To Win, He Abandoned His Teammate

The basic Clone Technique was a useless, trash-tier ninjutsu. But even from way up in the sky, Choza—now gigantic—couldn't tell whether the clone was the real thing.

After leaving behind a clone, Yashui slipped away without a second thought.

His escape was exceptionally difficult. After Choza grew gigantic, he couldn't see things as clearly, but his field of vision had also widened. He could easily spot people on the ground. The slightest lapse, the tiniest clue, could give him away.

Choza had probably spotted where Yashui was after he used the Crow Substitution Technique because he hadn't hidden himself well enough.

What he'd learned at the Ninja Academy was finally coming in handy. The curriculum covered a wide range of subjects, touching on all sorts of areas. They'd naturally learned concealment techniques for tracking enemies and keeping targets under surveillance.

Yashui regretted that when he'd studied on his own, he'd only skimmed the material and never reviewed it afterward. Now he regretted it too late. If only he'd read a little more back then, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation. As things stood, all he could do was inch forward cautiously, checking his surroundings each time he hid before moving on.

Even after Choza grew gigantic, Hachiko and Xun kept fighting tirelessly.

Xun kept cursing as she fought, mostly because Hachiko had said several things without thinking. It made Xun feel as though Hachiko wanted to curse her to death.

That was why Xun had picked Hachiko as her target from the start and attacked her. Xun thought Hachiko had a bad personality and wanted to kick her out right then and there.

Hachiko wasn't the sort to cling to people who disliked her. The fact that she often sat in the last seat in the corner of the classroom showed that she was quite proud, too. But becoming a ninja was the one thing she wasn't willing to give up.

Becoming a ninja was Hachiko's only path to a better life. She didn't want her pride to cost her future prospects and wealth. So she fought back fiercely.

By the time Yashui reached them, both women were already covered in injuries. Hachiko looked a little worse off than Xun, who had a few scrapes all over.

Both of them had already used up a lot of energy. Thanks to the exercise she'd done since childhood, Xun could still keep her breathing steady. Hachiko couldn't. Having grown up eating unsanitary food and consuming gutter oil, she was in far worse shape than Xun. By now, she could feel her strength starting to fail.

Xun slowly moved closer. Hachiko had already run out of ninja tools. Barehanded, she had no way to fight Xun. It looked like Xun had won.

"Thump!"

Yashui appeared behind Hachiko without a sound and brought down a chop to the back of her neck. Hachiko collapsed at once.

"Let's team up! The two of us can definitely get the bells!" Yashui said to Xun, looking at Hachiko unconscious on the ground.

Xun was stunned by what he'd done. When she'd provoked Hachiko at the start, Yashui had stood up for her! She'd thought he was a loyal, honorable guy. Who would've thought that when it mattered, he'd act just like Xun and sacrifice his teammate for his own benefit?

"If you think so too, then that's for the best. Kicking the weakest one of the three of us out will be a boon to our future team." Xun put away her staff. "Let me make one thing clear: there are some things I dislike about you even more than I dislike Hachiko."

"I don't like you much either." Yashui shook his head helplessly. "If I weren't incapable of fighting Teacher Choza on my own right now, I wouldn't have asked you for help."

"Whatever." Xun didn't look very tired. It seemed she was still hiding some other move. Perhaps she hadn't finished off Hachiko right away because she wanted to see what Yashui was capable of.