They Escaped! I Don't Plan to Chase!

The morning sunlight slowly illuminated the forest, restoring its brightness and gradually bringing warmth.

Under the morning sun, I can recover 5, 8, and 10 Energy Points per hour! Does that make me solar-powered?

By a stream unobstructed by trees, Yueguang Han lay spread-eagled like a corpse on a stretch of broken bluish stone riverbank, lazily soaking up the morning sunlight with as much of his body exposed as possible. Meanwhile, his consciousness observed the Tech Template system as he thought to himself.

After sunbathing for three hours, he recovered 5 Energy Points during the first hour after sunrise, 8 during the second, and 10 during the third. As the sunlight became hotter, the number of Energy Points he recovered increased as well.

Although the recovery was slow, over the eleven or twelve daylight hours in a day, he could still recover enough for nearly ten uses of Lightning Style: Earth Running.

Moreover, this did not interfere with refining Chakra, though Yueguang Han was not currently doing so.

"Whoosh, whoosh...!" Sharp whistling suddenly rang out from the forest beside the river. Two black kunai shot out from the bushes beneath the trees, streaking toward Yueguang Han.

"Pfft! Pfft!" The sound of blades piercing flesh rang out as the two black kunai accurately struck Yueguang Han in the neck and head.

"It's a dead Konoha Shinobi!"

"Teacher, how did you know he was a Konoha Shinobi?"

In the forest, three boys and girls about Yueguang Han's age emerged from the bushes under the lead of a Sand Shinobi Chunin. As they spoke, they approached Yueguang Han's body on the ground.

"Because he isn't wearing our shinobi vest or our forehead protector, yet he is dressed in clothing styled after our Sand Village. He is about your age, but he is wearing adult-sized clothes."

"Teacher, then why is he wearing clothes in the style of our Sand Shinobi Village? And where is his forehead protector?"

"It's common to strip clothes from enemy corpses on the battlefield. Not only can it confuse inexperienced enemy shinobi, it can even let someone disguise themselves as an enemy shinobi. Sometimes, when one's clothes are badly damaged in battle, they will strip clothes from enemies to wear. After all, you can't exactly strip the clothes off dead comrades from your own village."

"As for his forehead protector, either he hid it, or someone took it away as a trophy."

"Teacher, if he could disguise himself as an enemy shinobi, why did he only take the clothes instead of taking a shinobi vest and disguising himself as one of us?"

"The battlefield is cruel. Just wearing enemy clothes is already troublesome and dangerous, so unless necessary, no one strips an enemy's shinobi vest. Especially when acting alone, not only might you be killed by shinobi from your own side, you are also very likely to be exposed by enemy shinobi."

"Besides, these clothes are generally discarded once one returns to their own camp, to avoid being mistaken for an enemy by allied shinobi."

"Remember, on the battlefield, details can determine life or death."

The Sand Shinobi Chunin vigilantly watched the surroundings while carefully teaching his three students. As they talked, they arrived beside Yueguang Han.

"No blood came out! He has been dead for quite some time, and the blood has already coagulated inside his body. That's why no blood flowed after the kunai struck him. If it were a shinobi who had just died, you would have to be careful—enemy shinobi might still be lying in ambush nearby."

"Even with a corpse that has been dead for a while, you cannot lower your guard."

Looking at the supposedly dead Yueguang Han, the Sand Shinobi Chunin analyzed the situation for his students.

"Mhm! Mhm!"

Hearing their teacher's analysis, the three Sand Shinobi Genin nodded repeatedly and hurriedly committed his teachings to heart. These were all experiences that could save their lives on the battlefield!

"What if the enemy on the ground is pretending to be dead?" a cold voice asked.

"Feigning death is not uncommon on the battlefield either. It deceives inexperienced shinobi, which is why you have to test the corpse and confirm whether it is truly dead. If it is pretending, it will naturally reveal a flaw. Otherwise, it is truly dea—"

The Sand Shinobi Chunin explained, then suddenly realized that was not one of his students' voices. His expression instantly changed. He grabbed one student and rapidly retreated, shouting at the other two, "Enemy! Scatter, quickly!"

The two Sand Shinobi Genin did not hesitate. They immediately retreated ten meters, standing back-to-back as they watched their surroundings warily.

"Your analysis was very good! Valuable experience! But..."

The cold voice continued. Under the gazes of the four Sand Shinobi, Yueguang Han, who had been lying on the ground, reached up and pulled the kunai from his neck and head, then sat up. Gray matter rapidly spread across his neck and swiftly repaired the wounds.

"There will always be shinobi with special secret techniques and abilities that people cannot guard against. For a teacher like you, who teaches students... you were still too careless!"

Watching Yueguang Han's wounds heal so strangely, the three Sand Shinobi Genin felt chills crawl down their spines.

He's a Bloodline Limit shinobi, and he has already killed so many of our comrades!

The Sand Shinobi Chunin stared at Yueguang Han as he sat up, every hair on his body standing on end. Bitterness filled his heart—not only because of Yueguang Han's strange abilities, but also because Yueguang Han's movement had exposed his trophies.

There were dozens of Sand Shinobi forehead protectors pressed beneath his back. They had run into a ruthless monster.

"Lizi, Chenghu, Qinghe, run! Split up and run! I'll hold him off. Find a way to report this intelligence!" After hesitating for only an instant, the Sand Shinobi Chunin stepped forward. His eyes remained fixed on the strange enemy before him as he spoke to his students.

He was already middle-aged. Compared to a Chunin like himself, who had reached the limit of his potential, these children—who were like his own children—were the village's future.

He did not know whether they could escape back to their camp on this dangerous battlefield, whether they could survive this war and live long enough to grow stronger. But at the very least, he had to let them escape this certain death now.

"But, Teacher...?" The three Sand Shinobi Genin hesitated.

"Go! That is an order!" Before his students could finish, the Sand Shinobi Chunin shouted. "If you stay here, you will all die. Only by bringing the intelligence back will Teacher's death have value. Split up and run!"

"Let's go." One Sand Shinobi Genin gritted his teeth, called out, and led the other two as they turned and fled toward the forest by the river.

"You are a good teacher. I admire you greatly. Unfortunately, in this war, you are Sand Shinobi, and I am from Konoha. My parents died at the hands of Sand Shinobi." Yueguang Han spoke coldly as he watched the Sand Shinobi Chunin shield his students.

His raised hand rapidly transformed into a SPAS-12 shotgun and aimed at the Sand Shinobi Chunin.

Every muscle in the Sand Shinobi Chunin's body tensed. He stared fixedly at Yueguang Han and at Yueguang Han's raised hand, which had turned strange.

"Bang!" The gunshot rang out, its thunderous report carrying far into the distance.

Under the enormous Impact of the shotgun blast, the Sand Shinobi's body was hurled through the air. He crashed down three meters away.

"Urgh!" The Sand Shinobi Chunin groaned in pain, trying to force himself up, but he had no strength left. His vision grew darker and darker.

"Teacher...!" Hearing the loud blast, the fleeing Sand Shinobi boys and girls turned back and saw their teacher's body flung into the air, blood spraying everywhere.

Gritting their teeth and holding back their grief, the three Sand Shinobi boys and girls ran desperately toward the forest.

Watching the fleeing Sand Shinobi boys and girls, Yueguang Han waited until they disappeared into the forest before finally lowering the hand that had transformed into an M249 LMG. He muttered, "Tch, that wasted 5 Energy Points. I clearly need a set of clothes that fits."

"They escaped! I don't plan to chase!" Yueguang Han said coldly as he walked up to the dying Sand Shinobi Chunin.

"Tha... thank you..." the Sand Shinobi Chunin said haltingly, before finally closing his eyes.

There will probably be quite a few Sand Shinobi coming here next, right? Yueguang Han removed the Sand Shinobi Chunin's forehead protector and carefully collected the useful items from his body.

He then returned to where he had been lying, placed the forehead protector together with the others, lay down on top of them again, and resumed basking in the sun while refining Chakra.