"Brother Tenya, help me!"
Seeing the familiar figure standing before him, Jouichi naturally recognized Tenya at once and couldn't help but kneel to plead for help.
"Saving you isn't impossible," Tenya glanced at Jouichi and continued, "but why should I save you?"
"Uh..." Jouichi was at a loss for words.
Glancing over, he saw the scarred man walking towards him again, causing him to shiver. He couldn't help but shout, "I am willing to hire you, please save my life!"
"Oh? Now you're willing to hire us?" Tenya looked at Jouichi with a teasing expression and asked, "How much are you prepared to pay for hiring us?"
"I'll pay ten... no, twenty thousand!"
Seeing the ferocious scarred man getting closer and closer, Jouichi's face tightened.
However, when he turned his gaze back to Tenya, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
With such a skilled person present, he thought the scarred man could not do anything to him.
Earlier, this young Tenya had kicked the scarred man flying.
"Twenty thousand?" Tenya frowned slightly, a bit displeased, and said, "Mr. Jouichi, I heard you were willing to pay fifty thousand as a toll to those people to spare you. Why has it dropped to twenty thousand for me? Are you looking down on us Konoha ninjas?"
"How could that be? It's just..."
Before Jouichi could finish, the scarred man's rough voice interrupted.
"Where did this brat come from, daring to sneak attack me? Looks like you're tired of living!"
The scarred man glared fiercely at Tenya, while continuing to approach.
Judging by his murderous look, it was clear he intended to kill Tenya.
Seeing the scarred man approaching, Jouichi wanted to say something but swallowed his words, his face again showing a terrified expression.
"Die!"
Seeing Tenya ignore him, the scarred man grew even angrier and raised his blade to slash at Tenya.
Bang!
Before the blade could fall, the scarred man felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the blade flew out of his hand uncontrollably.
Then, a leg shadow suddenly magnified in his vision, and his body was hit hard, flying off the ground in a slanting trajectory.
"Let's continue our conversation!" Tenya didn't even turn his head, continuing to ask, "Mr. Jouichi, how much are you prepared to pay to hire us now?"
Seeing the scarred man being flung away, Jouichi couldn't help but gasp.
The scarred man was terrifying enough in his eyes.
But this terrifying figure had been kicked away twice by this young Konoha ninja.
This was not a coincidence!
This young Konoha ninja before him was even more formidable than he had imagined.
Jouichi swallowed hard a few times, looking at Tenya with more fear.
Initially, he had thought of playing some tricks.
But after seeing Tenya's methods twice, he felt a sudden chill in his heart.
He was terrified that Tenya would refuse his hire. If that happened, they would surely die here.
That wasn't the outcome he wanted.
Money was necessary, but it was nothing compared to his life.
Taking a deep breath, Jouichi smiled and said, "I am willing to pay fifty thousand to hire you, hoping you can protect my caravan."
"I accept!" Tenya smiled and nodded, then extended his hand, saying, "Pay upfront, and we'll handle the rest!"
"What?"
Jouichi was momentarily stunned.
Whoever heard of paying before the job was done?
"In special times, special measures are needed, don't you think, Mr. Jouichi?"
After saying this, Tenya patiently waited for Jouichi's response.
After some hesitation, Jouichi finally gave in.
Now, they were indeed at a life-or-death moment. If this continued, there wouldn't be many guards left.
Reluctantly, Jouichi took out a large stack of banknotes and handed them to Tenya, feeling pained.
Tenya took them without hesitation.
"Since I've received the payment, I won't go back on my word." Tenya looked around and said, "Kakashi, Dai-senpai, you can start now!"
Two figures suddenly dashed out from the forest on both sides as soon as his voice fell.
The rogue ninjas, holding the upper hand, immediately fell into a disadvantage.
Wielding the White Fang short blade, Kakashi turned into a blur, constantly weaving through the crowd.
Each time his sword struck, it took the life of a rogue ninja.
On the other side, Dai was not to be outdone.
He moved like a fierce tiger, his bowl-sized fists pummeling the rogue ninjas so hard that they began to doubt their life choices.
In just a short time, the rogue ninjas were beaten to a pulp by Kakashi and Might Dai.
The remaining caravan guards watched in awe, their eyes wide open.
Every single one of them was visibly shocked.
This was the first time they had witnessed such a spectacular battle.
These rogue ninjas, who had driven them into a corner, were now so vulnerable in front of Kakashi and Dai.
When the two stopped, the rogue ninjas were almost entirely wiped out.
In the distance, the scarred man, who had just managed to stand up, saw his subordinates annihilated in such a short time. His pupils contracted, and his anger was replaced by fear.
The few subordinates with him also started trembling, their fear no less than that of the scarred man.
"Run, we need to get out of here!" The scarred man hissed to his subordinates.
Leaving those words behind, he pushed them aside and hurried to flee.
This place was too dangerous!
He had thought the caravan was an easy target, not expecting such formidable figures to be hidden within it.
He was no match!
Staying here would be akin to seeking death.
"Where are you all in such a hurry to go?"
Before the scarred man could get far, a young figure suddenly appeared, blocking his way.
It was the same young man who had kicked him away twice!
This young man couldn't be weak with teammates as strong as those.
The scarred man looked at Tenya in fear, speaking hesitantly, "My friend, I apologize for earlier. Please forgive me!"
Tenya said nothing, just quietly looked at the scarred man.
The scarred man grew anxious as he saw no response from Tenya.
Remembering how Tenya had demanded money from Jouichi, the scarred man's eyes brightened with an idea.
"My friend, I have some spare cash. I'll give it all to you, hoping you'll spare me."
Saying this, the scarred man pulled out a sealing scroll and threw it to Tenya.
Tenya raised an eyebrow but did not refuse.
Just as he was about to open the sealing scroll, he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
Tenya left a shadow clone behind and vanished from his spot without thinking.
Immediately, a series of explosions erupted.
The place where Tenya had stood was now a pit about five meters wide.
In the distance, the scarred man breathed a sigh of relief upon witnessing this.
He had filled the sealing scroll with explosive tags.
Once the seal was opened, they would detonate instantly.
He had been saving this powerful weapon for emergencies.
He hadn't expected it to save his life this time.
The few subordinates beside him, seeing the scarred man's handiwork, were filled with admiration.
Moments ago, they had thought they wouldn't be able to leave.
"Alright, stop dawdling. We need to go quickly. The commotion here is too big. If those two come, we won't survive. Move, now!"
The scarred man, still clear-headed, urged his subordinates before starting to leave.
But before they could move, the familiar voice rang out again.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Looking towards the source of the voice, they saw Tenya, casually standing on a tree trunk, watching them.
"You're not dead?"
The scarred man's eyes widened in disbelief.
The few subordinates beside him were equally shocked.
"Alright, no more games. It's time for me to go."
Before the scarred man could respond, Tenya moved.
With a clear sword ring, several beams of sword light flashed like auroras, and Tenya's figure disappeared into the distance.
The scarred man and his subordinates' eyes went blank, as if their souls had been drained.
Moments later, blood sprayed from their necks, and their life force rapidly faded.
One by one, they fell to the ground like broken scarecrows.