-----
-----
Hayata stepped into his personal training ground, but the moment he set foot inside, a chill ran down his spine. A sharp, dangerous warning rang through his mind, making every nerve scream at him to move. His feet reacted instantly—he kicked off the ground and shot backward.
A split second later, a long blade shot up from the ground where he'd been standing. The edge glimmered faintly with a bluish hue—poison.
That was way too close. One more step and his foot would've been skewered—and poisoned.
"Ninja Art: Thousand Needles Like Rain!"
At some point, a paper oil umbrella had appeared above his head. It spun rapidly, and countless senbon needles began falling like a torrential downpour, merging with the misty, never-ending drizzle that was so typical of the Land of Rain. They fell so thickly and so fast that it was impossible to tell which drops were needles and which were actual raindrops.
Seeing this, Hayata stomped hard on the ground and leapt sideways. This was clearly a wide-area attack—getting caught in it would be bad news.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Just as he dodged to the side, another ninja burst out from his escape route, hands already forming seals. In an instant, a massive water dragon roared into existence, lunging straight for him with snapping jaws.
In the blink of an eye, Hayata had walked straight into a triple-layered ambush. If he kept backing up, who knew what else they had waiting for him?
With a loud roar, Hayata gathered chakra into his right fist and drove it forward with everything he had.
BAM!
His punch smashed through the water dragon, tearing it apart in a spray of droplets. Bursting through the water, he charged straight at the ninja who had cast the jutsu.
His sudden, aggressive counterattack not only shocked the Rain-nin but also completely messed up the final step of their ambush. They were caught so off guard that by the time Hayata closed the distance, one of them was still in his face, unprepared.
Hayata's fist came swinging straight for the guy's face.
The Rain-nin's eyes widened—then WHAM! Hayata's punch connected.
But instead of a crunch of bone, the man's body exploded into a splash of water.
A water clone. At some point, the ninja had switched places.
"Rain-nin, huh?" Hayata muttered. He didn't know these specific guys, but from their jutsu and gear, it was obvious—they weren't your average shinobi.
"Hayata," one of them called out coldly, "you actually dared to attack us Rain-nin. I'll give you two choices. If you swear loyalty to Lord Hanzō right now, there's still time. We can write off your… 'accidental' attack on the Land of Rain as a misunderstanding. No one will pursue what happened before. But if you refuse…"
The ninja's smirk widened.
From the way Hayata had dodged their combined opening strike, his skill was clearly above average. They wouldn't even bother talking to him otherwise—Rain-nin usually just killed their targets outright.
"I'll take the third option," Hayata replied coldly. "Kill all four of you."
The four Rain-nin stiffened. Sure, they were all jōnin, but Hayata didn't see them as a real threat. Honestly, even if they were kage-level, he wouldn't necessarily be scared.
What he wasn't sure about was this—given his current state, how many jōnin could he actually kill without transforming into the Hulk?
He was ready to transform if it came to that, but he wanted to see if he could finish this without hulking out. After all, this place wasn't far from where he lived, and if he transformed, the collateral damage could easily reach there. And that could put Konan in danger—that was the last thing he wanted.
"Oh? Pretty cocky, aren't you?" one of the Rain-nin sneered. "You really think you alone can take the four of us? Don't think killing one jōnin makes you invincible."
Hayata didn't bother answering. Words wouldn't settle this—fighting would.
He kicked off the ground hard, shooting toward the closest Rain-nin. His fist came swinging in a brutal arc.
Even without transforming, his raw physical strength was terrifying. The Hulk's power was on a whole other level, sure—but in any form, Hayata's greatest weapon was still his sheer, overwhelming force.
Smack!
The Rain Ninja raised his arm in front of him, trying to block Takeda Hayato's attack. His reaction speed wasn't bad — in fact, just before Hayato's fist came in, he managed to get his arm up in time to block it.But he made one fatal miscalculation: he completely underestimated Hayato's strength.
Sure, Hayato's power was nowhere near what it would be if he was in his Hulk state — but even now, his raw strength was still way beyond what most people could imagine.
Boom!
Crack!
Hayato's punch slammed into the Rain Ninja's arm with a sickening snap, breaking it cleanly in one hit. Without slowing down, his fist kept driving forward, and before the Rain Ninja could even react, Hayato's punch smashed straight into his chest.
Pffft!
Hayato's fist tore right through the man's chest, his arm punching clean through his body. The Rain Ninja dangled lifelessly on Hayato's arm, eyes wide open, dying without ever closing them.
Honestly, he never even had the chance to go all out — hell, you could say he didn't even manage to try. One punch from Hayato was all it took to kill him. The guy had been way too careless, underestimating Hayato, and paid the price.
"Banshan! Damn it!"Seeing Hayato one-shot a fellow Rain Ninja, the other three's faces twisted in shock and anger. Without hesitation, they unleashed their strongest attacks, aiming to finish him right there.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Water Bullet Barrage!"
The last one, armed with a poisoned weapon, vanished from sight in a blink.
"RAAAH!" Hayato roared, his fists blurring as he launched a storm of punches. In an instant, it was like he had a thousand arms, each strike slamming into the massive waterfall surging toward him.
"You idiot, you're actually trying to block the Great Waterfall Jutsu with your fists?" one of the Rain Ninja sneered. "A stray ninja really is just a stray ninja — clearly you've never had proper training on how to counter jutsu."
"....."