Accepting Your Proposal

Hi no Hikari stared coldly at urabe Daisuke and the others.

This time, they had accepted a B-rank commission. He, a Jonin, led three elite Chunin and six Genin on the mission. According to the intel they received, the opposing side only had two escorts: a Chunin and a Genin from Konoha.

They had absolute superiority in combat strength and complete information dominance. So naturally, there was no need for an ambush, just wait on the expected route and let the prey walk right into the trap.

"…"

Hi no Hikari pulled out a kunai and walked toward urabe Daisuke.

Besides the two Konoha shinobi, the rest were just ordinary people, not worth bothering with. But since the mission required capturing one person alive, he had to do it himself to avoid any unexpected mistakes.

However—

Just as he took a few steps forward, preparing to flash over and wipe out Daisuke and the others, his expression suddenly froze.

He snapped his head to the right.

And saw—

The three ninja who had attacked Kaede were now frozen around him, still holding their kunai, their movements suspended mid-action, as if they'd been turned to stone!

In Kaede's hand, at some point, a white short blade had appeared, its edge glowing with a pale radiance.

"You don't seem to have heard what I said."

Kaede's tone was calm as he turned to Daisuke. "You hid important intel, and now the situation has escalated beyond the original mission parameters. Either the reward and mission rank increase, or this mission is void."

Thud! Thud! Thud!!

As Kaede finished speaking, the three Hidden Stone ninja surrounding him collapsed like wooden dummies.

A closer look revealed a thin, clean red line on each of their foreheads, stretching all the way to the tops of their skulls!

"…"

Hi no Hikari's pupils contracted sharply.

Dead!

All three, dead in an instant!

How?!

Among the attackers was one elite Chunin and two Genin. Even he would struggle to kill all three in a single instant!

Just as his expression darkened in shock, more sounds rang out

Bang, Bang, Bang.

He turned toward the noise and saw Might Duy, clad in a glowing green aura, his chakra surging with explosive intensity.

The three Hidden Stone ninja who had attacked Duy were all sent flying, coughing up blood mid-air. one of them emitted a series of cracking sounds from within, who knew how many bones had broken.

"This…"

urabe Daisuke was stunned.

The three ninja who had attacked Kaede were instantly slain. The three who targeted Might Duy had been thoroughly crushed within seconds. The overwhelming disparity from their expectations left his mind blank for a moment.

only when Kaede's cold gaze fell on him did he snap back to reality. After his initial shock, a hint of joy emerged in his eyes.

Strong.

Very strong!

These two Konoha ninja, who'd seemed unremarkable at first glance, were unexpectedly overwhelming!

Realizing this, he didn't hesitate any longer. His voice trembling with urgency, he shouted to Kaede:

"W-we're changing the commission! It's now A-rank, with a reward of 500,000 ryo! Protect all of us!"

"…understood."

Kaede slowly withdrew his gaze, holding his white-bladed tanto across his chest. He turned to face the Iwagakure Jonin and said coldly:

"I accept your revised commission."

Hi no Hikari stared at Kaede and sneered.

"Genjutsu, huh? I really misjudged you. I didn't think a brat from Konoha could possess such power… but now that I've seen your trick, it won't work again."

To kill three of his squad members instantly, it had to be a highly prepared, localized illusion technique, one that struck decisively in a confined space.

He had thought the Konoha escorts were just two small fry, hardly worth preparing traps for. They'd gone in for a direct strike after being spotted, believing the situation well in hand.

Now it was clear he'd seriously underestimated them.

Three ninja dead. Three more severely injured. The failure of his strategy would fall squarely on his shoulders, and when he returned to the village, he'd surely be punished. To redeem himself, he had to eliminate the two Konoha ninja and complete the commission as originally planned!

Snap!

The next instant…

Hi no Hikari clapped his hands together and swiftly formed a hand seal.

"Earth Style: Earth Spire Spear!!"

RuMBLE!!

In a flash, the ground trembled like an earthquake. over a dozen sharp earth spikes erupted from the ground in front of him, shooting toward Kaede and Might Duy.

"Duy-senpai, protect the clients."

Kaede dodged through the gaps between the spikes with nimble footwork. Holding the White Fang blade, he rushed toward Hi no Hikari and gave a quick command to Duy.

Duy, wreathed in glowing green chakra, his hair spiked upward, veins bulging from his temples, shouted confidently:

"Leave it to me!!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

In the blink of an eye, Might Duy dashed over to urabe Daisuke and another person, grabbed them both, and threw them across the river, away from the reach of the earth spikes.

Seeing Kaede charge him head-on, a glint of cold steel flickered in Hi no Hikari's eyes.

"He doesn't even understand the situation... even with all that power, he's just a brat."

To him, the top priority was dealing with Kaede first. Duy clearly specialized in taijutsu, and he didn't want to be sandwiched between Duy's relentless close-range attacks and Kaede's disruptive "genjutsu."

Now that Kaede was rushing straight in, it was the perfect opportunity.

Without hesitation, Hi no Hikari let out a low shout and formed another hand seal.

"Earth Style: Great Mud River!"

As he finished, he exhaled a stream of thick mud that surged forward like a sludge wave, aiming to entrap Kaede and cut off his movement completely.

At this moment, Kaede was mid-air, having leapt to dodge the earth spears. With nowhere to push off from, it looked like he was about to fall straight into the mud.

Yet his expression remained calm. With one hand, he formed a seal—

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Poof!

A shadow clone instantly appeared below him, lifting Kaede's real body with both hands and launching him upward, only to be consumed by the mud and vanish in a puff of smoke.

using the mid-air assist, Kaede's body spun like a shadow, arcing down toward Hi no Hikari. The White Fang blade in his hand slashed downward!

Slash!

Hi no Hikari's body was instantly cleaved in half, but no blood spilled.

It crumbled into brown earth.

An earth clone!

"You're messing with an Iwagakure Jonin, brat!"

Hi no Hikari's voice came from behind Kaede. His real body burst up from underground, dual sleeve-blades extending from his arms, glinting with lethal intent as he slashed at Kaede's back!