Following Hayate's command, Aoda immediately went into action. Neither the packed earth nor the reinforced concrete above could withstand the python's relentless advance; in moments, a massive vertical shaft was carved directly to the surface.
Due to the depth and trajectory, the new exit emerged a considerable distance from the original tunnel entrance. However, Stick, relying on his hyper-acute hearing, instantly detected the tectonic shift beneath his feet.
By the time Stick arrived with twenty of his Chaste survivors, the hole had already breached the surface. Aoda's colossal head surged from the earth, and with several thunderous sweeps of its tail, it pulverized the surrounding crowd.
Only Stick, with his legendary reflexes and sensory prowess, managed to leap clear of the carnage, avoiding the python's initial strike.
Seeing the perimeter cleared, Aoda dipped its head back into the tunnel. "Lord Hayate, the path is open, but the enemy has converged on the exit. Should I go up and finish them, or...?"
Hayate glanced at his team. "Shizune, Sasuke, Lee—you're with me. We're going up to clean house."
"Hotaru, gather the survivors and board Aoda. Once we've cleared a path, Aoda will carry you all to the surface."
Neither Hotaru nor the snake questioned the order. Shizune, however, was quietly amazed by Aoda's docility. She remembered Orochimaru's personal summon, Manda—a beast so temperamental it demanded a hundred human sacrifices every time it was called. To see a creature of similar lineage allow non-ninjas to ride on its back was almost unthinkable.
"Move out!" Hayate barked.
With a collective swish, the four ninjas vanished, blurring up the shaft.
As they breached the surface, they were immediately met by Stick and his remaining shooters.
"Fire!" Stick roared.
Over a dozen assault rifles erupted. Muzzle flashes lit up the construction site as a storm of lead tore toward Hayate's group, accompanied by several fragmentation grenades.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
BOOM! BOOM!
Dust and smoke choked the air. But as the haze cleared, only four shattered wooden logs remained on the ground. The ninjas had used the Substitution Jutsu with perfect timing.
The sudden firefight caused nearby pedestrians to flee in terror, though the偏远 location and lack of high-rise buildings meant there were few witnesses to the supernatural carnage unfolding behind the site fences.
Suddenly, two massive spheres of roiling flame erupted from the shadows as Hayate and Sasuke counter-attacked simultaneously.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The twin infernos, each over ten meters wide, slammed into the Chaste ranks. Over twenty men were incinerated instantly, turned to ash before they could even scream.
Rock Lee followed up with a blur of motion, unleashing Leaf Hurricane and a barrage of high-speed strikes. To his enemies, he was a ghost; men were crushed or sent flying with every movement.
Shizune moved like a shadow, her kunai flashing in the dim light. Every time she appeared, another life was extinguished with surgical precision.
The Chaste, once a hundred strong, had been whittled down to barely sixty after the initial ambush and the fireball's impact. Against the coordinated slaughter of the four ninjas, they stood no chance.
"Who are you?!" Stick screamed into the chaos.
The strength displayed was beyond anything he had anticipated. In his research, neither Hayate Shiranui nor any Elder of the High Table possessed this level of "magic."
Hayate and his team didn't answer. They simply increased the pace.
Stick tried repeatedly to intercept them using his radar sense, but the ninjas were simply too fast. Within ninety seconds, every single Chaste member was dead. Stick stood alone in the center of the site, his long staff trembling in his grip.
The four ninjas took positions at the cardinal points, surrounding him. Stick hadn't survived because of his skill; he had survived because Hayate wanted him to be the last to fall.
Realizing he was trapped, Stick lowered his staff slightly. "Who... are you?"
Hayate stepped forward, a playful, cold smirk on his face. "You used poison gas to try and bury us alive, and now you're asking for my name?"
Recognizing the voice, Stick's breath hitched. "Hayate Shiranui?"
"Impossible. An Elder of the High Table cannot have this power. If you were this strong, how could the other eleven possibly sit at the same table as you?"
Hayate raised an eyebrow. The old man is trying to sow discord even now? Though, he's not wrong—those eleven are hardly my equals anymore.
"Stick, I know who you are," Hayate said calmly. "I only have one question. Is this revenge for your student, or were you nudged by someone else?"
Hayate needed to know if there was another hand moving behind the scenes that needed to be severed.
Stick didn't hesitate. "The Hand told me your men killed my disciple."
Hayate looked at the old man for a long beat. "So, you came here of your own accord."
With a flick of his wrist, Hayate launched a kunai. The force was so immense that the blade transfixed Stick's heart, passed through his body, and buried itself in the ground behind him.
As Stick crumpled to the dirt, Hayate looked down with disdain. "Old fool. Trying to shift the blame to the Hand at the last second? Did you really think I didn't know the history between the Chaste and the Hand?"
Still, Hayate mused that since he had killed Gao and stolen the Dragon Bone from Hell's Kitchen, the Hand would eventually come for him anyway. Perhaps he should take a page out of the High Table's book and launch a preemptive strike to claim whatever Dragon Bone they had left.
Hayate walked over to Stick's body and picked up the fallen staff.
"I suppose I should start a trophy room, just like that one-eyed guy at SHIELD," Hayate remarked. "The Mark I armor was the first. This staff can be the second."
As he spoke, Aoda surged out of the ground behind him, carrying the survivors to the surface.