Haido's face immediately darkened when he heard the words "Gelel Stone."
Without the Book of Gelel, he didn't know the name Gelel Stone, but he was certain that the Gelel Stone the other party spoke of was definitely the strange, powerful azure stone he had obtained.
Moreover, judging by the other party's stance, it was clear that he possessed the Gelel Stone, and any attempt to deny it seemed futile.
"I don't know how you found out I have the Gelel Stone, but since you're here, leave your life behind!" Haido waved his hand, and his three subordinates rushed towards Takuno.
Takuno formed a hand seal with one hand, also creating three Shadow Clones, who each picked their opponents and met them head-on.
"Hmm? Is this the power of a ninja?" Seeing this, Haido was a little surprised; he had naturally heard of ninjas but had never witnessed their fighting style.
He watched as his three subordinates were entangled with the opponent's clones, unable to gain an advantage, and couldn't help but say, "I haven't offended you, have I? Why don't you leave now, and I'll pretend this never happened."
At this moment, Haido felt a little nervous, sensing that he had encountered a formidable foe.
Takuno ignored the other party, instead observing the abilities of his subordinates.
Compared to ninjas, their taijutsu was at most Chunin level, making it easy for Takuno to evade their attacks.
The three Shadow Clones, even while only dodging and not attacking in their fight, moved with the ease of a leisurely stroll.
"Don't you have any other abilities?" Takuno suddenly asked. The reason he hadn't attacked was to observe their capabilities.
He remembered that in the original work, the opponents had lightning attacks that didn't require hand seals, as well as genjutsu, but now they weren't using those abilities after their taijutsu proved ineffective.
Seeing that they seemed only to intend to use these simple taijutsu techniques, he felt a bit bored.
"So that's it, you haven't obtained the Book of Gelel yet, so you can't skillfully use the power of the Gelel Stone." Takuno quickly understood why.
Takuno looked at Haido. Since they couldn't display that ability, there was no need to hold back. He should resolve this quickly.
The three Shadow Clones' movements completely changed, from leisurely to extremely aggressive. In an instant, they knocked all their opponents flying, smashing through walls and landing in the ruins.
At this moment, Haido narrowed his eyes, filled with both fear and greed for the Book of Gelel that Takuno mentioned, but was it already too late to beg for mercy?
He stealthily raised his hand, intending to launch a sneak attack while the opponent underestimated him.
"Bang!"
From the Gelel Stone embedded in his hand, an attack similar to an air cannon shot towards Takuno.
However, Takuno slightly shifted his body, and the air cannon missed, ultimately hitting the outer wall and leaving a basketball-sized hole.
"It seems your proficiency is higher, but the power still looks mediocre," Takuno said, and his figure suddenly vanished from Haido's sight.
Haido's eyes widened immediately, looking around. His body also turned black, transforming into a grotesque creature whose specific animal form was indiscernible.
He tried to find the opponent's figure until Takuno's voice reached his ears again, the voice right in front of him... "Is this the Gelel Stone? It doesn't seem particularly special."
He slowly and with difficulty turned his head, seeing the opponent holding and observing a Gelel Stone. That Gelel Stone was so familiar; it was precisely the Gelel Stone embedded in his hand.
Then, he saw his own hand, which had disappeared, still bleeding profusely, and the hand that had fallen to the ground... "Ugh, ahhhhhh!!"
Immediately, the excruciating pain pierced his heart, making Haido scream.
"Noisy." Takuno frowned at Haido's screams. A gentle breeze blew, accompanied by a Wind Release, and the other party could no longer make any sound.
Meanwhile, the three subordinates of Haido who had been knocked away now stood up again. Their bodies had all mutated like Haido's.
One turned into a werewolf, one into a bat monster, and the last into an ape-man.
They exchanged glances, seeing that their boss, Haido, was dead. They immediately lost the desire to continue fighting Takuno and wanted to escape.
Unfortunately, Takuno had no intention of letting them go.
"I promised someone I'd take care of all of you," Takuno said. Ordinary people could be let go; they wouldn't get the Gelel Stone or find Temujin's family, but these ones might be different.
They looked at the three Shadow Clones blocking their path. The bat monster among them flew directly into the sky, attempting to escape.
The Shadow Clone watched the opponent, with no intention of pursuing. Just as it breathed a sigh of relief, congratulating itself on being able to fly, it felt a terrifying Chakra fluctuation.
"Kujaku Myōhō: Dragon Snake!"
Behind that Shadow Clone, a materialized Chakra erupted, forming a terrifying giant snake that swiftly slithered through the air as if it were solid ground, rapidly approaching the bat monster.
The bat monster's eyes widened. Its wings were flapping so fast they were almost a blur, yet it still couldn't match the speed of the giant snake.
Finally, under the bat monster's terrified gaze, the giant snake opened its gaping maw and swallowed the opponent whole.
On the ground, the werewolf now knew it couldn't escape and could only fight. It opened its massive mouth, emitting a terrifying sound wave.
At this moment, the Shadow Clone standing opposite it frowned. Was it a sound wave attack? Quite noisy, it immediately formed hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A fierce gust of wind dispersed all of the opponent's sound waves, and several Wind Release within the gale directly sliced through the opponent's body.
As for the last ape-man, it had no special abilities, only immense strength. So it charged towards the Shadow Clone, raising its massive fist.
Facing the ape-man's powerful attack, the Shadow Clone also threw a punch.
"Super Strength!"
"Bang!!"
The two fists, one large and one small, collided. The result was that the larger-fisted one was sent flying backward, smashing into the wall, leaving a pool of blood and scattered rubble.
After all this was done, the three Shadow Clones dissipated.
Takuno looked at their corpses and shook his head. They were mediocre; any Chunin could probably handle them with some caution.
In the original work, those who obtained the Book of Gelel could be dealt with by at most a Special Jonin.
Therefore, the destructive power of the Gelel Stone was actually quite ordinary; its main purpose was to enhance physical constitution.
Takuno wasn't too disappointed; he hadn't expected much destructive power from the Gelel Stone in the first place, valuing its restorative properties.
Soon, he examined the corpses of the three monsters. They also had fragments of the Gelel Stone on them, but they had already merged into their bodies and couldn't be extracted, which was a bit of a waste.
Next, Takuno stretched, for it was time to collect his spoils.
After all, the opponent was a major merchant, and his wealth was considerable.
Indeed, the money he had spent earlier was now returning to his hands in even greater measure!
Next, it was time to search for the Gelel Stone!