The severed head that rolled to the ground wore an expression of pain and slight confusion—alongside a trace of indescribable mockery at everything that had just occurred.
For the enemy, this was undoubtedly a classic case of a boat capsizing in a ditch. Ninjas who are overly confident in their own strength often fall victim to such sudden reversals. His death was merely one of the inevitable prices to be paid.
Shocked at first and then enraged, more shuriken were flung toward Genshin with deadly force.
But Genshin had anticipated such an attack. The moment he landed, he wasted no time—chakra burst from beneath his feet as he launched himself like a gale behind a large tree, using it to conceal his body.
Thud thud thud!
A barrage of shuriken embedded themselves in the ground, tracing Genshin's movement, and eventually peppered the outer side of the tree trunk.
One of the enemy ninjas hadn't joined in the shuriken attack. Instead, he closely watched Genshin's movements and quickly formed hand seals. Then, shifting just a few steps to the side, he caught Genshin in his sights once more:
Water Style: Water Bullet Technique!
A massive orb of water hurtled toward Genshin.
Despite the scale of the jutsu, Genshin remained calm. He'd been in the shinobi world for a year now—while not a battle-hardened veteran, he had at least acquired the fundamentals of a proper ninja.
His hands instinctively came together, his fingers moving with fluid precision to form a counter-seal:
Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!
A bright orange fireball, more than two meters in diameter, blasted toward the approaching water orb.
For Fire Style users, nearly every clan had their own version of basic fire jutsu—same seals, same chakra flow, similar results. Even the names barely differed: Grand Fireball, Great Fireball, Exploding Fireball, Flame Bullet, Great Flame Bullet… essentially the same thing.
Fire clashed against water—flames extinguished while steam billowed. With a sharp hissing, the two jutsu neutralized each other in scale and power. Dense, white vapor surged through the forest, quickly spreading and obscuring the ninjas' vision.
The enemy's sensory-type ninja wasn't present, which made the situation more favorable for Genshin. The concealment nullified the enemy's numerical advantage—and Genshin excelled at ambushes.
Pressing himself to the back of a tree trunk, he activated Mayfly Technique once again. Like a swimmer slipping into still waters, his body gradually merged with the wood.
Using the memory of his opponents' positions, Genshin moved swiftly through the forest terrain. Soon, he located the enemy ninja who had used the Water Style against him.
Without a sound, he emerged behind the man—who, by coincidence, had just started to retreat, his back pressing against a tree trunk. A wise move—when vision is impaired, having a solid surface at your back reduces the chance of being ambushed.
But this time, it backfired.
Genshin's upper body silently emerged from the tree above him. Ghost-like, his right arm hooked around the enemy's neck in a tight chokehold, while his left arm swung around the front—then, like pounding mochi, he delivered a flurry of violent, rapid blows to the man's chest. Twenty, maybe thirty strikes in quick succession.
Each precise, mechanical motion—each clean, dull thud—spoke of ruthless efficiency and cold-blooded killing intent.
In the blink of an eye, survival was no longer an option. The man's organs had been pulverized—fit only for hotpot.
Genshin melted back into hiding.
The longer the battle went on, the more he could feel changes within his body. In the past, every time he used ninjutsu, the release of chakra came with a sense of being drained—like his very essence was being stripped away.
After a technique, he'd feel hollowed out, weak.
But this time, it was different. In the midst of combat, he felt a surge of power. Every cell in his body seemed to come alive, each bursting with vitality. If he had felt flat and empty before, now he could at least feel like a solid 36D.
A sudden realization struck Genshin—maybe ordinary people just weren't meant to be shinobi. Chakra drained life force far too severely.
"Who got hit? Report your status and position!" one of the enemy ninjas shouted.
Speaking aloud in such heavy mist was far from wise. Genshin, searching for his next target, immediately dashed toward the source of the voice.
"Three left," he silently counted in his mind.
But just as he was preparing to strike, a faint hissing noise caught his attention.
"Crap, it's a trap!"
Out of Genshin's sight, the enemy ninja flashed a twisted smile and completed the final hand seal.
Realizing what was coming, Genshin immediately used Mayfly Technique to flee—the man was about to self-detonate.
That ninja had used himself as bait, luring Genshin into range. On his body, a cluster of explosive tags had already begun pre-ignition. Seven or eight overlapping tags began releasing their devastating energy.
A blinding white flash erupted. Under the massive radial shockwave, the ninja's body, falling leaves, and surrounding earth were all obliterated!
Several large trees were sheared in half. Amid the groaning creak of collapsing wood, Genshin was forcefully ejected from the tree trunk he'd been hiding in.
He wasn't yet proficient in using the Mayfly Technique. Though he'd retreated from the blast as quickly as possible and avoided the brunt of the damage, the concussive force still disrupted his concealment.
The powerful shockwave even dispersed the surrounding steam, restoring visibility to the battlefield.
This kind of disregard for one's own life—this nonchalance—was almost unfathomable.
That enemy had no idea how Genshin performed his assassinations. He had merely deduced from a teammate's death and a rough estimate of Genshin's speed based on earlier sightings. Using that flimsy intel, he had chosen to blow himself up.
No, not nonchalance—it was numbness. With so little information, he had gambled his life recklessly. It was basically suicide. His explosion might as well have been aimed at empty air.
Of course, Genshin had to give him some credit. Due to his own inexperience, his movement had been rather linear—his path nearly predicted. Fortunately, he had stayed alert and avoided serious injury.
In the end, the enemy's death was meaningless.
Life seemed worthless. Death, by contrast, looked almost like liberation.