The sudden turn of events left the burly man stunned.
Then, an even more rampant and mocking laugh erupted from his face.
"You expected that kind of trash to save you and your daughter? Hahahaha!"
"I know the ninjas from these great villages better than you do."
"They look respectable on the surface, but underneath, they're full of filth and depravity."
He roughly grabbed the woman's chin, forcing her to lift her head.
"Just accept your fate. If you serve me well, maybe I'll give you a quick death and leave you with an intact corpse."
The woman didn't respond, only muttering "Come back" over and over.
She stared blankly at the hole in the wall where the figure had vanished, a flicker of regret in her eyes.
She'd spent her life practicing medicine and saving people, never committing murder or arson, yet lately, she'd endured one misfortune after another.
Now, because of a moment of compassion, she'd drawn in this monster.
The heavens weren't leaving her any way out...
The burly man wouldn't let up, his face twisted in mockery as he kept provoking her.
"As for your daughter, I've already found her a good home."
"You like great ninjas, right? How about selling her off to one?"
The woman, already despondent, went berserk at those words.
"You beast... I'll curse you even in death—I won't let you go, even as a ghost!"
She bared her teeth and lunged her head forward, trying to bite him.
But all she got was his booming laughter.
"If that's the case, I'd really like to find out what a ghost feels like..."
Meanwhile.
The moment Hyūga Aokawa stepped out of the house and out of the burly man's sight, he bolted toward the hillside.
The room was too cramped.
The distance simply wasn't enough!
His fusion level was low, and his control over Quincy skills was weak.
He'd never used the Holy Annihilation Arrow before and had no way to instantly condense one powerful enough to kill the brute.
Within seven steps, the burly man could slaughter him before the arrow even formed.
Moreover, revealing the attack would put the man on full alert, making a hit uncertain.
He had no choice but to take it outside.
The Hyūga clan excelled in close-quarters taijutsu, but even they had been cut down like chickens by this man.
Once outside, the burly man wouldn't think much of it.
And sure enough.
The burly man in the room was lost in his twisted fantasies, completely ignoring him.
With his Byakugan active, Hyūga Aokawa's vision pierced the wooden walls, locking onto the burly man's every move inside the house.
At the same time, he calculated the precise distance needed for the arrow to reach maximum velocity.
He soon halted in the shadow of a large tree on the hillside.
Extending his right hand, he channeled chakra into the back of it.
The blue Quincy Cross suddenly glowed, light swirling around it.
An exquisite spirit bow formed from blue-white light particles materialized in his grip!
He took a deep breath, glancing back at the shack, suppressing the uncertainty in his heart.
This was his first real battle—life or death hinged on this single arrow!
Steeling his resolve, he poured in more chakra.
The spirit bow shifted form, expanding and reshaping rapidly.
It became a massive light bow, nearly as tall as him, pulsing with pure, potent energy.
With his left hand, he drew back the bowstring lightly. An arrow of highly condensed blue-white light formed slowly along with the motion!
To guarantee a kill, he recklessly squeezed out every drop of his freshly recovered chakra.
It drew wildly on the vibrant natural energy around him—gathering, compressing, solidifying!
This distance would let the arrow hit top speed, minimizing the burly man's reaction time.
But once it left his control range, it would start dissipating—the farther, the worse.
He had to ensure it still packed power on impact.
Under some inexplicable pull, the surrounding blue-white light particles converged.
The arrow thickened and brightened; nearby particles swirled in like they were summoned, emitting a faint hum.
With Byakugan focused, he locked onto the burly man. His gaze sharpened as he released the bowstring!
Boom!!
The blue-white holy annihilation arrow streaked like lightning ripping through the night, launching in an instant!
Its massive kinetic energy shattered the wooden walls in its path, piercing into the house with pinpoint accuracy—too fast for the naked eye!
Inside the house.
The burly man, grinning smugly, bound the woman's hands to a pillar and flipped her exhausted body over.
His rough hands groped at the pale skin peeking through, a twisted thrill surging inside him.
Just as he was about to continue his depravity...
Suddenly!
An inexplicable palpitation hit him—a chilling crisis exploding within!
Overwhelming fear made the burly man freeze and retreat instinctively.
Run!!
Battle-honed instincts screamed.
He moved to form seals for the Body Flicker Technique almost on autopilot.
But it was too late!
The next instant!
A deafening explosion echoed.
The flimsy wooden wall before him tore open like paper, a gaping hole blasted through.
A blue-white arrow of light burst from it, piercing straight through.
"What...?!" The burly man's mind couldn't process it.
His chest tightened suddenly—an indescribable, terrifying force had punched right through his body!
Before pain could even register, the massive impact lifted him off his feet and hurled him backward!
Bang!! Crash!
He slammed hard onto the room's floor, skidding a short distance without stopping.
A wide, shocking blood trail smeared behind him.
He stared blankly, pupils unfocused, and subconsciously glanced down at his chest.
A bowl-sized hole gaped where his solid chest had been—completely through from front to back.
He gaped at the fresh hole in the wall.
On the hillside, the kid he'd dismissed was slowly lowering a massive spirit bow.
"You... brat..."
He gritted his teeth, rage boiling up.
"You're... dead."
Bracing his hands on the ground, knuckles whitening, the burly man struggled to rise.
With the effort, his organs churned violently.
A hot surge rose; bright red blood bubbled from his mouth, mixed with froth.
The woman nearby was terrified by the sudden chaos.
She shuffled around the pillar binding her, desperately kicking her legs to distance herself from the burly man, shielding her daughter with her body.
At the same time, she stared wide-eyed at him in horror.
In a blink, the ruthless killer who'd shattered her world...
Lay like a slaughtered pig, impaled through, blood pooling.
She kept craning her neck, straining to peer outside the hole, desperate to gauge if her fate had turned for better or worse.
Through tear-blurred vision...
The figure she'd once despaired over had returned!
Like a vengeful deity, he charged back into the house!
Hyūga Aokawa's eyes were ice-cold, his movements unflinching.
He closed the distance in a few strides and dropped a heavy knee onto the burly man's immobile neck.
His left hand clamped the massive head like an iron vice.
Right hand reversed on the kunai, he stabbed down with precise, ruthless force—no hesitation!
Pfft!
The sharp tip pierced the eye socket easily, plunging straight into the brain!
The wails cut off abruptly.
Hyūga Aokawa gazed down at the burly man indifferently.
The expected nausea and vomiting didn't come.
Even in this student body...
It adapted terrifyingly well to gore, staying eerily calm—as if it were second nature.
Was this the ninja world?
So different from his previous life!
Snapping back, the burly man's body had stopped twitching.
Seeing the lifeless eyes, Hyūga Aokawa expressionlessly withdrew the kunai slowly.
He grabbed the man's clothes and meticulously wiped off the red-and-white residue.
Only then did he turn to the mother and daughter nearby, their faces etched with disbelief.
Crimson blood trickled down his face, adding a feral edge to his handsome features.
He rose slowly.
And step by step, he approached them...
(End of Chapter 3)