Chapter 44 Keep Your Hands High

Under the cover of night, the scattered bandits dispersed, and the torches extinguished. The air carried the bloody smell left by Logan's swift and silent killings. He leapt between the trees towards the camp, where chaos ensued. The departure of the bandits oddly quieted the surroundings, causing Logan to furrow his brow.

Soon, he spotted the tents, and several Samurai had fallen in a pool of blood.

"When did they sneak in?" Logan pondered briefly as he looked the bodies of the fallen Samurai. He had sensed only the movements of the bandits outside... The dead warriors were all killed in combat, and Logan recognized them as members of the envoy group from the past few months. His expression darkened at this.

Amidst the sounds of combat and weapons clashing, Logan heard the voice of Hanjiro. Inside, the Sanyrau were still fighting off the assailants.

'Kunai?' The familiar sound of blades cutting through the air. Logan didn't charge in directly. instead, he closed the eyes of the fallen Samurai and silently approached.

The open space in the middle of the camp seemed a bit chaotic. Torches were thrown on the ground, and scholars and officials without combat abilities hid on the sidelines, while Hanjiro, with his katana drawn, was leading a dozen Samurai in combat against three masked assailants.

"Damn it." Hanjiro rushed forward, slanting his blade to block the kunai's thrust, and then slashed forward with a fast and precise slash that he had practiced countless times. The masked man did not expect that the speed of the sword would be so fast. In desperation, the assailant had no choice but to use the Substitution Technique. With a bang, smoke burst out, and a wooden log was cleaved in half.

"Saburo, be careful not to get chopped by this Samurai." One of the masked men, seemingly handling several Samurai with ease, warned his companion who had just used a Substitution Technique to escape.

There was also a slightly slender Ninja, whose Earth Spike Technique which caused heavy casualties among the Samurai, saying: "This leader's got some skills, his sword is very fast, be careful." After saying that, he frowned and looked outside the camp, "Why has there been no sound except the beginning? Weren't those guys supposed to encounter at most one Ninja?"

"Boss, let's move faster. Maybe that escort Ninja from Konoha has already dealt with the riffraff from the Black Mountain." None of the three masked Ninjas wore forehead protectors, and the ninja gear they wore were rather worn-out, resembling Rogue Ninjas, with the slimmer one appearing to be the leader.

The Ninja who was fighting Sanada Hanjiro nodded, dodging a fierce slash from a Samurai, then raised his right hand, aiming to thrust his kunai into the throat of a Samurai locked in a stalemate.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh——

Several shuriken pierced into Saburo's raised right arm with lightning speed, blood splattered out, and his movements had long been disrupted under the severe pain. Seizing the opportunity, Hanjiro swung his blade toward the masked man.

Ding!

The slender Ninja barely managed to help his companion block Hanjiro's killing move at the last moment, then he kicked away his companion, dodged, and pop pop pop, three shuriken were embedded into the ground once again.

A dark shadow descended like the wind!

Bang!

The skinny Ninja's hand went numb as he was caught off guard, being knocked back several meters.

There was no need to wait for a chance to ambush them. When Logan saw that three hostile Ninjas, he took action directly. Seeing the escort Ninja coming back, the three Rogue Ninjas gathered together, no longer displaying the relaxed demeanor they had when facing the Samurai.

"Hattori-san!" Sumika's voice came from the side. She felt out of place with the environment and was in the middle of the crowd of scholars and officials.

Logan ignored the envoy, who didn't understand the point of calling him at this time, then looked at Hanjiro and nodded. When he took a closer look, he discovered that there was a wound on the other party's ribs, and blood had soaked a small portion of his clothing.

"I'll take it from here." Logan said calmly as he stared at the three Ninjas confronting him.

Hanjiro didn't seem very willing. He covered the wound with his left hand and insisted on pointing his sword against the enemies.

Most of the surviving Samurai were injured, but fortunately, deaths occurred only when the masked Ninjas appeared.

Upon hearing Logan's words, they mostly trusted him and made way. Of course, one of the reasons is because they felt the disparity between Ninjas and ordinary people during the brief skirmish.

"I'm not interested in knowing who you are... but since you've targeted my employer, you'll have to pay the price here." Logan said coldly, 'These people probably lurked in when I went out to deal with those small fries, or perhaps during my storytelling session? Their combat skills seemed subpar, but their concealment skills was decent.'

Facing Logan's words, the three Ninjas squinted their eyes. Among them, the one called Saburo, still had a trembling and bleeding right hand. His eyes glared fiercely at Logan as if about to say something.

Sizzle…

Lightning crackled as Logan's body was enveloped in blue electrical currents. Without wasting words, he activated his Lightning Release and lunged straight at Saburo.

"Looking at your ugly expression, are you going to say something fierce?" Logan's sudden burst of speed caught everyone off guard. They only felt a ray of light pass by, and Saburo's right hand fell to the ground in the next moment.

The other two Ninjas on the side were horrified by this speed. As Logan entered the battlefield like a god, their immediate reaction was to leap backward. It seemed that within this dangerous world, the sense of camaraderie among Rogue Ninjas was just a façade.

With the loss of an arm, the ferocious look in Saburo's eyes instantly turned into despair. While screaming in pain, he formed a hand seal and tried to use the Substitution Technique. However, Logan's movements had no gaps, and he slit the opponent's neck as soon as the other party raised his hand.

A Ninja was killed in an instant. This combat power made everyone around him a little stunned, especially Hanjiro and other Samurai who had fought against them. It felt surreal to them.

Logan didn't think much of it. These three Rogue Ninjas were at best on par with average Chunin. Without the training a Ninja Village would provide, they would not be half as good as him. At most, they have become more proficient in hiding and survival skills after staying outside for a long time.

Against opponents like this, in head-on collision, Logan would definitely crush them after using Lightning Release to stimulate his cells.

The eyes of the remaining two Rogue Ninjas were uncertain after seeing the tragic death of their companions. They had expected that the escort Ninja would be a Jonin, but upon seeing Logan's Lightning Release, which allowed him to move faster than their eyes could follow, their fighting spirit evaporated. They knew they were no match for him at all.

The skinny Ninja let out a dry laugh and raised his hand, "This Konoha Jonin..."

"You're probably going to say it's a misunderstanding, right?" Logan interjected before the skinny Ninja could finish his sentence, leaving him nodding awkwardly.

"Can we perhaps settle this peacefully? We came here for that 'treasure', but now we've decided to give up. It wouldn't be good if we fight to the death. What do you think?" The skinny Ninja, who was interrupted by Logan, rephrased his words.

"Treasure?" Logan was doubtful, 'Was there some precious item among the group?'

"Keep your hands high, okay." Logan raised his hand, lightning surged, and electricity gathered in his palm.

The fluctuations of Chidori's Chakra caused the skinny Ninja and the other Ninja's expressions to change drastically. At their wits' end, they suddenly caught sight of Sumika, who stood out with her conspicuous red and white kimono.