Scent

On the other side, Qi Shuang hid in the dense fog, doing his utmost to conceal his presence and avoid a direct encounter with the Konoha Chunin.

The longer I can stall, the better.

After all, the gap between a Chunin and a Genin was enormous.

Earlier, if that Konoha ninja had not been so careless—and if Qi Shuang had not launched a deliberate sneak attack—there was no way he could have killed him.

Now, he had already used Ice Release three times, Water Clone twice, and Substitution Technique once.

Although the abundance of water had saved him considerable effort, with his current condition, those five techniques had already drained his chakra.

He estimated that the chakra remaining was only enough for one more ninjutsu.

Therefore, he had to be even more careful, using Kamiya Ki's dense fog to maneuver around his opponent and waiting for an opportunity to strike, ensuring that his final ninjutsu would kill in one blow.

Otherwise, if he carelessly wasted the chakra he had left, he would become a lamb waiting for slaughter.

Kamimura and Natsuki were lessons written in blood.

Boom!

A piercing explosion rang out from the dense fog to the left ahead.

The crimson firelight pierced through the heavy fog. Even from seven or eight meters away, it was clearly reflected in Qi Shuang's eyes.

Immediately afterward, an enraged curse came from the direction of the explosion.

"Blast it!"

"You little brat! Just wait until I catch you—I'll skin you alive!"

Hearing that, Qi Shuang wore a smug smile and thought, Looks like not every Konoha ninja is on the level of those twelve from Naruto and Sasuke's generation!

He even fell for such a simple baited trap!

Still, the moisture in this fog is so heavy. It's actually pretty cold!

At that thought, he breathed warm air into his palms, then rubbed his two bare arms, exposed in the dense fog.

Just after separating from Kamiya Ki, he had taken off his coat, propped it up on a branch, and used an Explosive Tag to set up a simple trigger trap.

Anyone who touched the garment would trigger an explosion.

In an open area on level ground, anyone could see through such a trap at a glance, making it difficult to fall for. But now, they were surrounded by dense fog. Aside from its caster, Kamiya Ki, everyone's vision was severely limited.

On top of that, his opponent was a Chunin, while he was only a Genin. The difference in strength between them was enormous.

Given that, his opponent would certainly not take him too seriously and would want to finish him off quickly.

Impatient and careless, with his vision obstructed, the man would undoubtedly pounce without hesitation if he vaguely saw Qi Shuang's "figure" in the fog and launch a killing blow.

The odds of him falling for the trap were practically ninety-nine percent.

However, judging by the vigor in the man's curses, he should be unharmed and had merely suffered a minor setback.

Qi Shuang still needed to wait a little longer before making his move.

As he thought this, he retreated. Before long, he had backed onto the river's surface again.

He did not know Silent Killing Technique, so he could not conceal the sounds of his movements.

Therefore, he needed to use the river's roaring current to cover his actions.

He would be safer on the river.

"This one shouldn't be another trap, right, brat?"

Accompanied by a murderous aura, a sinister voice appeared behind Qi Shuang.

Not good!

With no time to think, he dropped and rolled with the momentum.

A gleaming blade swept horizontally past the back of his head.

"Oh? Looks like you're different from those two little brats!" The attacker sounded somewhat surprised after seeing Qi Shuang narrowly evade his ambush from behind.

However, confident in his Chunin strength and certain of victory, he did not pursue the attack.

Instead, he curiously sized up the little boy who was cautiously climbing to his feet.

"How did you find me in such a short time?" Qi Shuang asked gravely, slowly backing away as he tried to vanish into the fog again.

Unfortunately, the man seemed to have seen through his intentions. He followed step by step, always maintaining a fixed distance from him.

Although neither could see the other clearly, they could still barely track each other's movements.

The man replied with amusement, "If you hadn't tried to be clever and set that trap, it would've taken me a little longer to find you in this fog!"

"But now, even if you hide in the fog again, it won't do you any good!"

"Because your tracks can't escape my sense of smell!"

As he spoke, he rubbed his nose with extreme confidence.

"Your sense of smell?"

On the other side, Qi Shuang frowned at once. After thinking for a moment, the surname of a prominent Konoha clan came to mind.

"Are you from the Konoha Inuzuka Clan?" he exclaimed in surprise.

Since the man had used his sense of smell to lock onto Qi Shuang's movements, there was no doubt that he possessed extraordinary olfactory abilities.

Among the ninja clans skilled in tracking by scent, Konoha had only two that specialized in this field.

One was the Aburame Clan, and the other was the Inuzuka Clan.

The former relied on the scent-tracking abilities of the Kikaichū to search for enemies, while the latter enhanced their own sense of smell to hunt them down.

Not only did the two clans differ in their methods of scent-tracking, but their fighting styles were also vastly different.

The Aburame Clan relied on insects to launch ninjutsu attacks, whereas the Inuzuka Clan generally partnered with Ninja Hounds to use Taijutsu attacks.

Although Qi Shuang had not seen the man's Ninja Hound partner, he had not seen him use any insect techniques either.

Besides, given the Inuzuka Clan's fighting style, they would never use Taijutsu if they could avoid it.

Combined with the inverted triangular markings he had noticed on the man's face earlier, Qi Shuang was even more inclined to believe that the man came from the Inuzuka Clan rather than the Aburame Clan.

Thus, the reason the man had found him so quickly also became clear.

When he had set the trap, he had used his coat, delivering his freshest scent straight into the man's hands.

Although Qi Shuang had gained a small advantage, the man had consequently obtained a clue with which to track him.

Without that, it would have taken the man much longer to distinguish Qi Shuang's scent accurately through the fog and find him!

Indeed, everything had two sides.

The goddess of fate would not favor him forever.

"At least you've got some sense!"

The man across from him sheathed the short blade in his hand and continued, "Since you know I'm from the Inuzuka Clan, you should understand that there's no chance of escaping my pursuit!"

"Accept your fate and stand there quietly while I snap your neck!"

"That way, I'll be merciful and give you a quick death. I won't torture you!"

As he spoke, he immediately lowered his upper body, spread both arms, and placed his hands on the river's surface. Like a beast preparing to hunt, he fixed his gaze on the Mist ninja child not far away.

"Beast Mimicry Technique: Four Legs Jutsu."

The aura around him seemed to take on a wild edge, and even his fingernails lengthened by an inch.

"Your life is mine, brat!"

A contemptuous voice escaped his lips. The man grinned, revealing four gleaming white fangs, looking exactly like a genuine beast.

Before his voice had even faded, his figure blurred. He was already in front of Qi Shuang, his five fingers spread wide, their nails sharp as claws, and he reached straight for him.