Chapter 104: Defeated in One Move, What's There to Say?
On the other side, Izumi was already panting heavily.
The Sharingan could see the movements clearly, but her body could no longer keep up.
Hana's situation was even worse—she didn't dare use lethal force against Gaimaru and could only dodge blindly.
The controlled leader took the opportunity to smash a punch into her shoulder, sending Hana flying sideways into a tree trunk.
"Cough..."
She clutched her shoulder, struggling to stand up.
"Konoha's Ninjas are nothing special after all."
Shirō stood where he was, barely moving, his fingers tracing patterns casually in the air.
Three more "Words" flew out.
Izumi flipped to avoid them and threw a shuriken to counterattack—
Shirō easily leaned to the side to avoid it, his smile widening.
"With just this little skill, you dare to meddle?" He licked his lips. "Why not stay and become my puppets? A Sharingan puppet... just thinking about it is exciting."
Izumi grit her teeth.
Her Chakra was nearly bottomed out.
The snickering Shirō suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and his laughter died instantly.
It was his body's instinctive alarm; intuition told him that a great horror had descended.
Without thinking, he tried to lunge to the side—
Only to find that his feet were already sunk into the ground!
"When did—"
A shadow loomed over his head, and Shirō hurriedly looked up to see a figure descending from the sky, a heel coming straight for his face.
He wanted to raise his hand to write, but the opponent was already in front of him. Shirō had to abandon the technique and cross his arms over his head for protection.
He poured all his Chakra into his arms.
The next second—
"Tenshu Kyaku!"
Bang!
Crack! Crack!
Shirō heard the crisp sound of snapping.
Those were his bones.
"How is this poss..."
Before he could finish, he was kicked into the dirt, with half his body buried in the ground.
"Yo, your bones are quite tough." Haruko withdrew his foot and patted the dust off his pants. "I didn't kick your head directly into your chest cavity; looks like I'm still far behind Master."
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
After a brief moment of numbness, agonizing pain radiated from his arms, and a shrill scream echoed through the woods.
"Boss!...Gak."
Shirō's lackeys, who weren't very strong to begin with, were distracted by their boss's defeat and were taken down by another Haruko in the blink of an eye.
"Damn it! Damn it! Even without my hands..."
The pain distorted Shirō's features. A flash of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes as he attempted to continue controlling the leader and the Ninja Hound with the Word Binding Jutsu.
"Kill him for—"
"Seriously, man? Is your head always this stubborn?"
Thwack!
Another crisp sound.
"Hmm, sounds like a good head, and the position was just right too."
The Haruko beside Shirō—the Shadow Clone—withdrew his foot again.
Now the world was quiet.
The White Bird leader and Gaimaru, who were about to pounce on Haruko, stopped as if their power had been cut.
"Whine—"
Gaimaru wagged his tail and lunged toward Hana, who hugged him tightly, her eyes turning red.
"That's great, Gaimaru..."
Izumi pulled out some wire and began to arrest the thieves Haruko had dealt with, her mind still in a daze.
Although she had long known the gap between her and Haruko was like a chasm, seeing him take down an enemy who had pushed her to the brink in a single move was still too shocking.
"Whew... whew..."
The leader panted heavily, the feeling of surviving a disaster making him almost want to cry.
"Thank you... thank you, my lord!"
"Don't be so quick to thank me." Haruko shook his head. "We originally came here to catch you."
"...Sigh, I figured as much."
...
Half an hour later.
Everyone had finished cleaning up the battlefield and tied all the thieves up like rice dumplings.
The White Bird leader didn't choose to run; instead, he cooperated fully with the interrogation.
He admitted to almost all the cases—
"Really not?"
"No. How could I possibly steal that family heirloom?"
—Except for this specific request: the Mayor's Jade Cabbage.
The interrogation continued, but Haruko had zero interest in the two girls' detective game.
"Better to let them find the truth themselves; they need to see the sinister nature of people sooner rather than later. If it really doesn't work out, I'll tell them the answer."
Haruko had more important things to do right now.
"Speak, where is your hideout?"
He crouched down in front of Shirō, fiddling with a Kunai in his hand.
Shirō grit his teeth and turned his head away, remaining silent.
Haruko wasn't annoyed either, calmly using Water Release to create a water ball.
"There's an old saying in the Ninja World: 'He who understands the times is a wise man." I hope you can cooperate with my work."
Blub blub blub blub—
Without waiting for a response, Haruko pressed the water ball directly onto Shirō's face.
Waterboarding—it never failed.
Only when Shirō's eyes started rolling back from drowning did Haruko pull the water ball away.
"Cough, cough, cough... you..."
"Wrong answer!"
Blub blub blub blub—
"I'll talk, I'll talk! It's in a cave three kilometers to the north!"
After being dunked twice, Shirō's survival instinct instantly exploded.
"Wouldn't it have been better to cooperate like this from the start? Wasting my time."
Haruko tossed Shirō aside like a rag and turned around to meet the gaze of Hana and Izumi, which looked like a pie chart.
—Three parts fear, three parts gratitude, three parts admiration, and one part frustration.
"Are you guys done with your interrogation?"
Haruko didn't care at all—he considered himself quite gentle; these girls just hadn't seen enough yet.
"Yes... we suspect someone from the Mayor's manor stole it themselves and then framed the white bird..."
"Yeah, I think so too." Haruko nodded. "Go back and check the Mayor's house to see what everyone was doing on the night of the crime, and if anyone has suddenly quit or gone missing recently. You'll likely find a lead."
"However, before that..." Haruko turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, how about a detour?"
Kakashi narrowed his dead-fish eyes and flipped a page of " icha icha paradise ": "Well... recovering evidence is also very important."
...
The cave entrance was hidden behind a patch of bushes.
If Shirō hadn't led the way, it would have been truly difficult to find.
"It's right here," Shirō said weakly.
"Mm." Haruko nodded, then grabbed Hana, who was trying to head inside.
"What are you doing!" Hana complained to Haruko, puffing out her cheeks.
Haruko didn't answer and formed a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Poof.
"Remember for next time: don't just wander into an enemy's base."
The Shadow Clone left those words and cautiously walked into the cave.
Hana and Izumi watched from behind, completely stunned.
Is this guy... really the same expert who just insta-killed a strong enemy? He looks like a cowardly old veteran no matter how you look at it!
Ignoring the girls' looks, Haruko watched Shirō, whose face was turning ugly, and silently condensed a water ball.
"You'd better pray my Shadow Clone is fine. If the memories it sends back make me uncomfortable..."
Watching Haruko approach step by step, Shirō turned pale and actually began to pray under his breath.
...
On the other side, after dealing with three traps, the Shadow Clone finally reached the deepest part without further incident. There were several boxes and some scrolls piled inside.
"That's it?"
Haruko was a bit disappointed; he thought he could scavenge some good stuff.
After confirming there were no traps, Haruko walked to a box and casually opened one.
Inside were gold and silver jewelry and some cash.
"Not bad, at least it's not a wasted trip."
He then looked at the scrolls.
Most were ordinary Ninjutsu scrolls, but two looked relatively special.
One had "Word Binding Jutsu" written on the cover.
The other...
Haruko picked it up and looked at it, his pupils shrinking slightly.
"Holy crap! A bag of rice!"
Three large characters were written on the scroll—[Heavenly Fury Eruption].
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