bookbashuk Chapter 65 The Curtain Falls
Chapter 65 The Curtain Falls
Chapter 65 The Curtain Falls (Seeking first subscriptions, continued reading, and monthly votes)
"They're here!"
Seeing Taiichi's movements, Yohei and Saori both turned to look at him with questioning eyes.
"The worst has happened!" Taiichi sighed.
"No way!" Yang Ping was a little incredulous.
Saori, too, covered her mouth in surprise.
"After we left, three more people came. My shadow clone overheard their conversation with the village chief. This village isn't just harboring bandits; it's a bandit's den itself." Taiyi was also surprised by these people's methods. Giving up their normal lives and having the whole village become bandits—strange things happen every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual.
"Taiichi, what do we do now? Do we really have to kill everyone in the village?" Saori asked, somewhat reluctantly.
"There's no way around it, that's what the mission instructions say. We're ninjas, the mission must be our top priority," Tai said firmly, his composure restored.
Although Yangping and Saori were still hesitant, they eventually nodded in agreement.
"Of course, just to be on the safe side, we need to do a final check." Taiyi looked at the two of them. "Which of you knows illusion magic?"
Hearing Taiichi's words, Saori naturally turned to look at Yohei. Taiichi, seeing this, also turned his gaze to Yohei.
Yang Ping looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression. "Wait, why are you all looking at me? I never said I knew illusion magic!"
"Aren't all Uchiha Sharingan users good at genjutsu?" Saori asked innocently, her eyes full of pure naivety.
"Although the Sharingan would provide an advantage in learning genjutsu, I've never learned it!" Yangping said with a hint of helplessness.
"Then I'll do it. Although I'm not very good at it, I have learned a little illusion magic." Seeing that neither of them knew how, Taiyi had no choice but to step in himself. He glanced at his own stats as he spoke.
[Yin Attribute Nature Change Lv3 (24/400)]
【幻术：C级树缚杀Lv2（243/200），C级狐狸心中术Lv2（273/200）】
This level of effectiveness is probably only noticeable when dealing with ordinary people.
Yangping and Saori looked at Taichi with envy. "You really are all-around amazing!" they exclaimed.
"Once we get to the village, we'll first take control of the village chief, and then I'll use illusion magic to interrogate him and see if we can get everything out of him," Taiyi gave his final instructions.
The three then headed back towards the village.
The village was unusually quiet at this time, and every household was fast asleep. Under the cover of night, three figures quietly sneaked into the village chief's house.
Looking at the sleeping village chief, Taiyi silently formed hand seals and activated the Fox Heart Technique, slowly arousing the fear in the village chief's heart. Because a relatively long time was spent setting up the illusion effect, the village chief did not notice anything amiss and honestly confessed everything in the illusion.
It turns out they were originally villagers who had suffered greatly from the bullying of bandits in the mountain stronghold. The long-term oppression did not make them empathize with others; instead, it made them find pleasure in bullying others, which is ironic.
Later, the bandits were wiped out, and the stronghold was abandoned, but the devilish seed buried in their hearts was quietly taking root and sprouting.
One day, a group of merchants stayed overnight in their village. The wealth they displayed aroused the villagers' greed, and in the end, the merchants met a tragic end in the villagers' scheme.
After that, things spiraled out of control. They committed several more heists, killing villagers who weren't with them under various pretexts. The mountain strongholds were also used by them as a cover for their identities.
This method alone helped them escape two sieges by the Daimyo's forces. It wasn't until the arrival of the ninjas that their scheme was fully exposed.
Having learned everything, the three looked at each other in bewilderment. There really were all sorts of people in this world. But since the deed was done, these people had to take responsibility for their actions.
Taiyi drew his dagger and plunged it into the village chief's heart. The intense pain finally pulled the village chief out of the illusion. He looked at the three people in front of him, then at the dagger in his heart, smiled bitterly, and muttered, "I knew it would be like this." And then he died.
Following the agreement made by Taiyi and the other two, they split up under the cover of night and quietly sneaked into each house to carry out the final killings.
Although Taiichi spoke with great righteousness when reasoning with Yohei and Saori, saying that ninjas prioritize missions above all else, his mindset was completely different when actually facing the situation.
For example, right now, looking at the sleeping child in front of me, who is probably only about 5 years old, an age at which he doesn't understand anything, yet he has to die at Taiichi's hands.
Beside the child were two corpses with their necks cut open, clearly the child's parents.
The hand, usually so steady, was now trembling slightly, the sharp blade hovering back and forth at the child's neck, unable to make a cut.
I gave myself countless reasons:
You and your child have a blood feud involving the murder of your father and mother; you must eliminate the root of the problem.
The children also benefited from the evil deeds of their parents, and should therefore die along with them.
Even if you don't kill him, such a young child won't live a good life. You might as well give him a quick death.
None of these things could convince Taiyi to kill such a young child.
But in the end, Taichi showed no mercy and slit the child's neck with his short sword.
The reason is simple: Taiichi wants to live a good life, for himself and for those who care about him. His strength is only enough to protect himself and those he cares about. He can't do anything more than that.
At least that's what Taiyi thinks right now.
Looking at the lifeless family of three before him, Taiichi's mindset was also quietly changing. He, who had been having a smooth journey thanks to the panel, finally calmed down his frivolous heart.
He recognized himself and the ninja world, placing his true self in the right place within the ninja world, laying a solid foundation for his continued growth in the future.
Congratulations! Mindset transformation, Spirit +1
[Comment: You're finally acting like a real ninja. Before, you were just a child playing ninja games.]
Taiyi glanced at the panel notification, his eye twitching, his hard-won calm resurfacing. He looked away, out of sight, out of mind, and stepped out of the house towards his next target.
However, the smooth sailing is only superficial. Just when you think things will continue peacefully, undercurrents often begin to emerge.
A signal flare shot into the sky with a sharp whistle, its dazzling light illuminating the entire village for a moment.
"Damn it, judging from that direction, something's happened to Saori." Taiichi thought to himself and abandoned his current goal, heading towards Saori's direction according to his previous plan.
When Taichi arrived in front of Saori, the entire village had already awakened. The villagers, who had feared them during the day, now took up weapons and gathered towards them. At that moment, Yohei also arrived from the other side.
"I'm sorry, Taichi, Yohei, I was spotted by someone who got up in the middle of the night, and he even sent a signal," Saori said weakly, clearly feeling guilty for causing trouble for her teammates.
"It's alright. The reason we were sneaking around was just to prevent them from scattering. It'll just take a little more effort now," Taiyi comforted him.
Having undergone a mental transformation, Taiyi no longer cares whether these people are innocent or not. Since they have all become bandits, they deserve to die.
"Yes, Saori, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to test my new technique, but now I can show it to you all." With that, Yohei looked at the crowd that had gathered and began to form his hand seals.
Zi-Chou-Xu-Wu-Shen-Hai-Yin "Fire Escape: Extinction of Great Fire"
Yangping then spat out a huge fireball that landed in front of the crowd. The fireball spread rapidly upon landing, forming a sea of fire. The large group of people blocking Taiyi and the others were instantly engulfed by the fire, collapsing to the ground dead before they could even scream. This demonstrated the power of the ninjutsu.
Taiichi was also stunned by the power of this ninjutsu. Could Yangping really perform a jutsu with such power?
Taiyi turned to look at Yangping, only to see that Yangping, who had just been full of energy, was now slumped on the ground, too weak to even get up.
Taiyi was speechless. This is a battle, and you're risking your life just to look cool?
Seeing Taiyi's expression, Yangping felt embarrassed: "I got so excited that I used up all my chakra. Now it's up to you guys."
Taiyi had no choice but to create a shadow clone to take care of Yangping, while he and Saori chased after those who had been frightened away by Yangping's fire jutsu.