*Chapter 4: "You Call This Ninjutsu? Don’t Make Me Laugh"*

"Hey now, ganging up on one guy? That’s just pathetic."

Yoru’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.

At first, the group tensed—until they recognized him. Then, their faces twisted into sneers.

"Oh? The dead-last himself! What, here to play hero?"

"Out of respect for your sister, scram. Or we won’t leave a body to bury."

Yoru smirked. "What if I insist?"

He hadn’t come all this way to not collect heads.

"Fine. Dig your own grave!"

Four attackers lunged, swords gleaming.

*Two seconds later*, they staggered back—one clutching a bleeding arm.

"That’s it? All bark, no bite?" Yoru taunted, flicking blood off his blade.

"You little—! **Water Release: Hiding in Mist!**"

Thick fog erupted, swallowing Yoru whole.

"Cower, dead-last!" Voices hissed from all directions.

Yoru laughed. "‘Cower’? From this amateur hour?"

**SHING!**

"How can you see me?!" a voice yelped in pain.

The other three froze. Their ultimate combo technique—*useless?!*

"This ‘fog’ is thinner than my patience." Yoru’s chuckle turned icy. "Let me show you real mist."

The world plunged into silence.

No sight. No sound. Just the hammering of their own hearts.

"Gulp." Someone fumbled for a kunai.

"Scary, isn’t it?" Yoru’s whisper grazed their ear.

**SLASH!**

The attacker whirled—*cutting only air.*

"Over here~"

**STAB!**

Nothing.

"Behind you."

The kunai trembled in their grip.

Then—

**CRUNCH.**

A blade punched through ribs.

"AAAGH—!"

The scream choked off. Three survivors panicked.

"Relax. You’re next." Yoru’s voice echoed around them.

Silence.

Ten seconds. Twenty.

"Coming~"

They spun as one—*steel flashed behind them.*

**SPURT!**

Throats split. Blood arced.

"Im…possible…" One coughed, collapsing. "You… distorted… sound…"

"Just because no one did it before," Yoru shrugged, "doesn’t mean no one can."

---

As the mist cleared, *five jaws hit the floor*—both the remaining attackers and the observation deck erupted.

*Four kills. One minute.*

"Since when is he this strong?!"

"That’s not genin level. Not even chūnin!"

In the forest, Yoru wiped his sword. "Your friends were disappointingly light work."

The five survivors *scattered like roaches.*

**BOOM!* *SPLASH!* *CRACK!**

Water bullets. Earth spikes. Kunai rain.

Yoru weaved through it all. "Too. Slow."

**CLICK.**

*Explosive tags lit up.*

"Got him!"

The fireball swallowed Yoru—

"Wrong."

The real Yoru materialized behind them.

**"Hawk Flash."**

Five heads *almost* toppled.

"A… water clone?!" They crumpled, life leaking into the dirt.

---

Chōjūrō approached, trembling. "Th-thank you—"

"Save it." Yoru sheathed his sword. "You were just bait. Weak bait."

"…Eh?"

"If you weren’t so pathetic, I’d have killed you too."

*Cue shattered self-esteem.*

As Yoru walked off, the observation deck *exploded in chatter:*

"Thirteen kills?! How many more?!"

"Wait—is he gonna pull a Zabuza and slaughter everyone?!"

Somewhere, a certain *Demon of the Mist* smirked in approval.

---