Now, Ken knew he couldn't simply approach the shinobi from behind and expect it to work perfectly.
Any skilled assassin would pay attention to both entrances to their hideouts, even if one of them were technically a secret escape route.
A Jonin would likely have traps prepared for both sides, and methods to escape from assaults on both entrances.
Ken knew that, but he also had absolute confidence in his technique and lack of presence.
The traps weren't enough to hold him back, he was easily able to feel them as he didn't need to rely on his eyes.
The cavern he was in was completely dark, and an intruder would only be able to see using a source of light, which would likely alert the Jonin hiding in the cave.
Thanks to those factors, he was able to get closer and closer to his target, crawling on the ceiling like a reptile.
He was using an extremely small amount of chakra only on his fingertips and the tip of his shoes to stick to the rocky surface.
It wasn't a difficult technique, Ken had mastered it during his training while looking for ways to better utilize Chakra on his own.
He was basically imitating a spider's movements, which was exactly what he had been attempting to do anyway.
And, just like any spider, he was preparing to wrap his webs around his prey.
Currently, the Jonin and two of the Genin were resting. All of them sat down with closed eyes.
The third boy had his eyes peeled open at the entrance, sometimes also turning his head slightly towards the hidden escape path, likely having been entrusted by the Team Leader to do so.
Now, usually, this would mean that it was a free game for Ken to just kill them all in quick succession. But he could easily tell that the Jonin wasn't actually resting.
He seemed to simply have his eyes closed and he was faking his breathing, making it shallower to imitate the one of a sleeping person.
But Ken could distinguish it, as slight alterations still existed here and there. His enhanced senses were easily able to pick up any irregularity, no matter how small.
The Jonin had likely decided to rest when getting back to their city and to safety.
Ken stopped just a few meters off of their spot, just a few centimetres off where they would be able to spot him thanks to the campfire's light.
Well, at least the Jonin would be able to spot him. The Genin weren't anywhere near skilled enough to notice him as long as he stood close enough to the rocks.
Ken decided to do what he knew best... Create a distraction and go in for the kill. A technique as old as time, but still one of the most effective.
Ken formed a hand sign with one hand, creating an imperfect clone right underneath him.
It didn't have a face, and its armour was of the wrong colour, but it was enough.
The clone dashed towards the sleeping Jonin, while Ken crawled further, passing through the light of the flame in the same instant, as the Jonin jumped up and stabbed towards the clone with a kunai.
The Jonin was prepared for something to happen, his instincts had been telling him about something happening for a while, he felt watched.
But he simply couldn't feel anyone or anything nearby.
The second his eyes caught sight of that shadow coming from their built escape path, he instantly attacked it.
He didn't stop to consider the possibility of it being a clone, it was impossible to discern with how little presence his pursuer had.
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Just as his kunai was about to pass through the clone, he saw it simply disappear as he felt a metallic string cutting into his neck.
Instantly, the Jonin reeled back, substituting himself with a lighting clone which had its head swiftly cut off.
The Jonin instantly started making more hand signs, preparing to spit out a large fireball in the direction of their escape paths.
Just as his chest rose up, he felt the air leave his body. Ken was crouched up behind him, his blade already inside the Jonin's lung, missing his heart as the Jonin shifted his position slightly by reflex.
The Shinobi gasped, turning around quickly and spitting fire behind him.
The Genin by the campfire all quickly scrambled out of the way, most having just realised how dire the situation was.
"RUN!" The Jonin shouted, hoping that they'd at least escape and report the situation.
Just as those words left his mouth, Ken stabbed a Senbo toward his temple.
The Jonin quickly ducked, avoiding it perfectly as he cursed the lack of lighting within the cave.
His opponent was basically dancing circles around him. His previous fireball had only served to rise up smoke and take away even more of his vision.
Ken jumped from wall to wall, throwing Senbo's and Shuriken towards the Jonin in quick succession.
The Jonin quickly made a few more hand signs, a wall of earth rising in front of him as he tapped the ground.
Unknowingly... That move had already sealed his fate.
The Jonin hadn't even managed to notice it due to the chaos, but he was already facing toward the entrance, and Ken had always been directing himself towards it.
In raising that wall, Jonin had cut off what little light he had, and he had also managed to leave his students alone with Ken.
The Jonin had no idea that had happened, still looking around warily as he waited for his ghastly opponent to show himself.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, the Genin had barely managed to reach the cave entrance before Ken appeared in front of them.
All of them quickly stalled, but they seemed to have plenty of training, as they all instantly started making hand signs.
Ken could feel them, but they were much slower than the Jonin.
Ken's katana was still stuck in the Jonin's chest, but he didn't need a sword to deal with Genin.
Before any of them could even finish their first Jutsu, Ken was already in front of the closest one to him, his hand piercing through his chest cleanly.
The one that had his chest pierced was too flabbergasted to do anything, his hands falling limply to his side, his body suspended in the air on Ken's arm.
The sight of his quick and terrifying death managed to somewhat shake the still inexperienced Genin.
This led to one of them making a small mistake in his hand signs, as Ken threw the body toward them.
The one that had also been flustered was hit head-on, while the one still making hand signs managed to jump to the side.
His Jutsu finally being finished as he brought his hands together one last time and shot a smaller ball of fire toward Ken from his mouth.
Ken shot from his position, jumping from wall to wall like a frog and appearing behind the Genin in less than a second.
The Genin had taken out a kunai, but didn't even get to turn around before Ken grabbed his head and crushed it into the nearby cave wall.
Ken then simply threw a Senbo through the head of the last Genin, who was still getting up and pushing his teammate's body from atop him.
The entire confrontation with the 3 Genin had only taken 5 seconds. Ken was rather pleased with the time, he was also pleased with seeing so many Jutsu from the Shinobi.
He had remembered very few being used in the show, so he would have a blast learning more of them.
Just a few seconds after he finished the genin off, the wall in the middle of the cave was blasted apart, with the Jonin jumping out, clutching his side, not even having removed the blade yet.
Then he saw the scene in front of him, with all of his pupils dead and strewn across the floor near the cave entrance.
"SHIT!" The Jonin finally lost his cool with that, failing to notice the figure clutching onto the roof of the cave right near the entrance.
Just as he was looking around, Ken's hands reached down, before the Jonin could even react, his gaze was forcibly moved behind him, forcing him to stare at the blown-out campfire he had just come from.
"W-wha-?" Those were the Jonin's last words, as Ken landed soundlessly on the ground right in front of him.
Ken then proceeded to start scavenging the corpses of the Genin, as the squad leader simply fell on the floor, motionless.
The Blind Assassin whistled happily as he found more and more supplies.
Each of the Shinobi had been carrying a pouch, each pouch had at least 20 Shuriken and 3 Kunais. Ken strapped all of them to his belt as he continued to search their pockets.
Most of them were empty, only carrying some random pills that Ken had no clue about. The Genin that seemed to have trained the most did seem to have three scrolls on him, which made Ken extremely excited.
Ken also found a few scrolls on the Jonin, and he basically took everything that he could carry with him.
After that, he threw all of the bodies inside the cave, right over the fire. He sat down and warmed himself up for a bit, ignoring the smell of burning bodies as he went and retrieved his blades.
With everything he owned back in his possession, Ken departed from that cave. Outside of it, he decided to cover his tracks a bit more, taking out his long blade with a smirk.
His chakra flowed through the blade, flowing in as Nature Energy also started filling the blade, making it vibrate slightly with the wind.
Ken didn't bother with much build-up this time, merely swinging his blade in a downward motion, sending a flying slash into the cave.
The cave shook, as the rocks were cleaved and pushed aside. The flying slash kept cutting into the rock for at least 50 meters, as the cave simply collapsed.
Ken then proceeded to just flee, not even leaving a footprint behind for evidence.