"But..."
Xuan hesitated again as he spoke.
"Do you remember that Nine-Seed Lotus only grows in Dark Heze? How could it have appeared here? Did someone step on it and hide it here?"
The three of Genma exchanged glances. No one could guess the reason, but unexpectedly acquiring such a precious medicinal herb was still a great gain.
Just as they were leaving Genma, a man's voice suddenly rang out from the trees.
"I didn't expect you to be hiding here. Damn ninjas, doing business in this country and making me waste so much effort looking for you. Hmph... but now, you can be on your way..."
"Ah...!"
With a scream, a corpse fell from above, landing directly in front of Xuan and Akai.
"What? An enemy?" Ebisu turned around nervously.
Xuan was equally startled. He first looked around but could not find the speaker, then looked at the corpse on the ground. It was a ninja with a Merchant Kingdom symbol on his forehead protector—the Merchant Kingdom ninja that person had just mentioned...
But where had the speaker gone? How had he suddenly disappeared?
"Above us! Konoha Whirlwind!!!"
Akai shouted and charged at the enemy. The other man saw that the child was remarkably skilled and fierce. He quickly adjusted his posture in midair, exchanged a round of attacks and defenses with Akai, then made a feint and leapt out of the encirclement.
"Hm??? You don't seem like an ordinary child... but soon, you'll be joining that guy who caused me so much trouble!"
Under Guy's cover, Xuan and Ebisu narrowly avoided being cut down by the enemy's blade. Once they reacted, they immediately joined Guy.
Xuan could tell that the move the other party had used earlier was meant to kill. He had not even asked a question;