Cold-blooded elimination

"Hmph, you left the two of us alive because we pose no threat and you want information, right? I won't let you get your way."

With that, the Sand Ninja actually thrust his kunai toward himself.

Anyo shifted his gaze and swung his short sword twice, severing the tendons in his wrists. With no strength left to hold it, the kunai fell to the ground.

The Sand Ninja stared blankly at his wrists in disbelief. This child before him, who was about his own age, had swung his blade so fast that he had lost the use of his hands before he even felt the pain.

Only after a long moment did blood spurt from his wrists. Just as he was about to scream-

Anyo planted a foot on his mouth, forcibly choking off his scream and leaving his body writhing like an earthworm nailed to the ground.

"You're clever, but some kinds of cleverness come at a price." Anyo's smile vanished as he looked at the other man. "Since you already know what I want, just tell me. You can refuse if you like, but then you'll have to sample the hundred-plus methods of torture we use to interrogate prisoners in Konoha."

"I'll talk, I'll talk..." The other Sand Ninja finally broke and spoke.

"Good." Keeping his foot firmly planted on the man beneath him, Anyo asked the other one, "How did you discover me?"

"Our leader is a Puppeteer. He set up a lot of transparent puppet strings around the area. Whenever someone approaches us, he knows their location immediately."

"So that's how it works." Anyo remembered that in the original anime's Chunin Ninja Exams, the Gaara team sent by Sunagakure had included a Puppeteer whose abilities were quite formidable.

Having received a satisfactory answer, Anyo said nothing more. His short sword turned slightly in his hand, and both Sand Ninja breathed their last.

On the battlefield, mercy toward the enemy was cruelty toward oneself. Anyo had no such softhearted compassion.

Besides, two Genin might not know much anyway. This one useful piece of information was enough.

A Puppeteer, huh? What a troublesome profession. This batch had ten people altogether. Based on an initial analysis, they're divided into four groups of ten, and each group might have a Puppeteer. After all, the ability to detect enemies silently is far too useful for keeping watch.

In that case, I'll have to use genjutsu.

Anyo went over to the Sand Ninja leader he had just killed. Sure enough, he found many transparent strings on his body. Their far ends were tied to various surrounding trees, forming an enormous net that would relay feedback here whenever a large creature entered.

Anyo attached the thin strings to his ten fingers, then channeled chakra through them and felt them out with movements of his fingers. Sure enough, his surroundings appeared clearly in his mind.

So that's how it works. It's pretty simple.

Had a Sand Ninja Puppeteer witnessed this scene, he would probably have been stunned out of his wits. After all, very few Sand Ninja had the talent to become Puppeteers, and not a single one could pick it up without instruction the way Anyo had.

In that case, my chances are even better. A sinister smile flickered across Anyo's lips. With a bang, he transformed into the Sand Ninja leader he had just killed and headed toward the next location, controlling his newly acquired chakra threads.

He had not gone far when he stopped and stood quietly in place. Suddenly, several ninja appeared beside him, and one shouted, "Yasuyuki Lai, why aren't you patrolling your own area? What are you doing in our group's territory? You didn't even send a signal flare before coming over."

Anyo answered calmly, "There wasn't time. My puppet strings just detected an unidentified creature entering the area, and it was heading your way, so I chased it all the way here. Didn't you notice anything?"

At his words, all the ninja turned their gazes toward the last man.

That man immediately felt killing intent lock onto him. Before he could speak, a white flash of steel swept past, and his head fell to the ground.

So you're this group's Puppeteer. Found you. You dared let me get close? Die.

The poor Puppeteer fell to the ground without having displayed even a fraction of his abilities.

"He's not Yasuyuki Lai! Who are you?" the Sand Ninja shouted as they attacked Anyo.

Anyo gave a cold smile. Still wasting words on the battlefield? Aren't you asking to die?

He raised his short sword, perfectly displaying the results of half a year's training. Pitch-black darkness swallowed the surroundings, spreading outward from Anyo. The darkened space grew larger and larger until it gradually enveloped the entire forest. All the charging Sand Ninja were rendered blind. Even the target they had just locked onto was shrouded in darkness, without a glimmer of light.

The darkness came so suddenly and so strangely that most of the Sand Ninja were momentarily at a loss, sinking into the panic of being engulfed in darkness. Though darkness could be intoxicating, it inspired even greater fear. That was its allure.

The leader among them shouted, "Don't panic! This is only a genjutsu, and with such a wide range, the caster definitely can't maintain it for long. Everyone, stay where you are and prepare your defenses!"

Good. You're the one.

From within the darkness, Anyo lunged forward with a thrust.

After the short sword struck his body, a grating sound rang out as the blade hit rock.

"I've been waiting for you." This Sand Ninja had covered his body in a layer of rock armor. The moment Anyo attacked, he began forming hand seals, preparing to unleash a wide-range ninjutsu.

"Can you block it?"

A whisper suddenly sounded beside his ear. A flicker of lightning flashed across the short sword lodged in his rock armor. Imbued with Lightning Release, the blade forced its way through, abruptly cutting his thoughts short.

In no more than five minutes, the second group of ten Sand Ninja had been wiped out as well. There was very little blood on the ground. Almost all had died from a single strike, and scarcely any of the surrounding trees had been damaged. It could well be called the art of killing.

Anyo found a high tree trunk, swallowed a military rations pill, and began recovering his strength. Killing with a short sword was manageable; the main issue was that the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique consumed too much chakra. Without it, however, he might not have been able to prevent all of them from escaping. More importantly, they had signal flares to communicate with one another. If even one person fired one, his mission would count as a failure. After all, facing the remaining twenty ninja at once, including two Jonin, probably only Minato, who had mastered Flying Thunder God, could have escaped unscathed.

Once he had recovered, Anyo manipulated the thin puppet strings and repeated the process at the next location. As expected, the same method still worked. This group, however, was two people short, with only eight members, and had no Jonin.

Looks like the next group is the last. It's the worst-case scenario: the two Jonin are together, and there are still ten other ninja left. They won't be easy to deal with. Looks like I'll have to use the Divide and Conquer Tactic.

I refuse to believe those two Jonin can stay inseparable.