Heavy Rain Blocks the Road

"It feels cool and comfortable when applied to the skin, and it smells wonderful, too—a faint scent of jasmine." Shinozaki Ayumi played with the delicate little porcelain bottle, unable to put it down, looking quite delighted.

"Mm, as long as you like it. Apply it once every morning and evening, and let's see if the scars fade in a few days." Xian Yu lazily turned over. With the swaying of the carriage, he had grown a bit sleepy. The light outside was somewhat glaring, so he buried his face in the young girl's embrace, the girl's natural fragrance drifting past his nose—it was incredibly cozy.

Shinozaki Ayumi felt the contact through their clothing against her stomach, and a rosy flush instantly bloomed on her pretty face. She carefully nudged the ninja tool pouch hanging at her waist to the side, terrified of bumping into her young master, while her right hand braced against her chest to grip her left side, trying her best to use her sleeve to block the light.

The carriage continued to jolt, and the cabin fell into a sudden silence...

By noon, a torrential downpour began without warning. Raindrops pelted the carriage roof, a persistent and annoying pitter-patter.

"The road ahead is blocked!" someone suddenly shouted from the front of the caravan.

"Hm?" Xian Yu had been half-asleep from the sound of the rain, but he snapped awake at the shouting.

"Xiao Yu, what's wrong?" The young girl had likely been exhausted from the long journey, and it wasn't until Xian Yu rose from her arms that she jolted awake.

Xian Yu's expression turned grave. "Be careful. Someone shouted that the road is blocked ahead; it might be a barricade set up by bandits."

One had to realize that while the combat power of ninjas in the Naruto world was far beyond that of ordinary people, aside from the Third Raikage, he had never seen anyone capable of taking on ten thousand enemies alone.

Ninjas were notoriously glass cannons with high attack and low defense; even if they were ambushed by an ordinary person with a knife to a vital point, if they failed to use defensive ninjutsu or dodge and parry for any reason, they would die just the same. They were still flesh and blood.

"Understood." Shinozaki Ayumi's expression turned solemn. Danzo's style of operation did not tolerate idlers, and as she was practically a disciple of Danzo, she was naturally no mere flower vase.

"Let's go out and take a look. This carriage is packed with rice, and it's stifling in such a small space." With that, Xian Yu jumped off the carriage.

The rain was heavy. The caravan was currently stopped in a valley with dense vegetation on both sides, the seventeen carriages lined up like a long dragon.

Xian Yu and the girl's carriage was at the very back, and due to the curtain of rain and obstacles, they couldn't see the situation at the front of the caravan.

Xian Yu took a quick look; each carriage had a driver and two guards dressed in straw hats.

The moment he stepped out, the heavy rain soaked Xian Yu instantly. However, his ninja uniform had a certain degree of water resistance; although it looked soaked on the outside, it wouldn't seep through to the inside for a while.

"Excuse me, uncle, where have we arrived?" Xian Yu asked one of the guards, a middle-aged man with a square face who was standing nearby.

The square-faced guard glanced at him and the girl behind him, complaining, "This is the territory of the Great Warm Valley in Kangsong Mountain. Damn it, this rain just had to start now. We're in the middle of nowhere, so we have no choice but to push through the rain."

"Tell me about it. Here, uncle, want a sip to warm yourself up?" Xian Yu fished a small wine flask from his pocket and handed it to the middle-aged man.

Host purchased High-Quality Rice Wine (3-tael loose wooden flask) x30, consuming 1 Diamond. Current balance: 1439 Diamonds.

Hearing the system prompt, Xian Yu figured that when one is away from home, one shouldn't skimp on necessary expenses.

Shinozaki Ayumi stood behind him, constantly scanning their surroundings.

The square-faced guard's eyes lit up. Carefully shielding the flask with his straw hat to keep the rain out, he opened the stopper and took a large gulp. "Refreshing! That's good wine, no worse than the Cloud Wine from Little Cloud Pavilion. Little brother, this one sip of yours is probably worth at least a few dozen taels of silver. My name is Ya Midie, just call me Uncle Ya. Here, little brother, you have a sip to warm up too?"

"You got it. Uncle Ya, just call me Xiao Yu, and she's Xiao Mei." Xian Yu took the flask and also took a large gulp. It was indeed good wine, mellow and sweet. Although he hadn't been a drunkard in his past life, he would drink occasionally. This high-quality rice wine couldn't be called a masterpiece, but it was equivalent to the finest farmhouse brew from his previous life.

Xian Yu appeared to be chatting and drinking with the guard, but he was actually using the interaction as a cover to secretly observe the surroundings. Finding no signs of an ambush, he asked, "Uncle Ya, what happened at the front of the caravan? We've been stopped for quite a while. Here, have another sip."

"It's all because of this rain. The valley entrance ahead is narrow, and there was a landslide. The road is completely blocked; the carriages can't get through at all." Ya Midie found the young man increasingly likable and happily took the flask to drink again.

"Turn around! Turn around! Head to Yangxi Village! We'll spend the night in Yangxi Village tonight."

At that moment, shouts came from the front of the caravan, passing back section by section. Before long, everyone knew they were diverting to Yangxi Village for the night.

"Yangxi Village is the closest village to here, with about twenty households. Xiao Yu, Xiao Mei, you two get back in the carriage. It's raining so hard outside, be careful not to catch a cold." Ya Midie was quite the talker, and seeing the two children soaked to the bone, he urged them.

"Don't worry, Uncle Ya. Don't let our age fool you; we're ninjas, so a little rain won't hurt us. It's stuffy in the carriage, so it's actually quite nice to walk and chat with you." Xian Yu smiled. Before, the journey had been dull, which was why he had been sleeping in the carriage. Since they were stopping at the village soon, it was better to gather more intelligence.

After all, gathering intelligence was a ninja's primary duty.

Shinozaki Ayumi followed behind Xian Yu, acting completely invisible. She didn't interject or chat, just followed silently. She wasn't very good at making small talk with strangers; it seemed that most of the subordinates trained by Danzo in the original story had issues with interpersonal communication—they were cold and distant. Only a few were lively.

"Then I'll go get you two some straw hats." Ya Midie ran to the front carriage, spoke a few words to the driver, and soon returned with two sets of straw hats and rain capes for them.

"Thank you, Uncle Ya." Xian Yu said as he put on the rain cape and straw hat.

"Thank you, Uncle Ya." Shinozaki Ayumi said crisply, also putting on her rain gear.

Along the way, Xian Yu chatted about everything under the sun with Ya Midie, managing to glean quite a bit of useful information. It wasn't until they had walked for over an hour that they saw a village dimly visible in the distance.

As they drew closer to the village, both Xian Yu and Ayumi frowned and exchanged a look.

There was the smell of blood!

"Stop! Everyone stop!" The order came from the front of the caravan again, telling everyone to halt.

"I'm going to the front to see what's happening." Xian Yu said, running forward with Ayumi close behind.

"Sigh, these kids..." Ya Midie was a bit worried, so he told his fellow guard and followed after them.

The lead carriage of the caravan was blocked by several fierce-looking men, and over a dozen caravan guards were in a standoff with them.

When Xian Yu arrived, he saw that further ahead at the village entrance, over twenty fierce-looking men were slaughtering about thirty people dressed as villagers, with seven or eight bodies already lying on the ground. Judging by the situation, the smaller group actually held the absolute advantage, and the larger group was being slaughtered and forced into a retreat.

The caravan leader, the fat merchant Hua Qi, saw Xian Yu and Ayumi and scolded them with a gloomy face, "Why are you coming over here? Don't go meddling in other people's business! If you provoke these bandits from Black Wind Stronghold, I won't care whether you live or die."