"What is that?!"
The Kusagakure ninja looked at Didaze in the sky, their vigilance raised to the utmost.
Very few people in the shinobi world could fly, and flight was actually a hallmark of the strong.
Even those from Hoshigakure who relied on secret arts to fly could hardly be considered weak.
Nanako Uzumaki also looked at the person in the sky with tears in her eyes, desperately hoping he had come to save her.
Didaze sent the Giant Bird into a rapid dive. At the sight, the Kusagakure ninja braced themselves, ready to kill him at any moment!
"Get on!"
Didaze scooped Nanako Uzumaki up and threw her straight onto the Clay Giant Bird.
"Are you... a ninja from Iwagakure?"
Nanako Uzumaki knew about the Five Great Shinobi Villages. After all, her parents had told her about them.
"Stay with me from now on. At least your life will be better than it was in Kusagakure."
Didaze spoke to Nanako Uzumaki without turning around, his back still toward her.
"Yes..."
Nanako Uzumaki looked at Didaze. He had flowing blond hair and an air of wild freedom about him.
"A ninja from Iwagakure?"
The Kusagakure ninja below had also heard Nanako Uzumaki's words. They exchanged glances, unsure whether to attack.
To them, Iwagakure could crush them at a whim. Their village's strongest ninja had only brushed the threshold of elite jonin, and was not even an elite jonin yet.
Kusagakure was simply no match for Iwagakure. These Grass Ninja were every bit as cowardly before Iwagakure as they were arrogant toward Nanako Uzumaki.
"My... lord, please take her with you, but might we make one small request?"
After the Kusagakure ninja exchanged glances for quite some time, someone in charge finally stepped forward and spoke respectfully to Didaze in the sky.
"Do you want them all dead?"
Didaze ignored the man below and instead questioned Nanako Uzumaki beside him.
"Huh?"
Nanako Uzumaki could hardly believe it. He was letting her decide whether these people lived or died?
"Don't worry. I'm giving you the right to decide now. Whether they die or go free is entirely up to you."
"But remember one thing: I don't like weak people."
Didaze knew that people were most susceptible to manipulation when they had just been rescued. If he did not seize this chance to manipulate her now, it would be harder later.
"I..."
Nanako Uzumaki was lost. Although she had been terribly abused, the kindness in her heart made her unwilling to kill these Grass Ninja.
As she saw it, these Grass Ninja only needed her because they were injured. If they were not injured, surely they would not act like this?
If Didaze knew what Nanako Uzumaki was thinking, he would definitely curse her for being a bleeding heart.
They treated her like a medicine pouch, and she was still making excuses for them?
"My lord?"
Seeing that Didaze had still not answered, the Grass Ninja leader below swallowed and cautiously asked again.
"My lord... I..."
Looking at Didaze's long blond hair, Nanako Uzumaki finally spoke her mind.
"I want to kill these people who bullied me!"
After Nanako Uzumaki said that, it felt as though a shackle had come undone in her heart.
"Very good!"
Didaze turned and smiled at Nanako Uzumaki, then molded a giant Clay Spider.
"Clay Bomb: Brood Nest!"
"Since you made this decision yourself, don't look away. Watch closely as they turn to dust!"
Didaze was not about to cover Nanako Uzumaki's eyes and tell her not to be afraid.
If a ninja lived like that, even someone with the strength of a jonin could be killed by a genin.
"What is this?!!"
The Kusagakure ninja had waited so long without getting an answer from Didaze, only to receive a giant Clay Spider instead.
After landing, the Clay Spider began producing little spiders.
"Damn it... there's so much chakra inside this thing!"
The Kusagakure ninja fell into chaos.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
One Kusagakure ninja could not hold back and unleashed Fire Style at the Clay Spider, but a little spider absorbed the flames and immediately swelled!
Then the little spider leaped straight onto that ninja!
"Aaah!!!"
With a heart-rending scream, red blood mingled with the corpse, leaving nothing of the Kusagakure ninja's remains!
"Good riddance!"
Unexpectedly, Nanako Uzumaki did not vomit or anything of the sort. Instead, a gleam flashed in her eyes.
Seeing the death of this person who often bullied her, she did not feel nearly as guilty as she had imagined. Instead, she felt a rush of satisfaction.
Didaze also gave Nanako Uzumaki a surprised look. He had thought her transformation would take some time, yet she had gone from bleeding heart to darkened soul in just a few minutes?
"My lord... I..."
Seeing Didaze looking at her, Nanako Uzumaki blushed slightly and rubbed her hands together in embarrassment.
"It's fine. It's actually a good thing that you've figured it out."
Of course, Didaze would not criticize Nanako Uzumaki. After all, he had been the one to ask this of her. Wouldn't it be shameless to criticize her now that she had changed?
"Keep watching their final moments..."
Didaze descended a little farther so Nanako Uzumaki could see these Grass Ninja more clearly.
"How did it come to this..."
Nearly all the Grass Ninja were dead. Before even the first wave of attacks had ended, only their leader remained.
Because Nanako Uzumaki was Kusagakure's most important medicine pouch, practically everyone came whenever they used her, to prevent her from being snatched away.
But unexpectedly, gathering together had instead left not a single one of them able to escape. Kusagakure had been wiped out outright!
"Why are you doing this?!"
Before dying, Kusagakure's leader roared indignantly at the sky.
Didaze ignored the man's dying words and detonated the Clay Bombs.
The leader of Kusagakure met his end as well. Just like that, Didaze had single-handedly razed Kusagakure.
"One man wiping out an entire village... strength like this..."
Nanako Uzumaki looked at the blond young man, her eyes filled with amazement.
At the same time, she began to wonder just who this blond young man was. All she knew now was that Didaze was an Iwagakure ninja; she knew nothing else about him.
"Remember, my name is Didaze."
Didaze turned and smiled at Nanako Uzumaki, then sent the Clay Giant Bird into flight.
"My lord smiled at me..."
Nanako Uzumaki blushed slightly, then slowly rested her head against Didaze's back.
Didaze felt Nanako Uzumaki leaning against his back, but did not think much of it. He simply regarded her as a little girl.
"So warm..."