Following the Trail

Yuzhen seemed to have no idea where to start, but as long as he remained patient, he believed he would soon find a way in.

And that was exactly what happened. For three straight days, he holed up in the inn, observing the situation outside through his room window. Then, on the afternoon of the third day, he discovered that ninjas were active in the town.

This was not because Yuzhen had particularly strong intelligence-gathering abilities. It was because the ninja he saw had no intention of concealing his identity at all.

Seeing this, Yuzhen did not hesitate. He immediately left the inn and decisively began following the other man in secret.

With the idea of keeping his trump cards hidden, and because his purpose in following this time was to be discovered by his target at an appropriate moment, he only used the differences in building heights and the town's complicated environment to keep track of him. He did not use the Mayfly Technique right away.

The ninja moved swiftly through the town. Judging from his manner of movement alone, it was clear that this was not his first time here, because every one of his actions was purposeful.

Soon afterward, the ninja entered an inconspicuous alley, then walked into a low building at the very end of it.

It took more than forty minutes before he left the building again... Naturally, this was worth paying close attention to.

At this point, Yuzhen had two choices. One was to continue following the ninja, and the other was to directly scout the building.

To be safe, he chose the former.

He wanted to gather as much information as possible from the ninja.

Yuzhen followed behind him. The ninja unexpectedly chose to leave the town directly, then continued northward, his speed gradually increasing without Yuzhen realizing it.

Yuzhen had a rough idea why, so he heightened his vigilance and continued to follow close behind.

Not long after they left the town, they passed through a sparse forest, and the terrain ahead became a marsh shrouded in miasma.

Stagnant dead water and rotting vegetation were soaked together in the hot, humid muck. In the gray-brown, viscous pools, the half-exposed white bones of some large animals could occasionally be seen.

This was obviously a good place to bury someone.

"Come out. I noticed you long ago."

After the ninja stopped, he spoke toward the direction where Yuzhen was hiding.

Being discovered was exactly what I wanted...

Yuzhen chose to reveal himself directly. Facing the other man's wary gaze, which also held a trace of smugness, he walked step by step to a position more than ten meters in front of him.

After stopping, he found the rotten stench wafting through the area somewhat unbearable. He instinctively raised his left hand to cover his nose and mouth.

And so, a dramatic scene unfolded. Without a word, the other man launched an attack, sending several shuriken flying toward Yuzhen.

The negotiation had not even begun, yet it seemed to have already ended.

No one could expect a person to have much trust in someone who had been secretly following him. In this ninja's eyes, a strange ninja's "move" was equivalent to "attack."

Rounding it off, forming hand seals counted as attacking, and covering one's nose and mouth counted as attacking too. So he had to strike first.

Ultimately, Yuzhen was not a native. Many times, he simply did not understand the mindset of the locals... The chaotic ninja world had long since driven these ninjas, whose personalities were extreme to begin with, into paranoia.

Although the other man's attack had caught him off guard, the distance still gave Yuzhen ample time to react, and he easily dodged it.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, a kunai pierced through his chest from behind.

He turned his head back in mild surprise and found that another ninja had attacked him from behind.

It was actually a righteous two-on-one. Those who were skilled at backstabbing would inevitably be backstabbed themselves. Clearly, there was more than one enemy.

"Heh..."

The enemy responsible for the sneak attack seemed to be trying to force out an especially "cruel" smile, but the next moment, the Yuzhen who had been stabbed turned into a puddle of clear water.

"A Water Clone Technique?"

Yuzhen revealed himself again not far away.

Although these people had already tried to kill him, he still did not immediately take hostile action.

"I mean no harm. I just want to ask you two something."

"No harm? Ninjas always mean no harm before they try to kill someone," one of the ninjas said.

With that, the two ninjas exchanged a glance, then charged at Yuzhen from near and far.

Yuzhen had no choice. He decided to subdue the two men first, then question them.

His hands rapidly formed seals, and almost instinctively, he used the ninjutsu he had the highest proficiency in:

Fire Style: Great Fireball!

In the past, Yuzhen's opening move had always been Great Flame Bullet. Now that he had an abundance of chakra, he had switched to Great Fireball.

There was no denying that Great Fireball was somewhat intimidating. When the enormous fireball, more than six meters in diameter, came crashing toward the enemies amid waves of heat, an ordinary ninja could not possibly remain unmoved.

Of course, limited by the fireball's flying speed, unless it was released at extremely close range, this kind of Fire Style was difficult to land accurately, and it was even less likely to achieve a hundred percent kill rate.

The ninja at the front dodged Great Fireball by leaping to the side.

In other words, Yuzhen's ninjutsu could serve only to slow the enemies down at most. However...

Bzzz... Boom!

A tremendous explosion suddenly rang out. Yuzhen's Great Fireball had triggered a secondary explosion.

An excellent ninja would inevitably consider the surrounding environment during battle, seeking advantages and avoiding harm. From that perspective, Yuzhen was not an excellent ninja.

Because he had barely thought about it before using Fire Style here.

The ground beneath their feet was less a swamp than a pool of marsh gas.

As the outer flames of Great Fireball ignited the marsh gas, an invisible shock wave rapidly spread outward like a ripple. Then, the gas pockets that had accumulated throughout the marsh for who knew how long instantly exploded.

With a deafening boom, the tremendous energy brewing inside the marsh erupted, just like a volcanic eruption. The muddy surface suddenly burst apart.

For a moment, it seemed as if even the earth trembled.

Fortunately, Yuzhen was already at the very edge of the marsh. Although he had been the one to release the Fire Style, once he realized the danger, he had room to retreat and evade.

His escape speed was first-rate. He plunged into the ground and covered fifty or sixty meters in the blink of an eye, but even so, the aftershock of the explosion left him covered in dirt.

Temporary tinnitus and even a mild concussion were unavoidable.

The other two ninjas were not so lucky. They had been inside the marsh, which meant they were firmly trapped within the blast radius.

Yuzhen emerged from the ground and shook his head vigorously. After struggling a couple of times, he finally crawled up from the earth.

Looking ahead, he found that the situation in the marsh was as awful as it could possibly be.

After the violent explosion, deposits that had been buried here for who knew how many years had been overturned. Combined with the smell of incompletely burned marsh gas, all kinds of odors mixed together, making it even more nauseating.

Everywhere in the marsh was burning. Then Yuzhen spotted a human-shaped creature resembling a lump of charcoal.

Without a doubt, one unlucky ninja had been blown to death.

This showed that those who backstabbed Yuzhen were bound to suffer divine retribution.

Only one enemy had died. Yuzhen instinctively looked up, and saw a Giant Eagle hovering in midair. The surviving ninja was riding on its back.

A Summoning Beast?

This enemy had reacted quickly enough. Before the explosion, he had used the Summoning Beast to fly into the air.

Of course, this was also because he had been farther from the blast center.

"Psycho."

Yuzhen's ears were ringing now, and he could not hear the other man's voice. But judging from his lip movements, that seemed to be what he had said.

"I really mean no harm. What just happened was an accident. It doesn't mean I'm a bad person."

Unfortunately, among the three people present, because of the tremendous roar caused by the explosion, neither Yuzhen himself, nor the enemy who had escaped into the air, nor the ninja who had been burned to charcoal...

could hear this feeble explanation.