The assassination of the Lord of the Land of Salt had quite a detrimental impact.
Normally, other nations would unite to thoroughly investigate the culprit.
After all, if it's someone else who dies today, it might be you tomorrow.
As a person in power, how could one tolerate such a heinous incident?
But strangely, the people of the Land of Salt seemed to have no intention of severely punishing the killer. Instead, they plunged into a power struggle.
And the Five Great Nations were all busy with their own affairs, completely unconcerned with such minor matters.
As a result, no one stepped forward to champion the cause of the Lord of the Land of Salt's death.
From this, it could be seen that this particular Lord of the Land of Salt's popularity and reputation during his lifetime were not good.
However, just when everyone thought the matter would be left unresolved, people from Kumogakure suddenly arrived in the Land of Salt.
After some investigation, they announced that they would be taking over the case.
Although everything about it seemed eerie, it was better than nothing if someone was willing to handle it.
---
A few days later, Shinji and his group were nearing the Land of Vegetables.
Along the way, aside from a few encounters with Cursed Spirit attacks, it had been relatively peaceful.
Then, as they walked, sounds of fighting and screams came from ahead.
Shinji originally had no intention of interfering, but upon closer inspection, he found that over a dozen Cursed Spirits were attacking a merchant caravan. He couldn't stand by any longer!
Earning Cursed Soul Points was secondary; primarily, he was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see people die.
"Hold on, don't panic!"
"This is very close to the Land of Vegetables. I've already sent someone for reinforcements; help will arrive soon."
Someone shouted loudly, trying to boost morale.
But there were always "big smarts" who made the wrong judgment and tried to escape.
If everyone in the caravan had united, there would have been a chance to contend with these Cursed Spirits.
But when those who tried to escape were cruelly devoured by the Cursed Spirits, morale inevitably dropped again.
"Princess, wait! I will help you escape. But there might only be one chance; please make sure to seize it."
A man dressed as a commoner suddenly spoke with a serious face to a person disguised as a man next to him.
"Escape? But isn't that unwise at this moment?"
The princess, disguised as an ordinary person, hesitated and then retorted. She had just witnessed the tragic fate of those who tried to escape, though she herself wasn't averse to abandoning others to save herself.
Her bodyguard immediately gave a wry smile. "If not so many people had tried to escape earlier, we might have had a chance to fight. But now we are at a numerical disadvantage, and morale is low. Defeat is only a matter of time, or rather, it's just the last straw that breaks the camel's back."
"Okay, you must protect me well later."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. We will protect you even if it costs us our lives."
"Good. Once we are safe, I will surely reward you all."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Even though there was a suspicion of making empty promises at this point, these bodyguards had no other choice.
No sooner had the words fallen than the defensive line instantly crumbled, and the Cursed Spirits swarmed in, accompanied by various screams.
Several bodyguards immediately stood firmly around Princess Haruna and prepared to break through with her.
But just at this moment, a voice suddenly came.
"Stand still everyone, or don't blame me if you get caught in the crossfire."
Shinji held his right hand like a pistol, aiming forward, with blood bullets already loaded.
Bang!
A supersonic strike instantly killed an ugly Cursed Spirit.
Shinji, having found his rhythm, immediately "fired" continuously. Each blood bullet accurately pierced the target's head.
But there were exceptions.
After all, there were always a few disobedient individuals.
Seeing a monster about to pounce on him, this person turned and ran, completely ignoring Shinji's previous warning.
Then, he happened to block Shinji's "gunpoint."
Bang!
Shinji continued to fire blood bullets without hesitation.
The bullet first passed through the unlucky person's shoulder, then directly hit the Cursed Spirit's forehead behind him.
"Ah!"
The unlucky person let out a scream and fell to the ground.
If Shinji hadn't been using non-poisonous blood at that moment, it would have been more than just an injury.
After two more unlucky individuals almost got killed, the group finally realized that the warning was not a joke and forcibly suppressed their fear, standing rooted to the spot.
As a few more bullets were fired, all the Cursed Spirits were instantly cleared out.
Shinji gained two thousand Cursed Soul Points, feeling somewhat satisfied.
At this point, Tobi secretly nudged Hidan with his elbow and asked curiously, "Does Senior Shinji have a grudge against Cursed Spirits? Why is he always so excited to annihilate them whenever he sees them?"
"How would I know? This bastard is always like this. Maybe Jashin-sama gave him some instructions or something."
Hidan still insisted that Jashin-sama preferred human sacrifices, and he was very firm on this.
Tobi thoughtfully looked at the recently killed Cursed Spirits, feeling that Shinji's actions were not without meaning.
Perhaps the secret behind this involved his principle of transforming by merging with Cursed Spirits?
Tobi himself probably didn't know how incredibly close he was to the real answer without even realizing it.
The caravan leader continuously thanked Shinji for saving their lives, while also quickly arranging for the wounded to be treated.
Among them, an unlucky person who had been hit by a blood bullet for running around couldn't help but show a resentful expression.
In his opinion, since the other party could so easily slaughter those monsters, they could have completely avoided him.
But the other party had attacked him along with the others.
The pain had almost made him believe he was going to die.
"You hate me?"
Shinji, who was very sensitive to such gazes, suddenly met his eyes.
The person flinched and quickly lowered his head. "No, why would I?"
Damn it!
I almost got caught!
He made me so humiliated. Sooner or later, I will...
"Sorry, you won't have that chance. I particularly dislike leaving trouble for myself, so could you please return this life to me?"
After saying that, Shinji directly drew his Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade) and cut down without hesitation.
Pfft!
The head rolled to the ground.
The person hadn't understood why he was killed just for showing a little dissatisfaction.
Everyone was shocked, their gazes filled with terror as they looked at Shinji. Then they quickly lowered their heads, afraid that they would suffer the same fate.
But just when everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter, someone voluntarily stepped forward.
"Sir, you have great skill. May I ask where you are from? Could you escort us for a while?"
The bodyguard was terrified out of his wits but didn't dare to pull the other person back.
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