Summoning

Compared to most ninjas, Yuzhen could be considered a very normal person.

As an outsider to this world, one could say his thoughts were significantly disconnected from the common understanding of the entire Ninja World, or that in terms of his mindset, being "alone" meant he wasn't burdened by anything heavy.

Against the backdrop of the entire Ninja World being in chaos, he could neither be blindly optimistic nor so consumed by bitterness that he became passively nihilistic.

He never saw himself as a "protagonist" who could decide the world's direction. In fact, for him right now, his life goal was simply to survive in this chaotic era in a relatively normal way.

Therefore, he truly didn't have the thought of needing to kill someone just because he saw them; it was too extreme.

Although someone was blown up at this moment, it was by no means intentional; it was merely an accident caused by natural disaster.

What swamp doesn't bury someone, right?

This conflict shouldn't have happened in the first place. Yuzhen just wanted to ask a few questions from beginning to end.

Now that the other side had lost a companion, things were even less likely to end peacefully.

The remaining ninja, half-crouched on the back of the Giant Eagle Summoning Beast, looked down at Yuzhen from mid-air.

Once his head cleared and his senses were no longer affected by the explosion, he unhesitatingly commanded the flying eagle to dive straight at him.

Yuzhen's tinnitus gradually faded, and a shrill eagle cry reached his ears.

Such a large Summoning Beast deserved serious attention. Yuzhen knew his physique was insufficient to confront such a Chakra beast head-on, so he decided to prevent it from getting close.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between them had closed to twenty meters.

At this distance, among the ninjutsu Yuzhen mastered, there was only one that could guarantee a 100% hit rate—Water Style: Water Severing Wave.

He quickly formed hand seals, and then a fine water blade shot towards the sky.

The high-speed, high-density stream of water, with a high-frequency vibration far beyond imagination, possessed power sufficient to cleave metal and split stone. Using such a technique against flesh and blood was practically foolproof.

The water blade slanted upwards into the sky, and then a white line, seemingly soft yet incredibly durable, descended from mid-air. The slender water blade accurately sliced into the Giant Eagle's body and passed through it without any delay.

Instantly, blood splattered as one of the Giant Eagle's wings was easily severed.

Even in the air, larger objects are always easier to hit than smaller ones.

And for some reason, this eagle's reaction wasn't agile enough.

Facing an enemy of this caliber, Yuzhen using such a high-level Water Style jutsu felt a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But there was no other choice. When dealing with long-distance targets, only Water Severing Wave had a reliable range.

The attack range of Water Dragon Bullet might be barely sufficient, but against a target in the sky, gravity would severely limit its impact, making its killing effect definitely inferior to Water Severing Wave.

This brings up another question: why do ninjas like to throw shuriken? The answer is simple: because the effective attack range of shuriken exceeds that of over ninety percent of ninjutsu.

Ninjutsu with a range exceeding twenty meters is not something ordinary ninjas can master.

The crippled Giant Eagle, along with the ninja on its back, fell from mid-air. Then, it thrashed on the ground like poultry being slaughtered, struggling in its death throes.

The ninja was no longer able to control the Summoning Beast, which was dominated by pain. While dodging the Giant Eagle's wild attacks, he summoned another Summoning Beast.

Another giant lion-like monster suddenly appeared on the battlefield. Its fangs were bared, and its claws were extended, making it look like no easy opponent.

Yuzhen felt a bit puzzled. Logically, large Summoning Beasts were a scarce resource. How could any ninja he encountered casually summon two of them?

However, something even more astonishing awaited him. After the lion-like Summoning Beast was summoned, it immediately adopted an offensive stance.

Yuzhen lowered his body, ready to counterattack at any moment.

But just then, the seemingly charging Summoning Beast suddenly shifted sideways. With a movement and speed that could only be described as demonic, it extended its neck and bit its master beside it with its gaping maw.

The biting force of this Summoning Beast was terrifying. The ninja's torso was instantly crushed, and blood instantly stained half of the Summoning Beast's body.

This death was far more gruesome than being blown up. At least the person who was blown up didn't cry out in agony before dying.

The ninja whose body was crushed quickly stopped breathing. Then, the Summoning Beast shook its head and, as if spitting out trash, tossed the remaining half of its body aside with a flick of its neck.

Afterward, the Summoning Beast approached the struggling Giant Eagle and bit its neck off in one go.

Having done all this, its gaze finally turned towards Yuzhen.

Upon seeing this look, Yuzhen suddenly froze. Could a Summoning Beast display such a complex expression?

It was like... a human.

In that gaze, he saw a certain will to die.

The Summoning Beast roared and charged towards Yuzhen.

Yuzhen seemed to understand something. He formed hand seals, and the water blade shot out once more.

The charging Summoning Beast was instantly cut in half, dying as quickly and cleanly as possible.

In fact, Yuzhen felt that these two Summoning Beasts were all show and no substance. Despite their massive size, he felt they hadn't displayed their corresponding combat power.

After the battle ended, he stood there stunned for a while.

This battle, one could say, began inexplicably and ended inexplicably.

He briefly cleaned up the battlefield, confiscating some Ninja Tools and currency from the two ninjas. There was nothing else of value.

However, while examining the two Summoning Beasts, some marks on them caught Yuzhen's attention.

Both Summoning Beasts bore numerous hidden scars, or rather, signs of modification. Additionally, some talismans that Yuzhen couldn't understand were embedded within them.

Seeing these things, and then recalling the dying moments of the Summoning Beast just now, Yuzhen's mind immediately leaped to "Big Brother, let's play together."

Is there really nothing new under the sun?

This wasn't Yuzhen being cynical; it was that no one could guarantee just how low the bottom line of Ninjas in this era could be.

He didn't get any valuable clues from those two Ninjas, so Yuzhen could only choose to return to the town to explore that building.

The battle that just happened had no effect on this area; everything in the town was as usual.

Yuzhen wasn't sure if the commotion in the swamp could be heard over here, but based on the distance, they should have noticed something... Such a large-scale explosion would have been incredibly loud.

But judging by the reactions of the townspeople, they seemed completely oblivious.

"Something is definitely strange."

Yuzhen followed his previous memory and found the building hidden in the alley. He paused at the entrance to think for a moment before deciding to push the door open and walk in.

Behind the door was an ordinary-looking courtyard, but whether it was his imagination or not, Yuzhen seemed to catch a faint scent of blood.

After he entered the courtyard, the door he had pushed open closed on its own.

"An unfamiliar face, an outsider Ninja. You've been here for a few days. What is your purpose? Or... who introduced you?"

Without seeing anyone, a voice suddenly echoed in the courtyard.

As expected, Yuzhen had been under surveillance since he arrived here.

Hiding and playing tricks, Yuzhen muttered to himself while replying:

"I was just passing by and happened to see Ninjas frequently entering and exiting this place, so I was a little curious."

"So that's how it is..."

The other party seemingly believed Yuzhen's explanation with ease and "sincerely" explained:

"It's nothing, those people are just my clients."

"If you wish, you can become my new client, just like them."

Client?

Yuzhen was already wearing tattered clothes and was covered in mud and stench from the swamp. He couldn't have looked more disheveled. If someone like him could be a client, then he must be a VIP among VIPs.