Completion!

Completion!

That appearance...

Lin Ke immediately thought of a very famous character from the original story:

Yuhi Kurenai.

It was actually her, but where were the pursuers? Shouldn't they have—

"Rustle, rustle, rustle." Lin Ke suddenly looked toward the swaying bushes in the distance.

Nara Yan Shui gripped a kunai and said, "Stay alert." Before he had finished speaking, he flung the kunai in his hand.

"Thunk, thunk, thunk." Three at once, they flew through the bushes in a triangular formation, sending leaves fluttering down as the kunai buried themselves deep in the tree trunks.

The standoff began at that moment.

Someone had definitely followed them, but the other side was highly skilled at concealing their presence. In an instant, they had vanished from where they stood and hidden themselves.

Nara Yan Shui was in no hurry. He stood calmly in front of his companions, holding a kunai in one hand as he cautiously observed their surroundings.

After forming hand seals and using the Clone Technique, Lin Ke stood in front of the female ninja who was likely Yuhi Kurenai. As time passed, he felt as though thorns were pressing against his back. An indescribable pressure settled over him invisibly, making his breathing slightly rushed.

Killing intent? He gritted his teeth. In real combat, opponents would never stand at a distance and let you form hand seals and use ninjutsu. Lurking, ambushing, assassinating—that was what ninjas did.

Should he form hand seals and summon a substitute now? If the enemy did not appear, would that be a waste of chakra? The Clone Technique's duration was being consumed bit by bit...

If they dragged this out, the female ninja would recover her strength and join the battle, giving them better odds. But why was the enemy dragging things out too? "Whoosh!"

An umbrella suddenly shot out from the distant bushes. Its target was not the three of them, but the air. Then it opened midair, and countless tiny senbon rained down with its rotation, blanketing the ground.

Ninja Art: Rain of a Thousand Needles

Nara Yan Shui reacted with remarkable speed. He formed hand seals with one hand and drew in a deep breath—

"Whoosh!" A violent gale swept through, sending the senbon clattering together and rolling them into the distance. Several trees were snapped apart with sharp cracks as well.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

"Whoosh!" As he used his ninjutsu to blow away the senbon, a figure rose from underground. A kunai gleaming with an eerie light stabbed into his thigh.

Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique

Lin Ke was about to go help when, with a bang, Nara Yan Shui turned into mist. Then, with another pop, the attacker also became a puddle of water.

A Shadow Clone, a Water Clone...

Even though he had only appeared for an instant, Lin Ke still saw clearly that the attacker wore a Forehead Protector marked with four vertical lines representing rain, along with a breathing mask. He was clearly a ninja from Amegakure.

Someone capable of trading blows with Nara Yan Shui was undoubtedly a jonin-level expert as well.

The battle between the two jonin was not flashy. There were no fancy ninjutsu techniques. After a brief exchange of simple probing techniques, they began fighting with taijutsu so fast Lin Ke could barely follow it. At the same time, whether intentionally or not, their battlefield gradually moved farther away.

A jonin going all out... What terrifying speed and strength.

Lin Ke sighed inwardly, then gathered his scattered thoughts and kept watch seriously. The two jonin moving farther away had to mean something.

Nara Yan Shui's purpose was easy to guess. If he stalled until the female ninja recovered her strength, whether they fought or fled, the mission would be complete. But that Amegakure jonin—

"Whoosh!" The sound of something cutting through the air came from his rear right.

Lin Ke did not panic. When the enemy truly attacked him, he instead became exceptionally calm. His body barely moved; he merely turned his head, as though he would rather die than fail to see his opponent clearly.

"Bang!" His body was kicked flying and scattered apart in midair, while his head remained where it was.

The attacker was also an Amegakure ninja. Judging by his build, he was already an adult. The instant he kicked Lin Ke away, the three poisoned senbon in his hand were about to pierce the female ninja's head. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the boy's head still hanging in place. His mind briefly froze, and he instinctively disrupted his chakra in an attempt to break the Genjutsu.

"Bang!"

The Clone Technique dispersed. Taking advantage of the opening while his opponent's chakra was in disarray and he could neither counterattack nor evade effectively, Lin Ke naturally drew a kunai and stabbed forward.

"Splurt!"

At the last moment, his opponent raised an arm to block the kunai. Blood sprayed out, and he stomped on the ground, preparing to flee. Then his consciousness suddenly began to blur. A pair of crimson eyes appeared before him, growing larger and larger. He froze in place, his head drooping as he ceased all movement.

The female ninja stood up, used a kunai to chop off the opponent's head, then took out a scroll and spread it open. She placed the head on it, pressed down with both hands, and sealed it away.

The headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Blood flowed out, and the stench of blood steadily spread.

"Good job," the female ninja praised gently.

Lin Ke kept a straight face. He glanced at the Amegakure ninja, who had not even been left with an intact corpse, then looked up at the female ninja, who had just cut off and sealed away someone's head as if nothing had happened. He brushed the footprint off his back, formed hand seals again, and used the Clone Technique.

This woman had probably recovered her ability to move earlier, or perhaps she had never been too exhausted to move at all. She had been completely fooling the enemy... Adults—no, adult ninjas—were really filthy.

He did not rashly form hand seals at once, use the Substitution Technique, and go help his instructor. With his strength, recklessly involving himself in a battle between jonin would have been far too unwise.

Nara Yan Shui's willingness to draw the battlefield farther away proved that he was confident he could defeat his opponent.

"Don't worry about Yan Shui." The female ninja sounded much more relaxed now, speaking as though she were comforting a child.

Not long afterward, Nara Yan Shui appeared before them with a whoosh and nodded. "Let's go." As for his opponent—

He was most likely dead.

Nara Yan Shui might not have been particularly famous in the ninja world, but Konoha jonin were a gold-standard brand to begin with.

More precisely, only jonin from the Five Great Ninja Villages were genuine jonin. Jonin from small countries and minor ninja villages were generally much weaker. After all, as mentioned before, jonin was merely a title. Minor ninja villages had few talents, so the so-called "jonin" they picked as the best among the worst would probably only be Special Jonin or elite chunin in the Five Great Ninja Villages.

They might even be severely lopsided in their abilities.

Besides, the Nara clan's secret techniques were quite famous. Dealing with an insignificant Amegakure jonin would not be a problem for Nara Yan Shui in a short amount of time. The only reason he had not immediately used the Shadow Sewing Jutsu to kill his opponent was to preserve stamina and conceal information.

If his opponent had not been an Amegakure ninja particularly skilled in assassination, but someone from Kusagakure or another minor ninja village instead, the battle would likely have ended even faster.

The three of them headed back. It was clear that the female ninja truly had little stamina left, and her speed was not very fast, though it was still enough to keep up with Lin Ke. Of the three, he was the one most likely to hold the others back.

After returning to Tanzaku Street, Nara Yan Shui's usually calm expression broke into a smile. He patted Lin Ke's head and said, "You did well. Get some rest."

With that, he and the female ninja vanished in a Body Flicker.