'What is this?'
The white-haired woman, Number Three, was stunned.
'Why can a memory projection be influenced and changed like this?'
She was filled with confusion and alarm at this unprecedented situation.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lexon, now in his Six Paths Mode, asked once again.
However, the white-haired woman continued to stare at him in shock, remaining silent.
"Nothing to say...?" Lexon gripped his tin staff and made a pressing motion through the air.
In an instant, the white-haired woman within the memory space was crushed into dust. She dissipated like a phantom. Then, without the support of the white-haired woman's ability, the memory space collapsed along with her.
...
Back on the carriage, Lexon opened his eyes. The scene returned to the ongoing battle where Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were still entangled with the two Chunin.
'Enemy Reincarnators...' Lexon thought, recalling the white-haired woman he had just seen in that strange space.
Since his strength had reached the peak of the Six Paths level, Lexon had developed a vague resonance with the laws of this world, allowing him to sense many things. Anything involving himself would trigger a certain degree of perception.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he could sense Black Zetsu's memories being casually flipped through. In the Naruto world, the Sage of Six Paths—whose strength was even below Lexon's current level—could guard the Pure Land for eternity, occasionally peer into the ninja world, and even grant buffs to Naruto and Sasuke during the final battle against Kaguya.
Lexon's current level of ability simply meant his understanding of this world's laws was not yet deep enough.
'The images just now showed Black Zetsu talking to me... does that mean something happened on his end?'
Even his memories were being peeked at...
A moment later, the communicator in Lexon's robes suddenly buzzed.
'Someone sent a message?' Lexon wondered. 'If I remember correctly... I only gave a communicator to Kakuzu in this world. It seems something really did happen with the Akatsuki?'
Lexon pulled out the communicator and glanced at the message.
[Rain Village, Nine Lives.]
As expected, something had gone wrong. It looked urgent, too—so urgent that an old-timer like Kakuzu had actually made a typo while asking for help.
'What should I do? Well, what else can I do?'
Lexon didn't overthink it. His fingers moved quickly across the buttons to send a reply before stuffing the communicator back into his robes.
Then, Lexon continued to sit on the carriage, watching the Genin Trio deal with the two lackey Chunin sent by Zabuza.
It had to be said that Konoha's Genin Trio lived up to their reputation. Very quickly, the two battle-hardened Chunin were taken down by their combined efforts. The month-long regime of medicinal injections had indeed raised their strength by more than just one level.
Even Sakura Haruno, whose talent was nowhere near Naruto's or Sasuke's, had managed to reach the threshold of Chunin strength. Considering that some ninjas struggle their whole lives just to reach that level, Lexon couldn't help but sigh... Orochimaru really was better off staying a scientist.
'Why bother with ambition? Honestly...'
"Teacher, it's done," Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura returned to Lexon's side to report.
"Good job," Lexon replied perfunctorily.
"Teacher... those two assassins were clearly ninjas... judging by their strength, they might even be Chunin. This mission shouldn't be..."
Sasuke had excellent grades at the Ninja Academy, so he naturally understood mission classifications. Based on his own judgment, those two were at least Chunin, so he spoke quietly to Lexon. While speaking, he cast a cold gaze at Tazuna, who was peeking out from the carriage to observe the situation.
A mission like this... could get people killed.
Although Sasuke's heart was filled with thoughts of revenge, he hadn't yet evolved into the ultimate "Second Pillar" state of disregarding everything else. He still held basic concepts regarding the village. He could vaguely tell that Tazuna had intentionally hidden the truth, so he naturally had no good feelings toward a client who might have gotten the village's ninjas killed.
"Once the mission is finished, you can deal with him however you want..." Lexon said with total indifference.
Sasuke understood his teacher's meaning: wait until the mission is over. He stopped dwelling on the matter. After all, it was a good opportunity to hone his skills. Plus, with this Anbu teacher who was at least Jonin-level present, nothing should go wrong.
Whoosh...
Suddenly, two sounds of breaking air rang out.
In front of Lexon's carriage, two figures flickered into existence. One was tall, his face wrapped in bandages, carrying a massive sword on his back and exuding an aura of slaughter. The other was smaller, wearing a mask and with their hair tied up, radiating a cold aura.
"Those two idiots were slaughtered by you..." The newcomer, Zabuza Momochi, looked at the two lifeless ninjas on the ground and spoke indifferently.
"Such thick killing intent!" Among the trio, Sasuke was the most sensitive to auras. He immediately sensed the hair-raising killing intent coming from Zabuza. His eyes instantly transformed into the One-Tomoe Sharingan as he pulled out a kunai and took a defensive stance.
Naruto and Sakura also felt uncomfortable facing Zabuza, and they followed suit, pulling out their kunai.
Zabuza had once been one of the Hidden Mist Village's elite Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Scaring a few brats with his killing intent was a common occurrence for him.
"Was it you brats who killed them? Or that Anbu ninja watching the show behind the mask? By the way, is Tazuna in that carriage?" As he spoke, Zabuza slowly pulled the Executioner's Blade from his back. His killing intent and malicious aura flared even harder, attempting to intimidate them.
Under the impact of his ferocious aura, the three Konoha Genin, who lacked real-world experience, couldn't help but feel a sense of horror. Their original strength dropped to about eighty percent.
The horse resting by the carriage and Tazuna, who had no chakra training to nourish his body, were both instantly knocked unconscious by the shock and collapsed.
"I've taken a contract. I have to kill Tazuna."
Zabuza's eyes seemed to glow with a fierce light. He held the Executioner's Blade halfway up, posing for a strike.
"Demon Zabuza Momochi..." Lexon was the only one who remained completely calm and unchanged under the pressure. He looked at Zabuza and softly uttered his name.
Meeting him this time, Lexon felt that Zabuza seemed much more vicious than before. Had he become more resentful after escaping the Hidden Mist's pursuit and becoming an assassin? That was a possibility.
Lexon didn't even consider whether Zabuza had previously acted like a little lamb only because Lexon was too powerful...
But if someone had asked, Lexon would likely have just smiled and replied, "How could that be? I'm a very friendly person..."
Hearing the Anbu ninja call out his title, a look of interest appeared on Zabuza's face. "Oh? You know me?"
"I do," Lexon replied.
"Heh... then get ready to die..." The veins on Zabuza's arm bulged as he gripped the Executioner's Blade, ready to strike.
"Master Zabuza..."
But suddenly, Haku grabbed Zabuza's sleeve and spoke to him with a hint of nervousness.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]