Ambushed

Two days later, at four in the morning, Neji opened his eyes and went alone to the small grove to study Black Lightning.

[You practiced chakra refinement. Your relevant insights increased.]

[You practiced Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation. Your relevant insights increased.]

[You attempted to blend Yang Release Chakra into Lightning Release Chakra. Your relevant insights increased.]

[Congratulations, you have mastered the secret Lightning Release technique: Black Lightning Lv. 1 (1/500)]

As several notifications appeared on the panel, Neji finally mastered the Black Lightning he had been longing for. Violent black currents coiled around his palm. He could clearly feel that, with the same amount of Lightning Release Chakra, Black Lightning was more than twice as powerful as ordinary electricity.

That was the might of taking Chakra Nature Transformation to its utmost limit.

"Neji?"

After waking, Yugito spotted Neji emerging from the small grove earlier than usual and walked over to greet him, surprised.

For the past few days, Neji had unfailingly gotten up at four in the morning, trained for three hours, then eaten breakfast before setting out.

This time, he was more than an hour early.

Neji was bewildered by Yugito's stare. He touched his face and asked, "Captain, what's wrong? Is there something dirty on my face?"

Yugito narrowed her eyes. "Did you make a breakthrough in your training?"

At that, Neji nodded. "Hard work pays off. I've made a little progress."

"Congratulations!"

Yugito suspected that Neji's "little progress" was anything but minor.

He had probably completed a powerful jutsu.

As the days went by, Neji used Shadow Clones to keep watch in his place. His real body either practiced chakra control or trained his Byakugan, so the journey was far from dull.

Five days later, the food convoy finally left the Land of Lightning.

"The smaller countries are unstable. Everyone, stay on high alert."

Yugito stood atop a wagon and reminded them.

After the convoy entered the Land of Iron, Neji keenly noticed that all the guards had grown more vigilant. They had even added two more patrol squads.

Neji dispelled his Shadow Clone and focused his attention on the surroundings.

Before long, the convoy came under its first attack.

Dozens of ragged bandits suddenly appeared on the hillsides on either side. Waving farm tools, they swarmed toward the last wagon.

The bandits had no organization or discipline. They were nothing but a rabble.

Yugito didn't even need to get involved. The patrolling guards quickly took them down.

Neji had spotted the dozens of people gathered on both sides of the hills with his Byakugan from far away.

But he hadn't sensed any chakra from them.

They were carrying farm tools, and there were only a few dozen of them, so Neji had mistaken them for farmers at work.

He had given the guards a brief warning, then thought nothing more of it.

Who would have thought that a few dozen people would dare attack a food convoy?

They must have been starving!

After Takayama Tokugawa explained, Neji understood.

Those people were bandits, sure, but they were also farmers.

When a merchant convoy came through, they were bandits. When no convoy passed by, they were ordinary civilians.

After the food convoy rested for a while, it continued onward.

Over the next few days, the convoy was attacked by bandits six more times.

Even though no one was injured, the mood in the convoy grew tense.

After leaving the Land of Iron, the convoy entered the Land of Frost, and the atmosphere grew even more strained.

The Land of Iron was a samurai nation that shunned ninjas, so the food convoy had only encountered bandits there. But the situation in the Land of Frost and the Land of the Waterfall before it was different.

A hidden valley in the Land of Frost.

"We've confirmed it. The food convoy has entered the Land of Frost. It's being escorted by a two-man squad from Kumogakure. Their strength is unknown."

A middle-aged ninja with a scar across his forehead reported respectfully.

"A two-man squad?"

The Iwagakure rogue ninja in charge raised an eyebrow.

Genin squads from the Five Great Nations consisted of a Chunin leading three Genin. Graduates assigned to Jonin squads were led by a Jonin with three Chunin. The weakest members of a two-man squad were both Chunin.

The mercenary squad under his command had ten members in total: two Special Jonin, three Chunin, and five Genin.

That was a force to be reckoned with.

"If they're two Chunin, the fee stays the same. If one of them is a Jonin, the price goes up."

After thinking it over, the Iwagakure rogue ninja spoke and turned to look at the client beside him.

The client was about the same age as Takayama Tokugawa and looked six or seven parts similar to him. He wore round glasses and had a refined, scholarly appearance.

"As long as you complete the mission, money won't be an issue. But if you fail, you won't get a single coin."

"It's a deal," the Iwagakure rogue ninja said with a grim expression.

Even so, he had already made up his mind. If he completed the mission, both he and the client would be fine. If he failed, he would kill the client.

He wouldn't make the trip for nothing. He was determined to get paid.

Killing a client was taboo and broke the rules of the business. After that, it would be difficult to make a living as a mercenary again.

But those rules were made for influential people with reputations to protect.

He was a nobody. He could kill the client, make a hefty profit, toss away his Forehead Protector, and start fresh under a new identity whenever he wanted.

The food convoy had traveled through the Land of Frost for two days without incident. Unlike in the Land of Iron, where they had been attacked at every turn, things had remained peaceful, and everyone had begun to let their guard down.

That day, the blood-red setting sun sank behind the mountains, its last rays spilling across the land.

Neji suddenly approached Takayama Tokugawa and signaled for him to stop and rest.

It was still early, but Takayama Tokugawa didn't dare disobey the Ninja Lord, so he ordered the guards to set up camp.

Neji leaped onto the roof of the foremost wagon. He twirled a kunai around his slender index finger, his gaze fixed on the surrounding woods.

The next moment—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out.

"Explosive Tags! Ninjas!" Takayama Tokugawa's face paled.

The Explosive Tags weren't powerful enough, and they hadn't gone off among the convoy, so no one was hurt. But the horses were spooked and dragged the wagons around wildly.

The guards barely had time to react before hundreds of bandits charged out of the dense forest, bearing down on them.

Not all bandits were the same. Unlike the part-time bandits in the Land of Iron, these bandits from the Land of Frost were hardened killers who had seen blood. They fought the guards to a standstill.

Neji's gaze sharpened. He created a Shadow Clone to protect Takayama Tokugawa, while his real body shot forward at incredible speed.

He had spotted six ninjas disguised as bandits, attacking one of the wagons.

The young woman and the boy were inside it.

Judging by their chakra levels, there was one Jonin, two Chunin, and three Genin.

Black currents flashed in his palm. Neji used the Body Flicker Technique to move swiftly, then slid to a stop behind one of the Chunin.

"Lightning Release: Black Lightning."

A piercing peal of thunder rang out.

The Chunin felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest. Then he saw a hand wrapped in Black Lightning emerge from it.

"This brat...?"

The Iwagakure rogue ninja's face twitched.

His comrade was a Chunin. His combat ability might not have matched that of a Chunin from a major village, but he was still a genuine Chunin.

Yet the enemy had killed him in an instant.