Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The other three Jonin coordinated their attacks on Sakumo Hatake, Kirito, and Chizuru, buying time for the blond-haired Jonin to kill Nawaki.

When faced with the mysterious Jonin who attacked, Hatake Sakumo still managed to kill another Jonin with a single strike.

Chizuru was facing a Jonin who was skilled in Water Release techniques. The opponent spat out a large number of water bullets, and her reaction was to quickly form hand seals and use Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.

A massive wave of fire erupted from her mouth, instantly shattering the water bullets fired by the enemy.

At the same time, Kirito clapped his hands and spat out a dense whirlwind that shot into the fire wave spewed from Chizuru's mouth.

The wind mass quickly formed a huge storm.

Wind Release: Pressure Damage!

The wind intensified the fire, and the flames instantly escalated into a sea of ​​fire, rapidly expanding several times over. This not only burned Chizuru to death the Jonin she was facing, but also engulfed Kirito's Jonin's Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and the Jonin himself.

In an instant, the two mysterious Jonin were killed by the combined ninjutsu unleashed by Chizuru and Kirito.

On the other side, thanks to the little time gained by his comrades, the blond-haired Jonin, who was skilled in swordsmanship, successfully used his ninja sword to slash at Nawaki, cutting Nawaki's neck in two.

Upon seeing this, the blond-haired jonin was overjoyed, feeling happy that the mission had been successful thanks to the sacrifices of himself and his comrades.

But the next moment, the rope tree in front of him turned into a cloud of white smoke, which made him feel as if he had entered an ice cellar.

His companion risked his life for this opportunity, only to receive a shadow clone of Rope Tree in return—something he found hard to accept.

Just as the blond-haired Jonin was terrified, a rock in front of him suddenly turned into a rope tree.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

Nawaki shouted loudly, then kicked the blond-haired Jonin hard in the chest, causing a large dent in his chest and sending him flying.

When the blond-haired Jonin landed, he had already coughed up blood and died.

Chapter 162: Insect Manipulator

"Hey, go easy on him! We've lost our last survivor."

Kirito sighed as he watched Nawaki kick the last surviving enemy Jonin to death.

"Haha~, I accidentally used too much force, sorry."

Upon hearing this, Nawaki forced a smile, then his eyes unconsciously turned to the blond Jonin he had killed, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

kill!

This was the first time Rope Tree had killed someone. Although he had prepared in advance, he still couldn't help but feel fear when he actually did this. Looking at the gruesome corpses around him, his stomach suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo did not say anything to comfort him.

Killing is a psychological hurdle that every ninja must overcome, and it's best to get through it on your own. If you can't even do that, you shouldn't become a ninja.

Then, he looked at Kirito and Chizuru and saw that their expressions and eyes were no different from before. Kirito even went to some dead people without changing his expression and used some kind of Yin Release ninjutsu to steal information from them. He knew that the two of them had long since overcome this psychological barrier.

"Did you obtain any useful intelligence?"

A moment later, Sakumo Hatake asked Kirito, who had just put down the last enemy's head.

"Most of these guys are bounty hunters, and a few are ninjas from a certain ninja village. As for which ninja village they are from, I don't know. These guys have all had some kind of self-destructive sealing technique placed in their brains. Once the host dies, it will immediately activate and destroy the host's brain."

Kirito shook his head.

Then he continued, "But one thing is certain: their target is Nawaki, and they have all been given a death order to take Nawaki's life at all costs. Also, these guys' ninja tools are coated with deadly poison, the kind that kills instantly upon contact with blood."

Upon hearing this, Rope Tree's already unpleasant expression turned even more unpleasant.

Fortunately, he decisively used the Leaf Village Taijutsu Secret Technique: Leaf Village Dragon God from the very beginning, using the wind wall formed by this move to successfully block the enemy's various ninja tool attacks. Otherwise, if he had been accidentally hit, he might have lost his life.

He had heard from his sister many times about the insidious methods the enemy used against her, but he had never taken them seriously, thinking he wouldn't fall for them. Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he felt really bad.

Suddenly, Kirito appeared in front of him with a teleportation technique, placed his hand on his shoulder, and released chakra.

Seeing this, Nawaki did not stop him, and Kirito continued to use medical ninjutsu to examine his body.

"Just as I thought, the enemy is indeed more cunning and dangerous than I imagined. Here, eat this."

After a moment, Kirito said with a solemn expression, then took out a black pill from his body and gave it to Nawaki.

Rope Tree was puzzled, but he still obediently swallowed the pill.

A few seconds later, Rope Tree's expression changed, a sharp pain shot through his stomach, and he vomited out several bloody worms.

He looked at the disgusting stuff he had vomited, his face changed drastically, and he quickly took a few steps back, saying in horror, "What is this? How could there be such disgusting stuff in my stomach?"

"It's a bug, I didn't see it."

Kirito put on gloves, picked up the few still lively, blood-red worms from the ground, put them in a small bottle for observation, and said calmly.

"Insects, Kirito, are there any Mushi Masters around here?"

When Hatake Sakumo saw the blood-red worms, he immediately thought of the Aburame clan of ninjas who controlled insects, and said with a solemn expression.

"No."

Kirito shook his head.

There are Mushishi (insect manipulators) like the Aburame clan in Konoha who use parasitic insects, so he is no stranger to Mushishi.

Since all living things have souls, insects also have souls.

However, the soul of an insect is extremely small, about the difference between a bright moon and a grain of rice compared to the soul of a human.

Using this, it wasn't difficult for him to detect the enemy's insect manipulator with his soul perception. However, the enemy's insect manipulator was clearly a very cautious person. Within a radius of five kilometers, Kirito did not find any place where souls the size of rice beads were densely gathered.

"Kirito, you'll have to be patient with us on the journey ahead. Although the Mushi Masters themselves are weak, the abilities of the insects they raise are terrifying. We must be extra careful."

Sakumo Hatake reminded him.

Among ninjas, besides puppeteers, the most skilled killers are probably insect masters. Both types of ninjas are masters of manipulating a certain type of ninja tool, except that one manipulates a puppet and the other manipulates an insect.

Like puppeteers, insect manipulators are also masters of poison, and their poisons are more insidious and deadly.

Because insects are so insignificant compared to puppets, but even an insect that is not much bigger than a grain of sand could very well take your life.

He had witnessed the terror of insect manipulators. His sword could easily kill enemies, but it became less effective against tiny creatures like insects. If he encountered an insect manipulator who controlled some kind of ultra-tiny insect, he estimated that running away would be the best option.

Once upon a time, during an S-class mission, he encountered a mysterious insect manipulator who was likely a traitor to the Upper Flowing Water Clan, controlling a poisonous bee with the ability to become invisible.

Although he eventually managed to kill the man, he was also poisoned. If it weren't for the powerful antidote developed by Konoha that he carried with him, which allowed him to temporarily suppress the poison and eventually return to Konoha for detoxification, he would have been dragged down with his opponent and died.

The insect manipulator that Rope Tree encountered this time was clearly more deadly.

The other party should have known that Kirito, a medical ninja, was by Nawaki's side, and knew that it would be difficult to kill him with poison. So they gave up on killing Nawaki with poison and instead secretly placed a Gu on Nawaki's body. If Kirito hadn't been so good at investigation, Nawaki might have been killed by the other party with the Gu without even realizing it.

"I understand what you mean, Mr. Hatake. I will keep an eye on things."

Kirito nodded.

Before leaving, he made a special trip to Tsunade to say goodbye.

He had promised Tsunade and his teacher that he would protect Nawaki, so he would naturally be extra vigilant in watching over Nawaki.

"Cough cough~"

On the other side, Chizuru's expression was equally unpleasant when she saw the insects that Nawaki had spat out. She immediately coughed and looked at Kirito.

Sakumo Hatake was also watching Kirito with longing eyes.

Logically speaking, since Rope Tree was infected without even realizing it, it's highly likely that the others were also infected.

Kirito instantly understood, and shook his head with a smile, saying, "Don't worry, you guys weren't affected. Only Nawaki and I were affected, because only he and I touched this guy's body."

After saying that, he pointed to the already dead blond ninja.

"Kirito, what exactly is going on?"

Rope Tree, who was terrible at theory classes, was really struggling to process what was going on, and said with a blank look on his face.

He only kicked this guy once, how did he get hit? And he was wearing shoes.

“Chakra. The insects on this guy’s body can silently infiltrate a person’s body through chakra. The kick you just gave this guy used chakra, and the Yin Release: Mind Reading technique I used when I touched this guy’s head also used chakra, so I got infected.”

Kirito, seeing that Nawaki still didn't understand, explained.

Now, Nawaki finally understood what was going on, and looked at the yellow-haired Jonin's corpse with lingering fear.

Sakumo Hatake and Chizuru both showed expressions of sudden realization.

Then, Chizuru decisively used Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique to burn the yellow-haired Jonin's corpse to ashes.

……

At the same time, seven or eight kilometers away from Kirito and the others, in a dimly lit cave.

A bald old man shrouded in a large black robe watched as a blood-red worm in his hand suddenly died. After a scene flashed through his mind, he slowly stood up and said in a hoarse voice, "It failed. All the worms I put on that person are dead."

"If you fail, then keep going. You've already received the deposit, so according to the rules, you must complete this assassination mission."

The next moment, a black-robed man wearing a rabbit mask stepped out of the shadows and said in a cold voice.

"No, those people have already figured out my methods. From now on, my insect secret technique won't be as effective as it was before. Besides, my little darling wasn't easy to raise. This deal is a loss. As for the deposit, I will refund it to you."

The bald old man slightly opened his eyes, looked at the person in front of him, and shook his head.

“I can add more money. Don’t your Xuan Ape Clan have experts who manipulate insects? As long as we can kill those people, money is not a problem.”

Seeing that the bald old man was unwilling to continue, the man in the rabbit mask immediately activated his money power.

"Money is a good thing, but you need to be alive to spend it. This target is too difficult, and I'm afraid I can't help you. As for asking my other clansmen to help, you can talk to them yourself. I won't get involved in this matter anymore."

The bald old man refused again without hesitation.

He agreed to the man's request for two reasons: first, the man was generous, offering a deposit of 50 million upfront, with a reward of 100 million to be received upon completion; second, he was confident in his mastery of the Parasite Technique, believing he could easily kill a naive young lad who had just left the village.

But now the result is that his once-proud insect technique has failed.

If even his most powerful methods failed, then his other methods certainly wouldn't be able to threaten Kirito and the others either.

Moreover, methods are most threatening when people are unaware of them. Just like his insect secret technique, once people know that his insect secret technique exists and how to activate it, its threat level will be greatly reduced.

He didn't know if the enemy had already discovered the secret of his insect technique, but he wouldn't gamble on it.

In situations like this, the best course of action is to avoid greed and instead retreat.

The reason why Kenjuro has been able to survive from the Warring States period to the present day is because of his steady and reliable approach.

"Refund the deposit? Heh heh heh~"