Escape to Safety

"Now I just need to figure out how to get out of here..." After swinging his crowbar, Zi Xu stood holding it, feeling that things were getting troublesome.

The ronin and Kirigakure Ninja saw their primary target escape and sent a small team after them. The rest naturally focused on dealing with the Crowbar Man who had barged in and disrupted everything.

A terrifying surge of Chakra erupted, and the mist around them began to twist. Dealing with just the ronin and Kirigakure Genin wouldn't have been a problem, but the Kirigakure Jonin watching him from the sidelines put Zi Xu under immense pressure. Although one Jonin had gone after Zabuza and the others, Zi Xu felt no less pressured.

"Hmm... I still can't use Conqueror's Haki very well, and my technique for using Natural Energy to create a 'pseudo-Observation Haki' is still incomplete. Adamantine Sealing Chains would easily expose that I'm from the Uzumaki Clan..." Zi Xu knocked aside a ronin's thrusting blade with his crowbar, his mind racing as he devised a way to respond.

As Zi Xu kept the ronin at bay, the Kirigakure Jonin sprang into action. The mist around him grew thicker and thicker, his figure appearing and disappearing in the pale, foggy world. It was Kirigakure Jutsu, and the mist's density changed with the amount of Chakra used. At that moment, the Jonin had completely blended into the surrounding fog, concealing himself as he slowly approached Zi Xu.

"My senses have gone blank? An assassination technique?" The Kirigakure Jonin was Zi Xu's main focus. When the Ninja vanished, Zi Xu keenly sensed a trace of danger.

"Blocking my senses? I can do that too." Zi Xu reclaimed some of the Demon Power from his Silent Clone. In turn, the Silent Clone's personality shifted closer to Zi Xu's own.

Meanwhile, Chino and the others were whispering among themselves. Tenzo had caught up with them, but the Kirigakure Ninja behind them were still in hot pursuit, like hunting dogs keeping their eyes on prey and patiently waiting for it to let its guard down so they could strike a fatal blow.

Chino covered her injured shoulder with one hand and pulled a roll of bandages from the Sealing Scroll. After plucking a handful of fur from the rear of the little Panda, who had returned at some point, she dismissed the summon again. She wrapped the Panda fur in bandages and tied it over her wound, an improvised way to stop the bleeding.

"Teacher Tenzo, do you have any Explosive Tags left? We could leave some traps along the way to slow those Ninja down..." Chino glanced back at the Kirigakure Ninja following far behind and made the suggestion to Tenzo, who was bringing up the rear.

"I've already set some, but they seem to have a way to see through the Explosive Tags I hid among the branches. There's nothing for it—we should keep running. We'll be safe once we're outside Kirigakure's territory." Tenzo was still curious about the mysterious Crowbar Man who had appeared earlier. He had no idea what the man was after.

Chino, meanwhile, stared in shock with one of her Byakugan. Among the Kirigakure Ninja, she spotted a man with gray-blue hair, one eye, and protective Sealing Tags hanging from both ears. The eye he had open was unmistakably... a Byakugan!

Hatsumi noticed Chino's expression changing rapidly and followed her gaze. She could only make out a man with gray-blue hair wearing dark blue clothes. She couldn't see much else, but that didn't stop her from speaking.

"Chino, let's go back and kill them all. We'd have a much easier time once we've dealt with those guys. We don't need to hold back..." Hatsumi smiled brightly, the blood on the ends of her hair seeming even more vivid.

The Silent Clone quietly considered what the main body should do in this situation.

As he thought about it, he slapped Hatsumi on the head. The Personality Correction Palm wasn't very forceful, but it helped the somewhat deranged Hatsumi regain some composure—or at least rein herself in a little. What she was really thinking, though, was anyone's guess.

"I suggest we surren—" Just as the dispirited Silent Clone was about to offer some awful advice, Zi Xu happened to reclaim some of the Silent Power. After forcibly correcting the clone's personality, it continued, "I suggest Hatsumi set more bugs. They don't need to be powerful; ordinary bugs will do. Ideally, she should infuse them with some Chakra. Since the other side can detect traps, we'll use an open strategy..."

Tenzo approved of Zi Xu's suggestion. Chino clenched both hands into fists, and blood slowly began to seep from the wound she had treated earlier.

The Byakugan of the Branch Family self-destructs along with the brain once it's removed from the body, because of the Caged Bird Curse Seal. So how did that man get a Byakugan? Could it be one from the Main Family? Her thoughts were in turmoil, and emotions that had long lain dormant began stirring again.

Leaving that aside for the moment, after reclaiming some of his Silent Power, Zi Xu's main body also blocked the senses around him. The invisible Jonin paused. He could still see Zi Xu, but the Crowbar Man had vanished from his perception. He was certain this wasn't a Ninjutsu—he hadn't even seen Zi Xu form a hand seal.

The way Zi Xu concealed his presence was different from using Ninjutsu to turn invisible. When Ninjutsu was used to hide, some Chakra would always remain in the surroundings. How much was revealed depended on the individual's ability. But there wasn't the slightest trace of presence around Zi Xu. It was as if he had truly vanished.

"Tch, this guy's not easy to deal with..." The Kirigakure Jonin eyed Zi Xu, who seemed completely relaxed, and grew extremely wary of the strange man. Just that technique for concealing his presence was enough to put him at Jonin level, at the very least.

Zi Xu had no idea what the Jonin was thinking. He could only infer where the Ninja had walked from the Chakra energy lingering in the air. All he needed now was a chance to escape, so he wasn't under much pressure.

But the Kirigakure Jonin moved far faster than he had expected. From Zi Xu's perspective, the Ninja was still some distance away, but in reality, the man had already crept to within a few meters behind him.

"Didn't he notice, or is this an opening he deliberately left?" The man hesitated, unable to read Zi Xu's intentions. But years of Ninja instincts still drove him to swing the kunai in his hand.

"Right, there's something in the system space I can throw to draw attention. That's it..." As if inspired, Zi Xu hopped forward. The leap caused the Ninja's fatal strike to miss.

"So it really was a trap. Then what's he trying to do? Toy with me? Or does he think I'm no different from an ant?" The Ninja stared fixedly at Zi Xu's wooden mask, but could only see a pair of eyes through its openings, their expression impossible to read.

"Smack!" Zi Xu pulled an item out of the system space and tossed it aside without a word, then immediately prepared to run.

"Huh?" Only then did he realize that the foul-smelling, gray-green [Baki's Socks] were plastered across his face.

The Ninja stared hard at Zi Xu, then collapsed to the ground, seemingly unwilling to give in.

"So... you're no ordinary man..." Zi Xu heard the baffling words. The other Ninja fell into confusion when their comrade passed out, and this was the perfect chance to escape!

After thinking it over three times, he still retrieved [Baki's Socks]. That "secret technique" had worked remarkably well. Perhaps he could use it again someday?