After settling the injured man, Masamoto frowned and began to explain the situation, "We can't take that fortress for the time being. There are several ninjas inside who are skilled in Earth Release. They keep using Ninjutsu to reinforce the walls, so our people can't break in for now."
He caught his breath and looked at Daichi. "I have to head back to provide support immediately. I'll leave Haruki to you."
Daichi nodded solemnly. "Understood, leave him to me."
Just as Masamoto turned to leave, the silent Mamoru suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but enough to make everyone freeze.
"We have guests."
Daichi asked immediately, "Guests? What guests?"
Masamoto also stopped in his tracks, looking at Mamoru in confusion, he clearly hadn't sensed anything. Was it a prank?
"What's going on?" Masamoto repeated with a frown. "I didn't notice anything."
Everyone by the campfire turned their eyes in unison toward the boy who was still sitting calmly.
Although Mamoru hadn't activated the Six Eyes, the other party was so close that their undisguised presence was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, clearly perceived by him—there were at least two people hiding nearby, and more than a dozen presences were rapidly approaching from different directions.
To be easily detected by him even without activating the Six Eyes, their stealth skills were laughably poor. However, since no one else present had noticed, it seemed their side's perception levels were equally worrying.
"Hey, stop hiding and come out!"
Mamoru stood up, walked a few steps away from the campfire, and shouted toward a nearby tree with dense foliage.
However, there was only the rustling sound of the night wind blowing through the leaves; there was no other response.
The people by the campfire looked at each other, doubt creeping onto their faces, was Mamoru really just too tense and hallucinating?
"Heh... why do I run into these idiots every time?"
Mamoru scratched his hair in annoyance, leaned down to pick up a fist-sized stone from the ground, and tossed it up and down casually.
"Do you really think your hiding skills are that good?"
Two points of cold, pale blue light suddenly lit up in his eyes, like a demon awakening in the darkness.
His lips curled into a near-cruel arc. "Since you like playing hide-and-seek so much... then don't ever 'come out'."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly pulled back his arm, his muscles bulging as he channeled his full strength into it, and fiercely hurled the stone.
The moment the stone left his hand, it even created a visible airwave, drawing a fleeting white phantom in the air.
Bang!
With a dull explosion, the stone embedded itself into the thick tree trunk.
In the next instant, wood chips and fragments flew in all directions like an explosion.
The tree trunk, which required a person's full embrace to encircle, was blown open with a terrifying hole. The crown of the tree groaned in protest and crashed down.
Before the tree hit the ground, a dark figure had already fallen from the canopy like a broken sack, hitting the floor.
Seeing the dark figure lying on the ground, everyone by the campfire was deeply shocked and stood up in horror.
"Shogen!"
A roar of shock and anger rang out, and another dark figure quickly leaped down from a neighboring tree canopy, rushing madly toward the prone figure.
When he stumbled closer and saw the situation on the ground by the faint light of the distant campfire, he was struck as if by lightning and froze in place.
The corpse on the ground known as 'Shogen' had its entire chest and abdomen completely gone, with only a little flesh on the sides barely connecting the upper and lower halves, creating a shocking cavity. With such a terrifying injury, there was no chance of survival.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
After a brief silence, the dark figure let out a heart-wrenching wail.
He suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes staring death at Mamoru, the malice in his gaze almost overflowing. His voice trembled with extreme rage. "You damn brat! You dare kill my brother... I will tear you into a thousand pieces!"
At that moment, the surrounding bushes suddenly rustled, and a dozen dark figures emerged one after another, silently cutting off their retreat.
Some of these people held Naginata, some carried cold axes, some gripped Tachi, and some even clutched rusty pitchforks.
Their weapons were a motley assortment, glinting dangerously under the cold moonlight.
Yet their faces all wore the same ruthless and hideous expression—this was exactly how real bandits and desperate criminals should look.
"Leave that brat to me!" A dark figure shouted, pointing at Mamoru with gritted teeth, his voice trembling with rage. "Kill the others, leave no one alive!"
At the command, the bandits immediately raised their weapons like hungry wolves pouncing on prey and charged toward the group by the campfire.
In an instant, the sounds of shouting, clashing weapons, and chaotic footsteps merged into one, completely shattering the silence of the forest.
In the shadows, that figure's hands quickly formed seals, a cold light glinting in his eyes as he stared fixedly at the young boy nearby.
"Your hand seal speed... doesn't seem very good."
A refreshing voice suddenly rang out in front of him. It was close and clear, as if the speaker were pressed right against his face.
The middle-aged ninja was stunned, thinking his rage had caused a hallucination.
But the moment he blinked, the person standing before him didn't disappear—the opponent was truly within arm's reach, close enough to hear his steady breathing.
"Do you want me to help you?" The person in front of him spoke again, his tone as relaxed as if they were just chatting.
The next second, the middle-aged ninja snapped out of it—this wasn't a hallucination.
Countless stray thoughts flooded his mind: When did he get close? How could he be so fast? I didn't even notice...
In his shock, his hand seal movements froze completely, his hands suspended in mid-air as if turned to stone.
Seeing him still dazed, the corner of Mamoru's lips curved up imperceptibly. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the four fingers the man had brought together for the seal.
"You...!"
Just as the middle-aged ninja tried to break free, he saw a flash of brutality in Mamoru's eyes, and those five fingers suddenly tightened.
Crack!
Blood splattered, accompanied by the tooth-aching sound of bones fracturing.
"Aaaaagh—"
A shrill scream pierced the night sky. The middle-aged ninja's face contorted instantly, his body arching like a shrimp from the pain.
This sudden scream caused the people fighting nearby to pause, their eyes turning toward him in shock and suspicion.