"Reason..."

Su Xiao looked at Rose with interest, finding her more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

Boom!

There was a loud explosion. Obito and Sasuke stepped back while Kisame gripped the hilt of Samehada with one hand. Deidara raised his hand, and a bright red tongue extended from the mouth in his palm.

At this moment, Su Xiao had vanished from his seat, and the stone table was covered with spider web-like cracks. He crouched on the stone table, holding the Dragon Slash, its blade resting against Rose’s fair neck.

Rose had already stood up, slightly tilting her head. The prickling sensation on her neck made her eyes, like black gemstones, shine brightly.

At that moment, Rose held a short-handle war scythe. The handle was embedded with five gemstones, and the blade gleamed with a cold light, its sharp edge also pressing against Su Xiao’s throat.

"Kisame, is this what you call not strong in combat?"

Su Xiao calmly looked at Rose. The speed she showed just now was undoubtedly on par with his, and her combat experience, reaction speed, and adaptability in crisis were impeccable.

"After all, everyone has their secrets."

Kisame chuckled and turned to walk outside the base. At the same time, Rose received a prompt that her personal affinity with Kisame had been reset to zero.

"Here to find me?"

Su Xiao and Rose were less than fifty centimeters apart as he scrutinized her.

"You guessed it right, I’m here for you."

Inside, Rose was actually already cursing. When she found out Su Xiao held a high position in the Akatsuki Organization, she had planned a temporary retreat. But who knew, Kisame started reminiscing with her. Considering Kisame’s personality, Rose felt utterly perplexed.

Revisiting memories during the day and Bai Jue’s clone wandering the base at night, escaping the underground base was impossible unless she tore down her facade. She wasn’t afraid of Kisame, but she wasn’t sure if Su Xiao and the others would return quickly. Moreover, tearing down the facade just based on a hunch wasn’t worth it, especially since she still had a trump card.

Realizing this relatively disadvantageous situation, Rose didn’t complain. She gladly accepted the result as the price she had to pay. She wasn’t good at strategizing, but she used this method to approach her enemies.

"Did Stan send you?"

Su Xiao observed from Rose’s earlier quick actions that Rose was very strong, possibly on par with him. Such a strong enemy was likely sent by Stan.

"Stan? Oh, ’Forgiveness Tank’, of course not. How could he have time to come after you? He was just been cheated on, and he’s furious right now."

Rose smiled, moving her face closer to Su Xiao’s. The Dragon Slash blade cut into her fair neck, drawing blood.

Rose slowly raised her hand, grabbing the front of Su Xiao’s shirt, almost face-to-face. Su Xiao caught a faint scent.

"Remember that all-female adventure group you wiped out?"

Rose’s breathing became rapid; her perfect set of small white teeth clicked loudly.

"Adventure group..."

Su Xiao immediately recalled something.

"They should all be dead, but it seems there’s one left."

Su Xiao now understood Rose’s purpose—simple revenge. However, he was puzzled. He thought he had eradicated them completely.

"No, they’re all dead. Black and White, Queen, Yezi, Cold Moon, Candy, Little Black, Blood Rose, all died by your blade. Why you killed them doesn’t matter; what matters is that I’m still alive."

Hearing Rose’s words, Su Xiao was even more puzzled. If all those people were dead, who was this person? A leftover from the Other Shore Flower Adventure Group? Unlikely. Was she a Violator hidden within the Other Shore Flower? Even more unlikely. If a Violator got close to Su Xiao, his Hunting Function would automatically activate. Moreover, the Violator was already dead.

Su Xiao couldn’t figure out where this person came from.

"Curious, aren’t you? Where did I come from? You really did kill them all, and I investigated this for quite a while. Unfortunately, I don’t have Little Black’s intelligence; otherwise, I would’ve figured out a better way. No wonder she used to call me dumb; because of this, I beat her a lot, to the point of tears."

Rose’s words were accompanied by tears streaming from her left eye, while her right eye maintained clear vision.

"You all, get out within a minute."

Rose tilted her head, her gaze sweeping over Obito, Sasuke, and others.

Obito was somewhat surprised; it had been a long time since someone dared to speak to him that way.

Beep, beep, beep...

Electronic sounds came from Rose. The gemstone on her necklace was flashing red, and terrifying waves began to spread.

"The KMTA multifunctional radioactive substance, if activated, not a single living creature within half a kilometer will survive."

Rose wasn’t a lone hero. Her daring to venture into the Akatsuki Headquarters must have been supported by something solid.

Obito used space ninjutsu without hesitation, disappearing in a moment. Sasuke limped towards the base exit.

"Bai Ye, it seems the situation isn’t good."

Deidara remained unmoved; Su Xiao saved his life once, and he couldn’t just walk away.

"Deidara, this is my personal vendetta."

Su Xiao spoke. Rose was not bluffing. If what was on her neck really exploded, the devastation would be terrifying.

"Tch, don’t die on me, hmm."

Deidara turned and left for the outside of the base. Soon, only Su Xiao, Rose, Bubu Wang, and A Mu remained in the underground base.

After Obito and the others left, the necklace on Rose’s neck stopped flashing.

"Paradise is truly wondrous. I used to be considered a... soft sister? Now, I’ve grown this strong."

As Rose spoke, Bubu Wang was already trying to approach her from behind.

"Give up, leader of the Sled Team; any living thing entering the Blood Web, I can easily sense."

Bubu Wang’s steps halted. It was the first time someone had detected its presence. Bubu Wang looked around, noticing the appearance of a nearly invisible web of blood silk. Spread throughout the entire underground base, the web interfered with its ability to blend seamlessly with the environment.

"Have a fight, either you get rid of me completely, or I kill you. This is my obsession."

Rose slowly backed off. Their weapons were currently at each other’s throats, and a mutual defeat would be likely. Rose decided to resolve the issue in her own simple and brutal way: whoever was stronger deserved to survive, not mimicking her deceased teammates. Although that method would offer a more intense sense of revenge, Su Xiao wasn’t someone easily provoked.

The distance between them gradually increased. Just then, Su Xiao swung his long knife, and Rose slashed with her war scythe.

Splurt.

Blood splattered as a not-deep wound appeared on Su Xiao’s shoulder. A cut appeared on Rose’s neck, clearly deeper—the Dragon Slash was longer than the short-handle scythe, which was an advantage.