu, Chiba Shun did not linger. He took the three children and went around the battlefield from one side.

Yuchuan did not pursue them. He needed to deal with Sakamoto Kei first.

Although Sakamoto Kei had been trapped in the swamp, he was a ninjutsu-type ninja and could still use jutsu to resist.

The battle between the two sides was fierce, but the outcome had long been decided. Everyone, including Sakamoto Kei, was ultimately eliminated.

Yuchuan let out a long breath and said, "Recover quickly, then go after that fat sheep!"

"That man has three rookies with him. He must be from a major ninja village. After casting two A-rank Jutsu in succession, he probably doesn't have much chakra left!"

"A ninja from a major village definitely carries plenty of good things. He might even have high-level jutsu scrolls!"

"We'll attack together. All the spoils will be split evenly!"

The others immediately erupted in cheers.

Just then, the ground beneath them suddenly rippled.

Yuchuan was startled and stumbled, nearly falling over.

But he was a Jonin after all, and his reaction was swift. Knowing he had been ambushed, he leaped out of the range of the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique.

The moment he landed, he scanned his surroundings, wanting to confirm where the enemy was.

But as far as he could see, his subordinates were crying out under the effects of the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique. Some were struggling to maintain their balance, while others had already fallen to the ground.

Behind them stood a figure with both palms pressed against the ground. It was clearly the caster of the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique.

Yuchuan relaxed. It was good enough that he had found the enemy. Although the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique had thrown their formation into disorder, it had no killing power. His subordinates would recover shortly.

He only needed to keep a close eye on him and prevent him from using other offensive jutsu.

Once his side regrouped, taking the opponent down should not be difficult.

But at that moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the earth beneath him and grabbed his ankle.

Yuchuan's heart jolted, and he blurted out, "Damn it, it's the Clone Technique!"

As that thought crossed his mind, the long blade in his hand had already swung toward the hand.

His experience was solid, and his judgment was accurate. Chiba Shun had indeed used the Clone Technique.

While they had been dealing with Sakamoto Kei and his subordinates, Chiba Shun had not truly left. After creating an Earth Release: Earth Clone, he had returned.

Then his main body had slipped underground, while the clone cast the B-rank Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique.

Since Yuchuan had been busy dealing with the enemy right in front of him, he had failed to notice Chiba Shun's return.

By the time he realized he had fallen into a trap, it was already too late.

Before his blade could strike Chiba Shun's hand, he felt the world spin. Then he found himself in a completely dark environment.

He also felt suffocated, as though someone were strangling him.

Instinctively, he tried to raise his hand and pull away whatever was around his neck, only to discover in horror that he could not move at all.

In his panic, he hurriedly mobilized his chakra.

But this time, Chiba Shun's main body had been continuously maintaining the chakra for the Heartless Decapitation Technique.

One side was prepared, while the other was resisting in haste. The result was obvious.

Yuchuan failed to break through Chiba Shun's chakra restraint immediately.

When he realized what was happening and gathered a large amount of chakra to forcefully break through Chiba Shun's chakra restraint, he discovered that it was not only Chiba Shun's chakra blocking him, but also the surrounding earth.

He failed again.

After that failure, he no longer had any chance to resist. The suffocation had completely thrown him into panic.

A short while later, when the people above recovered from the Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique and destroyed Chiba Shun's Earth Release: Earth Clone, Yuchuan had already gone completely silent.

Chiba Shun emerged from underground with Yuchuan's corpse and coldly glanced at the group.

Watching Chiba Shun casually toss their leader's corpse aside, they all swallowed nervously and looked at one another.

Just as they hesitated over whether to rush him together, Chiba Shun secretly formed a hand seal and used the Body Flicker Technique, swiftly closing in on the two people nearest to him.

With two flashes of his blade, he killed them both.

The man on the left merely had his neck severed, but the man on the right was cut in half at the waist by Chiba Shun's chakra-conducting longsword!

Frightened by that, the group scattered in all directions.

No one stopped to consider how much chakra Chiba Shun had left or whether he could still fight.

They only knew that Chiba Shun had killed eight people at once with the Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique; trapped dozens of people, including Sakamoto Kei, in the Swamp of the Underworld and turned them into lambs awaiting slaughter; then killed their leader before they could even react.

If that were all, they might still have considered rushing Chiba Shun, this ninjutsu Jonin, and fighting him in close combat. But the Body Flicker Technique and taijutsu he displayed were both stronger than theirs.

Especially that horrifying sight of one slash cutting two people apart—it directly severed their fighting spirit.

Such a powerful person was far too terrifying. Even if he did not have much chakra left, even if they could win in the end, they would still have to sacrifice several lives, perhaps even more than ten.

They did not want to be the unlucky ones.

Seeing that the group had finally left, Chiba Shun let out a complete sigh of relief.

His total chakra reserves truly were not that large yet. He could barely cast three A-rank Jutsu.

After using the Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique and the Swamp of the Underworld, he no longer had enough chakra to cast another A-rank Jutsu.

He could only use a clever method, relying on three B-rank Jutsu to kill Yuchuan, the strongest among them.

And in order to trap Yuchuan underground until death, the chakra consumed by Chiba Shun's Heartless Decapitation Technique had definitely exceeded that of a single B-rank Jutsu. His chakra was nearly depleted now.

If the remaining people had rushed him together at that point, he truly would have had no choice but to flee.

Facing pursuit from a group of lower and middle-ranked ninja without unified command, Chiba Shun believed he had a chance of escaping, but his three little followers would not have had that opportunity.

That was why Chiba Shun chose to reveal himself and frighten them away.

A short while later, the three children cautiously returned to the vicinity of the battlefield. Seeing that Chiba Shun was unharmed, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Chiba Shun retrieved the Jonin named Sakamoto Kei from the swamp and had Ayana seal him away together with Yuchuan's corpse.

Chiba Shun's consumption this time had been rather great, so he directly left the task of cleaning up the battlefield to the three children.

Amid the children's cheers, pieces of loot were collected one after another.

These ninja might truly have been connected to Otogakure. Their belongings did not resemble those of wandering ninja, and they carried quite a few valuable items.

Chiba Shun estimated that the haul this time was worth over two hundred thousand ryo.

Chiba Shun patted his ninja tool pouch in satisfaction, then took the three children to rest in a nearby town for several days.

After staying in the town for a few days, the four of them finally figured out the situation in the Land of Fields.

A power struggle had broken out within Otogakure, and someone had launched a coup.

Most astonishingly, the coup had ended with both sides badly wounded. There was no winner.

At present, no clear force in the Land of Fields could represent Otogakure.

The two sides Chiba Shun's group had encountered were likely both from the former Otogakure, fighting over legitimacy, only for Chiba Shun to disrupt everything.

After resting, Chiba Shun had no intention of becoming involved in the Land of Fields' civil unrest. He quickly left the Land of Fields with the three children.

After passing through the Land of Fields and entering the Land of Iron, they encountered far fewer troubles.

It was not that there were no ninja in the Land of Iron, but the people there were rather hostile toward ninja, and ninja generally did not remain for long.

Chiba Shun's group was merely passing through, so the people of the Land of Iron did not trouble them.

But if Chiba Shun's group stayed there for a long time or carried out missions within the Land of Iron, powerful samurai might come looking for them.

Watching the passing samurai, Ayana quietly asked Chiba Shun, "Teacher Shun, are these samurai powerful?"

Chiba Shun said, "There are powerful people among the samurai. The strongest in the Land of Iron should be on the same level as our Kage."

"What?!" The three children cried out in surprise.

They had originally thought samurai were merely a group of weak people who could not use chakra.

Chiba Shun said, "Use your brains. If samurai were truly weak, how could the Land of Iron remain neutral between the Five Great Nations?"

"The weak do not even have the right to choose a side!"

"That's true!" The three children seemed to have discovered some profound truth and were all excited.

The Land of Iron was not a place suited for a long stay, so the four traveled at a forced-march pace, intending to pass through quickly.

Originally, none of them had any interest in learning about the customs of the Land of Iron.

Unexpectedly, when they passed through a small town in the Land of Iron, they encountered a grand festival.

The people of the Land of Iron were more conservative than those of other countries and had retained many traditions.

This included not only the samurai's legacy, but also many customs passed down from thousands of years ago.

For example, the grand festival Chiba Shun saw, held in worship of the Rabbit Goddess.

All the wealthy people in the town participated, and many rich and influential figures had come from elsewhere to pray to the Rabbit Goddess.

Among them were quite a few people from outside the Land of Iron, including even some ninja wearing forehead protectors.

The three children had never seen such a grand festival before, and all looked at Chiba Shun with eager anticipation.