After leaving the Bounty Station, Lin Ze first headed for the treacherous stretch of coast occupied by the pirates.
According to the intelligence provided by the Bounty Station, the pirates occupied a network of sea caves that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Using the complex waterways and submerged reefs as barriers, they brazenly plundered passing merchant ships.
The intelligence mentioned that the pirate leader possessed "Near-Kage Level" strength. This had initially piqued Lin Ze's interest a little; he thought he might get to stretch his muscles.
However, when he silently infiltrated the pirates' lair and actually saw the leader known as "Dotō," he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
The man did have somewhat more chakra than an ordinary jōnin, and his Water Release ninjutsu was quite proficient and imposing. But to Lin Ze's keen senses, he was, at most, a slightly more experienced jōnin. His supposed "quasi-Kage" title was probably more the product of his own boasting and his subordinates' flattery.
The battle held almost no suspense.
Lin Ze did not even use the Eight Gates Released Formation. Relying solely on his formidable taijutsu and extreme speed, he charged upstream through the man's prized Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave and pierced his heart with a single blow.
The so-called "quasi-Kage" could not even give him a warm-up.
Cleaning up the remaining pirate lackeys took some effort, however. There were quite a few of these outlaws, and they knew the terrain, using the complex cave environment to put up a desperate resistance.
To avoid revealing too much of his strength and attracting unnecessary attention, Lin Ze did not use any large-scale ninjutsu to clear them out. Instead, he relied on speed and taijutsu to defeat them one by one, taking nearly half a day to completely wipe