I'm Going to See Danzo

(Thanks to White Wolf King, Aunt Zhou, and 19949307 for urging me to update. This is my first novel, and every time I finish writing, I feel like something isn't quite right. I spend a long time revising, which has slowed the updates. I'll do my best to post more often. Thanks for your support!)

"What if I refuse?"

The night breeze brushed past Tsukimi. His hands were still in his pockets, and though his stance looked casual, his earlier laziness was gone.

The three Root ninja were thoroughly enraged. They no longer bothered to hide their killing intent.

As Root ninja, their first priority was to complete their mission by any means necessary. Danzo had given them only eight words: "Bring him back alive, or bring back his corpse."

Without another word, three dark figures charged Tsukimi at once, cutting off his escape from three directions. Their vicious strikes aimed cold, gleaming kunai straight at his vital points.

Tsukimi remained calm. The instant they moved, the shadows on the ground surged. Shadow Energy gathered beneath his feet, and he burst into motion, his figure blurring.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Their encircling strikes landed the next moment. The blades sliced through their target as if through empty air, without the slightest sensation of piercing flesh.

"What? An afterimage!"

"Where is he?"

Realizing their attack had missed, the three immediately turned and stood back-to-back, scanning their surroundings for Tsukimi.

"Not bad reflexes. But not good enough!"

Tsukimi stood beneath the moonlight and spread the fingers of his right hand toward them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Shadow shuriken filled the air and shot toward the three men. Tsukimi had formed them with the Blade Squad's ability, a transformation of Yin Release.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" ×2

The three Root ninja quickly lined up. The one in the middle used Fire Release, while the other two used Wind Release. The wind fed the flames, spreading the scorching fireball into a wave of fire that swallowed the shuriken.

"I'm not done yet!"

Before the flames had even died away, Tsukimi raised his hand again. More shadow shuriken came flying from the darkness on both sides, as though he had an endless supply.

Forming small weapons from shadow cost Tsukimi very little, making them perfect for breaking up the three men's formation.

Sure enough, having just used ninjutsu, the three had no time to weave signs again. They could only dodge and raise their kunai to block.

By the firelight, Tsukimi saw what they were doing and gave a playful smile. He formed the Ram seal, tightening his control over his chakra.

The moment their kunai touched the shadow shuriken, the projectiles melted like winter snow in sunlight. They flowed along the blades and climbed the men's wrists in the blink of an eye, turning back into shadow chains that wound around their arms.

The three froze. Raised in Root, they had never seen a Shadow Secret Technique this strange. They instinctively kept blocking the other shuriken with their kunai, only to find more and more chains winding around them, pulling ever tighter.

Only when the chains dug deep into their skin did they snap out of it. They abandoned their attempts to block and focused entirely on dodging.

The shadows beneath Tsukimi's feet surged again. He activated the Mantis Squad's extreme-speed ability, gathering Shadow Energy underfoot and releasing it in a burst of propulsion. It worked almost exactly like Flash Step from Bleach, only with a different source of energy, so Tsukimi had simply kept the name.

Nice name. It's mine now!

A dark figure flashed past. Tsukimi was already beside the man in front. The three had to dodge the shadow shuriken while guarding against him, and their divided attention left them unable to keep up with his speed.

"Sayonara!"

Tsukimi raised his right hand. The Crab Shadow Squad's distinctive chakra compression flowed through it. With no fancy tricks, he drove an armor-piercing punch straight into the man's chest.

Boom!

A dull impact rang out. The Root Chunin at the front crossed his arms to block with all his might. The special armor beneath his Anbu uniform shattered instantly, and the crack of breaking bones was clear and sharp.

Blood sprayed from him as he flew several meters backward, as if struck by a boulder. He was dead before he hit the ground.

One-Punch Man!

A chill spread through the two remaining Root ninja. They finally understood that this was no freshly graduated Genin. He was a monster!

Run!

They had lost all will to fight. They wanted only to escape and report back to Danzo.

But just as they were about to turn and flee, Tsukimi's steps faltered.

The night wind carried the sharp smell of blood to his nose. In two lifetimes, this was the first time he had killed someone with his own hands!

In the four years since he had been reborn in the Shinobi World, he had prepared himself for this countless times. Tsukimi knew violence was everywhere in this world. Having chosen this path, he had made himself ready to kill his enemies.

But preparation was one thing. When he actually took a life, nausea rose uncontrollably within him. The intense discomfort tightened his chest and left him momentarily dazed.

Damn it. How did those people in the novels I read manage to come from a peaceful world and immediately get used to killing?

Oh, I get it. Either the authors were idiots, or their protagonists were psychopaths!

For that brief instant, Tsukimi left himself open. The two men, who had been on the brink of despair, saw their chance. Their battle instincts seized on the opening.

"He really did just graduate. Is this because it's his first kill?"

"Now's our chance! Kill him!"

No more words were needed. Instead of retreating, the two surged forward at the fastest speed of their lives. Their kunai came from opposite directions, one aimed at his throat, the other at his back.

The bone-deep chill of the approaching weapons tore through Tsukimi's moment of weakness and hesitation. He forced down the nausea churning inside him.

Hesitation meant defeat!

The shadows beneath Tsukimi's feet roiled. Countless shadow chains shot out, wrapping around the two men's limbs and torsos until they could not move so much as a finger.

Their figures froze in midair, and a desperate cry rang out.

"No!"

The next instant, two Ninja soldiers leaped from the shadows. Cold light flashed, and both men's lives ended.

Tsukimi slowly exhaled. The physical discomfort had not completely faded, but it could no longer shake his resolve.

In a world of extraordinary power like the Shinobi World, the strong preyed on the weak. Tsukimi had no intention of showing mercy to these three ninja acting on Danzo's orders. They had attacked him, and he would not let them go.

Tonight, the ordinary man from a peaceful world that he had once been was gone for good.

But the night was not over. Danzo had dared to come after him, and Tsukimi was not the type to swallow an insult.

With his current strength, he could not confront Danzo head-on or threaten his position.

But there was more to this game than fighting and killing. It was all about connections and knowing how to use them!

Tsukimi summoned three Ninja soldiers to carry the corpses and hurried toward the Nara Compound.