Illusion

"Clients?"

So he was a "businessman." That explained why unfamiliar ninja came and went here.

Still, in this chaotic era, "businessmen" hiding away in the remote corners of the shinobi world tended to give people a rather unpleasant feeling.

The business here was most likely not legitimate.

"What can I get from you?" Yuzhen asked curiously.

"My clients can be broadly divided into sellers and buyers."

"Could you be more specific?"

"If you're acting as a seller, I generally only accept human-trafficking deals... My research requires the assistance of many ninja.

"The shinobi world is so chaotic these days. Most defeated ninja are simply killed, which is rather wasteful. After all, ninja are valuable resources.

"So, if you want to make the best use of them, you can hand over ninja captured during the war to me. I'll offer a sufficiently fair price."

Good grief, it was the "black slave trade." Yuzhen had actually stumbled upon...

Good news.

Yuzhen quietly clenched his fist. Regardless of why this man collected slaves from the shinobi world, since the other party did this kind of business, he could be certain that the distress signal from his clansmen had been sent from here.

His clansmen were very likely here. He had found the right place.

Only a human trafficker could gather all kinds of people together. For Yuzhen, this truly was good news.

"That is indeed a profitable business. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it beforehand, so I don't have the goods you want," Yuzhen said.

"Oh, it seems those two ninja died. What a pity," the voice said.

The other party had indeed noticed the battle in the swamp.

If I said neither of them died directly at my hands, would you believe me? Yuzhen wondered.

"What if I'm a buyer? What can I get from you?" he continued asking.

"Something that can rapidly increase a ninja's combat power. For example, a secret medicine that can temporarily and rapidly boost chakra, or an enormous Summoning Beast with absolute loyalty."

Absolute loyalty? Yuzhen remembered the unlucky fellow who had just been bitten to death by his own Summoning Beast.

"Can I take a look at the Summoning Beasts? I'm very interested in that area."

"Of course. As long as they're willing to abide by the principle of fair trade, anyone can become my client... Please head inside. The merchandise is in there."

As the voice faded, one corner of the courtyard suddenly collapsed, revealing a staircase sloping downward.

Yuzhen pondered for a moment, then walked over.

After descending the dim staircase, he raised his vigilance to the highest level. His right arm, hidden beneath his clothes, began turning pale.

There was no helping it. This underground space looked far too much like a trap, so he had to be ready to flee at any moment.

Almost as soon as Yuzhen partially underwent White Zetsu Transformation, his vision suddenly changed!

After going a certain distance underground, Yuzhen had originally seen only some ordinary underground buildings. Now, however, those buildings had turned into iron cages.

The cages were scattered along both sides of the passage. The ones on one side held ninja with their hands and feet shackled, while the ones on the other contained bizarre-looking beasts.

An illusion? When did I fall under an illusion?

The change in the scene before him indicated that Yuzhen had been under the control of some kind of illusion all along. The problem was that he had no idea when he had fallen under it. There wasn't the slightest clue in his mind.

Also, why had the illusion been dispelled after he partially underwent "White Zetsu Transformation"?

Could a White Zetsu-transformed body restore the normal flow of his chakra?

This was not the time to think about it. Pretending not to know, Yuzhen continued walking deeper into the passage.

At the end of the passage was a room with its door open.

Yuzhen tried dispelling the White Zetsu Transformation and found himself looking at a rather finely built house. In the room facing the entrance stood a long table, with a cloaked figure sitting behind it whose face was impossible to make out... This looked like a place for conducting business.

Then Yuzhen underwent White Zetsu Transformation again. The so-called room turned into another cage, filled with all kinds of disorderly torture instruments.

He carefully observed the inside of the cage, then boldly walked in without much hesitation.

"Welcome, my guest. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tsuchishi, and I'm someone who is passionate about cultivating Summoning Beasts."

After he entered the room, the voice echoed through the hollow chamber.

Passionate about cultivating? He was passionate about "assembling" Summoning Beasts.

Without giving Yuzhen any time to react, the cage door closed.

Once he became a fish in a barrel, that furtive fellow finally stopped pretending. A gloomy laugh began echoing through the underground space.

"You'll definitely make excellent research material."

"Not long ago, it seems someone sent a distress signal while I wasn't paying attention. I have absolute confidence in my cages, so I initially thought it was just an illusion. But I never expected someone to walk right into my trap..."

"Don't worry. I'll remove your brain and heart, then choose the finest beast to replace them. You won't die, but you'll experience a fresh way of living..."

Small talk? Of course not. This man was stalling for time.

Yuzhen felt his chakra being stripped away by some kind of force. He instinctively looked toward the wall behind the iron cage.

Earth Style?

He thought for a moment, then said, "I seem to remember there's an Earth Style Ninjutsu that can absorb an enemy's chakra. What was it called again... Earth Prison: Heavenly Wall?"

The somewhat arrogant voice abruptly stopped. Immediately afterward, it became furious. "How do you know my secret technique?"

Did Yuzhen have any obligation to explain? He smiled, then said:

"Your attitude is rather poor. As a researcher, you should remain calm and maintain absolute composure and rationality no matter what happens."

How could someone celebrate halfway through? He clearly had no experience.

"A fish in a barrel. Once I drain your chakra, let's see how you..."

Before he could finish, Yuzhen had already extended a deathly pale palm and pressed it against the surrounding rock wall.

The chakra around them began flowing backward. In the blink of an eye, Yuzhen went from "net loss" to "net gain."

He instantly drained all the chakra from the earthen prison's walls. Once they lost the chakra sustaining them, the surrounding rock walls collapsed.

A more concealed room was revealed.

"Found you. You were hiding deep."

Just as Yuzhen had expected, someone this furtive, who tried to lure him into traps by various means, definitely wasn't much of a fighter head-on.

Of course, the ability to absorb chakra could count as a killing move. Unfortunately, he had encountered Yuzhen, who could absorb even more.

Against anyone else, escaping this cage might not have been possible.

In the shinobi world, abilities that absorbed chakra were not common, but neither were they so rare as to be like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. If one believed that relying on this single move would make them invincible, they would eventually suffer for it.

This man who called himself Tsuchishi had fallen into the error of relying on past experience.

"You can see me? No, when did you dispel the illusion?"

"I was just wondering when I fell under the illusion myself."

Yuzhen formed hand seals. Water Style: Water Severing Wave.

The iron cage trapping him was easily cut into several pieces. Seeing this, Tsuchishi immediately tried to escape.

Trying to run?

Yuzhen unleashed a second technique. Water Style: Water Shockwave.

In the cramped underground space, the rushing water surged like a breached floodgate. In an instant, it filled the little "rat hole" completely.

In an open area, the attack of such a technique would not be especially impressive. With a ninja's skills, there would always be ways to dodge or defend against it.

But underground, in such a confined space, an ordinary person had no way to deal with this "flooding." The other party had no room to maneuver and could hardly escape the range of Yuzhen's Water Style assault.

Yuzhen then used the Mayfly Technique, first merging his body into the rock wall and then moving rapidly through it.

In an instant, he arrived beside Tsuchishi. With a swift "raise and drop," he slapped the drowning enemy directly on the back of the neck. With a crisp crack, the vertebrae in Tsuchishi's neck seemed to slip out of place.

After choking on water and taking a beating, the enemy was knocked unconscious.

"This... He's not very tough?"

The enemy's ability to withstand blows was so feeble that it exceeded Yuzhen's expectations.

With strength this pathetic, he still dared call himself a "researcher"?

A true inventor in the shinobi world had to possess Kage Level strength.