The crowd stared up at the towering Susanoo, nearly a hundred meters tall, their faces frozen in shock.
"Gulp… Wh-What in the world is that thing?"
"You've got to be kidding… I must be trapped in a genjutsu."
"No way. How could a human wield that kind of power?!"
Whatever intentions they'd held moments ago vanished. Only fear and disbelief remained.
"Don't get scared! Focus your strength and attack together!"
"Yeah! I'm not some coward!"
"Hit him with everything you've got! There's no way he can block it all!"
The ninjas who had attacked Yuzuru earlier roared and reignited their fighting spirit.
In the next instant, everyone gathered their chakra and unleashed their strongest techniques at Susanoo.
The ground boomed, the earth trembled—an overwhelming, deafening display of power.
But despair struck immediately.
Their attacks landed on Susanoo… and didn't leave even the faintest crack.
Yuzuru let out a cold snort. Susanoo lifted its foot and brought it crashing down.
Boom!
With each step, dozens of bounty hunters too slow to escape were crushed into powder.
Fear spread like wildfire. The hastily formed ranks of bounty ninjas collapsed.
"Run! Move! Get out of my way!"
"Damn it—who's the idiot who provoked this monster?!"
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!!"
These bounty hunters were all ruthless criminals, but that didn't mean they weren't afraid of death.
Once they realized the gap in power, their will to fight evaporated instantly.
"This is Uchiha Yuzuru. This is the power of the gods of the Uchiha clan…" Susanoo drew its blade. Yuzuru's cold voice echoed through every corner of the black market. "If you can survive this strike, thank the gods for their mercy."
In the next heartbeat, Susanoo swung its sword.
Time seemed to freeze. All sound vanished.
A blinding arc of light flashed—so bright it smothered even the sun.
The resulting blade pressure cut half of the black market into ruins, turning countless bounty ninjas into dust.
Once finished, Susanoo vanished. Yuzuru slowly descended back to the ground.
"Tsunade?"
His voice pulled her from her shock. Seeing the hellish devastation around them, she muttered, "Yuzuru… wasn't this a bit excessive?"
Yuzuru's tone remained calm. "A severe illness calls for heavy medicine. If they don't understand reality now, once the Land of Silence is under our control, they'll cause endless trouble."
Had he not wanted to leave a deep enough impression on these blood-stained outlaws, he wouldn't have bothered using Susanoo on such rabble.
Ordinary killing simply didn't have the same impact.
"I get that, but… isn't this unfair to the civilians living in the black market?"
"I controlled my power. Only the core area near the center was destroyed. In a lawless place like this, true civilians wouldn't even have a chance to survive here."
Tsunade's mouth twitched.
This was him controlling his power? Compared to this, her monstrous strength looked like a child swinging toys.
"Come on. Let's check the bounty Station."
Thanks to Yuzuru's protection, the building hadn't been completely reduced to rubble.
Inside, the hall was eerily quiet.
Yuzuru clapped his hands lightly. "Owner. I have some questions. Come out."
Anyone able to run a bounty house in a place like this undoubtedly possessed strength. The earlier shockwaves shouldn't have killed them.
A moment later, an elderly man—over sixty by the looks of him—shuffled out. Thin frame, a beard, black-rimmed glasses. Completely ordinary on the surface.
He bowed carefully. "Lord Yuzuru, please follow me to the hidden chamber. Whatever you wish to know, I'll answer truthfully."
Yuzuru nodded and followed with Tsunade into the underground chamber.
Once he scanned the room, he asked directly, "Who issued the bounty on me?"
"We don't know exactly who they were. It seemed to be multiple employers contributing together."
Yuzuru frowned. "You issue bounties without investigating the employer?"
Seeing his displeasure, the old man panicked. "Normally we do investigate to prevent disputes later."
"But for your bounty… those employers deposited the ten billion ryō upfront. So we didn't need their real identities…"
Yuzuru nodded slowly. "What about the bounty on the Uchiha clan's Sharingan?"
This time, the old man answered immediately. "It was issued in Konoha's name."
In this business, confidentiality was standard. But after witnessing Yuzuru's power moments ago, the old man didn't dare hide anything.
"Hmph. I knew it was those old fools."
Yuzuru snorted. "Send that ten billion ryō to the Hidden Cloud. Understood?"
The old man froze. Then muttered weakly, "Lord Yuzuru… that… I'm afraid we can't…"
"Hm?"
Under Yuzuru's pressure, the old man dropped to his knees. "I—I have no authority over that! I'm just an employee!"
Yuzuru had already expected this. "Then bring out the one who does have authority."
"I can't! If I reveal anything about the master, he'll kill me!"
Yuzuru drew his sword. "But my blade… is also quite lethal."
Just as the old man trembled between two terrors, a voice rose from the darkness.
"Leave this to me. You may go."
The old man practically fled after bowing to Yuzuru and Tsunade.
Then a man stepped into the room.
He wore a white haori. His hair was tied into a long braid gathered at the top. Below his left eye was a tattoo of the Roman numeral IV. His posture elegant, his presence refined.
He sat across from Yuzuru with graceful composure and said politely:
"A pleasure to meet you. I am the master of this bounty house."
"Jigen."