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The effeminate man wielded a chakra scalpel. Clearly a medical ninja, and his strength had already reached jonin level.
He had a solid chakra reserve too, giving Ken nearly a thousand points of energy.
The moment their leader fell—
The remaining rogue ninjas completely lost their will to fight. They scattered in all directions, trying to flee.
But…
Ken, already deep in the killing frenzy, had no intention of letting them go.
Besides, they had already seen his Wood Release. Even with a mask on, he couldn't risk that information leaking out.
Dead men told no tales.
"Die!"
"Wood Release: Strangling Technique!"
Trees burst wildly from the ground, twisting and lashing like living creatures. In an instant, one rogue ninja after another was hoisted into the air.
"P-Please! Spare me!"
Several of them cried and begged.
Ken sneered. "Regretting it now? Too late."
"Devour them!"
The trees began draining their chakra, funneling it straight into Ken's body.
Every bit of that chakra was converted into energy to upgrade his Sage Body.
"Energy +210."
"Energy +300."
"Energy +620…"
In less than three minutes—
All eleven rogue ninjas were slaughtered.
Total gain: over 4,200 energy points.
Sage Body: Lv.2 (995,400 / 1,000,000)
Only about 4,600 more to reach Level 3.
Just one step away.
After finishing them off, Ken began searching their bodies.
Rogue ninjas usually carried their valuables with them—it made escaping easier.
Aside from tens of thousands of ryo, he found something that made his eyes light up.
An A-rank ninjutsu—
Mystical Palm Technique.
A medical ninjutsu that concentrates chakra in the palm, boosting cell activity at the wound site to accelerate healing.
Tsunade, Kabuto, Shizune, Sakura… all of them used this technique.
The Uchiha clan had plenty of ninjutsu, but most were offensive. Medical techniques were practically nonexistent, and there were no medical ninjas within the clan.
That made this technique extremely valuable.
He had to learn it.
Sure, his Sage Body gave him powerful self-healing, but another medical technique meant another layer of safety.
He could even use it to heal his clanmates and friends.
…
Two days later.
Inside the plundered village.
Ken was treating a villager who had been injured by the rogue ninjas.
Soft green chakra gathered in his hands, then pressed gently against the man's chest. The wound visibly closed at a speed the naked eye could follow.
Five minutes later—
The injury was almost completely healed.
Thanks to his Sage Body, Ken's chakra control was incredibly precise. That made learning any ninjutsu much easier.
In just two days—
He had fully mastered the Mystical Palm Technique.
Basic treatment was already within his capabilities.
"Thank you, young man!"
Seeing their injured family member nearly fully recovered, the villagers were overflowing with gratitude.
"No need," Ken said, waving it off.
After a short rest, he left behind some money and departed from the village.
He hadn't come out here to play hero. His goal was to evolve his bloodline—he couldn't stay forever protecting them.
Ken sped through the forest.
His destination: the coastline at the border of the Land of Bears.
Uchiha Obito had controlled the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, plunging the Hidden Mist Village into isolation and its darkest era—known as the "Bloody Mist."
Many defectors from the Hidden Mist had fled to the coast of the Land of Bears.
Some lived quietly under false identities.
Others became local tyrants.
Ken had never considered himself righteous, nor did he care about punishing evil on behalf of heaven.
But to him, their chakra…
Was simply energy for upgrading his bloodline.
So there was only one conclusion.
Waste not, want not.
—
Land of Bears.
A village.
According to Ken's intel, all the original villagers here had been slaughtered by Hidden Mist defectors, who then took over the place.
The Hidden Star Village of the Land of Bears was weak.
They had tried multiple times to eliminate these defectors—
And failed every time.
Standing at the outskirts, Ken carefully observed.
The village was surrounded by wooden stakes driven deep into the ground, over three meters high.
A five-meter-wide river flowed nearby.
The entrance was a narrow wooden bridge, about two meters across.
Above the gate—
A ninja stood watch.
Highly alert.
Ken took a slow breath, calming himself. A kunai spun between his fingers before he flicked it out.
Thud.
The blade pierced straight through the guard's skull.
Instant death.
Ken felt no pity.
If you chose to kill—
You should be ready to be killed.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the base of the watchtower.
Inside the enclosure—
More than a dozen wooden houses stood clustered together.
The Hidden Mist defectors were gathered, drinking and feasting—over a dozen of them.
Ken's gaze sharpened. Killing intent surged.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Wind Release: Gale!"
From over twenty meters away—
The fireball, boosted by wind, exploded into a sea of flames that swept toward the feasting defectors.
The stronger jonin and chunin reacted quickly, using ninjutsu to escape.
But those who couldn't—
Were instantly swallowed by fire.
Ken had no intention of letting them die so easily.
They were resources.
He clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release!"
Thick, thriving trees shot up like serpents, wrapping around five or six defectors.
One ambush—
And they provided over 1,500 energy points.
"Wood Release!? You're from the Senju clan of the Land of Fire?" the leader, Chojuro, shouted in shock.
Senju Hashirama had nearly crushed the other four great villages with Wood Release alone. Its reputation was legendary.
So the moment he saw it, even with Ken wearing a black cat mask, Chojuro immediately assumed he was from the Senju clan.
But… hadn't Wood Release users disappeared from Konoha?
Then who was this kid?
Still—
Ken looked young.
After casting three jutsu in quick succession, his chakra had to be running low.
A smile crept onto Chojuro's lips.
As long as they stalled for time—
The boy would run out of chakra soon enough.
Then they could kill him.
To be fair, defectors from ninja villages were far sharper than ordinary rogues. He had pinpointed the key issue.
Unfortunately—
That logic didn't apply to Ken.
Because he had a reserve of 8,000 chakra points.
Kunai in hand—bought from Granny Cat's weapon shop—Ken infused it with wind-nature chakra, making it razor-sharp, and charged at a chunin.
He moved unbelievably fast.
In an instant, he was right in front of his target.
The kunai flashed coldly as it slashed down.
The defector panicked, raising his own blade to block.
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring—
Followed immediately by a softer, sickening slice.
Blood sprayed.
One strike.
Instant kill.
"....."