Chapter 26: What One Seeks in Life

Three days after Sawamura set out, late at night.

"Seventh Brother, I don't get it. Since we're trying to win that guy over, why did we capture all the people from Snowy Village?" Fifth Brother asked.

Ryosuke was protecting Snowy Village. Now that they had touched the villagers, it was no different from intruding into a beast's territory.

This was blatant provocation.

Seventh Brother sneered, "We captured them, so what can he do about it? When he returns, there are only three possibilities,"

"He refuses our goodwill, then we'll just kill him."

"He doesn't dare accept and runs, then let him scram, and we'll go back."

"He accepts our invitation and joins us, then he's no longer a 'beast,' and there's no such thing as a territory anymore."

Seventh Brother spread his hands, "No matter what, he won't be able to protect this village anymore."

Fifth Brother suddenly understood.

He was the youngest and least experienced, he hadn't realized there were so many layers to it.

"Seventh Brother, you're amazing. From now on, I need to learn from, "

Before the word 'learn' fully left his mouth, the rumble of thunder came roaring from afar.

A fierce gust of wind swept over. Seventh Brother instinctively squinted his eyes.

When he came to, Fifth Brother was no longer beside him.

Clang!

Seventh Brother spun around and drew his blade, staring deathly at Ryosuke, who had suddenly appeared.

The other two rushed over in a hurry.

When their eyes landed on the Fifth Brother in Ryosuke's hand, their pupils contracted violently.

Fifth Brother looked like a stewed goose from a braised meat shop, his head tilted at a 90-degree angle, limp and loose, clearly his neck had been snapped.

'This… this can't be real?!'

Just one exchange, no, not even an exchange, and a Chunin like Fifth Brother had been crushed like an insect by Ryosuke.

Thud!

Fifth Brother's corpse was thrown to the ground. Ryosuke flicked off the blood from his hand and looked at the remaining three.

The shock in Seventh Brother's eyes slowly faded. Then suddenly, he let out a soft chuckle.

He was laughing at himself.

The five of them were fugitives to begin with. Ever since joining under Magistrate Senmura, they had been calling each other brothers for so long that, at some point, they actually began to see each other as real siblings.

"Killed someone. Feel better now?" Seventh Brother asked.

Ryosuke didn't respond, his eyes calmly sweeping over the three.

Seventh Brother wasn't unfamiliar with that gaze.

It was the gaze a hunter gave when confirming his next prey.

He knew what Ryosuke was angry about, nothing more than seeing the ruined state of Snowy Village, his emotions boiling over.

"Don't look at me like that."

"We're Magistrate Senmura's men. We came to invite you to join... I mean, serve under our lord. This is our sincerity, "

Seventh Brother kicked open a chest, revealing gold, silver, and jewels. Then he opened a door, two beautiful women stood there, pitiful and lovely.

"This is just the appetizer. As long as you join us, there will be even more to come."

They had originally prepared some methods to test Ryosuke, but with Fifth Brother's corpse still warm, they no longer needed to go through all that.

Ryosuke took a deep breath. Though three days had passed, the faint, cold scent of blood still lingered in the air.

One could only imagine how many tragic atrocities had occurred on that night three days ago.

Seventh Brother finished speaking and waited.

"That's your last words?" Ryosuke asked.

Seventh Brother's smile vanished, his expression turning grim as he coldly glared at Ryosuke.

"I remember I gave you a chance."

To the side, Fourth Brother stepped forward, pulled out a kunai from his waist, raised his voice, and cursed,

"Seventh Brother, why waste words with him?! Brat, who the hell do you think you are? One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?! You killed Fifth Brother, so what, think you can kill us too?!"

Ryosuke turned to look at Fourth Brother.

"That's your last words?"

"F**k!"

The hot-headed Fourth Brother gave a shout, and bang!, two shadow clones appeared, forming a triangle formation as they charged forward with kunai in hand.

On the other side, Third Brother and Seventh Brother rapidly formed hand seals, "Fire Style, Dragon Fire Technique!"

"Wind Style, Vacuum Bullets!"

A ferocious fire dragon formed, roaring as it spiraled through the air.

Seventh Brother spat out several wind-style energy spheres. They wrapped around the fire dragon's body, forming what looked like dragon scales. The already dozens-of-meters-long fire dragon doubled in size, and the roaring heat melted the snow beneath.

Combination Ninjutsu, Wind Demon Flame Dragon.

"ROAAR, !"

The Wind Demon Flame Dragon roared as it charged at Ryosuke.

Controlled by Third Brother, the Wind Demon Flame Dragon soared forward. Having already unleashed his Vacuum Bullets, Seventh Brother circled around, wielding his ninja blade and stabbing from behind.

In front, Fourth Brother.

Above, the Wind Demon Flame Dragon.

Behind, Jonin-level Seventh Brother.

In an instant, Ryosuke had fallen into their coordinated formation.

"If Fifth Brother were still alive, and Boss Sawamura too, don't say it's you, even if a Seven Ninja Swordsman came, we'd still dare go toe-to-toe!"

"But now…"

Charging in the lead, Fourth Brother locked onto Ryosuke's profile.

That's enough! With just the few of them, they could finish off this unsuspecting brat!

They closed in, at such range, not even Ryosuke or the legendary Copy Ninja Kakashi could form hand seals or use a jutsu in time.

'Die!'

The thought flashed by, then Fourth Brother's vision went black, the world spun, and his body flew out uncontrollably, smashing into a building. The wall shattered, and rubble buried him.

Blood flowed from the cracks between the stones.

"Fourth Brother!"

Third Brother growled, eyes flickering with uncertainty.

He hadn't seen Ryosuke make any moves, no hand seals either. He didn't understand how Fourth Brother, who was best at close combat, had been flung away like that.

But there was no time to think. Third Brother focused all his strength on controlling the Wind Demon Flame Dragon. Its huge maw opened wide as it lunged at Ryosuke.

Ryosuke took a slow breath. Ripple energy surged inside him. Green lightning flared at his feet.

The melted snow from the Wind Demon Flame Dragon's heat rose into the air, and suddenly transformed into a steel-hard water curtain.

The Wind Demon Flame Dragon crashed into it, hiss!, steam hissed.

Third Brother's vision blurred.

Buzz,

"What's that sound?"

Before Third Brother could react, dozens of bullets tore through his body.

He collapsed into a pool of blood, dazed.

Without a controller, the Wind Demon Flame Dragon let out a final, unwilling roar, then boom, it dispersed.

Only then did Second Brother charge to the front.

Sweat dripped from the hand gripping his sword. The wind made it icy and sticky.

Standing just three steps from Ryosuke, Second Brother dared not move closer, much less swing his blade.

He swallowed hard. His heart thumped wildly.

Now, he knew who stood before him.

The one who defeated Hoshigaki Kushimaru, exposed the truth of human trafficking, slew countless bounty hunters and assassins, the most dangerous criminal in the Land of Water, "Ryosuke!"

His will to fight crumbled. Overwhelming fear sprouted from the depths of his soul.

He activated his information-gathering technique, infusing chakra into his eyes, and saw the legendary "Evil Spirit."

Platinum Spirit hovered behind Ryosuke, its cold gaze bearing down on Second Brother.

The moment their eyes met, Second Brother understood.

'Run! Run now!'

There was no chance of victory. If he didn't escape now, he'd be beaten to death.

Second Brother turned to flee. But just as he took a step, his feet felt stuck. Looking down, streams of water were crawling up his legs, making every step heavier.

"Damn it!"

He formed hand seals again, chakra gathering in his palms.

"Wind Style, Gale Palm!"

The roaring wind scattered the water streams. Second Brother leapt into the air, trying to flee the battlefield.

BOOM!

Thunder again.

A hand wrapped in golden lightning tore through the gale, two fingers pressed together like a short sword thrusting forward.

Second Brother panicked and staggered back, shouting, "Don't kill me! Two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen have already come looking for you! They'll find you soon!"

'Two Ninja Swordsmen?!'

Terumi Mei arrived late with Sasuke and Rei, just in time to hear this.

"If you want to survive, your only option is to join the magistrate! With Magistrate Senmura's status in the Daimyo's eyes, he can definitely protect you!"

Second Brother shouted hoarsely, "Ryosuke, don't be stupid!"

Terumi Mei, Sasuke, Rei, and every pair of eyes in the village stared at Ryosuke.

They didn't know what choice Ryosuke would make.

But if it were them, they would've agreed without hesitation.

Wealth, women, power, and most of all… life.

What else does one seek in life, but these? Why make life harder for yourself?

Ryosuke withdrew the two fingers that had been aiming to strike.

"That's your choice?"

Terumi Mei let out a soft sigh. She had thought Ryosuke might be different.

Second Brother smiled.

But the next second, he saw Ryosuke hadn't pulled back his hand, he had changed from "point" to "fist"!

Ryosuke's fist smashed into Second Brother's chest.

"What?!" Everyone's eyes widened.

In that moment, the world seemed to freeze, only the snow in the sky continued to fall gently.

Second Brother grabbed Ryosuke's arm tightly, coughing up hot blood and chunks of flesh.

"You think… killing us ends it?"

Through pain, death, and hatred, he gave a twisted grin.

"It won't be long before you're in hell with me!"

"Ryosuke… I'll be waiting in hell!"

Ryosuke gently shook his head. "You're wrong about two things."

"First, I think even if I die, I'd probably go to heaven."

"Second, it's not that the Ninja Swordsmen are coming for me…"

Ryosuke gave a little push. Second Brother stumbled backward.

Just before the life left his eyes, he heard the rest of Ryosuke's sentence, "...I'm going to kill them."

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