The remaining dozen or so men trembled, their kunai held in shaky hands.
Being plunged into complete darkness filled them with primal terror.
But the leader stood outside the range of the Darkness Genjutsu.
From his perspective, his men were flailing blindly, not even attempting to dodge the shuriken Feng An threw.
He frowned.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
"Fall back!" he shouted. "It's an area-of-effect ninjutsu! Get out of its range!"
Hearing his voice, the men scrambled backward.
Feng An smiled calmly and threw shuriken at the fleeing crowd.
He saw several masked men actually running toward him.
"Idiots! Why are you running toward the kid?!" the leader roared.
Deprived of their vision, they had completely lost their sense of direction.
Thud—Thud—
In less than a few seconds, two or three more masked men fell dead.
Those who ran directly into Feng An met a grislier end, impaling themselves on the kunai in his hands.
A few, through sheer, blind luck, managed to stumble out of the darkness.
Feng An watched them coldly. "You got lucky."
At that moment, everyone's vision returned. They looked at Feng An, their eyes filled with lingering fear.
A single glance showed their former accomplices lying in pools of blood.
The few survivors felt their legs go weak.
They made a living by taking lives, but that didn't mean they weren't afraid of death.
On the contrary, they feared it more than most.
One of the masked men, clearly a novice, dropped his kunai with a clatter and began to sob loudly.
"I'd rather go home and farm! I quit!"
Before coming, his cousin had told him he'd get 10,000 ryō just for showing up to make the crowd look bigger.
He never expected they'd have to kill someone! He couldn't even slaughter a chicken, and they wanted him to kill a person?
Seeing one try to flee, the others quickly followed suit.
They realized that if they didn't run, they might genuinely die here.
"Boss, I'm out! This deal's off!"
"I have an 80-year-old mother at home to care for! I'm leaving!"
"My son was just born, he's not weaned yet! I'm going home to feed him!"
"I... my stomach hurts!"
The leader was furious. "You dare run?! I'll hunt you down for the rest of your lives!"
Hearing this, the masked men cursed inwardly: If we don't run now, we're dead! Do you think we're idiots?
They turned and fled, ignoring his threats completely.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling voice cut through the air. "Did I say you could leave?"
Hearing this, the masked men scattered without looking back.
Each held the same tacit thought: as long as he's not chasing me, I don't care who he goes after. Just let the others die.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
In an instant, four identical Feng Ans appeared and leaped into the air.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" *5
Whoosh—
Instantly, a massive fireball erupted, engulfing all the fleeing masked men.
The leader, who hadn't moved, was dumbstruck.
"Holy shit! That's huge!"
He quickly formed hand signs and used the Body Flicker Technique, appearing several meters away.
"Why did you run by yourself?!" one of the burning men screamed.
"My wife just gave birth!" The leader shouted back without looking back, as if he'd made some final decision.
"Body Flicker Technique?" Feng An's eyes narrowed slightly. It was too late to chase him now.
The others, without his reflexes, were all swallowed by the flames.
"AHHH!!!"
Screams of agony erupted one after another.
One of them, who happened to know a water technique, desperately spat water from his mouth to douse the flames.
The pathetic stream he produced was weaker than Akamaru's pee.
The Fire Style, adhering to its principle, didn't burn them to death, but it did scorch most of their clothes off.
Feng An raised an eyebrow.
Hinata is still here. I can't let them pollute her innocent eyes.
The five Feng Ans formed seals as they walked toward the masked men rolling on the ground—or rather, the "bare-bottomed men."
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."
A moment later, no one in the alley was left standing except Feng An and Hinata.
Feng An had used the Headhunter Jutsu to drag all the exposed men into the ground, leaving only their heads above the surface, pleading pathetically.
"Don't kill me! I really have an 80-year-old mother at home waiting for me to care for her!"
"I, I really have a stomachache!"
"The Third Hokage and I are close friends; age is just a number!"
As this last one shouted, the others looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Why not just say you're the Hokage's son?
Feng An's real body walked over to Hinata while the four clones stood guard over the buried men.
He took Hinata's hand and smiled. "It's okay."
Hinata nodded and pointed at the seven or eight heads popping out of the ground like moles. "What about them?"
Feng An thought for a moment. "Hmm... kill them."
Hinata's brow furrowed slightly, seeming troubled.
She looked up at Feng An and asked timidly, "Can you... let them go?"
Hearing her words, Feng An's expression didn't change, as if he'd expected it.
He ruffled her hair. "I'll listen to you."
Instantly, his four clones vanished.
Feng An and Hinata walked out of the alley hand in hand.
The buried men stared at their retreating figures.
After a few minutes, sure the pair wouldn't return, they finally breathed sighs of relief.
"Brothers, we're so lucky. That guy was actually kind-hearted."
"Ha! You're hilarious! That guy was so strong he nearly wiped us out solo."
"But even if he left, we're still stuck here."
As one of them spoke, the group fell into depression again.
Suddenly, the man who had earlier used the "Water Style: Big Spit Technique" managed to claw his way out of the ground.
Covered in mud, he looked up at the sky and howled, "Hahaha! Who dares say my Water Release is useless now?!"
It turned out he'd been using his spit to soften the earth around him, making it damp and pliable, and with a bit of effort, he broke free.
The others still trapped looked on in surprise.
There was hope.
"Brother, save me!"
"Save me first, brother! My stomach hurts so bad! Please!"
A few turned to see the man with a pained, constipated expression.
"I didn't expect you were telling the truth. I thought your excuses were lame."
"Save him first. We have no objections."
The others nodded in agreement.
The mud-covered man sneered. "You have no objections, but I do."
"Why should I save you?"
The man with the stomachache was reaching his limit. He looked like he was about to cry from desperation.
"Hurry up and save me! I'll give you 100,000 ryō if you do!"
Hearing this, the man walked over and slowly crouched down.
The man with the stomachache looked hopeful. "Thank you..."
Before he could finish,
Slash!
The mud-covered man drew a kunai across his throat.
Blood gushed forth. The man struggled briefly, an expression of utter disbelief on his face, before going still, blood pooling around him.
Silence fell, broken only by heavy breathing.
The mud-covered man sat on another buried man's head, playing with his bloody kunai. He sneered, "One hundred thousand ryō? Too little."
"I don't have enough chakra. I can only save one person right now. Highest bidder lives."
After a moment of silence, they began frantically shouting offers.
"I'll give you two hundred thousand!"
"Five hundred thousand!"
"One million ryō!"
Following a powerful roar from a middle-aged man, the sitting man's eyes lit up with greed. He slashed the throat of the man beneath him.
"It's you."
The mud-covered man stood up, ecstatic.
Suddenly, a kunai pierced the back of his skull.
Thump!
He collapsed to the ground, his face frozen in confusion and unwillingness.
Then, a mocking voice came from behind him.
"Your performance was truly... magnificent."
*****
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