Ambushed!

At the foot of the mountain, the four split up to search for a cave. If they found none, Asuma would use Earth Style Jutsu to make one.

After searching for over an hour, Ming Jing was the first to find a cave. It was not large, just wide enough for one person to enter, and its interior was pitch-black. Seeing it, Ming Jing could not help recalling the plot of The Descent, with its ancient humans and the like. But on second thought, if there really were ancient humans down there, they would be the unlucky ones if Ming Jing's group went in! Qing Yan had his Indestructible Golden Body, Konan had her secret techniques, and there was even the jonin Asuma.

Thus, the little bit of fear he had felt was immediately tossed aside. Ming Jing called Qing Yan, Konan, and Asuma over, only to realize that he was the only one excited. Konan was habitually calm, Asuma was calmly thinking things through, and Qing Yan simply did not care.

"Qing Yan, you'll take the lead later. I'll go second, Konan third, and Captain Asuma will bring up the rear. Any objections?" Ming Jing asked after thinking it over. Qing Yan had the highest defense among them, Ming Jing possessed some close-range combat ability, Konan had long-range attacks, and Asuma could ensure they could retreat at any time.

No one objected. Qing Yan lit a wooden stick and strode in first, while the others followed one by one in order. The cave was filled with the mixed stench of rotting corpses and feces, which was rather unpleasant. After walking for less than half an hour, they suddenly found the cave becoming more spacious. Asuma felt along the cave wall and said, "Look at these walls. There are barely any water stains. I'm afraid this isn't an underground river."

Ming Jing nodded in agreement and asked, "Then what do you think it is, Captain?"

"I don't know." Asuma shrugged bluntly.

After considering it, Ming Jing said, "No matter what, we need to figure out what's inside. Otherwise, we can't proceed with the work ahead. Let's keep going!"

Qing Yan said nothing. After hearing Ming Jing's words, he raised the torch and continued forward without the slightest hesitation. In the silent cave, only the footsteps of the four echoed. After listening for so long, Ming Jing began to feel creeped out. He subconsciously slowed down, and Qing Yan slowed as well. At the same time, Ming Jing drew a little closer to Konan.

After an unknown amount of time, Qing Yan suddenly stopped. Ming Jing looked past him and found that there was no road ahead, only a massive pit. Asuma also stepped forward and silently stared down into the bottomless hole. Konan came over as well, took a look, but said nothing.

"Young Master?" Qing Yan called.

"This is troublesome... Do we have any spare torches? Throw one down and take a look." Ming Jing frowned. Qing Yan immediately pulled an unused torch from his backpack, lit it, and tossed it down. Everyone watched as the firelight grew smaller and smaller before finally reaching the bottom. From above, the torch's glow flickered like a spark.

"What do we do now? Go down?" Asuma took out a cigarette and was about to light it, but seeing Konan frown beside him, he awkwardly put it away.

Ming Jing was also thinking about what to do. They had too little information to analyze anything. Just then, he suddenly noticed that the torch below had gone out! He frowned and said, "Let's retreat for today. We'll come back tomorrow with some Explosive Tags!"

"It's too late!" Konan, who had been watching below, suddenly said. Paper wings unfolded from her back, and she flew into the air.

"Wind Style: Dust Cloud Technique!" Asuma completed the hand signs within two seconds and spat six whirlwinds at the black shadow rushing upward. Yet when the whirlwinds struck it, they had no effect at all.

"Indestructible Golden Body!" Qing Yan stepped in front of Ming Jing and activated his strongest defensive state.

The appearance of the enormous figure was accompanied by an unbearable foul stench. By the light of the torch, Ming Jing finally saw the monster clearly. It had two long antennae, a red head covered in scales, and a segmented body. Every segment had a pair of scythe-like legs. It was a giant centipede!

"Retreat the way we came! The tunnel is too narrow for that thing to get in!" Ming Jing shouted, grabbing Qing Yan and pulling him back. Asuma gripped Flying Swallow in both hands and retreated as well. Konan hovered overhead, with the giant centipede separating her from Ming Jing and the other two.

"You go first," Konan said coolly. At the same time, she summoned several paper Shuriken and fired them at the centipede. Under Konan's control, the Shuriken lodged precisely between the centipede's segments before exploding violently.

Amid a series of thunderous blasts, the giant centipede lost its grip on the wall and fell straight down. Konan took the chance to fly over. Just as Ming Jing breathed a sigh of relief, the centipede's enormous forked tail suddenly swept toward them without warning. Konan tried her best to dodge, but the antenna at its very end still struck her wings. She immediately lost her balance and fell from the air. Meanwhile, the centipede had already climbed back up, its huge mandibles opening as though it intended to swallow Konan whole.

"Damn it!" Ming Jing cursed and suddenly rushed forward. He caught Konan in his arms before the centipede could reach her. Facing the incoming mandibles, he held his sword horizontally with his other hand, perfectly wedging it between the two long fangs inside the centipede's mouth. Yet the centipede did not stop. It rammed Ming Jing and Konan straight into the stone wall on the other side.

"Young Master!" Qing Yan was shocked and was about to rush forward when Asuma grabbed him.

Asuma shouted at Qing Yan, "Calm down! If you charge in like that, not only will you fail to save them, you'll get yourself killed too!"

"I can't let Young Master face it alone!" Qing Yan tried to shake Asuma off, but Asuma was a jonin after all. How could Qing Yan throw him aside so easily?

Asuma simply tackled Qing Yan to the ground and shouted, "Your Young Master is so calm, so why can't you calm down too?!"

Ming Jing could not see Qing Yan and Asuma playing their love-hate game. The centipede had slammed him into the stone wall. If its own mandibles had not first bored into the wall, that impact might have crushed Ming Jing and Konan into pulp.

The centipede apparently realized this as well. It suddenly raised its head and flung them away like food caught at its mouth. Unfortunately, before Ming Jing even landed, the centipede had caught up. This time, its mouth opened even wider, and its pair of fangs deliberately spread farther apart.

"Illusion Technique: Blade-less Head Shave!" At this life-or-death moment, Ming Jing could not care less about "forgetting illusions." He unleashed one of the few illusions capable of causing physical damage directly at the centipede's huge mouth. That invisible, intangible, unpredictable force left a wound over a meter long inside the centipede's mouth.

The centipede was struck by intense pain, and its mouth involuntarily snapped shut. Ming Jing happened to plant one foot on its head and used the rebound to retreat even faster. Then he slammed hard into the stone wall. The pain came without any mental preparation, and Ming Jing nearly loosened his grip on Konan.

But their situation was not much better now. After hitting the wall, they began falling. Ming Jing made a snap decision. With a flick of the hand holding his sword, he threw away the scabbard and drove the blade directly into the stone wall. They slid another meter or two before stopping, and Ming Jing immediately felt as though his arm were about to tear apart. Damn it, Itachi looked pretty cool doing this as a kid in the anime. Who knew this move demanded so much from your arm muscles?! Was Itachi really such a deeply hidden veteran?...

The centipede turned back around at this moment. This time, the big fellow seemed angry. Ming Jing's heart chilled. He had thought his Bloodline Limit was pretty impressive before, but in a situation like this, what the hell was an illusion even good for?

"Over... there..." At the critical moment, Konan suddenly spoke. Ming Jing looked over and saw that she was pointing at a small opening diagonally below them. Facing the centipede about to charge at them, Ming Jing gritted his teeth, swung twice, and let go. Luckily, one hand caught the edge of the opening. Ming Jing quickly circulated his Chakra and, before the centipede could bite down, hugged Konan and crawled into the small cave...