There might be people with strong wills, but Ye Zi had yet to encounter any, including this samurai.
The battle ended without suspense. Dozens of samurai lay on the ground, their bodies scattered outward from the carriage in all directions.
Ye Zi dragged the barely breathing lead samurai, limp like a rag, over to the carriage. He glanced at the samurai lying around and instructed Kotoe, "Finish them off."
A strange glint flashed in Kotoe's eyes. She nodded, gripped her senbon, and walked toward the unconscious samurai.
She wasn't surprised by Ye Zi's command, as she was familiar with his methods. However, she was surprised that Ye Zi had only instructed her to handle this task. In her understanding, both Guy and Kurenai should also be given this kind of assignment.
Especially since… Guy and Kurenai had significant flaws during battle — their attacks weren't lethal enough. Finishing off opponents was the perfect opportunity to address this issue.
"I'm a little jealous of you two, you lucky kids."
Kotoe thought to herself. Unlike the forced and accelerated growth that she and the Uchiha brothers had undergone, the captain seemed more lenient with Guy and Kurenai's pace of development.
Cruelty was an essential quality in this world.
One could be cruel to the right people, gauge the degree of cruelty, but cruelty itself couldn't be absent — especially for a ninja. Without cruelty, one would fall, burying their ideals in darkness and their body in the ground.
Everyone dies sooner or later, but a ninja without cruelty dies quicker.
Guy and Kurenai inwardly resisted this ruthless method of extermination. However, since Ye Zi made the decision, despite their inner resistance, they didn't object. In fact, they felt that in future situations like this, it might indeed be the right course of action.
The reason was simple: Ye Zi was their team leader, and his actions along the way had won both of them over.
Ye Zi casually tossed the barely breathing lead samurai to the ground in front of the carriage. He had extracted quite a bit of information from the man, including some details about the mastermind behind the scenes.
The door of the carriage opened, and Moko slowly stepped out. She glanced at the samurai lying on the ground, her gaze cold.
The samurai weakly lifted his head, looking at Moko with a terrified expression.
"She lost."
Moko looked down, her cold eyes fixed on the samurai.
The samurai's lips trembled slightly. He turned his head, pleading with his eyes as he softly muttered, "Young mistress…"
"You think I'll show mercy? Since this was your choice, you must bear the corresponding consequences."
Moko's expression was icy as she reached for Ye Zi's sword. The latter silently watched her, making no move to hand it over.
"Lend me your sword," Moko demanded, glaring at Ye Zi in frustration.
Ye Zi pulled a kunai from his pouch and handed it to her.
Moko's lips twitched slightly. She took the kunai and shot Ye Zi an angry glare, but he remained unmoved.
The samurai lying on the ground looked utterly defeated.
He wasn't afraid of death. Knowing he would be killed by Ye Zi, he still chose not to retreat and even launched an attack. He had a family, and their lives were controlled by the Kumokawa family. The young mistress had made it clear that there would be no mercy, no sparing his life — not even for his family. With that, he was completely despondent, his spirit broken.
"Life is fragile, isn't it?"
As familiar faces of those who had died flashed before her eyes, Moko suddenly smiled — a slight smile.
She gently lowered the kunai and thrust its sharp tip into the samurai's lifeless left eye. Then, with a sudden force…
Ye Zi watched expressionlessly as this scene unfolded, while Guy and Kurenai's faces changed.
They could keenly sense that Moko had undergone a profound transformation — a very obvious one.
This was growth.
Originally, Moko had given up the most important thing, which had kept her calm all this time. When one no longer cared about their own life, there was nothing else to worry about. But now, since that leap, everything about her had changed.
Moko withdrew the bloodied kunai, flipped it, and placed it in front of the samurai's empty left eye socket. She then stood up and looked at Ye Zi, asking, "Did you find out?"
Ye Zi nodded slightly, replying calmly, "I've learned what I needed to know."
Moko took a deep breath and said lightly, "Then I'll trouble you to see me safely home. As for the reward, Konoha will be quite satisfied."
"I'll escort you to your destination. That's my duty, nothing more." Ye Zi turned and looked ahead.
The information he extracted from the samurai was comprehensive. This was a power struggle within a major family, and these samurai were a last-ditch effort by one of the contenders. In other words, there likely wouldn't be another wave of attacks.
The mastermind behind this… was Moko's younger sister.
Even though Moko was set to become the wife of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the family's inheritance rights still remained with her.
This was how the Kumokawa family passed on its legacy. To seize power, Moko's younger sister had tried every means to eliminate her.
Regardless, Ye Zi's only concern was escorting Moko safely to her destination. He had no desire to get more involved in the affairs of this wealthy family, even though the Kumokawa family was incredibly rich…
Moko looked at Ye Zi's back, a seductive smile appearing on her delicate face.
Everything was different now.
The three members of Squad Nine silently reflected. When they had first met Moko and during their interactions since, they had all thought of her as a quiet, serene woman, someone seemingly untouched by anything.
But now, they had to change their perception.
The carriage continued forward, leaving behind dozens of corpses.
Ye Zi walked ahead, gazing into the distance, with only one thought in his mind: to complete this mission as soon as possible.
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