"Are you joking?"
Tony and Ethan were both stunned by Carl's answer. He came alone? No backup? How could one person possibly rescue them from a group of terrorists armed to the teeth with weapons straight out of the Cold War?
Honestly, it seemed even less reliable than the escape plan he and Ethan had already been working on—constructing a humanoid armor. The blueprints were ready, and a few parts were already completed.
Maybe, just maybe, if they stayed undetected for another month, they could escape on their own.
"You don't need to worry about that. Just stay here and don't move. I'll handle the people outside."
Seeing that everything was in place, Carl activated his Transformation Technique again, reshaping himself into Obadiah's appearance before walking toward the large iron gate.
"Don't you need our help?" Tony asked quickly.
Carl waved his hand without looking back.
"As long as you stay here and don't distract me, that'll be the greatest help."
Tony: "..."
Pushing open the iron gate, Carl smiled casually at the two guards stationed outside.
"Alright, everything's sorted out on my end. Take me to see Raza!"
One guard peeked inside through the small opening in the gate and confirmed that Tony and Ethan were still in place and unharmed. He then nodded at his partner, who began leading Carl down the corridor toward the base's monitoring room.
It turned out Raza had headed straight to the monitoring room after leaving earlier, wanting to keep an eye on the captives through surveillance. But what he ended up seeing was "Obadiah" smashing the surveillance camera with a chair.
Following the guard through a few turns, Carl soon came face-to-face with Raza once again.
According to his side mission, Carl had two objectives: kill Raza and destroy the base. There was no requirement to wipe out all of Raza's men.
So his first priority was to eliminate Raza. If he waited too long and chaos broke out, there was a high chance the man would slip away. That would make things far more complicated.
As for the rest of the Ten Rings thugs, well, it'd be best to take them out too—but if some escaped, it wasn't a big deal. After all, Carl was using Obadiah's face.
Later, when the Ten Rings came looking for payback, they'd target Obadiah—not him.
"I've held up my end of the deal. Now it's your turn," Raza sneered, placing a laptop in front of Carl and instructing him to transfer the money.
He wasn't the least bit worried that Obadiah might try to back out. After all, they were on his turf. If Obadiah tried anything, he'd blow his head off right then and there.
But Carl simply smiled at the screen, then suddenly lunged forward with both hands, grabbing Raza's head and twisting it violently.
Crack!
A sickening snap echoed through the room as Raza's head spun a full 360 degrees, his neck grotesquely broken.
"Well, that's one problem solved."
With Raza dead, Carl turned to the two stunned henchmen in the room. They were frozen in disbelief, only now realizing they should probably draw their weapons.
Too late.
Even if they had already aimed, Carl's current strength—enhanced by Chakra—meant he could easily dodge any incoming shots. But since they hesitated, they were doomed.
Before the first one could even touch his gun, Carl launched off and crushed his neck with a brutal kick. The second barely managed to draw his pistol before Carl spun and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick.
The man slammed into the far wall with a thud, coughed up blood, and collapsed—completely lifeless.
"Looks like I wasn't noticed. That makes things easier."
Carl's efficiency had paid off. With quick and ruthless moves, he'd eliminated all three without firing a single shot. There was no gunfire, no alarm—just silence. The rest of the thugs had no idea their leader was already dead.
After forming the hand seals with both hands, Carl's appearance shifted once again—from Obadiah to Raza.
He pushed open the door of the monitoring room and walked out along the rugged cave passage. Emerging into the valley, he raised a hand to signal the Ten Rings Gang members who were scattered around—some smoking, others chatting or patrolling with rifles slung over their backs.
Seeing "Raza" appear, the gang members quickly jogged over with weapons in tow.
"Kava Daba Oligawa," they muttered in a string of words Carl didn't understand—but he didn't need to.
He simply gestured with his eyes, instructing them to follow him back into the cave.
Though the gang members found it odd that their usually commanding leader wasn't speaking, his intimidating reputation kept them silent. They obeyed and followed closely behind.
Once they arrived at a spacious chamber inside the cave, Carl came to a halt, glanced around, and smirked.
"This place looks good—perfect for your graves."
Before the stunned mercenaries could respond, a gleaming blade flashed into Carl's hand.
It was a weapon he had acquired from a previous mission and kept stored in his mission space—always ready for use at a moment's notice.
Chakra surged through his body as Carl dashed forward like a ghost, slashing with such speed and precision that blood sprayed like mist. The gang members dropped one after another, clutching their slashed throats, unable to even scream properly before hitting the ground.
If these thirty or forty men had been scattered across the valley with solid cover, they would've posed a real threat, especially with their firearms. After all, even the strongest shinobi can fall to a well-placed bullet.
But packed together in this narrow cave, they were little more than sitting ducks—and Carl, once in their midst, turned it into a slaughterhouse.
In modern combat, sometimes it's not brute-force ninjutsu that wins, but strategic use of stealth and support techniques. And today proved exactly that.
Once the massacre ended, Carl released the Transformation Technique and returned to his original form. He calmly began walking back toward the hidden chamber at the bottom of the cave where Tony and the others were.
"Ah, almost forgot—there's still one more gatekeeper."
A few steps later, he spotted the last guard, stationed near the iron gate, cautiously approaching with his weapon drawn.
Clearly, the man had heard the commotion and come to investigate.
"Serpent – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger!"
Carl's fingers blurred as he wove through the hand signs. Then, taking a deep breath, he shouted:
"Fire Style – Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive sphere of flame erupted from his mouth, roaring through the air toward the startled guard.
The man froze, barely raising his weapon before the giant fireball engulfed him. His desperate attempt to flee was in vain—he was struck in the back and instantly incinerated, leaving behind a charred husk.
"Not bad at all," Carl said with a nod of approval before continuing on toward the bottom of the cave.