"Lightning Style: Beast Tracking Fang!"
Violent thunderbolts paralyzed the ninjas' bodies.
One ninja dodged the initial blast and lunged from behind to ambush Musashi.
He was met with a spinning kick.
BOOM!!~
The sound of another body exploding.
The shockwave vibrated the air itself.
The overwhelming display of power finally terrified the remaining ninjas.
They gritted their teeth, gripping their weapons tightly, but they swallowed hard, not daring to take another step forward.
"Useless trash! Get out of the way!" a gruff voice bellowed.
The ninjas rejoiced, looking toward the source of the voice.
At the entrance stood a burly ninja with slicked-back hair.
Judging by his uniform, he was a Jonin of the Grass Village.
"Put her down, and I'll make your death quick," he said.
Karin's body trembled.
She recognized him. He was the ninja who controlled her and her mother, the one who brought her here.
A powerful Jonin that she and her mother were powerless to resist.
Sensing her fear...
A hand gently stroked her back.
Karin's trembling subsided slightly.
"Don't be afraid. I'm taking you with me."
"Whoever stands in my way dies."
"You talk big for someone so young," the Grass Jonin sneered.
"Which village are you from? Why are you kidnapping people from the Grass Village?"
"Which village I'm from doesn't matter," Musashi said. "This girl is under my protection now. I'm taking her. Do you have a problem with that?"
The Grass Jonin's face contorted with anger.
"This woman and her mother lived in our village. The village protected them. Naturally, they have to pay a price for that."
"Price? You mean rent?" Musashi muttered.
"You could call it that! Who are you anyway? Daring to snatch people from the Grass Village."
"You've killed many of our men. You've successfully pissed me off. Today, I'm going to teach you the taste of fear."
Hearing this, Musashi formed a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He handed Karin to his shadow clone.
He looked at the Grass Jonin in front of him.
The anger in his heart had accumulated to an unbearable point. He even cracked a slight smile.
It was the same smile he wore when he killed those ronin years ago.
"Good."
"It's been a long, long time since I've had such a strong urge to make someone die."
"You people... no, you scum."
"You're worse than animals. You don't deserve to be called ninjas."
"Today, I'm sending all of you... to hell."
Lightning chakra surged wildly, instantly covering his entire body.
As if feeling that wasn't enough, in the next moment:
Gate of Opening, OPEN!
Gate of Healing, OPEN!
Gate of Life, OPEN!
Gate of Pain, OPEN!
Gate of Limit, OPEN!
The Grass Jonin realized something was wrong.
His hands flew through seals.
"Fire Style: Flame Lance!"
"Wind Style: Wind Breach!"
Two powerful jutsu were unleashed in succession, combining as they rushed toward Musashi.
However, the speed of the jutsu couldn't catch up to Musashi.
His figure vanished instantly, reappearing right in front of the enemy the next second.
Poof!~
A mud clone shattered.
Musashi wasn't surprised. The next moment, he kicked out to his side!
BOOM!!~
An Earth Style wall rising from the ground was instantly shattered, the flying debris injuring the enemy behind it.
Blood trickled from the corner of the Grass Jonin's mouth, but he was too shocked to wipe it away.
His hands formed seals rapidly.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song!"
"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"
Two more jutsu, rushing forward one after another.
Using Fire Style in a hospital would inevitably cause more casualties, but the Grass Jonin couldn't care less.
The enemy's strength exceeded his expectations; his instincts were screaming of a fatal threat.
It was as if a terrifying existence on a higher plane of life had unleashed ultimate killing intent upon him.
The Water Style following closely behind was meant to hinder the enemy and also mitigate the fire damage slightly.
However, unlike what he imagined...
Even large-scale ninjutsu couldn't harm or stop the enemy.
Accompanied by the sonic boom of exploding air...
The sky-filling flames burst apart!
The powerful water current was split.
Amidst fire and water, a figure surrounded by lightning stepped forward unstoppably, carrying an intense aura of terror.
One punch landed, shattering the bones of the two arms blocking it.
One flying kick. Half a leg vanished.
Another kick!
The person who was whole just a moment ago was left with only a head.
"Ninja Art: River Flow Seal!"
"Ninja Art: Five Elements Seal!"
The chakra fluctuations and lightning extinguished.
The battle ended too quickly.
The Grass Jonin's gaze was filled with despair.
The young man before him wasn't a ninja he could handle.
At this age, with this power—he must be a ninja from one of the Five Great Nations!
His own chakra had been sealed; even the blood vessels at his severed limbs stopped bleeding.
Of course, even without the seal, missing his limbs meant he couldn't use ninjutsu anyway.
But the fact that the opponent didn't kill him immediately terrified him more than death itself.
Musashi picked him up by the scruff of his neck with one hand and walked out of the hospital with his shadow clone carrying Karin.
Looking into the enemy's terrified eyes, he said:
"I thought about it just now and decided you made some sense."
"Since they lived here, paying some rent is only fair."
"But I feel like just that much isn't enough for rent."
"I'll pay you a little extra on their behalf."
Saying this, under the Jonin's gaze, he threw a scroll with force, shooting it far into the distance.
"Release!"
The sealing formula unraveled.
Above the hospital, flammable oil poured down in torrents.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Gale-force winds picked up, scattering the oil everywhere.
The hospital, nearby buildings, trees.
Everything was blanketed in oil.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
Scorching flames shot out.
The hospital bore the brunt of it, instantly engulfed in fire. Metal melted rapidly into molten iron.
The flames splashed over a hundred meters, and then the oil everywhere began to ignite explosively.
Forming a sea of fire.
Screams rang out from the buildings, then quickly stopped.
The hospital, along with the surrounding area of the Grass Village, was a blazing inferno.
Fire purifies all sin and blood.
Taking out the ink bird scroll Daiki gave him, Musashi summoned the giant bird and took to the sky with the two of them.
Half an hour later, the Grass Jonin finally couldn't help but ask:
"Why didn't you kill me! Where are you taking me?"
Musashi comforted him: "Kill? Don't worry, I'll kill you soon."
"I just couldn't find the right spot earlier."
"Now I found it."
He controlled the bird to descend.
It was a dense forest with a swamp dozens of meters wide in the center.
Musashi looked at it and nodded.
"Alright, this is the place."
The Grass Jonin had a bad feeling: "What do you plan to do?"
Musashi explained: "Nothing much."
"Don't you Grass Ninjas love biting people? I thought I'd let you experience what it feels like to be bitten."
"Couldn't find people to bite you, so I'll trouble the local wildlife to do it for me."
He pointed to the swamp mud: "There are quite a few little guys in there—snakes, poisonous insects, reptiles. Plenty of carnivores."
"Perfect for you."
Intense horror flashed in the Grass Jonin's eyes.
"Kill me!"
"If you have the guts, just kill me!"
Thud! One punch silenced him.
Musashi held him by the back of his neck, just like the Jonin had held Karin earlier.
And flung him into the muddy swamp.
Instantly, a cacophony of slithering and snapping sounds erupted.
Countless poisonous insects and snakes leaped and writhed, thankful for nature's gift.
Faint whimpers seemed to come from the mud.
Five minutes, ten minutes...
The aura of life gradually vanished.
A life returned to nature in the filth.
Musashi exhaled deeply, as if expelling all the gloom and anger from his heart.
His thigh was gently hugged.
Musashi looked down; it was Karin.
He bent down and picked her up.
"What's wrong? Scared? Don't be afraid."
Karin reached out her small hands and hugged him back.
She whispered softly.
"Don't be angry."
"Don't be sad for me."
"It's nothing."
"It's all in the past."
Musashi froze.
After a long while, he reached out and gently stroked Karin's back.
Yeah, it's all in the past.
From now on, both you and I will have a brand new life.
(Dear readers chasing updates: If you don't want a harem, comment 1; if you want a harem, comment 6. Paragraph comments or chapter comments work, just asking for opinions.)
(PS: If female characters are added based on opinions, I won't break up the main CP or mindlessly collect them all. I just want to change some regrets from the original work.)