Countless golden rays rained down from the sky.
A Sand Shinobi looked up.
"What kind of meteor is that...?"
Mito Duoya stared at the scene, fear instantly swallowing his heart whole.
"It's him!"
"It's that guy!"
"Hanyu Simu! Hanyu Simu is here!"
As a Jōnin, Mito didn't even think about resisting.
He turned around and ran toward the mine.
A trace of confusion flashed across the Sand Shinobi's face—
—and then, the entire city wall was engulfed in a terrifying storm of golden light.
This was no attack a human could possibly withstand.
A deafening roar echoed through Black Iron Town.
The golden light, falling like a torrential rain, utterly destroyed the massive city wall, hundreds of meters long.
The Shinobi stationed atop it were obliterated in seconds.
Mito screamed as he ran.
Simu's arrival had already alerted the town's defense forces.
Rossi burst out of the mine's main office, followed by hundreds of Sand Shinobi.
"Help! We're under attack! Enemy attack!" Mito cried, running blindly.
Simu stepped forward into the air, his toes barely tapping the sky.
Soft golden ripples spread out from his feet.
In mere seconds, he caught up to Mito.
"You think you can outrun light?"
Simu suddenly appeared in front of Mito Duoya.
The latter clenched his jaw, forcing himself to fight his fear.
He formed a seal and spat a stream of water at Simu.
"Water Style: Water Whale Technique!"
A massive torrent surged out, morphing into a giant whale that charged straight at Simu.
"Oh, an A-rank jutsu. How terrifying~" Simu said with mock fright.
He stepped mid-air.
Armament Haki surged from his body as he struck down hard with his foot.
The pressure halted the water whale mid-charge—
—and then crushed it entirely under his heel.
Water exploded in all directions.
Amid the chaos, Simu raised a finger and pointed.
A scorching laser shot through the air, piercing Mito Duoya's shoulder in an instant.
The burn left a charred, blackened hole.
Simu instantly appeared before him, speaking softly:
"Traitors… are the most disgusting."
His fists glowed with blinding light, moving at impossible speed.
One punch sent Mito flying like a flash of light, crashing into the mine and smashing open a massive crater in front of Rossi and the other Sand Shinobi.
Turbulent shockwaves blew Rossi's hair back.
His eyes narrowed with intense caution.
"As expected of the man who defeated Elder Ebizō..."
Rossi knew full well—he wasn't stronger than Ebizō.
So there was no way he would fight Simu one-on-one.
He shouted coldly, "Everyone, attack at once!"
There were 500 troops stationed here.
Simu had traveled across nearly the entire desert to get here.
Even if he was a genius, his chakra must have limits—
—and once it runs out, that's when Rossi will strike.
Hundreds of Sand Shinobi stepped forward simultaneously.
Though not many of them were Jōnin, their teamwork was far above that of ordinary ninja.
They formed hand seals in unison, their bellies expanding unnaturally.
"Wind Style: Gale Break!"
Hundreds of raging air currents converged into a devastating tornado, spinning furiously as it charged toward Simu.
"Hundreds of people ganging up on me? That's actually kinda scary," Simu muttered as he grew serious.
Still with his hands in his pockets, a dark red pattern crept across his face—Sage Mode.
He gathered natural energy into his feet.
With a flash, he kicked out.
The blow connected cleanly with the oncoming tornado.
"Yo... that's terrifying."
Though his tone remained casual, the strength behind his kick didn't falter.
As his power increased, the light around his foot intensified.
In a brilliant flash, the tornado shattered—
—dissolving into chaotic gusts that scattered harmlessly.
Seeing such a powerful attack fail, Rossi's face turned pale.
"Get him!"
Hundreds of ninjas roared and charged, brandishing kunai and weapons.
Simu narrowed his eyes.
A sword of light formed in his hand as he rushed into the swarm of enemies.
Countless kunai stabbed at him—
—but under the precision of Simu's Observation Haki, he could see every movement in perfect detail.
Not a single blade touched his body.
Each swing of his lightsaber cut down three or four ninjas.
"342."
"298."
"206."
Simu counted accurately, using Observation Haki to track every foe.
The number of enemies dwindled rapidly.
Just as he was about to unleash an area-wide attack, the enemy abruptly stopped.
"He's... a monster!" one ninja cried out.
Then another dropped his weapon and ran.
More followed, panic spreading like wildfire.
It was a chain reaction—
—once one fell, the rest followed.
No matter how loudly Rossi yelled, the fleeing ninjas didn't stop.
Fighting Simu meant certain death.
Running meant there might still be hope.
Simu pushed up his glasses.
"It's not like I come and go as I please."
He poured a massive amount of natural energy into his sword.
"Sage Art: Light Ripple."
He slashed horizontally at the air.
A wave of soft golden light spread from him like ripples on water.
The nearly invisible waves reached the fleeing shinobi in seconds.
They felt nothing—
—until a line split open on their backs, and their world flipped upside down.
Cleanly sliced in half.
The chaotic battlefield fell silent.
Rossi stared at the hundreds of fallen ninja in shock.
He couldn't even begin to understand what had just happened.
More than 200 elite shinobi fell in an instant.
His legs felt like they were filled with lead.
He wanted to run—but his body refused to move.
"Damn it...!"
He roared with all his might.
Ten chakra threads burst from his fingers.
A massive centipede-like puppet erupted from the ground beneath Simu's feet!
Hundreds of razor-sharp claws slashed toward Simu like steel blades.
"A centipede, huh?" Simu muttered, one hand still casually in his pocket, as his figure blurred—
—and vanished.
Hundreds of steel blades rained down in an instant—
—but none of them could kill Simu.
With one hand holding his lightsaber, he casually swung it, the blade slicing cleanly through the center of the massive puppet.
Just one strike.
The puppet, once a terror on the battlefield, couldn't even twitch before it was split in half.
"Alright, don't struggle. Struggling only brings more pain."
Simu raised his hands slightly.
Then—his entire body turned into a flash of golden light. After refracting several times midair, he appeared behind Rossi.
Rossi's expression twisted into a grotesque grimace.
"I won't go down that easily!"
Suddenly, dozens of kunai launched from a hidden mechanism on his back, piercing straight through Simu's body.
Rossi grinned triumphantly.
"Hah! Didn't expect that, did you? You let your guard down behind me—"
But before he could finish, the grin on his face froze.
Then his entire body turned cold—from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
He'd used this trick to turn the tables on countless enemies in battle.
But this time, it did absolutely nothing.
The sharp kunai passed cleanly through Simu's body—
—then flew off into the sky without leaving a scratch.
Simu hadn't even taken his hands out of his pockets.
He casually patted his chest.
"That was close. Good thing I'm the one who ate the Glint-Glint Fruit."
"Normal attacks can't even touch me."
Ignoring Rossi's despair-filled stare, Simu slowly lowered one foot—
—and stomped him into the ground like he was nothing.
He clapped the dust off his hands casually.
"You're done."
From Rossi's unconscious body, he retrieved a large set of keys.
Then, with his hands still in his pockets, Simu headed for the top of the mine.
Below, thousands of miners stared up at him.
His Observation Haki spread across the area like a sweeping radar.
With a slight smirk, he said, "You're all free now."
The hundreds of keys in his hand turned into glowing streaks of light, scattering across the mine.
The moment the miners realized what was happening, chaos erupted.
They rushed forward like madmen, fumbling to grab the keys and unlock the shackles around their hands and feet.
Then they bolted for the exits, running like their lives depended on it.
Simu didn't look back at the emotional, chaotic crowd.
Instead, he wandered leisurely toward the ironworks.
This was where the newly crafted weapons were stored.
As for the blacksmiths? They had already fled the moment Simu took down Rossi—
—terrified that he might kill them next.
Inside the ironworks, the furnace was still burning.
In front of it stood a towering mountain of weapons.
Packed in crate after crate were kunai, shuriken, ninja blades, giant swords—you name it, it was here.
Simu stroked his chin.
"Such a waste to leave all this behind."
Just then, the phone denden mushi on his wrist spoke:
"If Mr. Kizaru wishes to take all the weapons, he can summon a larger version of me."
"That way, I can swallow the weapons into my stomach and store them in Wetbone Forest. When needed, you can summon them back out, Mr. Kizaru."
Simu's glasses gleamed.
"Why didn't I think of that earlier? Thanks, Katsuyu."
"This is my duty," Katsuyu replied warmly.
Thanks to Simu inheriting Admiral Kizaru's body constitution, his chakra reserves were now enormous.
While he couldn't summon Katsuyu's full body, summoning a large-scale clone was no problem.
He bit his thumb and slammed his palm into the ground.
A massive summoning circle expanded to cover the entire ironworks.
With a loud boom, a cloud of smoke exploded outward.
A gigantic Katsuyu, towering like a mountain, appeared in the middle of the facility.
Simu stood atop her head.
It was the largest version of Katsuyu he'd ever summoned.
"It's an honor to assist you, Mr. Kizaru," she said.
Simu scratched his head and smiled.
"No, no—I'm the one imposing, summoning you just to help haul cargo."
"Just kidding, Mr. Kizaru."
Without another word, the enormous Katsuyu began to split apart.
Smaller Katsuyu clones peeled off her body one after another, rapidly shrinking in size.
These smaller versions opened their mouths and swallowed the weapon crates whole, wrapping them in a white, mud-like fluid before sealing them inside.
The whole process took less than five minutes.
"Nice. All done," Simu clapped.
Efficient, clean—and nothing wasted.
After saying his goodbyes, Simu released the Summoning Technique.
Tens of thousands of Katsuyu clones vanished into smoke in an instant, blanketing half of Black Iron Town.
"Now then… looks like everyone's gone."
"Hm?"
With a sharp glance, Simu sensed something off.
His Observation Haki picked up more than 300 people still lingering at the edge of town.
They hadn't left.
Simu frowned.
He turned into a beam of light and reappeared in front of them.
"If you don't leave now, you'll die."
His mission wasn't just to wipe out the defenders—
—it was to destroy the entire mine.
The group immediately fell to their knees and kowtowed before him.
"We'll never forget your mercy, great hero! If you're willing, we'd all like to follow you!"
One of them cried out:
"I was once a ninja. Please, take me with you—I'll be of use!"
"Me too!"
Simu scanned the crowd—about one-third of them were indeed former ninjas.
He scratched his chin.
"Hm… that's a bit troublesome."
After a moment of thought, he remembered a place perfect for them.
"Go to the Land of Ghosts."
"The Land of Ghosts?"
They looked shocked.
Could a hero like this really be from such a small neutral nation?
"There, find a man named Tokumitsu Hyuga. He'll take care of you."
A year ago, after Rei released Tokumitsu from the Hyuga Clan's cursed Caged Bird Seal, he sent him to the neutral Land of Ghosts to handle diplomatic and business matters.
Now, Tokumitsu had established the Aster Flower Chamber of Commerce—
—a thriving trade company in need of manpower.
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing Simu's decision, the group quickly gathered supplies from the abandoned town and headed for the Land of Ghosts.
Once they were gone…
Simu ascended high into the sky.
He held out both hands, channeling energy.
Chakra from Sage Mode mixed with energy from the Glint-Glint Fruit.
A small, dazzling orb of condensed light formed between his palms.
"Sage Art: Core Light Jade!"
Moments after the last of the miners disappeared, a gigantic mushroom cloud erupted from the center of the mine.
The blinding light and searing heat consumed the entire area—
—reducing what had once been a rich, bustling mine into ash.
Far in the distance, the miners paused and turned to look.
Their eyes widened as they watched the sky turn white from the blast.
That moment sealed their loyalty to Simu.
They would never forget the hero who destroyed Black Iron Town.
The once prosperous city now lay in ruins.
All that remained of the vast ore deposits were molten rivers of liquid metal.
And to Simu's surprise—
This mine hadn't just held metal...
Beneath the shattered rock bed, thick black oil bubbled up like a spring.
Gazing out across the vast desert, Simu clicked his tongue.
"Huh… looks like this place was a real treasure trove after all."
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