Chapter 20: Black Eyes (Fourth Update, Extra for Silver Alliance Leader Su Xiaochuan)
Within the snowy plains near Snow Wind Mountain.
Creak, creak...
A man ran quickly across the snow, his steps staggering, leaving behind two lines of footprints and a trail of blood.
One of the man's eyes had been gouged out, the socket a dark red mess. Over a dozen black blades were embedded in his body, all piercing straight through.
"Huff, huff..."
The man's breathing sounded like a broken bellows; his lungs had been punctured.
With a thud, he collapsed face-first into the snow, his blood quickly staining the surrounding white.
Creak, creak...
Another set of footsteps approached.
"Don't... don't come near me."
The man struggled to get up, but after much effort, he only managed to kneel on the ground.
"After all, you're a third-rank contractor. Have some dignity."
A female voice came, tinged with amusement. The woman's thin lips curled upward, her red mouth looking very seductive.
Snowflakes fluttered as a woman in a backless leather jacket stood on the snow. Her short black hair hung to her neck, and her shimmering eyes were bright like black gems. Paired with her fair skin, she gave off an eerie beauty—no, eerie was the right word.
"Let me go, please. We've never even met. Why kill me? Give me a reason, even if it's a conflict of interest, that would make sense. But we have no conflict at all."
The man pierced by over a dozen blades knelt on the ground. He had long known he might die one day, but he couldn't accept this death—too humiliating. From start to finish, he had no idea why this woman wanted to kill him.
His mind flashed back to a scene ten minutes ago. His adventure group was preparing to join the Five Kage Summit incident. Though his group only had 23 members, they were all "elites," or so he believed.
The elite members in his mind were slaughtered within seven minutes. Only he had escaped this far. The enemy was a woman in a black backless leather jacket with beautiful eyes, like black gems.
"Reason?"
The black-eyed woman crouched down, her long nails pressing against the man's forehead.
"Bark like a dog. If you sound convincing, I'll let you go."
The man was stunned, then realized he was dealing with a mentally unstable contractor. After a moment of hesitation...
"Woof~?"
"Not convincing at all."
The black-eyed woman's nails slowly sank into the man's forehead.
"You crazy bitch!"
The man suddenly erupted, lunging at the black-eyed woman. She didn't move.
He had already exhausted his strength and collapsed into the snow. The black-eyed woman reached out and gently cupped his chin, her movements tender. Her index finger and thumb extended toward his remaining eye.
"Ahh!!"
After a scream, the man writhed on the ground, clutching his eye as blood gushed from between his fingers.
"Now that's much prettier. You asked me for a reason earlier. Does killing need a reason? My teammates, whom I once trusted with my life, were slaughtered without reason. So killing doesn't need a reason at all."
"You... you crazy... bitch."
"Hmm, thanks for the compliment. Any last words?"
"You'll die a horrible death."
"Hmm, thanks for the blessing. Goodbye."
The black-eyed woman's sharp nails pierced the man's neck, and he soon fell silent.
"Almost done cleaning up. What should I do next? A damsel in distress? That guy doesn't seem like the type to fall for such stupidity. Seduction? This clean body of mine should work. Yeah, seduction plus bribery."
The black-eyed woman wiped the blood off her hands and looked up at the sky. Snowflakes drifted down, melting into water stains on her cheeks.
"My teammates, whom I trusted with my life, wait for me in heaven. I'll use every method to take revenge on him. If I can become a teammate he trusts, that's best. When he dies, he'll taste the feeling of being betrayed by someone he trusted."
The black-eyed woman walked off into the distance. On her exposed, fair back was tattooed a red spider lily. The lines of the flower were delicate, looking elegant and fitting her aura perfectly.
The black-eyed woman was an avenger. To succeed in her revenge, she was willing to sacrifice anything—her body, Paradise coins, equipment. None of it mattered.
...
Inside the sixth floor of the tower.
Boom!
After a loud explosion, Mizukage Terumi Mei walked out from the smoke.
"What a handsome young man."
Terumi Mei wiped a finger across her lips, smearing away some magma. Around her, within a ten-meter radius, the ground was covered in large patches of magma. Sasuke had been buried beneath it, his fate unknown.
"Looks like things went smoothly on your end too."
Tsuchikage Onoki floated into the room through a window. Soon, two ninjas followed him—his guards. One was tall and somewhat stout, named Akatsuchi, a powerhouse skilled in Earth Release. The other was a female ninja named Kurotsuchi, seemingly slender but no pushover; she was the Tsuchikage's chosen successor.
Akatsuchi had a cloth bag tucked under his arm, containing a person with only his head exposed. His mouth was sealed with a cement-like substance via Earth Release. More importantly, he wore a forehead protector from the Hidden Stone Village, but with a scratch across it, marking him as a rogue ninja.
The person in the bag was none other than Deidara, who had been tasked with luring out and stalling the Tsuchikage. Somehow, he had been captured alive instead of dying for his art—i.e., self-destructing.
"Mmph mmph..."
Deidara struggled fiercely, clearly meaning "Just kill me already."
"Deidara, stop struggling. The old man's here. You can't escape."
Kurotsuchi smiled, her gaze at Deidara somewhat complicated. He was her senior disciple.
Hearing this, Deidara's struggles weakened. He really didn't want to face the Tsuchikage—not out of fear of his strength, but because Onoki was his mentor.
"Mmph mmph~"
Deidara tried to say something, but his mouth was sealed, and Kurotsuchi couldn't understand him.
What Deidara actually wanted to say was, "Get me out of here quick. If those guys see me like this, it'll be too embarrassing."
Hurried footsteps approached. Gaara and the others had arrived. The four Kage gathered in the conference room on the sixth floor.
The Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Kazekage had all acted, but Danzo, representing the Hokage, had remained still—very steady.
"Where is Sasuke Uchiha?"
Gaara looked around. It was clear a battle had just taken place here.
"Turned to ash by my lava."
Mizukage Terumi Mei glanced at the cooling magma on the ground. She hadn't fought Sasuke alone; her guards and the Hokage's guards had assisted.
"Looks like things went smoothly. That leaves only two members of the Akatsuki."
Gaara breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where's the Raikage? With his temper, he wouldn't let Sasuke escape here."
The floating Tsuchikage looked puzzled.
"The Raikage... is dead."
"What!"
"How did he die?"
"What about his guards?"
The people in the room were greatly shocked. The Raikage's death was no small matter.
"One of his guards died in battle, and the other was severely injured. The samurai have taken him for treatment. He should be fine."
Hearing that one of the Raikage's guards had survived, the Tsuchikage and Mizukage both breathed a sigh of relief. If everyone from the Hidden Cloud Village had died here, it would have been a disaster—a situation where they couldn't defend themselves no matter what they said.
"Who killed him? Anyone capable of killing the Raikage is no ordinary person."
Tsuchikage Onoki immediately pinpointed the key issue.
"Akatsuki member, Bai Ye."
Thanks to Su Xiaochuan for the Silver Alliance Leader reward.
Cough, debt increases. This mosquito is working hard to pay it off. Though there are only four updates today, I swear to the heavens, I haven't been slacking off. I started brainstorming and typing at 1 PM and haven't stopped until now. I need to move around—I've been sitting in front of the computer for eleven hours straight.
"Reincarnation Paradise" Thanks to Su Xiaochuan for the Silver Alliance Leader reward. Currently being typed. Please wait a moment.
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