Chapter 6: Ninjutsu Requires Hand Seals? That's a Game for the Weak.
"Ninja Art: Rainfall Senbon!"
The Mechanical Oil Umbrella ascended and spun.
Thousands of poisoned needles rained down, sealing off all angles of evasion. A certain death situation!
"Heh."
Yahiko stood at the center of the needle rain, a sneer twisting his lips.
There was no need to dodge.
Because if he deleted the process of "being hit," the result would cease to exist.
"King Crimson!"
The world lost its color.
For this second, time was the private property of the Emperor.
Yahiko strolled through the frozen poisoned needles, every step landing on a loophole in fate. He walked up to the leading Captain Koizumi, his Ninja Blade in hand, devoid of any flourish, holding only pure killing intent.
He thrust it out.
Time flowed again.
"Wha—"
Captain Koizumi didn't even have time to blink.
One second ago, the target was ten meters away waiting to die; the next second, a cold, indifferent face was pressed against his nose.
Pfft!
The cold blade directly pierced his lung, protruding from his back.
There was no whoosh of the Body Flicker Technique, nor any sign of a Chakra burst. It was as if... a segment of the world's film had been cut out!
"Cough!"
Blood gushed from Koizumi's mouth, and his pupils trembled violently.
"Captain?!"
The remaining two Rain Ninja felt their scalps prickle. What the hell? How did he get over here?
"Bastard! Die!"
Ishida, the burly Rain Ninja on the left, hadn't processed what happened yet, and he roared as he drew his sword and charged.
But he had just stepped within two meters of Yahiko.
Boom!
An invisible heavy punch slammed down out of thin air!
Ishida couldn't even let out a scream; his chest instantly caved in, and he flew backward like a tattered sandbag, smashing violently into a rock and turning into a pile of mangled flesh.
Instant kill. Another instant kill!
No visible attack, no visible Hand Seals.
This wasn't a battle between Ninja; this was a one-sided massacre!
"Koji!! Attack!!"
Captain Koizumi, whose chest had been pierced, had a sudden resurgence of energy. He gripped the blade embedded in his body tightly with both hands, his eyes wild: "Don't mind me! Kill him!!"
Koji, the last Rain Ninja, shuddered, and the pressure of fear triggered a desperate will to survive.
He frantically performed Hand Seals, his fingers a blur.
Ram—Horse—Snake—Dragon—Rat... "Water Release: Wild Water Wave!!"
Boom!
The rushing water turned into a shockwave, carrying the resolve to kill the captain's killer, and surged toward the black-robed figure.
However, facing the oncoming Water Release, Yahiko didn't even draw his sword.
He looked at Koji's complicated Hand Seal movements, his expression like watching a primitive man trying to make fire by drilling wood.
"Hand Seals?"
Yahiko sighed, and the hideous red-and-white grid phantom suddenly appeared behind him.
"Ninjutsu is not such an inconvenient thing."
Buzz!
Stand: King Crimson!
The pair of arms that no one but Yahiko could see turned into blurry afterimages in the air.
0.5 seconds.
Seven seals, completed!
There was no wind-up.
Just as Koji's Wild Water Wave burst forth—
Roar!!!
A ferocious and violent Water Dragon suddenly appeared out of thin air, three times larger than the Wild Water Wave!
"What?!"
Koji's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.
You have your hands in your pockets and didn't make any Hand Seals, so where did that S-Rank Water Dragon Bullet come from?! Are you Cheating?!
Rumble—!
The Water Dragon was like a heavy truck colliding with a bicycle, instantly swallowing the meager stream of water, and slammed into Koji with undiminished force.
The sound of shattering bones was incessant.
Koji, along with most of his chest cavity, was instantly obliterated. His remains were propelled twenty meters by the Water Dragon, embedded into the mountain wall.
Annihilation.
From the moment the enemy moved until all of them died, only a dozen seconds had passed.
"This... this is... your..."
Captain Koizumi released his grip on the blade. The life in his eyes vanished along with his fear.
Thump.
Yahiko pulled out the Ninja Blade, letting the corpse slide into the mud.
He flicked the blood drops off the blade, looked at the mess on the ground, his expression as calm as if he had just stepped on a few ants.
"The dead do not need understanding."
Pat-a, pat-a.
Hasty footsteps broke through the curtain of rain.
Countless pieces of paper converged in the air, and Konan landed, her face anxious: "Yahiko! Hurry, let's go, they..."
Her voice abruptly stopped.
Konan froze in place, her mind blank.
She had imagined countless scenarios: Yahiko severely wounded, captured, or even dead.
But never this one.
Three elite Rain Ninja Anbu members lay dismembered, having met extremely gruesome deaths.
Yet the orange-haired man standing amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood didn't have a single speck of mud on him.
This suffocating sense of oppression... was this truly the sunny, smiling Yahiko?
"Hanzou's people have already closed in?"
Konan took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the turbulent waves in her heart.
"Just a few scouting rats."
Yahiko sheathed his sword and turned to look at the simple, abandoned shack.
That was the "home" where they had hidden for several days, but now, it was meaningless.
"Go wake Nagato, and evacuate immediately."
There was no trace of nostalgia in Yahiko's voice. "Don't bother with the garbage; the main force will be here soon."
Konan nodded subconsciously, but then suddenly reacted: "Evacuate? The entire Land of Rain is filled with Hanzou's spies. Where else can we go?"
The Akatsuki now only had three members, all of whom were injured. Aside from fleeing the country, what other way out was there?
Yahiko stopped.
He turned his head, his deep eyes piercing the rain curtain to look at the towering building in the distance.
That was the center of power in the Land of Rain, and Hanzou's throne.
"Flee?"
Yahiko's mouth curved into an arc of arrogance, his gaze sharp as a knife.
"No, Konan."
"These days of hiding like rats are over."
He raised his hand and pointed toward the tall tower symbolizing "God."
"Our next base—is the Amekage Building."
"Since Hanzou wants our lives, then we shall take his head."
"The dynamic of offense and defense, it's time to switch it up."