Chapter 7: Pursuit
A blazing fire erupted, casting the entire Hidden Mist Village in a crimson glow.
"Ah!!"
A "human torch" burst out from a wooden house, let out a heart-wrenching scream for a moment, then collapsed to the ground, his body still scorched by the flames.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall."
"Water Style: Water Chaos Wave."
...
One Water Style technique after another was used, and the fire was extinguished just over ten seconds after it had spread. The Mist ninjas were proficient in Water Style, and there were many ninjas within the village.
Most of the ninjas jumped onto the rooftops, still unclear about what was happening.
"Gather up."
"The enemy is on the back street."
"Prepare to engage."
Years of internal strife had given the Mist ninjas a terrifying degree of mobility. They extinguished the fire in over ten seconds, pinpointed Su Xiao's general location in under thirty seconds, and assembled and began their pursuit in about forty seconds.
Terumi Mei stood on a rooftop. She didn't go after Su Xiao herself but instead directed the ninjas who had already gathered.
"The culprit is at the village's edge. He's the assassin who targeted the Fourth Mizukage. I'll handle things inside the village; you go and pursue him."
"Yes."
At that moment, with the village under attack, there were no factional divisions. They were united against the external threat.
A large group of ninjas vanished into the night. Terumi Mei looked at the houses still emitting wisps of smoke and a smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
Aside from a very small number of "victims," the Hidden Mist Village had suffered almost no losses.
"Ao, deal with him. He's no longer useful."
"Yes."
Ao vanished in a flash, as if all of this had been planned from the start.
After Ao left, Terumi Mei sighed. She had only resorted to this plan out of necessity. She had known from the beginning that Su Xiao wouldn't do anything for her. If she hadn't had ulterior motives, she wouldn't have let him out.
"The organization called the Akatsuki has already been purged. As long as I can stabilize the pro-war faction, peace won't be far off. The Hidden Mist Village can't afford another civil war."
Interestingly enough, Su Xiao and Terumi Mei had been scheming against each other, yet their goals didn't conflict.
Su Xiao wanted to leave the Hidden Mist Village, while Terumi Mei wanted to break the current deadlock.
Now that the village was under attack, as long as Su Xiao was killed, everything afterward would be clear. Even if they couldn't kill Su Xiao, it didn't matter. The Mist ninjas wouldn't believe the words of an assassin.
...
At the edge of the Hidden Mist Village, Bubu Wang was running at full speed, with Su Xiao riding on his back.
They had already reached the village's outskirts. As long as they escaped the village's territory, the Mist ninjas wouldn't be able to touch him.
Whoosh, whoosh...
The sound of air being cut came from behind. Su Xiao turned his head to see a group of pursuing ninjas.
These ninjas were no slower than Bubu Wang, and some taijutsu specialists were even faster.
After running past a hill, Su Xiao knew this couldn't continue. They would be caught sooner or later.
"Chase him! The target is behind the hill."
Ao's eyes were wide open, his Byakugan especially conspicuous. As long as Ao was there, it was nearly impossible for Su Xiao to shake off these Mist ninjas.
The lineup sent to pursue Su Xiao was formidable: a full ten Jonin and over thirty Chunin.
This was an exaggerated force. Normally, ninjas couldn't leave the village in such large numbers unless absolutely necessary.
Crack.
A dry branch on the ground was snapped by a taijutsu-specialist Jonin who was far ahead of the others in the pursuit, only about ten meters behind Su Xiao.
"Water Style: Sphere Blade."
As he ran, the taijutsu Jonin formed a water sphere in his hand, filled with dense chakra. He hurled the sphere with all his might, and it flew toward Su Xiao.
When the water sphere got close to Su Xiao, it burst with a splat, splashing a viscous liquid onto the ground.
Bubu Wang happened to step right onto this liquid. His paws slipped, and he stumbled forward a few steps, on the verge of falling.
If Bubu Wang fell, Su Xiao would be left behind.
In that critical moment, Bubu Wang's eyes widened with fury. He twisted his waist, stretched his four legs straight out, and executed a perfect 360-degree drift on the spot, somehow managing not to fall. His veteran driver skills were on full display.
The taijutsu ninja was stunned. He had almost managed to stop the enemy.
Su Xiao grabbed tightly onto the fur on the back of Bubu Wang's neck. Bubu Wang's drift had nearly thrown him off.
Looking at the enemies closing in from behind, Su Xiao shouted, "Keep running! Don't look back!"
Bubu Wang barked in response and ran forward with all his might, as if his life depended on it.
Su Xiao propped his hands on Bubu Wang's back and shifted from riding forward to riding backward, facing the pursuing Mist ninjas.
The Realm Severing Thread shot out. Su Xiao used it to bind his body from the waist down to Bubu Wang, ensuring he wouldn't be thrown off no matter what.
With his hands free, Su Xiao pulled a terrifying weapon from his storage space: the nearly two-meter-long heavy sniper rifle, Spider Empress!
The enemy was too close, so Su Xiao didn't activate the 'Optical Infrared Detection Scope 8x (Active).' He only used Spider Empress's iron sights.
As for why he didn't use the black and white dual pistols, it was because the bullet speed of a handgun wasn't fast enough. A Jonin could likely dodge it.
A sniper rifle was different. With good timing, a mid-range sniper rifle was more terrifying than any other firearm.
Dodging a flying kunai by tilting his head, Su Xiao leveled Spider Empress in front of his eyes, aiming at the taijutsu ninja leading the charge. That guy was the biggest threat.
Bang.
The sound of the suppressed gunshot rang out. The stock of Spider Empress slammed into Su Xiao's shoulder blade as a bullet left the chamber.
The bullet, carrying immense kinetic energy, tore through layers of air. In less than a second, it burrowed into the chest of the taijutsu Jonin.
Crack.
A burst of blood and gore exploded from the taijutsu Jonin's chest. Pale, broken ribs were sent flying, spinning off into the distance.
The taijutsu Jonin's expression was one of shock. The numbness in his chest made him pitch forward.
He fell flat on his face in a classic "landing on the sand and wild goose" pose. The other ninjas ran right past him without even a glance. That was the way of the Blood Mist.
The taijutsu Jonin gasped for breath, coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, and struggled to his feet. Even with a massive hole blown through his chest, the guy didn't die immediately.
"What... kind of weapon is that?"
His legs gave way, and he collapsed again, his pupils gradually dilating.
Su Xiao, still riding Bubu Wang, received a notification.
[You have killed Hidden Mist Village Jonin: Tanigawa Yuichi.]
[Tanigawa Yuichi was a Jonin of the Hidden Mist Village. Obtained World Source 2.1%. Total World Source obtained: 2.1%.]
...
Killing just one Jonin had yielded 2.1% World Source. Open-world settings were dangerous, but many Contractors skyrocketed to power in them.
This Jonin had dropped a treasure chest, but Su Xiao had no time to pick it up. Escaping was the priority.
Killing a Jonin with a single sniper shot was only possible under specific circumstances, like now.
These Mist ninjas were chasing Su Xiao at full speed. It was impossible to dodge bullets while sprinting. In fact, they were running straight into the bullets. While they could perceive the bullet's trajectory, dodging it was nearly impossible unless they stopped.
The bullet from a sniper rifle used for long-range kills traveled extremely fast. Su Xiao was only a few dozen meters away from the pursuing ninjas. At that distance, even Su Xiao, with his high neural reflex speed, couldn't dodge a bullet from Spider Empress.