"This is too much! You woke me up in the middle of the night just to move goods?"
"I've just recovered from my injury!"
Kazuyama ignored Kinrin's complaints, already focused on gathering the carts together.
As for the ninja guarding them? He simply tossed them into a pile—he'd deal with them later.
"Never mind that! You carry them yourself!"
"I am a majestic golden snake! It's impossible—absolutely impossible!"
Kazuyama watched as Kinrin frantically shook her head in protest. He sighed.
"One basket of snakeberries…"
"Huh? What? Hiss… No! Food won't tempt me!"
"Two baskets of snakeberries…"
"Deal!"
Kinrin agreed in an instant, afraid Kazuyama might change his mind. Without hesitation, the massive golden snake coiled around the cargo, securing it all in one go.
"I'll head back first. Don't forget the snakeberries—I expect payment upon delivery!"
"And if you don't bring them, I'll dump all this outside the snake lair. Hmph! Good luck retrieving it then!"
Kazuyama nodded. He was not interested in the snakeberries anyway. The cargo was valuable, but even if he couldn't get it back to Konoha, he had ways to sell it elsewhere.
"I'll wait for my snakeberries in Ryūchi Cave. And don't summon me—no, don't summon us—at night again!"
Boom!
A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, and Kinrin vanished along with the goods.
All that remained were fifteen Kumo ninja and a group of horses.
"Kazuyama, what should we do with them?"
"Why don't you leave it to me?"
Chōmei suddenly spoke, his tone unusually excited.
"Leave it to you? Chōmei, what are you planning?"
"What else? They're enemy ninja, so I'll use them to test the Scale Powder."
Kazuyama's eyes widened.
"Are you even human?"
Then he remembered—Chōmei wasn't human. He was a bug.
"Chōmei, don't you think that's a bit excessive?"
"Excessive? Not at all. It's just an experiment. I've been researching poison powder lately—I want to see if I can kill someone with it."
Kazuyama was speechless but ultimately agreed.
He tossed Toroi aside—he had other uses—and turned to the remaining fourteen.
Chōmei's paralytic powder was now near-perfect. Anyone who inhaled a certain amount would be completely immobilized, their five senses dulled, vision blurred, and hearing impaired.
The fourteen ninja in front of them were nothing more than defenseless test subjects for Chōmei's experiment.
As for Toroi? Sorry, but he had other plans.
"Chōmei, how exactly are you planning to test this?"
"Hey, hey, hey, this is my newly condensed poison powder. According to my calculations, it should be lethal on contact."
Kazuyama nodded, then casually waved his hand, letting a handful of colorless Scale Powder fall onto the face of a nearby Kumo ninja.
"Will this poison powder replace the paralytic powder?"
"I don't think so, but it might reduce its effectiveness. Since both are Scale Powder, they could counteract each other."
As the toxic powder settled, the ninja suddenly convulsed violently, twitching like he'd been electrocuted.
"...Are you sure this is poison?"
"Of course! I made it from snake venom—so why is this happening?"
The man and the insect stared, wide-eyed.
Whether it was actually toxic was debatable, but the reaction was extreme. Worse, the paralytic powder's effects were fading.
The ninja suddenly sprang up, his entire body trembling with uncontrollable rage. His eyes burned red, his mouth hung open, and saliva dripped from his lips.
Kazuyama couldn't help but think—Is this guy about to turn into a zombie?
"Hey, hey, hey! Chōmei, are you kidding me?! This is supposed to be poison?!"
"W-Well… uh, how did it end up like this? Maybe I got the proportions wrong?"
"You better scrap this nonsense—this isn't poison, it's a damn rage drug!"
The ninja roared and charged at Kazuyama like a wild beast, abandoning all technique, instinctively lunging at him with nothing but raw fury.
Kazuyama barely dodged, a horrifying thought flashing through his mind—If he really is a zombie and bites me, then what?!
"Die!"
He quickly countered, drawing a kunai and driving it straight into the ninja's skull.
As the body collapsed, Kazuyama exhaled in relief—then turned and shouted angrily at Chōmei.
"Chōmei! Are you messing with me?! Never make this crap again!"
"But it can kill people…"
"This powder is fine, but it's not poisonous at all. It turned into a damn berserker drug instead!"
"No, something's off… Could the paralytic powder have caused the poison powder to degrade?"
"I don't care! Just drop the poison powder experiments—I swear, one day, if you mess up, I might end up like that guy!"
"Okay, okay! Fine, I'll stop with the poison powder! But I still have other Scale Powder! If poison doesn't work, I have hallucinogenic powder!"
Kazuyama hesitated.
Chōmei's Scale Powder had never been hallucinogenic before—otherwise, he wouldn't have been looking into Orochimaru's concoctions.
Sometimes, hallucinations were far more effective than paralysis or sleep.
"Alright! I'll trust you again."
Kazuyama approached another Kumo ninja as Chōmei quickly condensed a new batch of powder.
Once again, he scattered the Scale Powder onto the target's face.
This time, Kazuyama immediately leaped sideways, wary of another surprise effect. If this turned another ninja into a zombie, he wasn't sticking around to find out.
As the hallucinogenic Scale Powder took effect, the ninja didn't convulse. Instead, his skin flushed red, and his entire presence radiated heat.
Kazuyama and Chōmei watched in stunned silence as the ninja suddenly flipped up from the ground like a fish leaping from water—then, without hesitation, tackled a nearby fallen comrade.
The movement, the posture…
"Damn it! Chōmei, if I trust you again, I'm an idiot!"
"This isn't hallucinogenic powder! It's a freaking aphrodisiac!"
"AH! MY EYES! JUST DIE!"
Kazuyama hurled a kunai with all his strength, piercing the ninja's skull. The body hit the ground with a heavy thud, but even in death, the eerie warmth hadn't faded.
Disgusted, Kazuyama formed a quick hand seal.
"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, engulfing the remaining Kumo ninja and reducing them to ash.
[Ding!
Detected: The host has conducted inhumane experiments on Kumo ninja alongside Seven-Tails Chōmei, then destroyed the bodies to erase the evidence. This is truly heartless and unbearable to witness!
Special Reward: Summoning Technique – Rashōmon!]
(Note: This technique can be upgraded—1x, 2x, 3x, 5x.)
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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