Joining Forces

After leaving the forest, Yuzhen and his group continued to act with extreme caution, so they encountered no unexpected situations.

But too much caution could backfire. After remaining tense for several days, many of them began to relax a little.

They were not careless, but some slackening was inevitable.

During this time, Yuzhen also learned quite a bit about the basics of the shinobi world. Naturally, the information came from Uchiha Nanami.

To his surprise, Uchiha Nanami's personality was quite different from the stereotypical image of an Uchiha shinobi. She seemed emotionally stable, was not arrogant, and was good at communicating.

Over the past few days, Yuzhen had gotten plenty of useful and useless information from her... Of course, it was all general knowledge that did not involve the various clans' secrets.

At that moment, they were discussing the "economic foundations" that the major shinobi clans relied on for survival.

"Besides receiving payment for various missions from employers, the different shinobi clans actually have certain relatively fixed types of work and sources of income."

"For example?"

"Take the Senju Clan. They have always been able to steadily obtain missions from fixed employers involving tobacco cultivation, production, and transportation."

Yuzhen was stunned for a moment. The Senju of the Forest had gone into the tobacco industry? Could that even be considered a suitable line of work for them?

"Our Uchiha deal in sugar."

Well, the Uchiha Clan could indeed be pretty sweet at times.

"The Hyuga Clan is involved with alcohol."

"What about the Sarutobi Clan?" Yuzhen asked, then immediately made the connection. "I know about the Sarutobi Clan. Tea, right?"

"Yes."

For some reason, Yuzhen suddenly felt that the ancient, long-standing great shinobi clans were not all that impressive. Even the lofty Otsutsuki bloodline had suddenly become remarkably down-to-earth.

He wondered whether any shinobi clans had gone into salt production or soy sauce. Salted fish and kimchi might even be a promising untapped market.

It seemed that Yuzhen's previous understanding of the great shinobi clans had been somewhat misguided. Whether they engaged in production was another matter, but all those great shinobi clans were definitely involved in logistics.

They had to eat, after all.

As the saying went, why did the shinobi fight each other to the death? On one hand, it was because of the hatred they had accumulated over decades or centuries, with certain masterminds surely fanning the flames behind the scenes.

On the other hand, and more importantly, they were fighting to seize living space.

In short, Uchiha Nanami had explained part of the "industrial structure" of the shinobi world, thoroughly refreshing Yuzhen's understanding of this world.

Carrying this newly learned, worldview-challenging knowledge, Yuzhen led the group toward a stretch of low hills.

It was nearing evening, and he planned to find a suitable place nearby to set up camp.

Then, amid the undulating terrain and the trees that concealed the surroundings, Yuzhen encountered another group of shinobi who had arrived there ahead of them, in a "feng shui treasure spot."

The scene immediately descended into chaos. Once the confusion subsided, the two sides faced each other, tense and ready to clash.

After taking a brief look, Yuzhen immediately put the industrial knowledge he had just learned to use. These shinobi probably just suffered a failed startup on the Shinobi Venture Exchange, ending in a bankruptcy that left their homes destroyed and families broken.

They had probably been defeated. Everyone was utterly dispirited. They had not even arranged enough shinobi to keep watch around the perimeter while resting, so they had allowed Yuzhen's group to make a blatant "advance" right up to them without the slightest preparation.

These shinobi were disorganized and disorderly. Some had even started giving up when faced with "enemy contact."

Yuzhen clearly saw one of them struggle a few times. When he still could not get back up, he simply slumped down where he was, as if resigned to his fate.

The world was full of strange things. When facing an enemy of moderate size, Yuzhen's group could actually have the advantage in overall strength.

Although Yuzhen's subordinates were not particularly impressive, at the very least, their "spirit and morale" were perfectly sound.

Moreover, every one of them had a fairly well-fed, round face.

But what about the people opposite them? There were roughly thirty of them, giving them a numerical advantage over Yuzhen's side, but each one looked haggard and was so thin from hunger that they were practically skin and bones.

If they really fought, and their own casualties were disregarded, wiping out this group would be no problem.

For so many years, "Hagane" had been bullied in turn by various forces. Who would have thought that one day they would be able to stand on the side of the bullies?

By comparison, the "will to fight" on the two sides was worlds apart.

As for Yuzhen's people, their village had been destroyed some time ago. The psychological shock and wounds it had caused had been diluted by time. Now, they viewed matters more positively and rationally, and their will to protect themselves and their clansmen was exceptionally strong.

When it came to fighting spirit, many of them had a very simple attitude:

Fight, and I will be the first to charge; run, and I will be the last to flee.

The other side, by contrast, had just suffered a crushing defeat. They were all shrouded in the negative emotions of failure, and many of them were thinking:

Fight, and I'll die immediately; die, and I'll be the first to do it.

It was not that the people on Yuzhen's side had a better mentality. The difference between them was simply that they were at different stages after failure.

Yuzhen's people were in the "recovery" stage, while the people opposite them were in the "growing pains" stage.

The other side was at an absolute disadvantage, so their spokesman soon lost his composure.

A young shinobi of about twenty-four or twenty-five pushed through the crowd and came to the front of the group.

"Who are you?" he asked.

At that moment, what this group feared most was that Yuzhen and the others were shinobi who had taken a mission to hunt them down.

"We call ourselves 'Ashes.' We're a group made up of wandering shinobi from various backgrounds. You can call me Yuzhen... Who are you?" Yuzhen replied.

The people opposite carefully observed them and discovered that none of Yuzhen's group wore forehead protectors. Although their overall condition was far better than their own, they did not look like trackers.

After all, Yuzhen's group had neither prepared for battle nor launched a sneak attack.

Everything indicated that this was merely an accidental encounter.

Seeing this, the man decided to take a gamble. He gritted his teeth and revealed their true identity:

"We are the Fuma Clan, formerly known as the Kazama Clan. I am the Clan Leader."

Fuma? The name sounded vaguely familiar.

Yuzhen thought for a moment, then asked:

"Are you the Fuma Clan known for forging ninja tools and mastering the art of wielding shuriken?"

"Yes, that's us."

"How did you end up in such a miserable state?"

All right, that thoughtless remark was rather impolite.

Yuzhen had not meant to insult him. He was simply curious.

The Fuma Clan had survived all the way into the Ninja Village era. Although only a few insignificant remnants remained later on, since they had managed to survive into the future, there was no reason for them to be in such a terrible state now.

Those words made the man opposite feel a sudden sting in his nose, and he could only swallow his tears.

The Clan Leader of the Fuma Clan thought, We're just passing strangers who happened to meet. Your concern has crossed the line... What business is it of yours whether I'm doing well or not?

But he did not dare say that aloud.

"My name is Fūma Kotarō. Mr. Yuzhen, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, could you have your people take a few steps back?"

Seeing such a miserable and submissive group of shinobi, Yuzhen suddenly had an idea.

He felt that he could conduct a little experiment.

"In the current situation, any misunderstanding caused by my people wouldn't be called a misunderstanding. Any improper action by your people would be the real misunderstanding." He immediately began applying pressure.

Fūma Kotarō was rendered speechless and instantly grew irritated. However, the situation was stronger than the man, so he could only lower his head and concede.

"Very well, Mr. Yuzhen. Then can my people take a few steps back? I guarantee there will be no improper actions."

Yuzhen gave him a warm, amiable smile and said:

"Sure, but... no."

Fūma Kotarō had just begun to return the smile, but those words made the corners of his mouth, which had been trying to rise, drop at lightning speed.

That was not something a human being should be able to say.

Was it yes or no? Could they or couldn't they?