Just then, a middle-aged man suddenly ran over from the distance and stepped in front of Nagato. "I'm sorry, sir Shinobi. This is my son. If he offended you, please accept this as an apology."
He took a money pouch out of his pocket.
Hyuga Akira glanced at the father and son, then shook his head. "No need."
He hadn't expected Nagato to be in this very city. He rubbed his chin, pondering something.
Neither father nor son dared move, lest the Shinobi before them fly into a rage, even though he didn't look very old.
But the father knew perfectly well that the other party could easily take both their lives.
Hyuga Akira looked at Nagato, whose hair covered his eyes. Those eyes were Madara Uchiha's Rinnegan, and right now, Madara Uchiha was watching Nagato's every move.
He shook his head.
Although Madara Uchiha could drop plenty of good loot, he was a late-game boss. Akira couldn't afford to provoke him now.
His figure flashed, and he vanished.
Nagato's father breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Nagato and snapped, "Why did you run out here?!"
Nagato lowered his head without a word. After a long while, he said, "The people occupying Aunt Shuna's house were all killed by that man just now."
Nagato's father turned to look at the house behind him and remained silent for a long time.
To them, wandering ninja were nothing but a scourge.
Hyuga Akira walked up to another building and knocked on the door.
"Open up. I'm here to spread some warmth."
Without waiting for a response, he kicked the door open, shuriken flying rapidly from his hands.
The people inside didn't even deserve to be described.
In the end, Hyuga Akira gained [564 EXP], a Lightning Release skill book, and three money pouches.
[Skill book: Lightning Release: Lightning Sensing]
Hyuga Akira tossed the skill book straight into his inventory. Neither Lightning Release nor Water Release was among the things he intended to learn.
His main focus was still Fire Release, Earth Release, and Wind Release.
Although he didn't have an Earth Release chakra nature, game skills didn't care about that. As long as they said he could use them, he could learn and use them.
After all, his EXP was limited.
It was better to prioritize leveling his main skills.
Over the course of the day, Hyuga Akira wiped out most of the wandering ninja in the city.
Afterward, he gained [1,856 EXP]. Most of the item drops were money pouches, which yielded anywhere from ten to a hundred ryo when opened.
The wandering ninja weren't particularly strong, and their drop rates weren't much good either. They weren't even as good as the wandering ninja who had become bandit chiefs.
Not one of the wandering ninja gathered in this city truly had genin-level strength.
Perhaps some did, but they were simply better hidden.
Hyuga Akira's greatest haul was [Lesser Life Potion] ×5 and [Low-Level Magic Potion] ×3.
"Now I can fight prolonged battles too. With these potions, I won't necessarily have to rely on leveling up."
Hyuga Akira thoroughly enjoyed himself that day.
Kusen, however, was extremely displeased. He stormed through the doorway and slammed a palm onto the table.
"What the hell did you do?!"
"I just killed some wandering ninja."
Hyuga Akira spoke without a care.
Kusen took a deep breath. Was killing wandering ninja the issue here?
"Do you have any idea that because of you, that old bastard Shōzō wants to send someone to replace me and take over this city?"
This city was extremely important to them, whether for recruiting new members or extracting wealth.
Hyuga Akira grinned. "Then just make sure he never gets here."
Looking at the murderous Hyuga Akira, Kusen frowned. "You mean..."
"Kill whoever's coming to replace you," Hyuga Akira stated his intention outright.
Kusen shook his head firmly. "Absolutely not. That would be betraying Amegakure."
As if you haven't betrayed it enough already?
Hyuga Akira inwardly rolled his eyes and coaxed, "As long as he's a chunin, I can help you kill him."
"You?" Kusen looked at Hyuga Akira doubtfully.
"I'm pretty strong now." Hyuga Akira grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "Want to try me?"
Chapter 41: Hyuga Akira: I Want Rivers of Blood!
Kusen stared coldly at Hyuga Akira, completely ignoring the provocation in his words, and asked directly, "How do you plan to resolve this?"
If Hyuga Akira hadn't taken it upon himself to attack the wandering ninja, how would Shōzō have found out what was happening here?
Hyuga Akira had no real intention of fighting Kusen either. With his current disguise, he was no match for a proper chunin.
He had a way to kill a chunin, but no way to defeat one.
Those were two different things.
Hyuga Akira rubbed his chin in thought, then changed the subject. "I'm curious. How did Amegakure get the information about this place?"
Kusen frowned. "You mean that old bastard Shōzō has a spy here among us?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Hyuga Akira spread his hands. "I only did it today, and Amegakure already got word. How could it be that fast unless someone tipped them off?"
Although the Land of Rain was a small country, information couldn't travel that quickly unless someone actively provided it to others.
Kusen considered his other subordinates, but he really couldn't tell who was working for Shōzō.
Besides, technically speaking, all the Rain Ninja currently served under Shōzō. Hanzo was merely their famous top enforcer and had yet to take power.
"It doesn't really matter who leaked the information. What matters is..."
Hyuga Akira gave Kusen a meaningful look. "Lord Kusen, have you truly decided which side you're going to join?"
"What are you talking about? Lord Hanzo, of course," Kusen said firmly.
As Amegakure's strongest fighter and the leader of the hardliners, Hanzo of the Salamander was admired by many.
Shōzō was merely a rotting, sinking ship. Only Lord Hanzo was the vessel of a new era.
"Then what are you still hesitating for?" Hyuga Akira countered. "If you support Lord Hanzo, you should finish his mission first, kill the Shinobi coming to replace you, and ultimately take control of this city."
"That's what you should be doing, instead of dithering here."
What was the point of hesitating here? He couldn't even farm EXP properly.
He wanted rivers of blood!
Realization flashed across Kusen's face. In truth, he had been wavering all along.
Although he had decided to follow Lord Hanzo, Shōzō represented Amegakure's legitimate authority, and that claim to righteousness made him hesitate.
That trace of hesitation kept him from openly breaking with Shōzō.
Though Shōzō didn't care about him anyway.
"As long as Lord Hanzo wins, we'll be the righteous ones," Hyuga Akira coaxed.
That finally made Kusen resolve himself.
"You're coming with me tonight."
"Sure thing." Hyuga Akira wore a brilliant smile.
"Are we handling that mission first, or the person coming to replace you?"
Kusen looked at Hyuga Akira, who was excited at the prospect of killing.
This Muyu fellow is seriously sick. He wasn't this bloodthirsty before.
"We'll complete the mission. Everything else can wait."
Unless absolutely necessary, he still didn't want to attack his colleagues.
"Tch." Hyuga Akira looked thoroughly dissatisfied. One less chunin to kill meant over a thousand less EXP.
Kusen really had no idea how precious EXP was.
That night, on the roof of the city lord's residence.
Hyuga Akira looked down from the rooftop. Quite a few soldiers were patrolling. Because of the wandering ninja, even the city lord's residence had heightened its vigilance.
"Just the two of us?" Hyuga Akira turned to Kusen.
Kusen nodded. "Lord Hanzo still has too few subordinates. You and I are the only two in this city."
In the struggle between Hanzo and Shōzō, Hanzo's advantage lay in his individual strength, while Shōzō's lay in the loyalty of his subordinates.
"I'll draw everyone else's attention. Muyu, you'll sneak inside and carry out the assassination."
"Muyu?!"
Kusen watched in alarm as Hyuga Akira jumped straight off the roof.
Was this guy even listening?!
Hyuga Akira didn't care what Kusen thought. Wasn't it just an assassination mission?
No one in this world understood assassination better than he did!
He jumped straight into the crowd, and everyone stared at Hyuga Akira in bewilderment.
They were bewildered, but Hyuga Akira wasn't. Shuriken were tucked between the fingers of both his hands.
"Pulling the mobs."
"Shuriken: Heavy Fire!"
Hyuga Akira became a merciless shuriken-launching machine, his shuriken rapidly reaping the soldiers' lives in every direction. That finally brought them to their senses.
"Enemy attack!!!"
A piercing scream rang out, and the soldiers scattered throughout the city lord's residence rushed toward Hyuga Akira.
But upon arriving, they were met by a swarm of shuriken.
Kusen poked his head just above the rooftop to look at the battlefield below, where Hyuga Akira had become a machine harvesting flesh and blood.
Whoosh!
A shuriken swept past his cheek, leaving a bloody cut.
Kusen noticed Hyuga Akira casting a glance his way and growled through gritted teeth, "That bastard did it on purpose!"
But where had he gotten so many shuriken? And surely his ninja tool pouch couldn't hold that many.
Even a Shinobi running a ninja tool shop couldn't produce so many shuriken, could they? Even now, Hyuga Akira's hands hadn't stopped.
All Kusen could hear was the relentless sound of lives being reaped.
He carefully recalled the mission details.
It was assassination, not a massacre, right?
Kusen gritted his teeth.
Since Hyuga Akira had drawn their attention, he would carry out the assassination. His figure turned into a puddle of water and vanished.
Hyuga Akira stopped throwing shuriken.
Before you continue