'Alright then . . . How shall I play this?'
There were a couple of options.
A simple frontal assault being one, Shiki was confident in his ability to pull it off after his recent gains in power.
That said, he still much preferred the assassin style stealth killing tactics.
Having relied upon such methods for the entirety of his shinobi career, the boy was not only very proficient and accustomed, he was also profoundly aware of the advantages.
Enemies stronger than oneself could be dispatched, even with surprising ease so long as conditions aligned.
As for enemies of similar or inferior strength, it became trivial to dispose of them while conserving chakra.
With the confines of the stealth approach to the assault, there were still two major options.
He could infiltrate the facility while killing no one and set Onikuma Maiko free, after which they could kill their way out together.
It would provide Shiki with an opportunity to see the girl in action, test her strength and abilities but there were also multiple risks.
Maiko could prove uncooperative or even worse, hostile. This, needless to say, would immensely complicate things for the boy with him being in a facility full of enemies.
That being the case, cleaning out the entire place before freeing Maiko was definitely the safer bet. With no extra enemies to pay attention to, Shiki could fully focus on dealing with whatever problems might arise after the girl was freed.
As for silently extracting the girl like a ghost, leaving no one aware he even entered the facility until he was gone, the boy simply had no intention of doing it.
He was looking for blood tonight, the question was not whether he would kill, it was how he would go about doing it.
'Guess I'll go with the tried and true assassin tactics. No need to go out of my comfort zone just yet and it is the most efficient way to go about this mission.' Shiki decided.
And with that, perfectly concealed by Kukyoshin while actively scanning his surroundings with Kukyo - Seven Senses, the boy advanced towards the facility.
The security was heavy, a contingency in case Onikuma Maiko ever tried to break out.
Many of the Root operatives spread throughout the facility were likely there to keep the girl from getting out rather than preventing an intruder from getting in.
The entrance was well concealed.
There was a large rock formation, not really out of place in such a mountainous area but while a genjutsu barrier made it seem solid, it was a hollow, containing the entrance to a complex cave system.
A natural cave system with extensive man-made additions.
A total of four guards surrounded the secret entrance, all hidden in camouflaged positions, a fair distance away.
If they were not, it would be like announcing there was something hidden right there after all.
Stopping outside their detection range Shiki made a single hand seal.
'Shadow Clone Jutsu.'
Three more Shiki materialized with clouds of smoke.
Cloaking themselves with Kukyoshin, just like the original, each Shiki approached one of the four guards.
The guard posts were all cleverly concealed, one of them looked like a rock formation from the outside, clearly a smaller version of the barrier concealing the actual entrance.
Another looked like a large piece of shrubbery hidden amongst similar plants and the last two were hiden in the thick foliage of a tree, all aided by special concealment barriers to pass by unnoticed.
Alas, Kukyo - Seven Senses was a most unfair sensory ability, such types of camouflage might as well not exist before its invasive perception.
The approach began, each strike coordinated to happen simultaneously so as to not give any chance for an alarm to be sounded out.
Hidden above the ground, what the guards hidden in tree foliage least expected was an attack from above.
So when the shadow clones silently dropped down on them, they could offer no resistance as they drowned in the blood coming from their slit throats.
Hidden in a false rock formation, the Root shinobi within was not at all prepared when a pair of hands emerged from the ground and dragged him down into the depths.
Piercing his vitals with simple kunai thrusts, the shadow clone watched as the enemy's life drained away.
As for the original, his target with the guard hidden in the shrubbery, his method of execution, similarly simple yet insidious.
Creeping close to the various pieces of real shrubbery surrounding the false one, Shiki struck quickly and silently.
'Prepared Needle Shot'
A senbon enhanced with the Hidden Hand Jutsu was shot with blinding speed from the Assault Storage Seal in the boy's mouth.
Flying through the real shrubbery, it only sounded like the wind to the hidden Root shinobi . . .
Right up until it buried itself in his temple, the chakra coating it ravaging his brain for an instant death, by the time figured out what happened, he was already in the Pure Land.
'Well, the real real elites don't get these kinds of postings. If mere chunin could actually react to my ambushes I ought to end myself in embarrassment.' Shiki thought to himself.
Their job done, the three shadow clones dispelled themselves, returning their mostly unspent chakra back to the original as he stealthily creeped through the barrier and sunk into the facility's walls with the Hiding in Surface jutsu.
'I'm literally in your walls Root.' The boy amused himself even as he prepared for his impending, gruesome undertaking.
The next step was picking his targets.
Lone enemies if possible, pairs as well but trios were the limit.
This, of course, if he was dealing with actual Jonin, for mere chunin, even five or six of them would be instantly cut down before they could react.
As if he was the Reaper himself, Shiki stalked the halls of the facility.
His method of killing was simple and efficient, kunai to the neck.
'Life truly is easier when you're not fighting freaks with unreasonable physical defenses.' The boy to himself.
Kumo's Lightning Chakra Mode made all these "wonderful" tactics not viable.
After cleaning out over a dozen small fry, Shiki finally found targets worth something.
Two Jonin led by an Elite Jonin.
It was the first Elite Jonin he had come across. A man with a slim but wiry build, built for explosive speed and strength.
Also, from the sword hidden under his robe, a bukijutsu specialist that supplemented his abilities with ninjutsu.
To his back left, a short and thin man, clearly not a physical combatant, Shiki's senses instantly determined he was a sensor and, after closer observation of his chakra network, the boy judged him to be fairly skilled at genjutsu as well.
In other words, someone whose skillset was entirely useless against him.
To the leaders back right, was the only member of the group not wearing a standard Anbu cloak, a long, black haired kunoichi showing off her lithe and curvy body tightly held by her form fitting Anbu uniform.
In her case, the shoulder straps of the gray flak jacket had even been removed, baring her shoulders, collar, upper chest and upper back.
Clearly, someone who tailored her equipment to maximize her womanly weapons that to actionally provide protection.
Her face was still hidden behind an Anbu mask however, just like her two companions. From her chakra network, Shiki had her pegged as a ninjutsu based kunoichi.
The boy was ready to attack after doing a preliminary analysis of his targets but just before he launched into action, he overheard some interesting information.
"Yuma-sama will be attending the combat test at 0600 so tighten things up and make sure everything is in order." The leader commanded.
"Yes sir!" X2 His subordinates replied.
"Something to say Gaku?" The leader directly called out the man to his back-left.
"Sir . . . The subject's power is becoming too dangerous to control. Containment after the combat tests is becoming harder and harder . . ." Gaku trailed off.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -