The Cunning Star Shadow

"You're cornered! Surrender now!!"

The crowd surged forward like a tide, and the leader began to speak.

Long Ye and Mei Terumi exchanged a glance, both seeing the resolute determination in each other's eyes.

There's no way forward; ahead lies Hell Valley. Jumping in would be suicide. It's better to fight a fierce battle; perhaps that will offer a glimmer of hope for survival.

Although this opportunity is also extremely slim.

The crowd surged in, Long Ye glanced at them, estimating that there were at least several thousand people, all of whom were elites from the Hoshigakure.

If Chakra beasts are released at the same time, that would be several thousand.

This is simply a horde of ferocious beasts. No matter what skills the two have, they can be overwhelmed in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, they may be devoured to the point of being nothing but bones.

Just as the two were secretly resolving to make a decision, Long Ye seemed to sense something and looked up at the clouds:

"What is that?!"

Long Ye's expression changed.

No sooner had he finished asking than the thing in the sky appeared directly above them.

It was actually a green Peacock, its Peacock spread, soaring ten meters into the air.

You can clearly see that on the Peacock's back stands an old man with a gray beard wearing a tall crown.

"Lord Star Shadow!"

"Star Shadow has arrived!"

With shouts, the Peacock landed at the front of the procession and then disappeared.

"That giant Peacock was actually formed from Chakra!"

Long Ye's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

This Chakra beast transformation technique completely shattered the limits of their understanding.

The strange beasts formed from Chakra can carry people and fly at extremely high speeds, which clearly places an extremely high demand on Chakra, reaching a certain limit.

"This person is the leader of the Hoshigakure... Star Shadow!!"

The two Long Ye and his companion, watched as the old man descended from the sky.

He was a stern-faced old man who rarely smiled. While Long Ye and the other woman were sizing him up, he was also observing them.

"You little girl, your Water Release are truly remarkable. Although I rarely go out, I've heard of a Jonin in Kirigakure of the Land of Water who possesses two rare Kekkei Genkai. It seems you must be Mei Terumi. If you don't die, you'll definitely become the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure..."

He spoke expressionlessly, his gaze fixed on Long Ye:

"You kid, your speed is like lightning, and the power you unleash is very similar to the Explosion Release. As far as I know, there was such a person in the recent Shinobi World War who became famous throughout the Shinobi World in a short period of time. You must be that Konoha Lightning."

Long Ye listened to this person recount their stories with great familiarity, he guessed the two people's identities and backgrounds with remarkable accuracy, and he secretly admired him.

This Star Shadow, though self-proclaimed and not recognized by other countries, is indeed quite capable, and is fully aware of everything happening in the Shinobi World, including the rising stars of various countries.

He began:

"As expected of the Star Shadow, you know everything about the people and affairs of the world. To be honest, we two are here today on the orders of the Mizukage to hunt down a rogue missing-nin from Kirigakure."

Adhering to the principle of avoiding violence whenever possible through dialogue, Mei Terumi nodded and interjected:

"That's right! We came to your country not to provoke anyone, but simply to hunt down the traitors. Now that we've succeeded, we're about to leave."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The old man smiled faintly, his thoughts remaining unreadable.

"Since that's the case, things are easy to resolve. Hand over the Star Core you stole from my Hoshigakure, and each of you cut off one of your own hands, and I'll let you go home."

The old man's expression was indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"What! Cut off your own hand!"

The expressions of Long Ye and the other person changed.

A ninja without a hand cannot Hand Seals properly, and their strength will be greatly reduced. This old man's demand that they cut off their own hand is clearly ill-intentioned.

Long Ye said with a stern face, "Star Shadow's request is a bit too much. It is only right that we return the Star Core to you, but to ask us to cut off our own hand is rather inhumane."

He had already decided that if he really had no other choice, he would hand over the Star Core in exchange for his life, because no treasure was more important than his own life.

Unexpectedly, this person not only wanted the Star Core back, but also planned to make them cut off one of their own hands.

"Boy! I'm already showing you a huge favor by letting you keep one of your hands. You've killed dozens of people from my village along the way, and you should pay with your lives, but I'm letting you off the hook because you're from two other great nations."

The two were unpredictable in the Long Ye.

"Make your own decision! You only have one chance to choose. If you miss it, I will give the order, and you will all be reduced to ashes and die on the spot."

His words were like a command, Chakra in the bodies of thousands of people rose like smoke, finally condensing into various ferocious beasts in the sky above their heads.

Suddenly, a herd of beasts appeared in mid-air.

This pack of beasts was far more terrifying than those few thousand people.

This was clearly a demonstration, threatening the two to accept Star Shadow's proposal.

Long Ye's expression changed, and she turned to look at Mei Terumi:

Do you believe me?

The woman looked closely into his eyes and nodded slightly.

"Alright! Since you trust me, let's do as Star Shadow says. We'll each cut off one hand. Star Shadow has a word he said, so I'll go first..."

To Mei Terumi's horrified gaze, Long Ye conjured a Chakra Scalpel in her hand and casually severed her own left hand, a look of pain on Long Ye face.

From afar, Star Shadow saw Long Ye cut off a hand and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Now it's your turn."

Mei Terumi was a hundred times unwilling.

She was about to refuse, but then she paused, noticing that there wasn't a trace of blood left on the severed limb of Long Ye.

He looked into Long Ye's eyes, and a strange light flashed in them.

"Could it be... that he's a medical-nin who can regenerate severed limbs?"

"Impossible. Even if his Medical Ninjutsu has reached that level, reattaching severed limbs takes much longer than a few minutes. In that time, he could easily kill us..."

She said to herself.

Suddenly, she remembered what Long Ye had asked her earlier.

In the end, I convinced myself and reached out a hand.

With a single swipe of his scalpel, Long Ye severed the woman's hand.

Mei Terumi was terrified when her hand was severed, because she felt no pain whatsoever.

Long Ye had already released a barrier.

However, now that he has advanced to One-Star Devil, the barrier he casts is no longer visible to the naked eye.

"We've done as Star Shadow asked. As for the Star Core you want, of course we'll give it to you, but at least you have to get us out of this perilous place..."

"Otherwise, if Star Shadow goes back on her word, wouldn't everything we've done be for nothing when we're desperate?"

Star Shadow laughed, a very smug laugh:

"Kid, you're cautious enough to haggle, but you're still brainless. Both of you have broken hands now, unable to form Hand Seals or use Ninjutsu. I could kill you without breaking a sweat, so why would I make a deal with you?"