While It's Hot?

Knock—knock—knock—

The caravan's wagons rolled slowly along. When the first wagon emerged from a bend in the hillside,

the view opened up.

The clouds parted, revealing the moon.

From the wagon, everyone could look down and see the Earth Spider Clan Territory a mile away.

It was a small mountain village.

It covered less ground than Kikyo Castle.

A tall watchtower stood at the village entrance. The lights were sparse, and forests enclosed the village on both sides.

Quiet and peaceful, the village blended into the night. The gentle moonlight outlined a scene completely isolated from the outside world.

When the caravan saw the village, the tension in their hearts eased somewhat.

Tap—

In the first wagon, Hotaru's delicate body suddenly trembled. Her face rapidly turned as pale as paper, her cherry lips quivered, and all the strength seemed to drain from her body.

"Mm—"

Hotaru's brows knitted tightly. Her body went limp, and after a soft whimper, she toppled toward Ingetsu opposite her.

"..." Ingetsu raised his brows slightly.

Before he could react,

Kurenai Yuhi, who was beside him, had just stood up when Izumi shot out like a cheetah and caught Hotaru. As she looked the girl up and down, she cried out inwardly:

Is she trying to scam me?

But the girl's body truly had no strength at all. She was completely limp.

That was Izumi's first impression.

"What happened?"

As a Medical Ninja, Nonō's professional instincts kicked in when she saw a patient. She adjusted her round-framed glasses, then took the girl from Izumi.

The women all looked at Hotaru, who had been fine just moments ago, their faces filled with confusion as they kindly examined her.

"It's nothing."

Ingetsu said this calmly, then withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Earth Spider Village they were about to reach.

Everyone wore puzzled expressions.

"Strange. How did this girl's vital energy suddenly become so weak? But it's nothing serious. The captain is right—just feed her a Soldier Pill."

Nonō reached into her robes and pulled a packet of Soldier Pills from beneath her black-and-white nun's habit. She took one and fed it to Hotaru.

Ingetsu did not stop Nonō's good intentions. They still needed Hotaru to guide them, and he already knew why the young girl had ended up like this.

Everyone's expressions gradually relaxed.

They had mainly been worried that the group had come under attack.

Ingetsu turned to look toward the rear of the caravan.

He had acted earlier.

Because he had not been careful,

he had drained the Chakra from everyone there. Just then, something unusual happened behind the second wagon.

Smack—smack—smack—

The sounds of people falling rang out one after another.

Zong Quan watched in disbelief as the guard he had kicked earlier suddenly knelt before him, then collapsed in the middle of the wagon bed. Frightened, he took two steps back and cried out:

"I only kicked you once, and now you're trying to scam me?"

Sensing that something was wrong, Zong Quan immediately poked his head out and swept his gaze over the surrounding wagons. To his astonishment, everyone on them had now fallen to their knees, accompanied by pained groans:

"Ugh... Why is my head suddenly so dizzy..."

"Why can't I get any strength into my waist?"

"I'm so tired..."

Listening to their groans, Zong Quan's eyes began to tremble and his scalp went numb. Before he could recover, a feeling of weakness crawled from his toes up his calves like ants.

It was as if someone had completely hollowed out his body, leaving not a drop behind. He collapsed directly onto one of the guards and could no longer move, so exhausted that all he wanted was to bury his head and sleep.

Gurgle—

With no one driving them, the horses stopped on their own, leaving a gap in the caravan.

"Eh???"

Nonō looked ahead of their wagon at the "driver" lying on the ground, her face full of surprise and confusion. How did this turn into a case of human-to-human transmission?

"Something seems wrong!"

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Ingetsu.

Uchiha Mikoto, Izumi, and Nonō successively turned back toward the silent Ingetsu.

They had sensed something.

The women's beautiful eyes shone like brilliant stars, but Ingetsu remained expressionless and simply replied:

"It's nothing."

These people only needed to sleep or take a Soldier Pill, then rest for a while. Once their spirits recovered and the fatigue left their bodies, they would be fine.

Earlier, Yachihoko had drained them dry. Their adrenaline had surged, leaving them in a state of fear and extreme tension, so they had not noticed that their physical strength and spirit had fused into Chakra and been extracted in an instant.

Once they relaxed,

the delayed fatigue surged over them in a frenzy, sending them directly into a state of exhaustion.

"Really... nothing?"

Hotaru leaned against Izumi's embrace and slowly raised her head. Her eyes blinked, her lashes trembling as she looked at Ingetsu.

After taking the Soldier Pill, color had returned to her cheeks. But seeing her clansmen in such a state, a trace of worry inevitably appeared on her face.

Nonō lifted the hem of her black nun's habit and supported herself against the wagon bed with one hand as she climbed over the wagon.

Her long skirt billowed open like an umbrella before drawing in and wrapping around her long legs.

She slowly crouched beside the two coachmen. After examining them, she answered in place of her famously taciturn captain:

"It's nothing. Their symptoms are the same as yours. They'll be fine after resting for a while."

Hearing this, Hotaru finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Beneath the moonlight,

at the rear of the caravan,

Tap—

The sound of jumping rang out. Two four-man Uchiha squads met up, then used Body Flicker to hurry toward the front of the caravan.

The eight of them had wiped out the ninja on the other two mountain roads. They looked somewhat tired now, no longer as heroic as before.

"What are you carrying?"

Nanfeng's expression was one of astonishment. He and the teammates behind him saw the other squad, and their gazes were immediately drawn to Tamao.

Tamao was carrying a female ninja who wore a black bodysuit and a mask. She had a voluptuous figure, long hair cascading down like a waterfall, and half a face that was beautiful and fresh.

"Oh, this is a gift I brought back for Big Brother!" Tamao answered with complete seriousness.

While leading his team in wiping out members of the Root Organization and the other ninja, he had been pleasantly surprised to discover that they had a female ninja who was also fairly attractive. So he had left her alive and captured her.

Compared with the "Hotaru" he had captured earlier, Tamao felt that this female ninja's figure was similar to Mrs. Mikoto's, and Big Brother would probably like her.

"..." Nanfeng.

Tamao really was clever. No wonder he had returned empty-handed. Nanfeng had felt that something was off.

As the Uchiha passed the caravan and saw everyone lying on the ground, their expressions grew solemn, and their right hands pressed against the ninja blades strapped to their backs.

Nanfeng asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"Oh, judging by the looks of it, they were probably scared unconscious by Big Brother's swordsmanship just now. Look how soundly they're sleeping."

Tamao explained.

One of them dared to ask, and the other dared to answer.

The group left the hillside and saw Ingetsu and the others safe and sound in the first wagon.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After a few leaps, they reached Ingetsu and the others.

"Big Brother, the mission was completed successfully. This is the woman I brought back for you!"

Tamao grinned as he placed the female ninja he was carrying in the middle of the wagon bed. Then he looked up at Ingetsu as if seeking praise.

Kurenai Yuhi, Izumi, and Mikoto looked at Tamao strangely.

Hotaru looked terrified. She found the scene somewhat familiar.

"..." Ingetsu glanced at the female ninja lying on the wagon bed with her eyes shut and said calmly, "She's dead."

"Huh?"

Tamao's eyes widened in astonishment. He lowered his head to look at the female ninja, shoved her shoulder, then reached out and removed her mask.

A delicate face appeared.

The female ninja did not move. Her eyes were tightly shut, and black blood lingered at the corner of her mouth. She had clearly just swallowed poison and killed herself.

"No, why did you die? I carried you all the way back here. Did I allow you to die?"

Tamao lowered his head in frustration, looking as if she had failed to live up to his expectations.

An Uchiha muttered under his breath:

"You spent the whole journey filling her head with ideas about serving Captain Ingetsu properly, indirectly describing the captain as a lecher. If I were a woman, I'd want to die after hearing that too."

Tamao's baby-faced expression was filled with helplessness. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Nanfeng and sighed:

"Nanfeng, look, we've already brought her back. It would be a waste otherwise. Why don't you make do with her and take advantage of the—"

Nanfeng shouted angrily:

"Get lost!"

"Heh... How utterly unromantic." Tamao ignored him and looked toward his Big Brother.

Ingetsu had black lines appearing on his forehead. He went over to Tamao and patted him on the shoulder. "Bury her. You did well this time."

Hearing the praise, Tamao immediately grinned and nodded heavily, his mood improving at once.

"Don't do this next time."

Ingetsu finished what he had to say.

Tamao immediately wilted.

Seeing that the Uchiha were uninjured, and not giving everyone time to chat, Ingetsu planned to take only Hotaru into the Earth Spider Clan Territory and leave the caravan behind.

A mission prompt suddenly appeared in his mind.

Side Mission: Not One Less

Options:

1. Bring the caravan back to Tsuchigumo Village.

Rewards:

Storage Space increased by 100 cubic meters.