Fifty Percent Certainty

Regrettably, at this critical juncture, the chunin had yet to move, but another individual leaped over with lightning speed, landing on the water's surface without a moment's hesitation. The jonin from the Land of Earth had sweat beading on his forehead and a grim expression; he glanced at his companion who was about to charge forward and shouted a command.

"Hey, Fu, retreat! Those two are not simple; we can't even sense their chakra anymore. Let's leave for now." The jonin clearly realized he was no match for the female jonin and Kakashi. Sensing that something was wrong, he immediately bolted toward the distance.

Hearing that Li's chakra had vanished, the chunin named Fu's expression shifted. He cast a deep look at Yang Xing, then turned and fled without looking back.

Yang Xing watched them quietly, making no move to pursue.

It was obvious this group were merely puppets, the vanguard, and not the main force. There was no need to chase them; doing so would only be a waste of chakra.

"Is everyone alright?" The female jonin hurried over. Seeing that everyone was safe, she let out a sigh of relief, though a flash of surprise crossed her face when she realized Yang Xing was completely unharmed.

She was just about to ask how this little guy had managed to escape.

However, a shout from Anko made the group turn their heads.

"Ah, the mist has cleared! Teacher, that's the shore over there—the village!"

The mist had indeed dissipated, and the sight on the shore drew the eyes of everyone on the boat. The scene before them caused some of those present to forget the battle that had just transpired and everything that had come before it.

They were simply stunned by the spectacle before their eyes.

The land was a scene of utter devastation; the very crust of the earth had been warped, and houses of all sizes had been razed to the ground.

On the water, the lake was stained red, a sight that assaulted the senses.

With the destruction of the village and the sheer power of ninjutsu in this era, it was unlikely that a single soul in the entire village had survived.

This was the Great Ninja War; this was what combat between nations truly looked like.

It was always the innocent civilians who paid the price with their lives.

Compared to what lay before them, the group had long forgotten the intensity of the battle they had just fought.

The female jonin's face turned pale. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to look away and said, "Let's go up. Perhaps there are still survivors."

"It seems those Anbu ninjas have also met a grim fate." As the boat drifted forward, the female jonin stared at the scene ahead and muttered to herself, "It's impossible. Given the strength of Konoha, these people shouldn't have had the means to do this."

By the afternoon.

Even with such a tragic scene, as ninjas raised on the teachings of the Warring States period in Konoha, the group did not show too much grief.

Near dusk, a few kilometers away from the destroyed village, the group set up tents and began to prepare dinner.

After a battle and such high nervous tension, everyone needed to relax.

Moreover, having fought on the lake, Kakashi, Yang Xing, and the others were soaked to the bone and needed to dry their clothes by the fire.

They built a fire and rested.

At the very least, now was not the time to pursue those Earth ninjas, and returning from here was not an option; after all, their mission was not yet complete. There was another village they needed to investigate.

Even if they understood that the next village might also face a dire fate, leaving was out of the question.

This was the way of Konoha, the very foundation of their mission.

Gathered around the fire to warm themselves, the atmosphere remained far too heavy compared to the daytime.

They split into two groups. Since Anko's group was busy preparing food, only the rather bedraggled Kakashi and Yang Xing's group remained by the fire.

That is to say, Kakashi's team.

Surrounded by the flames, the four of them sat in silent contemplation.

Kakashi was the first to speak, poking at the fire: "Hey, I have a question for you."

He looked up, his gaze fixed directly on Yang Xing.

"What is it?" Yang Xing looked up, appearing quite surprised.

"Yang Xing, if it had been you, how much confidence would you have had in defeating that jonin?"

Once Kakashi's words left his lips, Rin Nohara and Obito shifted their attention. They understood now that Yang Xing's strength was not simple; it was clear he had been hiding his true power from the start, and his level was by no means inferior to Kakashi's.

Having realized Yang Xing's capability, the three of them were clearly curious about just how far he had reached.

"About a fifty-fifty chance." Now that Obito and the others had seen his various ninjutsu, Yang Xing felt there was no longer any need to hide.

"If it's fifty-fifty, then if you had added me to the mix, we should have been able to keep him here." Kakashi looked regretful; it seemed that failing to detain the jonin had put him in a foul mood.

Or rather, it was the lack of vengeance that left Kakashi feeling unsettled.

"Hey, hey, that guy was just a vanguard. If you push yourself that hard, things won't go well for you later. The Land of Fire is different now than it used to be, and Konoha is different too." Yang Xing lowered his voice, his tone carrying a certain weight: "You have to conserve your strength if you want to survive."

"Yeah." Kakashi lowered his head, staring into the fire.

It seemed he understood this point well enough.

The others, hearing Yang Xing's words, also fell into a heavy silence. The start of a great war was, in the end, no good thing.

This strange atmosphere made it impossible for Yang Xing to sit still. Perhaps it was his identity as a transmigrator that made it impossible for him to truly grieve over the destruction of a village, or perhaps it was simply that he lacked any deep attachment to Konoha.

Complaining to himself here didn't fit his personality, and he couldn't force himself to feel the sorrow.

"I'm going to go relieve myself!" Throwing out an excuse, Yang Xing wanted to step out for some air; the atmosphere was simply too suffocating.

Yang Xing stood up and walked toward the forest.

Before he even reached the woods, a notification by his ear piqued his interest.

"Mission complete! A-rank mission activated. Do you wish to claim it? Claiming will reduce your remaining mission count."

"Of course I'll claim it." Yang Xing took out his phone and pressed the claim button. Seeing that he had two attempts remaining, he couldn't help but chuckle: "I didn't expect to survive for three days so smoothly. It hasn't even been three days—not even two full days. I wonder how this system calculates time; perhaps the mission ended automatically because the crisis was resolved."

"B-rank mission complete, three-star rating."

"A three-star rating?"

It was hardly surprising. Yang Xing believed that if he had managed to detain that jonin or killed him outright, it would surely have been a five-star rating.

There was nothing to be done about letting him escape; he couldn't just activate his Sharingan and force a pursuit to kill him, as that would have been more trouble than it was worth.

Although there was no double reward for a five-star rating, the three-star reward was still decent.

The basic standard rewards were good enough!

"One Evolution Fruit, special achievement, Undying Cockroach green unique achievement—what the hell is this? Well, this aura isn't bad. Running Away Is My Specialty, 50% agility bonus. Screw you, I didn't run! I didn't run at all! What kind of messy achievement is this?"

Undying Cockroach (Unique Achievement): Durability +100%, chance to negate one ninjutsu below S-rank per day.

Running Away Is My Specialty (Common Achievement): Agility +50%