Chapter 24: Easily Resolved
Behind the scarred middle-aged man, the few rogue ninjas who had followed him into the tent all tensed up and went on full alert.
Konoha—the number one ninja village in the ninja world—still carried an intimidating reputation, one that weighed heavily on these rogue ninjas.
What's more, they themselves were already on Konoha's wanted list.
A guilty conscience makes cowards of men.
Inside the tent, the two Konoha ninjas who had burst in were clearly very young at a glance. They were none other than Ryuya and Itachi.
Ryuya's gaze swept over the group led by the scarred man, and he couldn't help but curl his lips slightly in disdain.
There were seven rogue ninjas in total. All of them wore wary, ferocious expressions, while the scarred middle-aged man at their head frowned deeply.
His name was Qianduan, the leader of this band of rogue ninjas.
This group had been roaming the northern regions of the Land of Fire for over a year. They had put in considerable effort this time to take down Yoshida Jin's caravan.
However, Qianduan had never expected Konoha ninja to be mixed in with the caravan.
Ryuya and the others' ages were simply too deceptive. The scouts Qianduan had sent earlier hadn't paid them any attention at all.
"Quick! Protect me!"
After freezing for a few seconds at the sudden appearance of Ryuya and Itachi, Yoshida Jin finally snapped back to his senses and shouted urgently at them.
At this moment, the three whom Yoshida Jin had never truly valued before had become his final lifeline.
Ryuya and Itachi ignored him completely, their eyes fixed firmly on Qianduan and his men.
Outside the tent, scattered sounds of fighting and screams continued to ring out.
"You two Konoha brats, this has nothing to do with you. Get lost while you still can!"
Seeing that Ryuya and Itachi paid no attention to Yoshida Jin, Qianduan's eyes flickered as he barked out a warning once more.
Ryuya raised his right index finger and gently shook it in the air.
No matter how displeased he was with Yoshida Jin, Ryuya had no intention of abandoning his mission.
"Since you're determined to die, I'll grant your wish!"
Rage surged across Qianduan's face as he moved to act.
Forming hand seals, Qianduan slammed both hands onto the ground. Bright silver lightning rapidly gathered and shot forward along the earth toward Ryuya and the others.
Lightning Release: Ground Walk
The range of this Lightning Release technique was quite large, instantly enveloping Ryuya, Itachi, Yoshida Jin, and the others.
Seeing Qianduan make his move, both Ryuya and Itachi immediately leapt backward.
Ninja Art: Partial Expansion Technique
Ryuya sprang high into the air, directly activating the Akimichi clan's secret technique.
His arms rapidly expanded and stretched mid-air, then smashed down toward Qianduan and the others at the tent entrance with terrifying force.
On the other side, Itachi seized the moment, grabbing Yoshida Jin's bloated body and leaping aside to evade the lightning attack, while simultaneously throwing several kunai with precise accuracy.
As for the dozen courtesans behind Yoshida Jin, they were far less fortunate. Caught in the Lightning Release, all of them were instantly electrocuted unconscious.
Boom—!
Amid a thunderous crash, dust billowed where Qianduan and his men had been standing. The entire tent was flipped over, and the rogue ninjas led by Qianduan were blasted more than ten meters back by Ryuya's overwhelmingly powerful strike.
As they were forced back in disarray, Qianduan and his men continuously hurled shuriken toward Ryuya.
Damn it!
Stopping more than ten meters away, Qianduan steadied himself, his expression dark and ugly.
Looking at the half-meter-deep crater left where he had been standing just moments earlier, he cursed inwardly:
"Konoha truly deserves its title as the number one ninja village. No matter their age, their ninja can never be underestimated!"
At this moment, outside the collapsed tent, Ryuya and Itachi stood on opposite sides. All the shuriken thrown by Qianduan's group had been safely deflected by the two of them.
Qianduan held a kunai in a guarded stance, keeping a close watch on Ryuya and Itachi while rapidly thinking things through.
With Ryuya and Itachi's appearance, Qianduan had already begun to consider abandoning this target.
It wasn't that he had been frightened by that earlier attack. The strength Ryuya had displayed was indeed above that of an ordinary genin, but it was still within the range they could deal with.
What Qianduan truly feared was the rest of their team—who had yet to appear.
Based on his past experience fighting Konoha ninja, their teams usually operated in groups of three or four. The two brats in front of him were clearly fresh graduates of the ninja academy, which meant they definitely had other teammates nearby—possibly even their jōnin instructor.
For Ryuya and Itachi to possess such strength at such a young age, they were obviously genius ninja from Konoha.
From experience, the jōnin assigned to lead such prodigies was usually at least at the level of a special jōnin.
That unseen leader was what Qianduan truly feared.
Giving up a fat sheep like Yoshida Jin was painful, but compared to his own life, it was nothing.
Just as Qianduan made up his mind to retreat, a pair of scarlet eyes entered his field of vision.
Not good! The Sharingan!
The instant he recognized those crimson eyes, Qianduan realized something was wrong—but it was already too late.
His body could no longer move.
Behind him, the few rogue ninjas following him also stood frozen in place, their eyes dull and unfocused.
In the blink of an eye, all of them had fallen into a genjutsu.
"Brother Shisui."
At Itachi's soft call, Shisui's figure gradually emerged from the darkness. His eyes were in the three-tomoe Sharingan state.
In the night, the crimson three-tomoe Sharingan radiated an eerie, bewitching glow.
"So this is the power of the Sharingan… It's really convenient."
Ryuya swept his gaze over the immobilized rogues, then finally fixed it on Shisui's beautiful eyes, unable to hide the envy in his heart.
Although he had looked relaxed while confronting Qianduan earlier, in truth his heart had been tense the entire time.
His actions had mainly been to stall for time, creating an opportunity for Shisui to act.
This had been their plan from the start: Ryuya and Itachi would step forward to draw the attention of Qianduan and the others, while Shisui took the chance to deal with the remaining rogue ninjas.
Originally, Ryuya had expected a fierce battle. He hadn't anticipated that Shisui would resolve more than twenty rogue ninjas in such a short time using the Sharingan's genjutsu alone.
The Uchiha clan truly deserved its reputation as Konoha's number one clan. Their inherited dōjutsu, the Sharingan, was practically a cheat, and Shisui's mastery of genjutsu had already reached a near-perfect level.
"Ryuya, that move you used just now was really impressive!"
Shisui smiled and gave Itachi a look, then turned to glance at the small crater behind Ryuya, his face full of praise.
Hearing this, Itachi nodded in agreement.
During this period, Ryuya had gotten along fairly well with this precocious Uchiha prodigy.
And the strength Ryuya had shown in that earlier strike had earned him Itachi's initial recognition.
"Compared to you, Konoha's number one genius, what does my strength even count for?"
Ryuya shook his head with a wry smile.
Compared to when he had first transmigrated into this world, his strength had indeed increased significantly—but compared to a genius like Shisui, the gap was still enormous.
Shisui smiled at his words and said nothing more.
Seeing this, Ryuya and Itachi quickly stepped forward and finished off Qianduan and the others, who were still trapped in the genjutsu.
They felt no trace of mercy toward these rogue ninjas who had brought harm wherever they went.
"Lord Yoshida!"
"Sir!"
…
While Ryuya and Itachi were dealing with Qianduan's group, several rogue ninja guards loyal to Yoshida Jin approached, bringing along a group of attendants.
The battle was over, and Shisui had already released them from the genjutsu.
"Many thanks to the three lords of Konoha. I will never forget your life-saving grace!"
After a chaotic period, Yoshida Jin—now properly dressed again—finally approached the trio with a fawning smile and bowed deeply.
"Lord Yoshida is our employer, after all."
Ryuya crossed his arms and looked at Yoshida Jin with a half-smile.
He emphasized the word employer quite deliberately.
"Earlier, I failed to recognize true greatness and neglected the three of you. I deeply reflect on my mistakes!"
Meeting Ryuya's meaningful gaze, Yoshida Jin's bloated body trembled as he waved his hands repeatedly.
He had already realized that his earlier deliberate slight had angered the three ninja. That much was clear from how roughly they had treated him during the fight.
Yet the safety of his journey still depended on these three Konoha ninja. If something like this happened again and they behaved the same way, he might lose his life in an instant.
He had to mend the relationship—quickly.
"Lord Yoshida, words alone mean nothing. How about something more… tangible?"
Ryuya raised an eyebrow.
"Something tangible?" Yoshida Jin was momentarily confused.
Ryuya rubbed his right index finger and thumb together in the air.
"Oh! I understand! I'll take care of it right away!"
Yoshida Jin instantly caught on and hurried off to make arrangements.
Beside them, both Shisui and Itachi stared blankly at the scene.
An hour later, the caravan camp returned to its former calm.
In a corner of the camp, beside a blazing campfire, Ryuya was alone counting the spoils from the battle, while Shisui and Itachi watched with strange expressions.
In the hastily concluded fight, Shisui alone had dealt with more than twenty attacking rogue ninjas. From their bodies, Yoshida Jin's men had recovered over 600,000 in cash, all of which was handed over to Ryuya for disposal.
In addition, Yoshida Jin personally paid an extra 1,000,000 as compensation.
Ryuya accepted it without hesitation.
Shisui and Itachi, on the other hand, were somewhat stunned by Ryuya's actions.
Normally, any items seized by ninja during missions were supposed to be handed over to the village, and individuals were not allowed to dispose of them privately.
In practice, however, this rule was difficult to enforce completely. Unless the items were already known and recorded in advance, the village had no way to fully monitor whether a ninja kept something for themselves.
This was also one of the reasons most missions required multiple ninja to work together—so they could supervise one another.
That said, money was usually an exception. It was considered extra compensation and "outside income" for such a dangerous profession.
Thus, although Shisui and Itachi felt a bit unaccustomed to Ryuya's approach, they had no real grounds to object.
For 60 advanced chapters,you can go to my Patreon: Patreon.com/Keiondir