Return to Camp

"Xingye, it'll be dawn soon. Isn't it time?" In the forest at the edge of the canyon, Mitarashi Shika asked Yueguang Xingye as they hurried along. They had no Sensory Ninja capable of sensing over a wide area, so they couldn't tell whether the Sand Shinobi were still pursuing them. They had already agreed with Yueguang Han that they would enter the canyon just before dawn.

"It's time!" Yueguang Xingye nodded when he heard this. Looking at the waning moon about to set in the west, he led everyone toward the canyon.

When they reached the edge of the canyon, everyone ate several Ration Pills and put on gas masks. They then connected themselves with Steel Wire, each took out two Kunai, and began climbing down into the canyon. The canyon was very deep, about six or seven hundred meters. However, for a Konoha Ninja team whose members were at least Chunin, it posed no great difficulty.

Yellow miasma filled the canyon. Visibility was poor beyond just four or five meters, and at distances of more than twenty meters, even human silhouettes were obscured by the miasma.

"Captain Luo Fei, the Konoha Ninja have left the range of my senses!" In the forest at night, Feiyin reported regretfully to the team leader, Luo Fei, the moment she emerged from underground with the Earth Style Ninja.

"Damn bastards." Luo Fei gritted his teeth and cursed when he heard this, but there was nothing he could do.

His plan had been sound, but that Konoha prodigy had somehow ensured that they would be discovered within minutes whenever they left the underground. Even the Earth Clone Jutsu had failed to fool him, while they couldn't find the Konoha prodigy's location at all. The night wasn't even halfway over, yet their fifteen-man team had been reduced to seven, and now they had lost track of the Konoha Ninja team as well.

"Lord Luo Fei, are we still going to keep following them like this?" one of the Sand Shinobi asked. He had truly had enough.

In fact, it wasn't only him. The other Sand Shinobi, including Luo Fei, had had enough of this nerve-racking pursuit. If they hadn't needed to keep up with the Konoha Ninja to have any chance of finding the Konoha prodigy, and if traveling underground with Earth Style weren't so slow, they would have wanted to remain underground and pursue them the entire time.

"Pursue them underground." In the end, Luo Fei gritted his teeth and gave the order. They couldn't catch up by pursuing them now, but so many people had already sacrificed themselves, and they couldn't retreat just like this. Pursuing them across the surface was too dangerous. They might all be killed before even reaching the Land of Rain, so they could only use the safer method.

"At dawn tomorrow, release the Ninja Hawk and report the situation in detail to Lord Rasa. Tell him to beware of the enemy breaking through along the route we came from," Luo Fei instructed. He only hoped that the Konoha Ninja wouldn't turn back somewhere ahead, take a wide detour around their sensory range, and return along the original route.

After giving his instructions, Luo Fei didn't even wait for Yueguang Han to find them. He took the Sand Shinobi underground himself.

"It seems the Sand Shinobi are determined not to come out of the ground. Still, that's fine too." Hundreds of meters above the ground, Yueguang Han had been monitoring the forest within a radius of nearly five kilometers. After failing to detect the Sand Shinobi's heat signatures for ten minutes, he shook his head and controlled the DJI Drone to carry him onward toward the Land of Rain. As it flew, he kept watch over every movement in the forest below.

"Isn't that Yueguang Han of the Hayate Clan? Why has he returned alone?"

"Could the mission have failed, with only him surviving and coming back?"

"Do you know what mission they went to carry out?"

"No. I heard it was an extremely dangerous secret mission. They probably set out in the middle of the night, and everyone only discovered the next day that the Hayate Clan's people were missing from camp. The Mitarashi Clan and the Kurama Clan went with them too."

Two days later, when Yueguang Han entered Konoha's combat camp, whispers immediately spread around him. People even began discussing Yueguang Han and the others' mission.

The others haven't returned yet. I came back early. I hope they didn't encounter any danger. Hearing the whispers around him, Yueguang Han thought to himself. Unfortunately, Yueguang Han didn't know where Yueguang Xingye and the others had crossed the canyon. To avoid being discovered—and to prevent Yueguang Xingye and the others from being exposed—he couldn't go looking for them.

"Yueguang Han, Lord Orochimaru has questions for you. Come with me immediately."

Just as Yueguang Han was thinking this, an Anbu appeared before him and spoke without emotion. Yueguang Han had actually been spotted by a concealed sentry as soon as he approached the camp. As a ninja returning alone, he naturally attracted attention. Before Yueguang Han even entered the camp, the news had already reached Orochimaru's desk.

Root Ninja! It seems Orochimaru has already gotten mixed up with Danzō. Looking at the Anbu Ninja before him, Yueguang Han nodded and quickly followed him toward Orochimaru's headquarters.

Yueguang Han was certain he was a Root Ninja not only because of the other man's emotionless voice, but also because of his mask. Compared with the animal masks worn by the Anbu, Root's masks were more complicated. Although they also looked like animal masks, they actually resembled demon masks more closely. This was something netizens in his previous life had analyzed.

"Lord Orochimaru is waiting for you inside!" When they reached the outside of Orochimaru's headquarters, the Root Ninja spoke to Yueguang Han without emotion, then disappeared. Yueguang Han nevertheless detected him through the thermal sensing of his Electronic Eye. The Root Ninja hadn't left at all. Instead, he was hiding nearby and continuing to observe Yueguang Han.

As expected, it's Root. Only Root could be this cold and heartless. Thinking this, Yueguang Han pushed open the wooden door of the headquarters and entered alone.

"Lord Han, you've arrived? How did the mission go?" The moment Yueguang Han entered the wooden building, a hoarse voice rang out inside the headquarters. Orochimaru, seated behind the desk, set down his pen, rose, and walked toward Yueguang Han with a smile.

"It failed!" Yueguang Han replied calmly, his voice as cold as ever.

As though he had expected the mission to fail, Orochimaru didn't care in the slightest when Yueguang Han said so. He was not at all displeased by Yueguang Han's performance or his still-cold voice. Instead, he was extremely satisfied and said with a smile, "The others may have failed, but I imagine Lord Han must have quite a few spoils, right?"

"I did obtain quite a few spoils, but fewer than a hundred. The Sand Shinobi also pursued me for a long time," Yueguang Han replied calmly.

"That's truly unfortunate! Still, those are impressive spoils! I believe Lord Han will claim the heads of many more Sand Shinobi in the future. I'm also willing to give Lord Han more opportunities like this! For example, sending you to the main battlefield!" Orochimaru said with a smile, his tone regretful. In truth, this was exactly what he had expected. More importantly, he had promised Yueguang Han what he wanted most.

"Please transfer me to the main battlefield, Lord Orochimaru!" Yueguang Han immediately spoke when he heard this. His tone was no longer calm and had become somewhat excited.