The endless sandstorm veiled the dusky horizon. Like a beast breaking free of its snare, it swept scorching sand through the air and savagely tore at the exposed rocks, sending out a chorus of metallic clangs!
Amid the raging sandstorm, Qing Xuan hid in the shadows, but the glare reflecting off the Sand shinobi's forehead protector still made it hard to keep her eyes open.
Seven or eight kunai were stuck in the sand. The howling wind was covering the bodies of several Genin nearby with a thin layer of sand.
The scorching sand had baked the blood dark brown, and amid the storm sat a figure with a ramrod-straight back.
His Mysterious Iron kneepads sank into the scorching quicksand. He extended his left arm to shield Qing Xuan from the sand with his cloak, while holding a large wooden bowl he had carved out in his right hand. A white frost still clung to the rim, from the chilled goat's milk inside.
A Sand shinobi squad had formed a circle thirty paces away, but no one dared step across the circular blade mark his Spring Embroidered Sword had carved.
"Uncle!"
Qing Xuan crouched on the ground, irritated by the glare off the forehead protector.
"When is this ever going to end?"
"Soon."
Qing Long calmly handed her the wooden bowl. The shadow of his Flying Fish Robe's wide sleeve just happened to block the glare.
The Imperial Guard faced off against Naruto.
The mastermind behind this explosive scene was none other than the six-year-old boy sitting to the side, clutching a bowl and eagerly gulping down goat's milk.
ID: Qing Long
HP: 87%
MP: 63%
Status: Lightly Injured, Fatigued, Mildly Poisoned
Affiliation: Jin Yiwei of the Film and Television World
Position: Jin Yiwei Commander
Weapon: Fourteen Styles of Great Ming [Not Upgraded]
Ability: Internal Energy [Upgraded to Ice True Qi]
"Which village do you belong to, exactly?"
The Sand Chunin leading the squad finally couldn't hold back the question. The joints of the puppet in his hand clicked in the wind.
His gaze furtively swept over the ewe at the man's feet and the bodies of all those Genin. His jaw clenched tight.
Once Qing Xuan had finished drinking, Qing Long took the wooden bowl from her. Even amid the sandstorm, his hands remained steady.
"I belong to no village."
His voice was calm, like a rock in the desert, yet colder than stone.
"I serve only my young master."
A rogue ninja?
The Chunin looked at the man's unusual clothes, then at the edge of his Spring Embroidered Sword.
Or perhaps a samurai from the Land of Iron?
"And who is your young master?"
He held his right hand behind his back, signaling to the Genin in his squad. But the answer he got was four even more curt words.
"No comment."
"Attack!"
Wind Release: Poison Sand Shower!
Thirty poison-coated sand pellets struck without warning. Qing Long pulled Qing Xuan into his arms and slapped his right hand against the Fourteen Styles of Great Ming. The Blade Wheel Barrier burst forth, clearing the incoming pellets in an instant, while he remained as steady as a temple bell at dawn.
"Arrogant!"
The Sand Chunin curled his right hand. Two Chakra Threads snaked through the sand and wrapped around Qing Long's ankles as three puppets burst from beneath the sand.
A surge of protective True Qi exploded from Qing Long's body, snapping the threads. At the same time, a drop of blood fell onto Qing Xuan's face—at some point, a Wind Blade had sliced a half-inch gash into his left shoulder.
[HP -3%]
"Clang!"
A dragon's roar rang out as the Spring Embroidered Sword flashed in the sandstorm. A visible streak of icy blue sword light swept through the three puppets.
[MP -16%]
As wooden parts clattered to the ground, another Puppet Beast suddenly sprang from the raging sand and sank its teeth into Qing Long's left leg.
The Sand Chunin appeared beside Qing Long. He gripped a bloodstained kunai and stared at the bloody mark on Qing Long's throat, his face full of shock.
"How are you still alive?"
But he didn't know that Qing Long had been waiting for this very moment.
The Spring Embroidered Sword swept across his throat in a flash of cold light, then dismembered the puppet through the gaps in its joints.
The Fourteen Styles of Great Ming shot out two chain blades, ensnaring a Genin. Amid the flash of an Explosive Tag, a Plum Blossom Dart flew from Qing Long's sleeve and pierced another Genin between the brows.
At last, when the Spring Embroidered Sword pierced the final Genin's chest, Qing Long leaned on his blade, standing upright. His HP had fallen to just 30%.
[Soul Points +300]
[Soul Points +60]
[Soul Points +53]
In an instant, the Soul Points on the panel before Qing Xuan's eyes began soaring.
[Ordinary Character: The fate of Sand shinobi Fengsha has changed. Reward: one Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations, host, you have obtained—Special Bloodline Points +6!]
[Ordinary Character: The fate of Sand shinobi Tufeng has changed. Reward: one Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations, host, you have obtained—Beginner Throwing Technique Experience Book!]
[Ordinary Character: The fate of Sand shinobi Huiyun has changed. Reward: one Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations, host, you have obtained—Intermediate Puppet Technique Experience Book!]
Kill and plunder, and fortune comes!
This time, the haul was huge!
But when Qing Xuan looked at Qing Long's status panel, her happy smile drooped.
Although summoned beings had fully digitized stats and could ignore attacks to vital areas, once their HP hit zero, they still died.
Given Qing Long's injuries, his summoning had to be canceled as soon as possible so he could be treated.
"Clang."
The Spring Embroidered Sword was pulled from the sand at his feet. The scrape rang out like a dragon's roar, again and again.
Before Qing Xuan could react, someone yanked her backward. A blue-glinting kunai flew past her eyes, barely missing the tip of her nose. Its pungent smell made her gag.
The kunai was poisoned!
Tears stinging her eyes, she followed Qing Long's gaze. A dozen figures were racing toward them from a sand dune.
Sand reinforcements.
They all wore the same yellow-brown vests. They were at least Chunin, and Qing Long was badly wounded. He definitely couldn't beat them!
Their only option was to run!
Once they crossed the border...
"Boom!"
An Explosive Tag tied to a kunai shot toward the front of the Sand squad. The blast threw up sand and blocked their advance.
Ninjas in dark green vests stepped out from behind the sand dune. At the front stood a middle-aged shinobi with pineapple-shaped hair, his arms folded across his chest.
"Stop! We're near the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers."
His voice brooked no argument as he fixed his gaze on the opposing squad's leader, a Jonin.
"Konoha and the Sand have already made peace. Are you trying to start another war?"
The Sand Jonin was a woman. Faced with the Konoha shinobi's challenge, she could only rein in her attitude a little. The Sand had lost the war and already withdrawn from the battlefield. The village had suffered heavy losses, and the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage had yet to win everyone's support. With internal and external troubles piling up, they hardly dared provoke Konoha again.
Even so, she kept her eyes fixed on Qing Long. After slowly letting out a breath, she said, "The Sand has no intention of provoking you. We're only pursuing criminals who trespassed into our territory and wantonly slaughtered our people."
Shikaku Nara frowned as he looked at Qing Long standing in the sandstorm.
Strange clothes, a cut across his throat, and a five- or six-year-old child whose face was hidden beneath the man's black cloak.
The shinobi war was about to end, and Konoha was at a crucial point in its conflict with the Cloud. The village itself was also in the midst of rebuilding. There was no need to make even more enemies.
The Sand were only chasing fugitives. They could have them, then.
Shikaku quickly weighed the pros and cons. He glanced at Qing Long once more, then turned to leave with his squad.
But that one glance made him stop dead.
He had seen the boy's face.
"We're not fugitives! I just want to go home!" the boy cried out at just the right moment. "My father is a Konoha shinobi! Please, save me!"
Every Konoha shinobi immediately stopped in their tracks.
A certain premonition grew stronger in Shikaku's heart. "Your father is..."
"Ryuu Uchiha, the younger brother of Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha Clan!"
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