Hidden Village

Within the lush, dense forest, beams of sunlight pierced through the leaves, illuminating the dark, quiet woods and casting orange-yellow rays onto the leaf-strewn ground.

Whew...

The sound of something cutting through the air broke the long silence of the dense forest. Yemo and the others ran through the crisscrossing tree trunks. Of the dozens of people who had started, only a few remained.

Many people inevitably get caught up in the battle, whether actively or passively, and most people end up fighting.

Of the fifteen Konoha ninjas who participated in the Genin exams, more than half clashed with other ninjas. Among them, Shikaku, Chōza, and Inoichi were targeted by an opponent from Genin village, making a major battle inevitable.

Yemo walked at the front, and no one chose him as their opponent. There were also two participants from the Uchiha Clan: Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga.

The Byakugan and Sharingan are renowned throughout the Shinobi World. Countless ninjas have died because of these two eye techniques. Ninjas who awaken these eyes possess combat power that surpasses that of ordinary ninjas of the same level, so no ninja chooses to fight them.

Although no physical altercations took place, the atmosphere within the group was tense and fraught with danger. Yemo clearly sensed several Chakra targeting him, presumably because the opponents were unsure of his strength and dared not be certain, hence the lack of a worthy opponent.

Those still running at the forefront are arguably the strongest in their group. Because of this, everyone is hesitant to act, and for a moment, no one has made a move, maintaining a delicate balance.

They ran another kilometer or two, which means they covered about half the total distance. At this pace, they would all be able to reach the finish line within the allotted time.

But clearly, they weren't going to just run away so easily; some couldn't resist taking action, and their target was Yemo.

Call...

Without warning, a ninja attacked Yemo, raising his hand and thrusting out a kunai emanating endless Kunai from his tightly clenched fingers, aiming for Yemo's head. The opponent had clearly been preparing to attack Yemo all along; his move was swift and powerful, a killing blow aimed directly at Yemo's Yemo, intending to kill him in one strike.

Faced with the approaching cold light, Yemo reacted swiftly, first retreating rapidly backward, then quickly drawing out a Kunai and striking out.

With a clang, a metallic sound rang out, and Kakkō flashed as the two Kunai collided in mid-air. Yemo suddenly kicked out, striking his opponent squarely in the stomach. Yemo possessed immense strength; a single kick could snap a tree as thick as a bowl, let alone a person.

The ninja let out a scream, and with a thud, his body turned into a cloud of white smoke and disappeared. A piece of broken wood flew out from the smoke and crashed to the ground.

"Substitution Technique!"

Yemo's expression changed, slightly surprised. He wondered when the other party had used the Substitution Technique. The next second, a black shadow rushed out from the bushes behind him, gripping a long, slender, snow-white sword that exuded a sharp, cold aura, and slashed down at Yemo.

Sensing the attack coming from behind, Yemo didn't have time to think about when the opponent used the Substitution Technique. He suddenly turned around, his surging Chakra erupting, and lightning crackled around his body. Azure arcs of electricity flowed like silver snakes across Yemo's body.

As he turned around, Yemo gently clenched his right hand towards the void, and the silver snakes that had been swimming around his body instantly gathered in his palm. With a flash of light, his right hand was now holding a deep blue lightning sword, the blade formed from condensed lightning.

Turning around, Yemo quickly raised his hand to block. With a muffled thud, a violent gust of wind rushed towards him, and a tremendous force surged into his body through the sword like a tidal wave.

Instantly Yemo's feet sank into the ground. Because Yemo had channeled all his power into the ground, short cracks appeared around his feet.

Call out...

Yemo raised his hand and shot out Kunai with his left hand. Unexpectedly, the ninja who attacked Yemo reacted quickly, which surprised Yemo. Ye Mo turned his head to the side in time. The Kunai did not hit his forehead, but it still left a wound of more than ten centimeters on his face. Blood gushed out immediately, staining half of his cheek bright red.

Wounded by Yemo, the ninja knew he was no match for Yemo in a direct fight, so he quickly withdrew and retreated, trying to hide back into the dense jungle.

"Trying to run away? Not so easy. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world." Seeing that the other party had attacked him and wanted to run, Yemo wouldn't allow it and quickly stepped forward to close the distance.

Furthermore, the Forehead Protector on the other person had a black mist shape, clearly indicating that they were a ninja from the Hidden Village. The Hidden Village was a small village that was extremely skilled in stealth techniques, so most of the ninjas from this village were assassins. They were also a strange assassin village in the Shinobi World, not participating in the conflicts between villages, but accepting missions from various villages to assassinate important figures.

Therefore, although they do not participate in wars between villages, their acceptance of assassination missions has caused many villages to have a bad impression of Hidden Village, and some even hate them.

Unfortunately, this village is very secretive and doesn't cooperate with the government. It's more like an assassin organization than a village, making it impossible for many other villages to find Hidden Village whereabouts. Otherwise, the Hidden Village would have been wiped out by the other villages long ago.

The opponent is a ninja assassin from Hidden Village, with extremely strong stealth skills. If he hides in the forest, finding him won't be so easy. Naturally, Yemo won't let that happen.

With a flash, Yemo used his fastest speed to instantly close the distance to his opponent. Seeing that Yemo had caught up with him so quickly, the ninja's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock. As an assassin ninja, he was not only extremely skilled in stealth techniques but also incredibly fast. He believed that no Genin could catch him, and even among the so-called Genin from various villages who participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams, he was confident that no one could surpass him in speed. As an assassin, speed was his forte. But now this Konoha Ninja had caught up with him so easily, clearly indicating that the opponent's strength far surpassed his own.

The ninja felt a pang of bitterness. He had kicked a hornet's nest; how could such a random opponent be so strong? His luck was just too bad. He even felt like crying, regretting that he had chosen this Konoha Ninja as his opponent.

Yemo had no idea what the other party was thinking. In an instant, the ninja raised his right hand high and swung his lightning sword. Lightning Release Chakra surged into the sword, making it shine brightly. He then slashed down fiercely, the sound of the sword whistling, carrying the sound of wind and thunder, and a powerful gust of wind crushing down.

"Cut"

With a gentle exhale, the sword strike was incredibly fast. A flash of light, and the azure blade was already upon the opponent, leaving them no chance to dodge and forcing them to raise their own sword to defend.

With a whoosh, the snow-white blade was severed in two, the broken edges glowing red. The severed tip fell freely, spun several times in the air, and stuck diagonally into the ground, the blade trembling and humming.

Lightning Release is inherently powerful, and when combined with the high-temperature effect of Lightning Release Chakra, as long as your Lightning Release is strong enough, you can easily cut through a blade with a single sword strike, like Yemo.

Staring dumbfounded at the broken sword in his hand, the ninja's only thought was, "Could such powerful Lightning Release really be used by Genin?"

Yemo wouldn't explain this to him, nor did he want to. After severing the opponent's sword with a single strike, Yemo immediately followed up with a punch from his left hand. The punch was incredibly fast, as swift as lightning, and the powerful fist, accompanied by a gust of wind, slammed into the ninja's chin.

With tremendous force, the ninja's chin shattered with a crack, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness. His body flew several meters into the air like a spinning cannonball before crashing heavily to the ground with a thud.