chapter 5
5 – Episode 5. Corrupted Ninja Village (4)
“-Aah.”
Thud.
The bald head’s fist, full of force, sliced through the rock.
Seeing the rock enveloped in a black light every time the gauntlet struck it, it was clear that it was a magical device.
“-Slow.”
It was an attack that combined speed and destructive power, but like all attacks, it was useless if it didn’t hit.
After dancing around, I thrust my sword towards the bald head’s eyes.
Just before, the bald head slightly turned his head, realizing the attack.
Ooong.
The bald head’s helmet, enveloped in the same black light as the gauntlet, deflected the blade. The performance of the magical device is damn good.
“This filthy traitor bastard!”
I dodged the punch that was about to hit me and took about ten steps back.
Damn it, this is a cake. The difference in information is huge, as expected.
Of course, I’ve never seen such a thing in my life, even living here as a resident up to 567.
A world without Tree Wiki. I once again realized how dangerous this world is.
“You pretend to be crazy while spewing nonsense, but you were really too cautious. When did you start preparing? You crazy bastard. What’s your purpose? Why did you do that?”
The bald head buys time, pretending to gather his breath and attempting to start a conversation.
But there is no conversation with third-rate villains. The only sounds they’ll hear are one-sided questions and the names of techniques.
“Nin-nin.”
The longsword was already useless as the day grew dark.
Although not particularly strong, the armor seemed sturdy enough to make the fight long and dull.
There should have been some skilled ninjas like Kakashi, but this year, there was no sign of them, not even a glimpse of their battle makeup in the corner.
I thought about provoking a long battle and taking down the recruits who would come after killing all the instructors, or maybe engaging in a group brawl.
“Let’s attack, let’s attack!”
“Get back!”
“f*ck!”
About 40 recruits were struggling against only 5 instructors.
The recruits’ attacks were completely ineffective against the instructors.
Still, when the instructors seized the opportunity to strike, 568 stepped in just in time to block, keeping the front line intact.
“No, how stupid can they be?”
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
To win, we would need to sacrifice several people as human shields and push forward, but there was no way any recruit would volunteer for that.
But I couldn’t bring myself to force anyone to sacrifice themselves like that.
The instructors had a completely different mindset from those who had experienced similar situations before.
“They’re nothing special! Once we take down this guy, it’s over! Join us over here!”
The bald one must have assessed the situation because he called out to the instructors.
The instructors, who had been huddled together, protecting each other’s backs, exchanged glances.
“Don’t send them! What are you doing! Surround them again!”
568: The Fearful Candidates
568 commanded evil, but the female instructor with a straw hat wielded a rotating chain sickle in a circular motion, making it difficult for the candidates to approach.
The curly-haired male instructor, exchanging glances with a bald man, muttered quietly.
“352 and I support 132. The three of us will hold the line.”
“Understood.”
As a signal, the woman with the straw hat stopped the rotation of the chain sickle, and the curly-haired man took out daggers from his bosom and threw them at the candidates.
Dodging and avoiding the candidates who fell or moved, the woman with the straw hat and the curly-haired man ran forward.
“Capture them!”
Several candidates tried to stop them, but one instructor swung a large club and drove them away as if threatening a fly at a meat shop.
The woman with the straw hat, who arrived near me, took a stance at a medium distance, and the curly-haired man took a position a little further away and threw daggers.
“Even better.”
To be honest, it’s a piece of cake. They didn’t come here to kill me, but to replenish my weapons.
I deflected several daggers with my long sword and threw it at the helmet of the bald man who rushed towards me.
Taken aback, the bald man raised his guard and stepped back.
Seeing him flinch, it seemed that the defensive magic on his helmet had durability or a usage limit.
As expected, ninjas of this level cannot afford to wear scam items.
Wooong! Taeng!
While the bald man hesitated, the woman with the straw hat threw the chain sickle, and I turned my body just enough to avoid the sickle, holding onto the chain.
Suddenly, it became heavier, as if it was also a magical weapon.
With a smirk, the woman with the straw hat pulled the chain towards herself.
Of course, there was no way she could have that much strength.
“Hiyap!”
She endured it briefly.
“Oh?!”
The sweat-drenched woman in a straw hat was taken aback.
As she restrained the approaching bald man with a simple defensive move, she glanced at the curly-haired man.
The curly-haired man seemed to think that he needed to readjust his position, so he was in the process of moving.
This was her chance.
She exerted explosive strength, pulling the chain and knocking down the woman in the straw hat, narrowly avoiding the bald man’s punch.
Crash-
“Ooh-jat!”
The woman in the straw hat, her forehead pierced by a pebble as she fell, made a strange sound and collapsed.
Seeing the crimson blood spreading on the floor, it was certain that she had returned to the embrace of the Buddha.
Thunk!
She deflected the flying dagger with the chain and, bowing her upper body, stabbed a sickle into the lower abdomen of the bald man.
“You crazy bastard!”
“Too slow.”
She bound the bald man’s arms, barely managing to grab the sickle twice with the chain.
Indeed, the defensive magic engraved on this armor did not activate unless there was a direct attack.
There was a reason why it only glowed black when there was a collision.
“Ninja Bondage Play.”
The bald man who had just been arrested fell back and wrapped a chain around his neck. The feeling of it tightening against his skin was quite pleasant.
“Guh…”
The curly-haired man, who had lost all his knives, pulled out a machete and charged forward.
It seemed like he knew there was no chance of winning, as he screamed and approached with a look of great unease.
Had he completely lost his senses, unable to escape the sense of combat that exceeded the imagination of a real ninja?
The true essence of a ninja is to forever alleviate that unease.
I kicked one of the knives scattered on the ground with the tip of my foot and thrust it into the left eye of the curly-haired man.
Squelch.
The curly-haired man fell, mouth agape. His brain was probably pierced as well.
Thunk!
Finally, I snapped the neck of the bald man who was suffocating.
“This, this is absurd…”
“Sav… save me!”
The trainees who had been facing off against the instructors suddenly screamed when they saw the triple kill.
One of the instructors even dropped his knife and begged for mercy.
“You bastards!”
“Stab them!”
The trainees, fueled by their victory, attacked three of the instructors with their knives.
It’s true that when a murder is committed together, the guilt is lessened.
Group violence and bullying don’t just happen for no reason.
568, drunk with the joy of victory, came running towards me.
“567! We won!”
“It’s not ‘we’, it’s me who won.”
Why does he always try to take credit for everything? But since he bought me some time with his instigation, I forgave him.
“Where did Kakashi go?”
“Kakashi? What’s that?”
“The short-haired girl.”
“Girl?”
Damn it, it’s hard when we can’t communicate.
I roughly explained the situation, and 568 claimed he had never seen anything like it since the battle started.
Could it really be that straightforward? Actually, whether it existed or not, the result would have been the same.
The problem is Kakashi, the ninja.
I realized how important skill was through my fight with the bald guy.
It was clear that even an ordinary person could possess the power to turn into a superhuman with the highest-grade magical equipment.
Wait, an ordinary person?
“Where did the people go?”
It was our first battle, and we were outnumbered, so I was too preoccupied to even pay attention. That’s a bit of a deduction.
What’s the point of fighting this hard if all the people we need to protect end up dead?
No matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see anyone who had been tied up.
Is this a ninja costume?
“The people who were tied up? I untied them all earlier and some kids guided them out of the entrance. It seems like those kids escaped together… but it’s not important.”
“Nin-nin.”
That’s a relief.
In the end, we can consider this a great debut match.
Well, what’s done is done. Let’s take this as a lesson to pay attention to these things in the future.
Now it’s time to prepare.
Rummage, rummage.
I took off the top of a curly-haired man, whose size was somewhat similar, and put it on.
I didn’t see any reason to bother with the bald guy’s armor since it was too different from my fighting style.
I had casually grabbed a dagger or a short sword, but the gazes of the candidates watching me were uncomfortable.
“…”
Gulp.
Now I can even hear the sound of swallowing saliva.
The candidates were trembling. 568, who was also preparing, spoke up.
“You seem scared. Wouldn’t it be nice to say something?”
Well, if I wanted to, I could have wiped out all 40 of them right here.
The candidates were aware of that fact.
The weak in front of the overwhelmingly strong, Poby and Mongi in front of the mountain army, and Kammy Shinseida.
“The tail of the Sargal ends here.”
However, they are also innocent sacrifices.
“Decide for yourself how to live with the skills you learned here.”
And they are like fugitive ninjas, just like me. To be precise, they are group project freeloaders, fugitive ninjas.
Unlike pure fugitive ninjas like me, they didn’t need to take on any obligations or responsibilities.
“But if you spill the blood of the innocent.”
But at least, basic decency must be upheld.
“I will go find them.”
Whoosh!
With a cool shadow disappearing in a flash, I left the cave.
I ran in a hurry and stepped on pebbles with worn-out shoes, causing tears to well up, but I held them back.
“Hmm.”
The clear air and bright light felt awkward instead.
I brushed off the blood on my clothes and sat on a suitable rock, massaging my feet, when 568, who had rushed over, appeared.
“Heh, heh. You’re not from the Irugal Kingdom, right?”
Why did you come running to ask me that? I ignored him and continued massaging my feet.
“Do you know anything about currency or writing?”
“Fugitive ninjas don’t bother with studying.”
“Fugitive ninjas? Is that what they call you in your country? Anyway, I can help you. Let’s travel together. I’ll take care of your expenses. In return, can’t you take me as your disciple?”
“Fugitive ninjas don’t take disciples.”
“Well, then, can you spar with me occasionally? Hm?”
Honestly, we needed a clueless fool.
Due to a lack of information, this fight was difficult.
This kid, 567, was basically an orphan, so he had very little common sense or knowledge. 568, on the other hand, stood out from the other kids, as if he had consumed what they call “elixir”.
He was probably some kind of noble in this world.
Anyway, we needed an explanation junkie. A housekeeper who could take care of meals, dishes, laundry, and more.
“Follow me. You, the Yakuzaslayer.”
“What is that supposed to mean…”
The heart that had stopped started beating again.
The time had come to fulfill the duty and responsibility as a runaway ninja.
A runaway ninja who fights for innocent people does not forgive Yakuzas, samurais, yokai, or corrupt ninjas.
“First, I will become a merchant.”
I, Shin Nobin, finally reached the end of my childhood.