"Are they really just pawns? This is quite troublesome!"
Qingming murmured to himself, his right hand reaching out to grasp the neck of the bounty ninja before him. With a slight increase in pressure, a "crack" echoed as the bounty ninja's head tilted to one side, completely devoid of life.
Thud~
Qingming released his grip, allowing the body to collapse to the ground, while his thoughts lingered on the intelligence he had just extracted from the ninja's mind.
It turned out that they didn't want to act against the leader of the Craftsmen Ninja Village; rather, they didn't have the confidence to capture him alive.
Indeed, there were tasks related to him in the black market, but they were not about killing; they were about capturing him.
With their combined strength, they believed they could kill the leader of the Craftsmen Ninja Village. However, that way, they would forfeit the bounty.
To avoid wasting their efforts and to still get a piece of the pie, they sold this information to the black market.
According to this ninja's memories, it seemed that the black market had already hired reliable personnel to take over this task.
However, they were unsure about who exactly was taking the job.
Nonetheless, according to the information, the individual would arrive no later than tonight.
Initially, they had mistaken him for the one taking over the mission, but once he failed to communicate with them, they realized their mistake.
Then they discovered that the leader of the Craftsmen Ninja Village had been killed by him, which prompted their urgent pursuit.
Of course, this was something he had intentionally orchestrated.
Otherwise, with his speed, if he had fully fled, they wouldn't have been able to catch him at all.
However, it now seemed he had somewhat miscalculated.
There might be others behind these bounty ninjas, and they were likely capable of capturing someone of the Craftsmen Ninja Village leader's caliber.
In this case, things could get quite troublesome.
Thinking of the marks left by the pursuers, Qingming felt a headache coming on.
Now, he was in a dilemma—whether to clear these marks or not, he truly felt stuck in a predicament.
Just as Qingming was conflicted about whether to waste time erasing the traces, an unfamiliar presence suddenly intruded into his senses.
"This aura… feels somewhat lifeless!"
Qingming murmured, drawing his long knife and standing still, gazing towards the dense forest, which was crackling with flames.
Moments later, a figure emerged through the fire, silently approaching him.
The figure was wrapped in a black cloak, possessing a pair of emerald green eyes and wearing a mask. On his forehead, he bore the headband of Takigakure, marred by a scar.
With such an aura and appearance, even though Qingming had never seen him before, he recognized him immediately.
"Deidara?"
Indeed, the newcomer was none other than Deidara, one of the infamous immortals in the Akatsuki organization from the future.
Originally, he was an elite jonin of Takigakure, tasked by the village's higher-ups to assassinate the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Unfortunately, due to his lack of strength, he was easily subdued and severely injured by Hashirama, ultimately escaping only because Hashirama had underestimated him.
However, upon his arduous return to the village, he was met with accusations of mission failure and severe punishment.
Unwilling to accept this fate, Deidara chose to break out of prison, stealing the village's most precious forbidden technique—"Doton: Tsuchikage."
This technique essentially manifested as black tendrils resembling veins.
It possessed life-like qualities, allowing it to stitch together flesh and integrate with various forbidden techniques, such as "Secret Technique: Heart Extraction"!
When executed, Deidara could forcibly extract his opponent's heart and chakra attributes, then stitch them to his own body, thereby inheriting their chakra attributes.
Now, through the Sharingan, Qingming could clearly see that Deidara had five chakra gathering points within him, obviously the remnants of five hearts.
It was precisely because of this technique that Deidara possessed five chakra attributes, along with an exceptionally vast reserve of chakra.
As Qingming observed Deidara, the latter was also scrutinizing him.
Especially when Qingming called out his name, Deidara examined him even more closely.
After a moment, Deidara spoke, "Do you recognize me?"
Hearing this, Qingming thought to himself: Not only do I recognize you, but I also know your entire backstory!
Of course, he couldn't say this out loud.
However, what surprised him was that the black market had chosen Deidara as the hired hand this time.
As a ninja who had survived from the Warring States period to the present, Deidara had fought countless battles, and Qingming couldn't fathom the depth of his combat experience.
In this situation, if it came to a direct clash of combat skills, Qingming certainly wouldn't be able to compete.
However, he wasn't overly afraid either.
Not to mention that he had thoroughly understood Deidara's information, even just the presence of his Mangekyō Sharingan gave him enough confidence to face him.
Although he probably wouldn't use it, the concepts of "having a sword but not using it" and "having no sword to use" were entirely different.
Seeing that Qingming was slow to answer his question, Deidara suddenly spoke again, "Ghost Sword Qingming, with a bounty of 17 million ryo."
'Well, you seem to remember that clearly!'
Qingming couldn't help but scoff inwardly.
Then Deidara continued, "My target was killed by you, wasn't he?"
Before Qingming could respond, Deidara glanced at the corpse at Qingming's feet and said, "He had decent strength, so your life will have to compensate for my loss!"
With that, he performed a Body Flicker Technique and appeared right in front of Qingming, launching a punch.
His sudden change was so swift that it caught Qingming off guard.
Fortunately, Qingming had remained vigilant since Deidara's appearance, and coupled with the keen insight of the Sharingan, he was able to react just in time.
He slightly tilted his head, narrowly dodging the attack.
Not only that, but he also took the opportunity to counterattack.
Swish~
A flash of the blade appeared.
Qingming executed a diagonal slash, his long knife sweeping through under Deidara's armpit, aiming straight upward.
If it connected, with the sharpness of the Kusanagi Sword, it would likely sever Deidara's arm.
However, in the critical moment, Deidara retracted his fist and completed hand seals with both hands, unleashing a B-rank ninjutsu—"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
In an instant, his skin turned black, achieving hardness comparable to diamond.
Clang~
Qingming's long knife struck against his body, producing a sharp metallic sound.
Deidara maintained a stoic expression as he clamped down fiercely with his right arm, attempting to pin Qingming's long knife.
At the same time, his left fist swung out, aiming directly for Qingming's face.
However, Qingming's reaction was no less impressive. Almost as soon as Deidara made a move, he withdrew his long knife and stepped back.
Boom~
Deidara's heavy punch missed its mark. Without hesitation, Qingming swiftly swung his long knife, targeting Deidara's neck.
To enhance the lethality of his strike, he infused wind chakra into the long knife, causing a thin layer of wind blade to envelop the blade's surface.
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