In the cold training ground, the smell of blood in the air seemed to be an eternal background sound.
Senju Chen (Kirisame Ryo) leaned lazily against the wall, his dead fish eyes scanning the group of children biting each other like trapped animals, with a trace of imperceptible scrutiny in his eyes.
He has been here for the past few days and has already understood the "ecology" here.
Children die every day, and children become more numb and vicious every day over the corpses of their companions.
But this "power" seems to him to be ridiculously fragile.
Just like a group of wild dogs in captivity, they will only use the most primitive way to decide who can take one more bite.
"Everyone stop."
A hoarse voice sounded, not loud, but with a strange penetrating power, causing all the action in the field to come to an abrupt halt.
The children looked at the instructor with surprise and uncertainty, who had become increasingly "weird" in the past few days.
Senju Chen walked slowly to the center of the field and looked around at this group of children whose average age was less than ten years old, but whose eyes were already filled with fear and cruelty.
"You are simply the worst class I have ever led." He spoke mercilessly, his tone as calm as if he was stating a fact.
"You call this a fight? No, this is a suicide. A group of brainless idiots are competing with each other to stab Kunai faster, and then wait to be stabbed to death faster. If the future of Kirigakure is left to you, within ten years, it will be renamed Land of Water nursing home."
The harsh words made the children remain silent and even their breathing became cautious.
Senju Chen's eyes were precisely locked on the two shivering figures in the crowd. They were the two skinniest children in the audience. One was nicknamed "Skinny Monkey", and the other was called "Slug" because he was timid and always had a runny nose.
He took another look at the burly boy who killed his companion yesterday with his own hands and looked proud at the moment.
"You, and you." Senju Chen pointed at the two shrinking children, "Get out of the queue."
The two of them froze and almost walked out, fear making their faces as pale as paper.
"You two, go and kill him." Senju Chen raised his chin lightly towards the strong boy, as if he was talking about something as simple as eating and drinking water.
Boom!
The entire training ground exploded.
Not only the children, but also a few instructors in the distance who were watching the fun with their arms folded, were also stunned.
"Huh? Is Ryo crazy?" An instructor with three claw marks on his face sneered.
Let two losers attack 'Wild Bull'? Are you thinking that there are not enough people to die today, and are you taking the initiative to boost performance?
"Wild Bull" is the nickname of that sturdy boy. He just killed a person yesterday and was in full swing.
At this moment, when he heard the order, he was stunned for a moment, and then a cruel smile appeared on his face. He even raised his fingers provocatively at the two children who were so scared that they almost wet their pants.
The legs of "Skinny Monkey" and "Slug" were shaking as if they were tap dancing, their teeth were chattering, and even the hands holding Kunai were trembling.
Let them attack Wild Bull? What is the difference between this and letting them die directly?
"Teach... instructor... we..." "Skinny Monkey" mustered up the courage of his life and wanted to ask for mercy.
"Huh?" Senju Chen just glanced at him lightly.
That look in his eyes was colder than the biting cold wind in winter.
"Skinny Monkey" instantly felt like he was being targeted by a prehistoric beast. All the words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say a word.
Senju Chen slowly walked up to the two of them and whispered like a devil in a voice that only the three of them could hear:
"Want to live?"
The two nodded wildly subconsciously.
"Then don't charge forward like a fool." Senju Chen's voice was full of mockery, "You are ninjas, not samurai who only think about muscles. In the dictionary of ninjas, there is no word 'fair', only 'victory' and 'death'."
"He is strong, but not fast. He is arrogant and has eyes on the top of his head."
"You can rush over from the front later and throw the Kunai in your hand at his face. The louder the better, so that all his attention will be on you."
Senju Chen turned his gaze to the other child, "You were behind him, and when you saw his attention being drawn, you grabbed the sand on the ground and threw it into his eyes."
"Remember, you only have one chance. If you succeed, you live. If you fail, you die."
The cold words, like a key, opened the last shackles of "survival" in the hearts of the two children.
The fear is still there, but the look in his eyes has changed.
It was a kind of beast-like madness after being forced into a desperate situation.
"Ahhhhhh--!"
"Slug" let out a scream of unknown meaning, rushed towards Wild Bull like a madman, and then used all his strength to throw Kunai in his hand.
"You overestimate your capabilities!"
Wild Bull snorted disdainfully and easily dodged sideways. He was even ready to kick the little bug to death.
All his attention was attracted by the seemingly crazy "Slug" on the front.
He didn't notice at all that behind him, "Skinny Monkey" had quietly approached in an almost crawling posture, and then used all his strength to throw a large handful of sand mixed with gravel into his eyes!
"Pfft--!"
Sand and soil accurately covered Wild Bull's face and eyes.
"Ah! My eyes, you are shameless!"
The severe stinging sensation made Wild Bull instantly blind. He let out a painful howl and subconsciously reached out to rub his eyes.
That's it now!
"Slug" saw an opportunity, and his brain, dulled by fear, burst into unprecedented clarity at this moment. Without any hesitation, a sliding shovel passed by Wild Bull's feet, and the other Kunai in his hand used all his strength to slash the inner thigh of the leg supporting Wild Bull's body from bottom to top!
"Tsk--!"
A bloody mouth deep enough to the bone appeared instantly!
Blood spurts out!
"Ah--!!!"
Wild Bull let out a heart-rending scream, his legs softened, and his huge body suddenly fell to his knees.
"Skinny Monkey" put Kunai on the neck of "Wild Bull" who was kneeling on the ground from behind.
But he still couldn't kill him. The hand holding Kunai kept trembling, I don't know whether it was because of fear or excitement.
The whole place was dead silent.
Everyone seemed to have been cast Paralysis Jutsu, staring blankly at the incredible scene in front of them.
That arrogant Wild Bull, that strong man who killed his comrades with his own hands yesterday, was now like a pig waiting to be slaughtered, covering his eyes and bleeding thighs, and being held up by Kunai's neck.
As for the two weakest "trash" in the audience, although they were still trembling, their eyes burst out with an unprecedented brilliance.
It turns out... the weak can really defeat the strong!
It turns out... fighting can still be like this!
It turns out... you can defeat your opponent even if you are shameless!
Under past training, these children thought that they could survive as long as they were ferocious and strong enough, but suddenly they discovered that there was another way to survive!
This also gave those children whose rankings had been hovering in the middle and lower reaches a sudden hope of survival.
In the distance, the instructor with a claw-marked face, who was about to watch a joke, froze with a sneer on his face, and opened his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
Senju Chen slowly stepped forward, stepped on the head of Wild Bull, who was still wailing, and stamped his face into the ground.
He looked around the audience, looking at the complicated expressions in the children's eyes, ranging from fear, to shock, to thoughtfulness, with a ferocious arc at the corner of his mouth.
"Did you see clearly?"
His voice was not loud, but it struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
"This is the battle of ninjas."
"We are ninjas, not samurai wielding iron blocks. Victory does not depend on who has a harder fist, but on who is more despicable, who uses his brain better, and who has less bottom line!"
"From today on, there is only one rule in my class--"
Senju Chen's gaze became as sharp as a knife, scanning every child's face.
"Those who cannot learn to live with their brains can use their bodies to die."
"Do you remember everything?"