The wandering ninjas dreaming of ruling the Land of Birds never noticed the blood-red eye watching everything inside the room with keen interest through a crack in the door.
Counting Muso, there are eight wandering ninjas in all. Since they've already moved against Komei, I'll have to leave Muso and one other alive so Sagi can judge their crimes.
Having thought things through, Yi Xiang began forming hand seals.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique! Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Fog? No, it's the Hidden Mist Technique!"
"Form up! Don't scatter!"
Tap, tap, tap! A sudden flurry of footsteps broke the surrounding silence. Believing themselves surrounded, the eight hurled handfuls of shuriken toward the sounds.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Yi Xiang's four shadow clones, positioned to the north, south, east, and west, formed hand seals simultaneously. Chakra gathered in their throats before they spat enormous fireballs forward.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Reacting before the others, Muso spat a wall of water toward the rear door, then hastily used the Body Flicker Technique to escape through it.
The other seven weren't so lucky. Three more fireballs hemmed them in, while steam rose from the collision of fire and water ninjutsu. Only three lucky survivors managed to escape the house using substitution.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"
As soon as he got outside, Muso spotted two identical figures charging at him through the white mist. Hoping his companions could buy him some time, he created hundreds of shadow clones that scattered in every direction.
Being caught off guard was bad enough, but the battlefield had also become the enemy's home ground. With no idea how strong his enemies were or how many there were, caution was clearly his best option. He needed to get himself to safety first.
"Oh, using an A-rank ninjutsu to run