Once Seimei and his group killed all 73 goblins they had trapped within the formation, they immediately moved to set up another Fuinjutsu Battle Formation to trap another sixty goblins.
It was still the same Fuinjutsu Battle Formation—Grey Mist.
And since the majority of those sixty goblins in the second formation were resting in their homes, killing them was actually easier.
Some tried to come out of their houses after hearing the commotion, only to collide head-on with a deadly, five-meter-wide, scorching fireball from Seimei that blasted both the goblins and the house before burning them.
A few other goblins didn't even get a chance to come out of their home before their entire house was bombarded by spears of lightning formed by Haneda's Lightning Release: False Darkness Jutsu.
Touma also switched to full-on rampage mode.
He cut down goblins with practiced ease as his ninja short sword, covered in the coating of Fire Release Chakra Flow, cut through the goblins' bodies like a hot knife through butter.
His killing method was rather efficient.
It only included the following steps:
Make eye contact.
Cast Genjutsu (through Sharingan).
Kill, kill, and kill some more.
And when things got too repetitive, he would release a few wind blades and fireballs of various shapes and sizes.
As for the goblins who had successfully come outside of their homes and tried to regroup, Seimei and his shadow clones sliced their head off with their ninjato, cloaked in crackling lightning arcs.
Now, Seimei observed the goblin corpses, the blood-soaked ground, burning houses, and charred bodies with a thoughtful expression.
He had already dispersed his shadow clones. Now, he was standing beside Touma and Haneda. The Fuinjutsu Battle Formation was still active, causing thin mist to appear around them.
Right at that moment, he heard Haneda asking him a question.
"How long will this Fuinjutsu Battle Formation last?"
Seimei snapped out of his thoughts and looked around him with his slightly glowing ocean-blue eyes.
His mind was calculating the rate at which the chakra was dispersing.
Seimei arched his eyebrows and replied, "It should have lasted for fifteen minutes, too."
Seimei turned his head toward Haneda and Touma, and looked at them with a strange gaze. "But you two…"
"You two went on a mad rampage and hit the barrier of the formation with multiple high-damage Ninjutsu while dealing with the goblins. Your actions quite resemble the bull-type chakra beasts that usually go berserk for no apparent reason."
"Thanks to that and some frightened goblins' attempt to break the barrier, the formation's life decreased by at least two minutes."
"But I am pretty sure at least one minute and thirty seconds of those two minutes was shaved off due to your actions."
Hearing this, the ears of Touma and Haneda turned slightly red in embarrassment. All they could do was chuckle awkwardly as they tried to avoid meeting Seimei's eyes.
Seeing this, Seimei sighed and said, "Well, we still have around six hours to rest before the Fuinjutsu Battle Formation dissipates."
"So, rest now. We have one final battle next. Apart from the A-rank goblin lord, there should be fewer than forty goblins around now."
"With so many missing goblins and the sudden emergence of thick fog, it will surely make the goblin lord suspicious."
Touma scratched the back of his head and asked, "Do we just charge straight at the remaining goblins?"
Seimei nodded and replied, "Yes. With fewer than forty goblins, it's unnecessary to make extra plans. We can crush them head-on. Unless we are utterly incompetent, dealing with the remaining goblins should be a breeze."
"I will handle the A-rank goblin. Even with the peculiar skills it has in its arsenal, I should be able to deal with it within one minute as long as nothing unexpected happens."
"After that, I will come to help you."
Touma clicked his tongue and said with an annoyed voice, "Tsk! Just take care of yourself. Don't fall for that goblin lord's tricks. I can handle the remaining small fries, who had already been weakened by that poison of yours."
At that time, Haneda came forward and patted Seimei's shoulder. "Don't worry, Seimei. You do your job. I will keep an eye on this troublemaker to ensure he doesn't get injured."
Hearing this, Touma snapped, "What the heck do you mean by that, Ishimori Haneda?"
Haneda shrugged his shoulder, shook his head, and said with a feigned helpless voice, "Ah, Touma, my child, you still need to grow up. As a responsible person, I will protect you…wait, wait…why are you pointing your sword at me? Hey, don't throw shurikens at me."
Haneda's words were cut short as Touma ran after him with his sharp ninja short sword, ready to draw at least a liter of blood.
Seeing Haneda run, Touma, whose face was already red in anger, shouted, "Stop right there, you bastard. Let me slice you up. I guarantee that you will still live."
Haneda increased his speed while retorting, "Do you even believe your words, you madman? I am telling you, stop. Otherwise, I will complain about you to Keiko."
Hearing about Uzumaki Keiko, Touma's steps faltered for a second before he continued to chase after Haneda with even more ferocity.
If it weren't for Haneda being his friend, at least ten rounds of Fire Release Ninjutsu would have flown.
Seeing the chaos, Seimei looked at his friends with amusement before shaking his head.
Amidst all the blood and fire, sometimes, I forget that we are still kids who haven't even stepped into our teenage years. I hope we can still stay the same in the future. I hope our hearts stay clear and determined. Because the future that awaits us may not be kind.
Seimei reflected inwardly as he cleared his mind and rested for a bit. There was still one last battle he and his friends had to fight before they could return to Konoha.
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Seimei's speculations about the A-rank goblin lord were absolutely correct.
The leader of the goblin settlement had already sensed something off.
First, it sent a rather large group of goblins to loot the traveling caravans and capture human women earlier in the morning. However, not a single goblin from that group had come back.
Second, the goblins in its settlement suddenly became sluggish. A few goblins even have gastric issues and loose bowel movements. Plus, the goblin lord itself felt that something was trying to weaken it and made it slightly drowsy.
Although it was largely unaffected by it, that incident left it deeply unsettled.
Third, the appearance of sudden, unnatural mist. The mist was rather thick, and it came suddenly without a warning. At first, the goblin lord dismissed it. But as the time ticked by, the mist grew thicker and thicker.
On top of that, the goblin lord, being inherently more sensitive to chakra than its lower-ranked kins, could sense slight chakra fluctuations from the mist.
This wasn't natural.
And the final straw broke when it tried to gather its kin. Less than forty goblins and hoblins answered to its summons. As for the others? It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
An inexplicable dread crept into its very being.
As if its doomsday was about to appear.
Just as it was thinking what to do, the thick mist suddenly began to thin.
And soon, it saw the source of all its problems with its very own eyes.
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