Xueyu was hiding in a corner of the luxurious carriage.
Even if an ordinary person searched the entire carriage, they would never be able to find the three of them.
This was the power of ninjas—concealing oneself was a basic course.
Inside the lavish carriage sat the richly dressed Yamada Nakaken, while outside, guards surrounded the carriage tightly on all sides.
Xueyu, however, looked down on those guards.
They were nothing but ordinary people, untrained and undisciplined. If he were to kill them himself, it wouldn't take more than three minutes.
The only ones who could truly protect Yamada Nakaken were the four of them.
The guards outside were merely for show—completely useless.
His disdainful gaze swept over the guards before refocusing outside.
Hanzo was currently attempting to seize control over the nobles. No one knew what methods he would use, and some had already chosen to defect.
They could encounter Hanzo's people at any moment.
Once that happened, combat was inevitable—this was a struggle for leadership within the Rain Hidden Village.
Because of this, Xueyu hadn't relaxed for even a second along the way. His three companions were the same.
Then, halfway through the journey—
Bang!
A violent sound rang out.
Xueyu snapped his head toward the source. A stone suddenly shattered, and amid the flying debris, a black shuriken was unmistakably visible.
His pupils shrank as he shouted,
"Enemy attack!!!"
"Missed."
Using his Byakugan, Hyuga Arin watched the main road in the distance.
He had aimed for Yamada Nakaken inside the carriage, but instead hit a stone beside it.
The distance was simply too great—the shuriken had deviated far too much.
Ordinary ninjas would never throw from such a distance, and ninja academies certainly didn't teach ultra–long-range projection.
That single failed shuriken immediately caused chaos among the distant group, putting them on high alert.
Three chūnin appeared at once, guarding the carriage from three directions, waiting for the attacker to strike.
Though even with heightened vigilance, it probably wouldn't help much.
"Mastering ultra–long-range throwing really isn't easy," Hyuga Arin muttered.
He knew very well that this kind of technique required years of accumulation.
If he tried to continue the mission with his current sniping proficiency, success would be impossible.
"In that case, I'll have to rely on my world-shaking wisdom."
Cheating a little didn't count as cheating.
He placed the remaining two mana potions beside him, just in case.
"Brainfein—activate!"
His brain instantly entered an overclocked state.
The entire world became crystal clear.
Wind direction.
Angle.
Force.
Speed.
Rotation.
Everything appeared before his eyes as precise numerical values.
Chakra was being consumed rapidly. Hyuga Arin immediately drank one mana potion to sustain what came next.
"Clone Technique! Bear Pummeling Hand! Ignition Flame!"
Three techniques activated at once.
He raised the shuriken high, Nen wrapping around it.
Shū.
Byakugan—lock on.
With all his strength, he hurled the shuriken toward the distance.
BOOM!
The shuriken broke the sound barrier, carrying Hyuga Arin's full power as it streaked toward the main road.
At that exact moment, Brainfein ended. He hurriedly drank the second mana potion.
The flying shuriken, laden with terrifying force, turned into a black streak as it reached the road.
Xueyu sensed something and turned his head.
He saw a black line slice straight through the carriage, then land on the ground not far away.
Bang!
A small crater formed.
"Not good!!"
He ripped open the carriage curtain and rushed inside—only to see a headless corpse collapse limply onto the floor.
"What the hell is this?!"
Bang!
Before he could say anything more, another loud explosion came from outside.
He rushed out again, just in time to see one of his companions' corpses fall to the ground—his head gone as well.
"Mission failed!! Run!!" Xueyu shouted to the last remaining companion, then turned and fled without hesitation.
The final ninja didn't hesitate either, dashing straight into the forest on the other side of the road.
On the distant mountain, Hyuga Arin slowly exhaled.
Just leaving the Brainfein state left him with a sense of emptiness.
But it was fine.
He'd learned it.
"I've got it."
By using Brainfein's mental overclocking, he had rapidly mastered this throwing method.
Looking at the distant group, the two remaining ninjas had split up and fled separately—both choosing the nearby forest.
"Trying to block my line of sight with trees?" Hyuga Arin found it amusing.
The Byakugan could see straight through.
Once more, he raised a shuriken, Nen wrapping around it, and hurled it toward one of them in the forest.
BOOM!
Another sonic boom echoed.
The shuriken tore through the forest. That ninja was just a split second faster, barely dodging the projectile.
The shuriken slammed into the ground, blasting out a crater.
Under the Byakugan, such tactics were meaningless.
"Still not easy to control," Hyuga Arin sighed, lifting another shuriken.
At extreme range, throwing multiple shuriken would destroy his accuracy.
He could only throw them one by one.
BOOM!
The sonic boom rang out again.
The shuriken pierced through layers of trees, hitting the target—but not a vital spot. One of the ninja's legs was blown apart.
The fallen ninja stared in terror.
"Where… where is this attack coming from?!"
He only knew it was from far away, but he couldn't see anyone at all. He couldn't comprehend this method of attack.
He tried to crawl away—
And in the next instant, his head exploded as another shuriken landed where it had been.
Xueyu was fleeing desperately.
Those deadly shuriken—he could only hear the sound.
Though he could vaguely sense the direction, the speed was far too fast.
BOOM!!
The moment he heard it, he dove to the left.
By sheer luck, he dodged the attack.
He stared in disbelief at the crater in the ground.
Why was the shuriken itself completely intact despite that power?!
BOOM!!
The fatal sound rang out again.
This time he couldn't dodge in time—but the enemy's aim seemed imperfect. The shuriken sliced off his ear and blasted a crater behind him.
He scrambled to his feet and sprinted forward.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The explosions came one after another.
He cursed the fact that he hadn't been born with two extra legs as he fled madly.
Why weren't these trees blocking the enemy's vision at all?!
He had never seen shuriken with this kind of power.
Weren't shuriken supposed to be things you could casually dodge?!
BOOM!!
Still full of confusion—
His headless corpse collapsed to the ground.
On the mountain, Hyuga Arin glanced at the experience notifications.
[EXP +1587]
Adding in the two earlier kills:
[EXP +1456]
[EXP +1253]
"…At this rate, I might actually be able to kill Senju Hashirama with a single shuriken from eight hundred li away."
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 90 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/CanonBreaker