A gangster at the very front charged with a rusty machete raised in his hand.
Yet his legs shook violently like chaff in a sieve.
He craned his head back so far that he almost broke his neck.
Only then could he barely make out the troll before him, towering like a black iron tower.
On that featureless face, there was only a pair of enormous crimson eyes.
They radiated a suffocating aura of brutality!
"Monster!"
"What the fuck is this monster?!"
Another gang leader, with bandages wrapped around his head, forced himself to be brave.
He waved his iron rod, trying to rally morale.
"Don't be afraid!"
"We outnumber them!"
"Everyone, attack together!"
"Hack these frauds to death!"
But Shengu Xuan merely watched them coldly.
A cruel smile curved his lips.
Numbers?
In the face of absolute power.
Numbers were nothing but a laughable figure!
"Roar!"
A Troll Shadow Ninja let out a deafening roar!
The sound seemed to come from the depths of hell.
Its almost tangible shock wave instantly ruptured the eardrums of several gangsters at the front.
Blood trickled from their ear canals!
Immediately afterward, the troll moved.
He swung down an arm as thick as a century-old tree trunk!
He used no complicated moves.
Nor were there any flashy chakra effects.
There was only pure, devastating physical strength!
Thud!
A dull impact made their scalps crawl!
The gang leader who had been shouting a moment earlier did not even have time to scream.
His entire body burst apart like a tomato crushed beneath a hydraulic press!
Blood, shattered bones, and organs mixed with shredded clothing.
They sprayed outward in every direction!
A dozen or so nearby gangsters were splattered with warm red and white matter.
They blankly wiped the blood on their faces.
Their brains completely shut down at that moment.
"Aaaah!"
After a brief, deathly silence.
Piercing screams erupted into the sky!
"They're killing people!"
"They're killing people!"
"Run!"
"No human can fight these things!"
The fierce formation of two or three hundred gangsters collapsed in an instant!
It vanished under a single ordinary attack from a troll.
They turned around, wailing for their parents.
They wanted to flee this bridge shrouded in death.
Shengu Xuan kept both hands in his pockets.
His gaze was utterly cold, without a trace of warmth.
"Run?"
"Did I give you permission to run?"
"Troll Corps."
"Trap them and slaughter them."
The ten Troll Shadow Ninjas seemed to understand the command.
They broke into a heavy-footed charge across the bridge.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Though they were not as eerily fast as ordinary Shadow Ninjas.
Each stride carried them several meters.
Combined with their massive size, they were like ten heavy dump trucks charging at full speed!
Two trolls leaped straight to the bridge's exit.
Like two black mountains, they completely blocked the gangsters' retreat.
Several gangsters, driven to desperation, raised their muskets.
They pulled the triggers at the trolls blocking the way.
"Move!"
"Get out of my way!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The lead bullets, carrying the acrid smell of gunpowder, slammed into the trolls' pitch-black bodies.
But then a sight that inspired despair unfolded.
Those lead bullets, powerful enough to pierce a human body, struck the trolls.
Yet they did not leave so much as a pale mark.
They simply bounced off muscles as hard as granite!
The gangsters who had fired threw down their muskets in despair.
They collapsed onto their backsides.
"Impossible!"
"Even guns can't pierce them?!"
A troll lowered his head.
His crimson eyes coldly watched the ants at his feet.
Then he raised his enormous foot and mercilessly stamped down!
Squelch!
Another sickening, dull sound rang out.
Several gangsters were crushed straight into pulp.
The slaughter began in earnest.
Ten trolls rampaged through the crowd.
Every punch and sweeping blow claimed over a dozen lives.
Severed limbs flew through the air.
Blood stained the gray-white concrete bridge a glaring dark red.
It even dripped through cracks in the bridge into the surging sea below.
Kakashi stood behind Shengu Xuan.
His lone eye was filled with horror.
He watched the one-sided slaughter.
His throat bobbed involuntarily.
This was no longer a battle.
This was pure, one-sided annihilation!
These black monsters Shengu Xuan had summoned possessed not only boundless strength.
Their defenses were also terrifying to the extreme.
Ordinary blades and muskets could not even leave a scratch on them!
Sasuke stared fixedly at the trolls.
His two-tomoe Sharingan spun furiously.
He tried to see through these monsters' composition.
But all he saw was a mass of fathomless darkness.
He felt a profound sense of helplessness.
Did the Uchiha bloodline I took such pride in really mean anything before this boy?
"Shengu Xuan..."
"How many more trump cards are you hiding...?"
Zabuza and Haku, lying on the ground, felt chilled all over at the sight.
Zabuza had thought that, having killed countless people in his lifetime.
He had long since grown accustomed to the sights of hell.
But only now did he understand.
The killing games he had played before.
Were nothing but children playing house compared to Shengu Xuan!
Zabuza swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva.
For the first time, relief appeared in his eyes.
He was relieved that he had not continued fighting this monster to the bitter end.
Otherwise, he would certainly have been part of that pulp on the ground.
"A devil..."
"This guy is definitely a devil that crawled out of hell..."
Meanwhile, at the center of the battlefield.
Gato, the once-arrogant richest man and tyrant of the Land of Waves.
Was now crawling on the ground toward Shengu Xuan like a dog.
Gato's expensive suit was soaked in blood and urine.
He wailed through tears and streaming snot.
The fat on his face quivered violently with fear.
"Don't kill me!"
"Please, don't kill me!"
Shengu Xuan slowly walked up to Gato.
He looked down at this maggot-like man.
His tone carried a hint of mockery.
"Didn't you just say."
"That you were the god of the Land of Waves?"
"What's wrong?"
"Do gods wet themselves too?"
Gato frantically kowtowed.
His forehead struck the hard bridge until his head split and blood flowed.
"I was wrong!"
"I failed to recognize your greatness!"
"I'm nothing!"
"You're the god!"
"You're the true god!"
"Money!"
"I have lots of money!"
"As long as you spare me!"
"I'll give you everything I own!"
"Gold bars, cash, women."
"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"
Shengu Xuan chuckled.
Yet his gaze grew colder still.
"Money?"
"Do you think that, with this kind of power..."
"I'd care about your scraps of wastepaper?"
Gato froze.
As he looked into Shengu Xuan's deep, pitch-black eyes, he suddenly realized.
The boy before him wasn't human at all!
He had none of humanity's greed.
None of humanity's mercy.
He acted solely according to his own whims.
He regarded all things as worthless!
Gato desperately reached out.
He tried to cling to Shengu Xuan's leg.
"No..."
"Please don't..."
Shengu Xuan took a step back in disgust.
He coldly uttered a command.
"Crush him."
A giant demon walked up behind Gato.
Its enormous shadow instantly engulfed him.
Gato stiffly turned his head.
All he saw was a black foot larger than his entire body.
With a howling rush of wind, it rapidly grew larger in his pupils.
Thud!
The world fell quiet.
Shengu Xuan turned away, no longer looking at the mess strewn across the ground.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The ten giant demons dissolved into a pool of black liquid.
They swiftly merged into his shadow.
It was as though they had never appeared.
On the bridge, apart from Team 7 and Tazuna...
And the bound Zabuza and Haku...
Not another living person remained standing.
The heavy stench of blood filled the air, sickeningly thick.
Shengu Xuan walked over to Kakashi.
He brushed nonexistent dust off his clothes.
His tone was as casual as if he were discussing the day's weather.
"All right."
"Kakashi-sensei."
"The trash has been cleared away."
"Shouldn't we discuss payment for the mission now?"
Kakashi looked at Shengu Xuan's harmless-looking face.
He felt a chill run down his back.
Just then.
A sudden flurry of hurried footsteps and noisy shouts came from the other end of the bridge.
Who was it?!
Did Gato have more reinforcements?
Before you continue