Seeing Kazuhiko Uchiha instantly kill the bandit leader, whose strength was close to his own, the rogue ninja wisely stopped fighting Kaori Ikemoto. He created a Shadow Clone to hold the two of them off while his real body fled desperately into the distance.
"Hmph. Trying to run now? Too late."
Kazuhiko Uchiha had recovered a little of his strength. He snorted at the rogue ninja's retreating back, broke past the Shadow Clone in a blink, and appeared behind the rogue ninja, driving a fist toward the center of his back.
Bang!
Kazuhiko Uchiha's heavy punch shattered the rogue ninja's Substitution Wood. His real body reappeared a short distance away, fighting like a cornered beast. He rapidly formed hand seals and sent a gale toward Kazuhiko Uchiha, trying to stop his attack.
"It's over."
Moving at high speed, Kazuhiko Uchiha leaped and twisted between the trees, circling around the gale. He dropped down from above the rogue ninja, drew the Tachi from his Storage Space, and cleaved him in two.
Wiping the blood splashed across his cheek, Kazuhiko Uchiha deactivated the Eight Gates Released Formation. The aching pain throughout his body made the corner of his mouth twitch, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Kazuhiko, let me help you." Kaori Ikemoto jogged over to Kazuhiko Uchiha and reached out to support him, but he gently raised a hand to stop her.
"I'm fine. Thanks for the offer, but we should hurry back and meet up with Yū."
Kazuhiko Uchiha declined Kaori's support and walked slowly toward the bandit stronghold. Kaori Ikemoto pursed her lips in displeasure and jogged back behind him.
By the time they returned to the stronghold, Captain Tōma and Yū Inuzuka were already waiting there.
Seeing his teammates return, Yū Inuzuka looked rather pleased with himself. "Kazuhiko, Kaori, I ran into a Genin-level rogue ninja in the underground prison just now and beat him in three moves. Pretty impressive, right?"
"Very impressive." Seeing how proud he was, Kazuhiko Uchiha refrained from bursting his bubble and gave him a thoroughly insincere response.
"Yū, Kazuhiko just defeated the bandit leader and a Chunin rogue ninja, you know." A gentle smile appeared on Kaori Ikemoto's face as she calmly dealt Yū Inuzuka a fatal blow.
"Ah. Oh. I see." After hearing about Kazuhiko Uchiha's accomplishments, Yū Inuzuka laughed awkwardly a few times and reined in his smugness. He resolved to train harder in his clan's secret techniques so he could catch up with Kazuhiko Uchiha sooner.
Looking at the stronghold that had been destroyed by fire, Kazuhiko Uchiha asked Yū Inuzuka, who had been responsible for mopping up, "Yū, have all the targets been eliminated?"
"Don't worry. There aren't any enemies left alive in the stronghold." Yū Inuzuka nodded, confident in the Inuzuka Clan's Sensory Secret Technique for tracking by scent.
After receiving Yū Inuzuka's assurance, Kazuhiko Uchiha turned to report to Captain Tōma. "Captain, all the targets have been eliminated. However, ninja were involved in the mission, so its rank should be raised to B."
"All right. Thanks for your hard work. Leave the rest to me. We'll return to Ōgi Village and rest tonight, then set out for Konoha tomorrow."
Captain Tōma said little else. Unexpected developments during missions were perfectly normal. He would personally renegotiate the mission's rank and payment with the client afterward.
Once Kaori Ikemoto had treated her injuries with Medical Ninjutsu, Tōma's Team returned to Ōgi Village.
Not long after they left, another middle-aged ninja dressed as a rogue ninja arrived from the direction of the Land of Rivers. Upon discovering the corpse of the rogue ninja Kazuhiko Uchiha had cut in two, he cried out in anguish, "No! Little brother!"
"Little brother, this is all my fault. I never should have left you here. If you'd come with me before, you wouldn't have left me like this. I'm so sorry..."
The middle-aged rogue ninja hugged the two halves of the corpse and sobbed. Only after a long while did he wipe away his tears, take some blood from the corpse, and form dozens of intricate hand seals.
"Secret Technique: Vengeful Spirit Pursuit!"
A stream of pale gray vapor drifted out of the corpse and floated in the direction Kazuhiko Uchiha and the others had taken. Clearly, this was a special secret technique used to track enemies.
Once the secret technique had activated successfully, the middle-aged rogue ninja used Earth Release to bury the corpse. After making a simple grave, he swore in a dry, hoarse voice like that of a vengeful demon, "Rest in peace, little brother. Even if I have to beg that lord, I will avenge you."
After one last look at his younger brother's grave, the middle-aged rogue ninja turned and left, pursuing Tōma's Team.
Tōma's Team returned to Ōgi Village and found the client, informing him about the rogue ninja they had encountered while eliminating the bandits. He agreed to raise the mission's rank and paid them the reward for a B-Rank Mission.
After resting for a night, Tōma's Team said their farewells and set out on the journey back to Konoha.
The return journey was fairly peaceful. They occasionally encountered people secretly watching their group, but fortunately, no fighting broke out. As the sun neared the horizon, they finally returned safely to Konoha.
Captain Tōma submitted the mission documents and collected the reward. After dividing it among the three according to the prescribed shares, he dismissed the team for two days of rest.
Kazuhiko Uchiha had only just arrived home and had yet to rest when the system's notification suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Ding! A new round of missions has refreshed. Please check them promptly, host."
Kazuhiko Uchiha perked up. It had been over a month since the last mission, and now there were finally new ones. He quickly opened the Mission Board to inspect the newly refreshed missions.
[Defend Quel'Thalas]: Protect the Sunwell and Silvermoon City from the Scourge. Posted by: Silvermoon City Council Mission world: Azeroth Mission payment: 1,200 gold coins Mission points: 170 Mission rank: Bronze [Rescue Roger]: Travel to Loguetown and rescue Roger, the Pirate King, before his public execution. Posted by: East Blue Pirates Mission world: Pirate King Mission payment: 150 gold coins Mission points: 55 Mission rank: Black Iron [Shut down the Red Queen]: Travel to the Hive, shut down the Red Queen, and bring back her motherboard. Posted by: Umbrella Corporation Mission world: Resident Evil 1 Mission payment: 10 gold coins Mission points: 9 Mission rank: Black Iron
He dismissed the Bronze Grade mission outright, leaving the two Black Iron Rank missions to choose between.
With Kazuhiko Uchiha's current strength, the chances of rescuing Roger, who had willingly allowed himself to be captured, from under the eyes of so many naval officers were extremely low, even with help from other pirates.
To avoid wasting a precious mission opportunity, Kazuhiko Uchiha ultimately chose the third mission, which suited his strength.
In the world of Resident Evil 1, the strongest monsters were Lickers, and they were not particularly powerful. Even without activating the Eight Gates Released Formation, Kazuhiko Uchiha was confident he could utterly crush them. His only concern was whether the airborne T-Virus would have harmful effects on him.
Fortunately, in the original story, there was a case containing many doses of the antidote in a compartment of the underground train. As long as he obtained them in advance, he could promptly use the antidote to treat the T-Virus even if he became infected.
Having made his choice, Kazuhiko Uchiha accepted the mission to shut down the Red Queen. After resting at home for a night, he selected teleportation and traveled to the world of his latest mission.
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