Space-Time Ninjutsu

By the dead of night, the snowfall had begun to intensify, and the snowflakes drifting around the camp were gradually piling up.

Yuzhen added fresh firewood to the campfire. As it crackled to life, he watched until the flames regained their former vigor before returning to his seat.

The flickering flames intermittently illuminated half of his face.

Now and then, several crisp birdcalls rang out from the forest. They were the "all clear" signals sent by the ninjas on night watch.

Yuzhen was thinking about a few things.

Through his recent exchange with Uchiha Nanami, he had noticed that she occasionally revealed an old-fashioned air when she spoke. Yet from her appearance, she seemed to be the same age as Tobirama Senju, who had been pursuing her.

To awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan at that age meant that, in a certain sense, her talent was even comparable to Madara Uchiha's... Well, that was probably an exaggeration.

Considering the conditions required to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, it could also be said that her childhood experiences had been even more tragic than Madara Uchiha's.

At the very least, one had to lose several beloved friends and family members, blood relatives and brothers, for the brain to receive enough stimulation to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Combining the space-time fluctuations that had accompanied Uchiha Nanami's appearance, the dried blood at the corners of her eyes, the fresh injuries on her body when she collapsed unconscious, her confusion about the date after waking up, and the traits she had inadvertently revealed while speaking, Yuzhen had formed a tentative guess about the special ability of her Mangekyō Sharingan.

It was very likely an ability to jump through time.

Uchiha Nanami had most likely used her Mangekyō Sharingan to leap instantaneously from the past, when she was being pursued by Tobirama Senju, to the future several months later.

If that was the case, then her Mangekyō Sharingan was undoubtedly an extremely powerful pair of eyes.

However, judging from Uchiha Nanami's reactions, she was not very proficient in using the Mangekyō Sharingan. In other words, she probably could neither initiate a "time jump" promptly nor precisely control the span of the "time jump."

The time coordinate she had escaped to might have been several months later, or it might have been years later—or even farther into the future. That was why she had breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that Tobirama Senju had only pursued her a few months ago.

As for her claim that these eyes could only be used to save her life, that was clearly because she had yet to develop her special ability further.

Theoretically, an ability that could cross between the past and future should not be used for slaughter. That would be far too narrow-minded... It held the possibility of creating miracles.

So what kind of miracle would it be?

Yuzhen certainly had no way to answer that question.

To put it plainly, all of the above was merely a guess Yuzhen had made based on a few clues. What if Uchiha Nanami's Mangekyō Sharingan did not have this kind of ability?

It was hard to say. It was still too early to tell.

Early the next morning.

After resting for a night, Uchiha Nanami had recovered enough mobility to at least stop relying on a stretcher the entire time.

"Looks like you've recovered a little. What do you plan to do next? We'll keep moving west." Yuzhen asked her.

More precisely, they were moving northwest.

After he awoke, the temperature had plummeted. Every time he breathed, a cloud of white vapor formed in front of his face.

Because information was scarce and he had previously occupied too lowly a position, Yuzhen did not know how power was distributed throughout the ninja world. But he was certain of one thing: it would be best to stay away from the central region of the later "Land of Fire."

They were not short on food for the time being, but they needed clothing that could keep out the cold.

Uchiha Nanami thought for a moment before asking somewhat awkwardly,

"Can I travel with you for the time being?"

For one thing, given her current condition, it was not suitable for her to travel alone. For another, she was somewhat curious about this group of wandering ninjas before her.

A group of wandering ninjas from different ninja clans—why were they able to unite around one person and follow him with complete trust? This method of banding together was practically too fantastical for the current ninja world.

It was hardly unusual for wandering ninjas to gather together, but they usually all had their own agendas. Before long, they would scatter like frightened birds for one reason or another, or even slaughter one another... If the word "trust" was not restricted to a single ninja clan, it was simply too extravagant.

Uchiha Nanami suspected that there might be something special about this group of wandering ninjas, so she wanted to learn more... It could only be said that she was overthinking it.

However, her reaction also indirectly showed that Yuzhen's orders had been strictly carried out. His clansmen had disguised themselves well, and "Hagane" had outwardly become a composite group whose members had complicated backgrounds.

"Of course. We're a wandering ninja group that bands together for warmth. We're tolerant toward both permanent members and temporary joiners. Traveling together all the way may be too much to hope for, but accompanying one another for part of the journey is certainly possible."

Yuzhen began spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble." Uchiha Nanami spoke with a thoughtful expression.

"It's fine. To be honest, we're also rather lost about the road ahead. Fortunately, there are always people in this world who need to hire ninjas."

Because their side was severely lacking in strength, Yuzhen could only temporarily follow the rules of the ninja world: find suitable employers... Unless absolutely necessary, he would not "solicit donations" from non-ninja forces.

There was nothing wrong with soliciting donations from other ninja forces. As long as his strength was enough to beat them, that was simply how the ninja world operated.

There were tears in the telling. Take a guess—after leaving their carefree pastoral life, Yuzhen and the others were actually out "looking for work."

Uchiha Nanami became Yuzhen's temporary traveling companion, following them westward while recuperating from her injuries.

Their movements were practically dripping with furtiveness. Yuzhen did not want to clash with other ninjas for the time being, and sometimes they even chose to travel only from the latter half of the night until dawn, all to avoid getting caught up in battles between other ninja groups.

But since ninjas were everywhere in this era, no matter how carefully Yuzhen acted, he would still occasionally encounter "fellow professionals" by accident.

Normally, when ninjas traveled as a group, they should send "scouts" ahead and behind them. Ideally, these "scouts" would be sensory ninjas.

But Yuzhen and the others could not do that, because their clan had no sensory ninjas. They could only move as a group.

Without sensory ninjas, even if Yuzhen wanted to establish a proper perimeter watch, he doubted whether his sentry ninjas could send out a warning in time once they encountered an enemy.

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

Without sensory ninjas, the battlefield was transparent only to the enemy, while Yuzhen and the others were surrounded by a fog of war.

Under these circumstances, they were better off simply moving together honestly.

And so, after five days of cautious travel, Yuzhen and the others finally ran headlong into another ninja force.

Unfortunately, the other side had more people than they did.

Fortunately, that group was also made up of defeated remnants, and their situation looked even worse than Yuzhen's.

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