"Just a few wandering samurai? They followed me here so confidently because they think I'm just a kid?" Nanfeng had naturally noticed the hangers-on behind him, but he had no intention of making a move here.
He couldn't alert the enemy. If Gato got scared of what ninjas could do and gave up on the Land of Waves, wouldn't they lose a perfectly good piece of meat?
"Boss, that kid went into the woods alone. We should take this chance..." Not far behind Nanfeng, several samurai hidden among the trees watched him greedily.
Gato's assignment for them was to secretly take out the ninjas. It was only one injured, white-haired ninja and three kids, and the reward was generous enough to let them live in luxury for the rest of their lives.
"Be careful. Ninjas have all kinds of special abilities. Don't underestimate him just because he's a kid!" the samurai leading them whispered.
"Is that so? You're still this wary even though you think I'm just a kid. You must have fought ninjas quite a few times before. I can tell from the wounds on your body—those scars were made by kunai, weren't they? You were lucky to survive."
Nanfeng's voice suddenly came from behind them. The samurai hurriedly raised their weapons, but none dared make a move.
"Do you like talking this way now?" The blade of the kunai in Nanfeng's hand rested against the leader's carotid artery. With the slightest pressure, the samurai would bleed to death!
"So this is what a ninja can do..." The samurai all thought the same thing. But when they saw the dozen or so men closing in around them, greed overcame their fear.
"Sometimes, when the profit from doing something is more than two hundred percent, people will accept any price they have to pay. That applies to you, too. Did you think numbers alone would help?" The kunai in Nanfeng's hand gently sliced the man's carotid artery, and green mist drifted from his palm.
The Poisoning Technique. After Zabuza had learned the hard way, Nanfeng had come to like this ability more and more. Unlike ordinary poisons, its effects came on fast. In almost no time, all the samurai were convulsing on the ground.
"So, greed was what killed you. If you'd just lived your lives quietly, then when we faced Gato, we might have only threatened you instead of killing you. But coming after us like this? That's another matter."
Nanfeng watched coldly as the samurai's lives ebbed away before his eyes. It wasn't that he was heartless. Back at Konoha Ninja Hospital, he had grown used to death. Many times, a life full of promise had ended right in front of him while he was giving treatment.
He still remembered the tremendous shock death had dealt him. That was why Nanfeng had pushed himself to train so desperately, striving to gain greater strength.
He wanted to live. He wanted to protect everyone around him who was worth protecting!
The interruption did nothing to dampen his mood. After disposing of the bodies, Nanfeng resumed his training.
His Rasengan training had reached the second stage, but progress was still painfully slow. As expected, there wasn't a single easy technique among the A-rank Ninjutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals!
Two hours later, Nanfeng stopped training when his arm began to spasm from the strain of releasing too much chakra. But that didn't mean his daily training was over.
If Rock Lee knew how much Nanfeng trained every day, he might even feel ashamed of himself. Before leaving the village, Nanfeng had already set up several Shadow Clones in the basement of his room to study the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now that he had some time, he could release the Shadow Clones and check on their progress over the last few days.
The Shadow Clones in Konoha sensed the jutsu being activated and instantly vanished in puffs of smoke. A vast stream of information flooded into Nanfeng's mind, making his temples twitch.
He closed his eyes and lay on the ground, carefully sifting through the flood of memories for anything useful. It took time, so to anyone watching, he looked like he'd fallen asleep after training too long.
Before long, someone appeared beside Nanfeng. Judging by the face, it looked like a stunningly beautiful girl. But when she saw Nanfeng, her expression turned serious.
It was Yuki Haku. They had encountered each other at the border of the Land of Waves earlier. Since Haku had been wearing a mask at the time, his identity hadn't been exposed. But this threat before him... Forget it. I'll wait until the battle. He didn't show much of his abilities back then. It'd be trouble if he has other tricks up his sleeve... After deciding that, Yuki Haku quickly let his Killing Intent fade and gently called out to Nanfeng, who was lying on the ground.
Nanfeng had known Yuki Haku was there from the start. He also knew how Haku would react. He was as calm as could be.
"Hey, you shouldn't lie on the ground. It's cold, and you might catch something!" A gentle voice reached his ears. Nanfeng really didn't want to admit it, but in the original story, Haku really was a boy. But in this world... who knew?
"Hello, big sister. Did you come here to gather herbs?" Nanfeng pretended to have just woken up, rubbing his eyes as he looked at the herb basket on Yuki Haku's back.
"That's right. Someone I live with is injured, so I need to gather some herbs to help him recover. By the way, little brother, are you a ninja?" Yuki Haku asked.
"I'm a Medical Ninja. If you ever have an injury you can't handle, come find me. I'm pretty famous at Konoha Ninja Hospital." Nanfeng met Yuki Haku's gaze. His pale purple eyes made Haku feel as if Nanfeng could see right through him, and he hurriedly lowered his head.
"It's getting late, little brother. You should head home. I've been out for a while, so I should get back, too." Yuki Haku stood up, brushed the dust from the hem of his clothes, and smiled.
"Maybe we'll meet again! Even though this is our first time meeting, I think you're a good person. My instincts are usually right." Yuki Haku's parting words left Nanfeng deep in thought.
It was the first good-person card he had received since arriving in the Naruto world—and it had apparently come from a boy. That left Nanfeng feeling a little emotionally shaken.
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