Space-Time Ninjutsu

The time reached deep into the night. The snowfall in the sky showed signs of intensifying, and the snowflakes falling around the camp gradually began to accumulate.

Yuzhen added new firewood to the campfire. As the crackling sound of burning filled the air, he watched the bonfire regain its former vitality before sitting back in his original position.

The flickering flame, alternately bright and dim, illuminated half of his face from time to time.

Occasionally, crisp bird calls could be heard from the forest. These were signals from the ninjas on watch, indicating that "everything is normal."

Yuzhen was contemplating some matters.

Through his recent conversation with Uchiha Nanami, he noticed that when she spoke, she would occasionally reveal a sense of precocity, yet her appearance suggested she was the same age as Tobirama Senju, who was pursuing her.

To awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan at this age, in a sense, her talent was comparable to Madara Uchiha... Well, that might be an exaggeration.

Considering the conditions for awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, it could also be said that her childhood experiences were even more tragic than Madara Uchiha's.

At the very least, one would need to lose several loved ones, close friends, and siblings to potentially inflict enough trauma on the brain to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Combined with the spatial-temporal fluctuations when Uchiha Nanami appeared, the dried bloodstains at the corners of her eyes, the fresh wounds on her body when she fainted, her confusion about the date upon waking, and the subtle characteristics revealed in her speech, Yuzhen had formed a hypothesis about the special ability of her Mangekyo Sharingan.

It was highly likely a time-travel ability.

Uchiha Nanami might have used her Mangekyo Sharingan to instantly jump from the past, where she was being chased by Tobirama Senju, to a future several months later.

If that were the case, her Mangekyo Sharingan would undoubtedly be an extremely powerful pair of eyes.

However, judging by Uchiha Nanami's reaction, she was not proficient in using the Mangekyo Sharingan. This meant she likely couldn't perform "time jumps" in a timely manner, nor could she precisely control the span of the "time jump."

The temporal coordinate she escaped to could have been a few months later, or even years later or longer. That's why she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Tobirama Senju had only been chasing her a few months prior.

As for her statement that these eyes could only be used for escape, it was clearly because she hadn't further developed her special ability.

This ability to traverse between past and future, in theory, shouldn't be used for killing; that would be too narrow-minded... It held the potential for creating miracles.

So, what kind of miracle would it be?

Yuzhen certainly wouldn't get an answer to this question.

To put it bluntly, all of the above were just speculations Yuzhen had made based on a few clues. What if Uchiha Nanami's Mangekyo Sharingan didn't have such an ability?

It was hard to say, still hard to say for now.

The next morning.

After a night's rest, Uchiha Nanami had regained some mobility; at least she no longer needed to rely entirely on a stretcher.

"It seems you've recovered somewhat. What are your plans now? We'll be moving west," Yuzhen asked her.

More accurately, they were moving northwest.

After waking up, the temperature had plummeted. Every breath he took produced a cloud of white mist in front of him.

Due to a lack of information and his previous low standing, Yuzhen was unaware of the power distribution in the Ninja World. However, one thing he was certain of was that it was best to stay away from the central areas of the future Land of Fire.

They didn't lack food for the time being, but they needed cold-weather clothing.

Uchiha Nanami thought for a moment, then asked somewhat sheepishly:

"Can I travel with you temporarily?"

On one hand, given her current condition, it wasn't suitable for her to act alone. On the other hand, she was somewhat curious about this group of rogue ninjas.

A group of rogue ninjas from different ninja clans, why could they unite around one person and follow him with trust? This way of banding together was too futuristic for the current Ninja World.

It wasn't uncommon for rogue ninjas to gather, but they usually had their own agendas. It wouldn't take long for them to scatter for various reasons or even turn on each other... If the word "trust" wasn't limited to a single ninja clan, it would be too extravagant.

Uchiha Nanami suspected that these rogue ninjas might have something special about them, so she wanted to learn more... It could only be said that she was thinking a bit too much.

However, her reaction also indirectly showed that Yuzhen's orders had been strictly followed. His clansmen had disguised themselves well, and "Hagane" had outwardly become a composite group with members of complex origins.

"Of course, you can. We are a group of rogue ninjas banding together for warmth, and we are inclusive of those who join, even temporarily. Traveling together might be a distant hope, but traveling part of the way is definitely possible."

Yuzhen began to speak falsehoods with his eyes wide open.

"Then I'll trouble you for now," Uchiha Nanami said with a thoughtful expression.

"It's alright. To be honest, we are also lost about the road ahead. Fortunately, someone in the world will eventually hire ninjas."

Due to their severe lack of strength, Yuzhen could only temporarily act according to the rules of the Ninja World, which was to find suitable employers... He wouldn't resort to "soliciting" non-ninja forces unless absolutely necessary.

Soliciting other ninja forces was another matter. As long as his strength was sufficient, the Ninja World operated that way anyway.

Too many words lead to tears. Guess what? Yuzhen and his group left their carefree pastoral life for "job hunting."

Uchiha Nanami became Yuzhen's temporary travel companion, recovering from her injuries while traveling west with them.

Their movements were extremely stealthy. Yuzhen didn't want to conflict with other ninjas for the time being, sometimes even choosing to move only in the late night to dawn hours, precisely to avoid getting caught up in battles between other ninja groups.

However, because ninjas were everywhere in this era, no matter how careful Yuzhen was, they would inevitably encounter "colleagues" unintentionally.

Logically speaking, when ninjas move in groups, they should send out "scouts" ahead and behind, preferably sensory ninjas.

But Yuzhen's group couldn't do that because they had no sensory ninjas within the clan. They could only act as a cohesive unit.

Without sensory ninjas, even if Yuzhen wanted to maintain good vigilance around them, he doubted if his guarding ninjas could transmit a message in time if an enemy appeared.

The most likely outcome was that the "forward observation unit" would be instantly killed.

Because without sensing Ninjas, the battlefield was transparent to the enemy in one direction, and Yuzhen and the others were surrounded by fog of war.

In this situation, they might as well have stayed together.

So, after cautiously moving for five days, Yuzhen and the others finally ran headlong into another Ninja force.

Unfortunately, the enemy had more people than they did.

Fortunately, this group was also a ragtag bunch, and their situation looked even worse than Yuzhen's.

When the two sides collided, the enemy was even more flustered than Yuzhen's group.