Uchiha

"Kekkei Genkai?!"

Ayai’s face twisted. The shattered bones in his hands had already pierced through the muscles and tendons in his wrists. He knew he was crippled. Even if he made it back alive, without a top-tier medical ninja, his hands would never be able to do a ninja’s work again.

Bai Cangshu had no interest in dealing with him. When these Plot Characters faced reincarnators, their absolute disadvantage in information made it difficult for them to understand many of the reincarnators’ methods.

He raised his right foot, and the next moment, two cracking sounds rang out.

"Aah!"

Ayai cried out in pain. Both his knees were crushed beneath the stomp, and his entire body immediately went limp, yet someone grabbed him and lifted him up.

In the distance, the Iwagakure ninjas exchanged a few looks. Their leading Jonin had been killed by the terrifying storm just now, so they directly chose to retreat. The group of ninjas used the Body Flicker Jutsu at the same time and disappeared.

It had to be said that the power system of the Naruto World was quite comprehensive. Even the most basic Three Basic Jutsu—the Transformation Jutsu, Clone Technique, and Substitution Technique—could provide considerable assistance to reincarnators operating in either the real world or other worlds.

Beyond that, the Body Flicker Jutsu currently used by these ninjas gave this system the high-speed mobility essential to most high-level Ability Users in battle. Compared to the One Piece World’s Six Powers: Soru, or the Bleach World’s Shunpo, Sonído, and Hirenkyaku, its threshold was extremely low.

The Body Flicker Jutsu was merely a basic D-rank ninjutsu. It was practically the easiest high-speed movement ability a reincarnator could access, and it also possessed immense room for growth.

From ninjutsu-based body flickering to taijutsu-based body flickering, it could later even be further enhanced through the various nature transformations of Chakra.

Catherine and Ran watched Mercenary Tao without giving chase. Neither of them pursued the ninjas either. Their mindsets had rapidly undergone a certain change: from initially wanting to slaughter everyone, to seeing Wind Lord fall for the trap and die instantly, to Mercenary Tao finally displaying overwhelming strength and taking an inexplicably strange stance.

This two-person team had become completely guarded.

"Tsk. Only thinking of being on guard now? Isn’t that a little too late?"

Bai Cangshu was somewhat disappointed in these reincarnators, but this time, he did not kill the two of them. Or rather, he had decided not to kill them yet.

It was clear from the battle just now that these two reincarnators were probably the type who excelled at perception.

The guy using alchemy had not sensed anything unusual, but these two had vigilantly detected that something was wrong in advance. During the fight, they had also tracked the ninjas hiding in the darkness with remarkable clarity.

In this world, the two of them would most likely be useful.

Catherine and Ran’s bodies stiffened slightly. For an instant, they wanted to turn and flee, but the speed Mercenary Tao had displayed was too terrifying. He had crossed more than ten meters in almost an instant, killed multiple ninjas, and controlled the Kumogakure Jonin before he could form hand seals.

Sweat dripped from Ran’s forehead. His heart pounded violently as if convulsing. He considered whether, if he transformed, he could carry Catherine and escape, but no matter how he thought about it, the odds of survival were not high enough.

Catherine’s face was pale as well, but she still sorted through her thoughts and forced out a smile. "If you wanted to kill us, you would have acted directly. Since you’re willing to speak with us, I assume there’s something you need us for?"

Damn it, it’s been so long since I smiled that my facial muscles are completely stiff. Catherine knew that her smile must have looked terribly forced, but there was nothing she could do. In their usual missions, they had never encountered someone like Mercenary Tao.

He had a Fierce Reputation, and his thoughts were impossible to fathom.

His performance in that battle alone made Catherine feel a needle-like sharpness. He was a beast, constantly radiating the oppressive presence of a predator toward everyone around him.

Bai Cangshu beckoned to the two of them, the smile on his face unchanged. Catherine and Ran looked at the smile on Mercenary Tao’s ugly red face and felt their scalps go numb.

At this point, they were caught between advancing and retreating. If they approached, they feared being killed. But if they disobeyed him now, they would most likely provoke him directly.

The two exchanged a look. In the end, they could only take a deep breath and slowly approach Bai Cangshu.

Holding the dark-skinned Kumogakure Jonin, Bai Cangshu walked toward the woman, who still had not grasped the situation. Suddenly, Bai Cangshu frowned. His hand shot up and pinched the ninja’s jaw.

With a crack, the man’s jaw dislocated completely, forcing his mouth open.

Bai Cangshu could clearly see the poison pill hidden among his teeth.

These ninjas had become complete human weapons. Not only did they disregard the lives of others, they could casually discard their own lives as well.

Bai Cangshu could not derive pleasure from this sort of death. He flicked a finger, and a burst of force struck the man’s jaw. The poison pill immediately loosened from between his teeth and rolled out.

"Don’t rush. I’ll kill you later. Before that, though, I need you to interpret this sort of cipher for me."

"Since your Kumogakure wants Konoha’s intelligence so badly, you naturally have a way to interpret this cipher, right?"

Ayai became even more unable to understand this terrifying man’s position. Did he really seem interested in Konoha’s top-secret intelligence?

Could he be from Kirigakure or one of the Sand Ninja?

Smack!

With a light slap from Bai Cangshu, Ayai’s cheek immediately swelled, interrupting his thoughts. Bai Cangshu did not like his captives thinking.

When Ayai still did not speak, Bai Cangshu slapped him again.

Catherine’s eyelids twitched. She felt that if this Plot Character kept refusing to talk, Mercenary Tao would probably slap him to death. She coughed and took the initiative. "I can use Mental Power to probe another person’s thoughts. Of course, that requires their Mental Power to be lower than mine."

Ran turned to look at his companion. After working together for so long, this was the first time he had discovered that Catherine, this fierce woman, could also have such a considerate side.

Bai Cangshu glanced at Catherine. Through the Transparent World, he could see her muscle density and breathing rate with absolute clarity. Her physique was probably much stronger than that of an ordinary person, but she was clearly still quite far from the limit.

Catherine instinctively turned sideways. Mercenary Tao’s gaze seemed capable of seeing through her body.

"Very good. It seems you’re a useful reincarnator."

Bai Cangshu gave Catherine a rather favorable evaluation. In truth, in his eyes, many reincarnators were completely unqualified. They were merely fools who had obtained a little power through luck and become utterly carried away.

They acted casually and died casually. From life to death, their lives remained in the hands of chance.

Just like that alchemist from earlier.

With a gentle push of Bai Cangshu’s left hand, Ayai fell toward Catherine. Ran immediately reached out and lifted the adult male, who weighed roughly one hundred and fifty jin, with one hand as well.

The people of the Naruto World did not possess exaggerated physiques. Whether in height, weight, or muscle density, most were at the level of ordinary people. Only through years of training and reliance on the energy system known as Chakra could they surpass normal human limits.

Bai Cangshu once again realized the benefits that a world with a complete inherited system offered reincarnators. Simply put, after crossing the First Tier, the energy intensity and energy control required for the Second Tier were not particularly difficult for reincarnators who had enhanced Chakra.

Catherine focused, pressing one hand against Ayai’s head as powerful Mental Power continuously battered his thoughts.

Bai Cangshu merely glanced over before looking away. He still had Truth Serum in his Backpack, dropped from that Hades fellow. He had originally intended to use the Truth Serum in conjunction with violence to try to make the man submit.

At this moment, Hiranaka Hana finally came to her senses as well. These Konoha reinforcements had driven back the enemy nation’s ninjas. She clutched the intelligence tightly, afraid it would be taken again, but as she looked at the corpses around her, nearly all of them were people she saw regularly.

Yet from this day forward, she would likely never see those ordinary faces again.

The woman lowered her head, wanting to conceal that resentment, but a hand lifted her chin. She looked up and saw the tall man. That false smile remained on his face. It was completely different from the smiles people usually wore, without the slightest hint of warmth.

"If you want to hate, then hate."

Hiranaka Hana felt that the curve of his lips resembled a giant serpent ready to devour someone, flicking its tongue.

But what could she do? The Land of Fire was not doing well now. She had heard that the Konoha Ninja Village had suffered a terrible disaster several years ago and had yet to recover.

Without the protection of their nation’s ninjas, even if something like this happened, what could an ordinary person like her do?

Or perhaps she should blame her husband for believing that woman’s nonsense and bringing this thing back…

Bai Cangshu watched the woman’s conflicted expression with great interest. It contained far too many emotions.

But perhaps because she was weak, she ultimately suppressed every emotion within herself. She took a deep breath and put on a cold expression.

"Thank you, Lord Ninja, for your rescue. But I promised my husband that this intelligence can only be handed over to Konoha…"

The woman’s hand suddenly became empty. The intelligence she had been clutching so tightly had once again been taken away by the man before her.

Her expression shifted several times before she finally could no longer maintain that calm appearance. Her face twisted slightly, her brows drooping downward.

"You ninjas… Is this how you use your power to strip things away from us?"

"No matter how tightly we hold on, no matter how precious something is, you take it from us so easily…"

Her voice was dark and terrifying from the force she put into it. Her nails had already pierced her palm, and blood flowed out.

Ran, standing nearby, could not bear to watch and looked away. Catherine, however, accepted the intelligence Bai Cangshu handed her and began controlling Ayai in an attempt to decipher it.

Bai Cangshu looked at the furious woman, and his smile deepened.

"That expression is finally a little better than that ugly act of pretending to be strong."

Bai Cangshu’s voice was frivolous. So long as the woman did not kill herself, he did not care how deeply she hated him. In fact, Bai Cangshu was deliberately guiding her anger.

Ran did not understand why Mercenary Tao kept provoking this Plot Character. Making her hate ninjas would likely make her hate Konoha as well. What benefit could possibly come from that?

Suddenly, Catherine’s pupils contracted. Though she still could not interpret the complete intelligence, the ninja she had hypnotized was highly sensitive to certain parts of its cipher and translated them almost instinctively.

It was a name that terrified him…

"Uchiha…"

"This is intelligence related to the Uchiha Clan!"