The fight against the chakra beasts had already been finished.
The entire forest turned eerily quiet. It was as if the sound of explosions and the painful howls of the beasts didn't exist at all.
If not for the devastated battle zone, you could never have guessed that a one-sided slaughter had been carried out by someone right there.
The silence and the light rustling sound of leaves sounded almost serene.
It would have been great if that were the case.
But Seimei still had something else to take care of. Or should he say someone?
Beasts are dead.
Now, it was time to deal with the six rats hiding by using the cover of dense foliage and thick tree stems ahead.
So, the real Seimei stepped out from the cover and leisurely walked toward his two shadow clones who had just finished dealing with the snake-type chakra beasts.
Clump~ Clump~ Clump~ Clump~
Amidst the eerily quiet forest, the sound of Seimei's heavy yet slow footsteps could be heard as clearly as the sound of crickets on a calm summer night.
It was as if he were deliberately trying to attract attention to himself. Well, he was doing exactly that.
He calmly walked to the ruins of the battle zone before suddenly stopping when he arrived beside his shadow clones.
He looked ahead with a small smile on his face as if he was enjoying watching the trees and basking in the aroma of nature.
Well, he would have liked to do that, too. But with the scent of ionized blood and burnt corpses, it was a little hard to enjoy the fresh breeze.
Seimei, who was still looking ahead, could clearly see every action of the six unidentified ninjas.
Meanwhile, the unknown ninjas were clutching their kunai while hiding behind thick trees, seemingly ready to escape. After all, although the ninja in the open looked like a sunny, snow-white-haired child, his actions weren't sunny at all.
His actions, his Ninjutsu proficiency, and his powerful Kenjutsu—all of them were off the charts.
And when they finally saw his shadow clone laughing maniacally like the ninjas from a certain red-eyed, fan-emblazoned clan, they had had enough.
If his shadow clone was like that, how would the personality of the real guy be? Honestly, it was scary, and it successfully eliminated any thoughts they had about ambushing those injured Konoha ninjas or this sunny-looking boy.
Now, they just wanted to get out of here.
To them, the smile on the ten or so-year-old boy's face looked nothing short of demonic. They really wanted to flee without attracting any attention.
Unfortunately, fate had something else in store for them.
All their actions, facial expressions, silent signals, and even their intent to retreat had been clearly visible to Seimei, who always kept his Tenseigan active during missions.
No one could hide from his eyes, no matter how well they tried to hide.
After coming all this way, how could Seimei just let them slip away?
After a couple of seconds of observation, Seimei asked calmly with a gentle smile.
"Will you come out on your own?"
"Or would you like me to force you to come out?"
"However, if you choose the second option, the outcome won't be pretty."
Hearing Seimei mocking them openly, their grip on their kunai tightened.
They were angry. They wanted to rip this child's mouth apart.
But they knew their limitations and that they couldn't defeat this boy on their own.
The best choice was to get out of there as soon as possible.
Still, they didn't make any sudden movements.
The Elite Chunin among them tried to use hand signs to convey their retreat plan.
But Seimei wasn't going to let that happen.
He just sighed and said, "The second option it is, I guess."
Crackle!! Crackle!!
As soon as Seimei said that, two thick, chirping spears of lightning suddenly came from behind and pierced the hearts of the two Genins of the unidentified ninja group.
The Genins were shocked to see two spear-like protrusions made of masterfully shaped lightning chakra coming out from their left chests.
They wanted to cry out in panic and pain.
But the lightning of the spear spread throughout their bodies, paralyzing them while roasting and destroying their internal organs violently, giving them no time to let out any sound.
The nervous systems, brains, and blood—everything was fried by the intense lightning chakra, killing them within less than half a second.
From getting pierced by the lightning spears to dying, everything happened so fast that it left the remaining Genin, two Chunin, and the only Elite Chunin of the group completely dumbfounded.
They were just discussing how to retreat a second ago. And now, within the blink of an eye, two strange, almost fifteen-meter-long spears made of pure lightning abruptly appeared from behind without any warning.
Did this guy have more companions who were hiding in the shadows and silently positioned themselves on their backs?
If that was the case, then their doom was certain.
They just wanted to rob some easy prey without drawing suspicions toward their clan.
But they didn't have the luxury to think.
The sharp spears of lightning that killed two Genin positioned at the corners of the team formation suddenly sliced through the dead ninjas' bodies like a hot knife running through butter and moved toward the remaining four ninjas.
Still, they were trained Shinobi.
Their battle experience forced them to come out of the daze fast.
They tried to retreat and get away from those terrifying spears made of pure lightning.
However, only the Elite Chunin leader and another Chunin-level ninja could retreat from their previous locations successfully.
As for the remaining two members, one Genin and one Chunin, they weren't that lucky.
One spear of lightning moving from left to right passed through the neck of the Genin who was about to jump away, decapitating him cleanly.
The other lightning spear moved from the lower right to the upper left direction diagonally, cleanly severing the legs of another Chunin, who had already jumped high in the air while retreating backward to get away from the spear's range.
In the end, he just couldn't retreat and move backward fast enough.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh"
A scream filled with agony and pain came from the Chunin whose leg had been severed. But his scream wouldn't save his life. It would only make him a better target.
The unfortunate Chunin-level ninja was already falling to the ground after the failed jump.
He didn't even fall for five meters when a barrage of shurikens hit his forehead, throat, heart, liver, lungs, and groan with deadly precision, putting an end to his screams and life.
The other two retreating unidentified ninjas heard their comrade's screams, but they didn't have the luxury to turn around and see what was going on.
Their priority was to get away from this death trap as soon as possible. Nothing else mattered.
They fled as fast as they could.
They ran for a full minute and couldn't sense anyone following them anymore.
The Chunin glanced back while running. When he saw nothing, he looked toward his Elite Chunin leader and asked, "Did he stop pursuing us?"
Hearing this, the leader barked, "Don't look back. Just run as fast as you can."
The other Chunin frowned a little but still nodded. "Okay, leade-"
But before he could say the word "leader" completely, his Elite Chunin's eyes contracted sharply. He immediately shouted, "Watch out!"
However, before the other Chunin could fully comprehend what his leader was talking about, a high-pressure, compressed jet of water pierced through his body, leaving a gaping, bloody hole at the center of the chest.
His lungs, ribs, diaphragm, and liver were completely obliterated.
The Chunin-level ninja instantly lost his strength and vitality and fell from the tree. With such a large hole at the center of his chest, even the most powerful medical ninja couldn't save his life.
Meanwhile, Seimei, who had just released the Water Release Ninjutsu, Water Severing Wave, to kill the Chunin-level ninja easily, appeared in front of the last remaining unidentified Shinobi.
The Elite Chunin-level ninja, who was also the leader of the group, suddenly halted and shook his index finger toward him with suppressed anger, grief, panic, and fear.
"You," this was the only word he could utter.
Seimei smiled at him and responded, "Ah!"
"I told you guys to come out."
"But you didn't listen."
"Now look. Your lack of response and mistake killed your comrades."
"Isn't that sad?"
"Because of your stupidity, they were forced to find their new home in the Pure Land."
"Wasn't it good to just surrender and come with me?"
"At most, we would have interrogated you and thrown you to the Konoha Jail."
"And if you were lucky, you could have gone back to your home after we received some compensation."
"But you just had to ruin everything."
Seimei shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with a mocking expression on his face.
And this completely enraged the unidentified Shinobi leader.
He shouted, "YOU DEMON BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!"
"I WILL FIGHT YOU TO DEATH!!!"
He knew he couldn't possibly get out of here alive. So, he decided to go all out. If he still died after this, then be it.
But Seimei didn't even give him the last chance to go all out and die a glorious death.
Before he could even take another step forward, another Seimei suddenly appeared behind him and pressed his palm on his back.
Sealing Technique: Self-Cursing Seal
Sealing Technique: Chakra-Suppression Seal
The black markings of the Self-Cursing Seal appeared on the unidentified ninja's body, completely paralyzing him.
Meanwhile, the Chakra-Suppression Seal blocked his chakra network and chakra circulation, eliminating any means to utilize his chakra. This, in turn, eliminated any way for him to remove the Self-Cursing Seal on his own.
"What? You want to fight me to death?"
"Sorry, I'm a ninja, not a samurai. I don't engage in meaningless battles."
Seimei mocked him one last time before striking his neck to make him faint.
Then, he took out a sealing scroll to store living beings, sealed the unidentified ninja inside it, and carefully stored it inside the sealing space of his bracelet.
After he was done, he waved at the 'Seimei' who unleashed the Water Severing Wave Jutsu, who simply nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Now then. It's time to go home."
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