Kill Them All

Yue's plan was simple.

The other bandits would inevitably return to the cave.

So all they had to do was intercept them along the way.

And during this process, the best place for an ambush was outside the cave.

The moment the bandits saw the cave and were about to arrive, he and Yoshitaka would strike together.

Because as they approached the cave, whether they had heard the explosion inside or not, the two Grass Ninja would let their guard down for an instant, either because they were returning to their hideout or seeking information.

The first thing their minds would need to take in would definitely be the situation inside the cave and Big Beard's condition.

Their attention would be drawn there.

After using his Kekkei Genkai to heal the two of them, Ryuga had hidden inside the cave.

Yue found a suitable ambush spot and told Yoshitaka how to act.

Before that, though, he had taken advantage of the downtime to stuff the ninjutsu scrolls from the cave into his backpack.

There were too many, so Yue gave them a rough look and picked out several seemingly important ninjutsu scrolls.

One was the Heart Curse Mark that Big Beard had used.

Another was a binding ninjutsu called Binding Jutsu, a D-rank supplementary, mid-range, close-range technique. It was worth mentioning that this was not the Binding Genjutsu Itachi had cast on Orochimaru through the Sharingan. The two were neither the same type nor the same rank.

This technique was like using an invisible rope to restrain a target's limbs, and it could be cast on multiple targets rather than just one.

But if Yue remembered correctly, some high-ranking members of Kusagakure seemed able to use a binding technique even stronger than Binding Jutsu. They did not even need hand seals; a slight flick of their fingers could produce a far more domineering effect, though it seemed to have certain range requirements.

Although Yue had been born into a ninja family, his father, Fuma Ryoma, came from the Land of Rice. Even now, the Land of Rice did not have a ninja village, so there were no inherited ninjutsu resources to speak of. The only thing Yue could draw upon was the Fuma Clan's expertise in ninja tools. Fuma Ryoma had become a Chunin through his skill in wielding ninja tools.

As for everything else, his foundation could only be considered solid.

Therefore, ninjutsu resources were extremely important to Yue.

The ninjutsu taught at the academy were all basic and fairly low-ranking.

To learn advanced ninjutsu, one had to carry out various missions and exchange merits and status within the village for them... unless one's family had influence.

Among the pile of documents, Yue also found a proposal concerning Grass Seed.

It turned out that besides using Curse Marks to control the village's fresh blood, Big Beard and the other two had planned to cultivate a hidden force "underground" outside the village. Put bluntly, it was a private army. These ordinary people were the first batch of recruits gathered from all over the Land of Grass.

They had not expected their plan to be ruined just as it began.

"These can be taken back and handed to Grass Flower as evidence."

Yue fiddled with the documents in his hands, deep in thought.

But that would make it impossible to conceal the existence of the Curse Mark, Binding Jutsu, and the other ninjutsu scrolls... and it might completely enrage the people of Grass Seed.

After thinking it over... he decided against it.

He would destroy everything in the cave and, combined with silencing everyone involved, make Grass Seed suffer a mute loss.

With the means of Ryuga's clan alone, they should be able to protect his life.

A few minutes later, Yue and Yoshitaka hid near the mountain path.

Yue was certain that, trusting in Big Beard's strength, the remaining two Grass Ninja would never imagine that he could be dead.

So they would not be overly vigilant as they approached the cave.

They would most likely think that there had only been some trouble inside.

Sure enough, he soon heard movement.

Since they were ninjas, the first ones to return would certainly be those two.

As for the other bandits, they would naturally be slower.

This created an excellent opening for Yue's attack.

"There are no signs of battle... Was that explosion inside?"

The two Grass Ninja stood on separate tree trunks, looking down as they observed the pitch-black cave entrance and the ground before it.

"Hmph. Those two brats probably pulled some trick... From the sound of it, it should have been Explosive Tags."

"So they had that up their sleeves..."

"Making Muramasa angry won't end well for them. They won't die, but they definitely won't escape some suffering."

Just as the two Grass Ninja exchanged smiles, one of them suddenly changed expression and shouted, "Watch your back!"

Yue had already turned into a silent streak of black, using the ground to unleash powerful strength from his legs. After a second jump, he flew behind one of them.

A gleaming silver Katana swung in his hand.

This was the last ninja tool he had left.

There was nothing special about this weapon. It was simply a blade.

But... it was sharp enough.

The ambushed ninja had never expected to encounter an attack outside the cave and had no guard against danger whatsoever.

He had never imagined that Yue, who should have already fled, would reappear.

And Yue was far too fast!

The man had just tried to dodge when the blade's tip slashed across his back, opening a massive wound and spraying blood.

With one slash, the Grass Ninja fell from the tree and crashed toward the ground.

Yue expertly gripped the hilt, adopting a stance with an expressionless face.

The Grass Ninja opposite him had intended to provide assistance, but he was disrupted by Yoshitaka, who had also come charging out from nowhere.

Although Yoshitaka could not threaten the man, keeping him occupied was not a problem.

After the two exchanged blows with kunai, Yoshitaka landed and swiftly retreated, standing beneath the branch Yue was on.

His role was mainly to support Yue. The true main force still depended on Yue's performance.

But after forcing Yoshitaka back, the Grass Ninja immediately leaped down and sprinted into the cave.

He did not turn and flee down the mountain...

Such an instinctive move clearly meant he believed Big Beard was still alive... that the cave was the safest place.

Little did he know that he had already entered a dead end.

He had become a turtle in a jar.

It was a fatal mistake caused by his mind failing to properly analyze the information at hand.

Yue carried his blade and chased after him.

"The person you're looking for... is already dead."

Shortly afterward, Yue cornered him in a cavern and said coldly.

Having failed to find his companion, the man was clearly panicking.

He darted forward and slashed.

It was the final round of battle.

Ryuga's Kekkei Genkai deserved praise here. Though it had not restored Yue to his peak condition, it was more than enough to deal with an ordinary ninja who had already lost his composure and was consumed by unease.

After a fierce exchange, the man's entire face was finally split open by Yue's blade, and he fell backward at Yue's feet.

"I'm starting to get used to this kind of Shinigami fighting style..."

Yue flicked his long blade and smiled faintly.

Without the experience he had gained among the Shinigami this time, he would never have been able to turn the situation around successfully.

First, he had remained calm throughout. More importantly, what he had felt most deeply was this... in the Shinigami's Soul Society, due to its unique power system and rules, whenever he fought someone, the spiritual particles in the flesh of his torso would grow stronger, causing his body to become stronger as well.

The tempering of his spirit and will, upon returning to Naruto's world, fed back into his Chakra reserves and experience.

The improvement to his body was the most direct.

It also made up for one of his current weaknesses in Naruto's world: his young age.

Taijutsu...

A young boy's physical condition simply could not compare to an adult's, because he was not among the "monstrous geniuses." Normally, if he wanted a powerful body, he would have to train like Rock Lee so that his Taijutsu could perform well in actual combat.

But now, he did not need to deliberately hone his body at all.

Because fighting in the Shinigami world was several times, even dozens of times more effective than training in Naruto's world...

Yue had not felt much about this before, but after this incident, he realized that he had still underestimated the advantages brought by the Shinigami world.

"The body's feedback is more obvious than Chakra's... I don't need to worry about that at all. So in Naruto's world... what I should focus on acquiring now are methods, an arsenal... all kinds of resources."

"At this growth rate, maybe I can directly become a Taijutsu powerhouse like Rock Lee... Perhaps reaching Might Guy's level isn't impossible either, as long as I have enough time. But the kind of combat where muscles collide, that passionate youth... it really doesn't suit me, and I don't particularly like it. A wide variety of ninjutsu would still give me more options when facing different combat situations." Yue thought to himself.

Using the Shinigami world, he truly could take a shortcut in a short period of time.

But the upper limit of his body still depended on techniques.

Take the well-known Eight Gates, for example.

The Eight Gates were unquestionably powerful.

Might Guy had nearly kicked his way into the ending with a single kick.

But for some reason, Yue could not bring himself to like that kind of Taijutsu.

Nor did he have any desire to obtain it.

At that moment, voices came from behind him.

It was Yoshitaka and Ryuga.

"So fast?"

"It's over?"

The two stared at the corpse by Yue's feet, once again shocked speechless.

"Let's go... Clean up the remaining trash on the mountain."

"Then... we can return to the village."

Covered in blood, Yue held his blade in one hand and walked calmly past the two of them.

His indifferent gaze and tone made killing seem as simple as crushing an ant...

That made Ryuga and Yoshitaka, the two little kids, think he looked cool while also feeling an inexplicable chill from him.

Fear rose in their hearts.

After all, even when they had attacked those bandits on the mountain earlier, they had only knocked them unconscious and tied them up temporarily, intending to deal with them all after completing the mission.

But Yue's thoughts were simple.

Two words: kill them all.