Fell for the Trap

Xian Yu strode out right in front of the Hua Qi Caravan, carrying the Daimyo Ginseng.

"Don't worry, old village chief. I'll make sure to take the Daimyo Ginseng to Linshui City and sell it for a good price!" Xian Yu's voice drifted back from afar, making Hua Qi and the others grit their teeth in anger.

"Follow them!" Hua Qi snarled.

At once, a Rain Ninja Genin and more than thirty Huaqi Caravan samurai began tailing Xian Yu and Shinozaki Ayumi.

Xian Yu knew they would follow, of course, but acted as if he didn't care, letting the tail trail behind them.

"These two brats are acting a little strange. Be careful—they might be up to something!" The Rain Ninja Genin eyed them suspiciously.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Shouldn't the other side have fled in a panic, with his group playing a game of cat and mouse? All they had to do was leave markers along the way and wait for the Rain Ninja reinforcements to arrive. Then the Daimyo Ginseng would be theirs for the taking.

"Stick to the plan." Xian Yu's expression turned unusually grave as he spoke to Shinozaki Ayumi.

The original plan had been scrapped long ago because Bai Xiaoqi had been forcibly returned to the Summoning Space to evolve and couldn't be summoned for a month.

And the life force in the Eternal Spirit Blade had been completely depleted, with no time to replenish it.

At best, Xian Yu and Shinozaki Ayumi were now on the level of two ordinary Chunins.

They weren't worried about dealing with the tail behind them, but if the Rain Ninja reinforcements arrived, he and Shinozaki Ayumi would be as good as dead.

Meanwhile, the thirteen ninjas sent by Amegakure had reached the outskirts of Great Warm Valley. Leading them was none other than Kuiling Hefan of Amegakure, an elite Jonin! Behind him were three more Jonin and nine Chunin.

Elsewhere, a team of fifteen ninjas hurried along the road. They could just make out Great Warm Valley ahead when a middle-aged man with spiky hair suddenly furrowed his brow. "Careful. There are a lot of people up ahead."

He appeared to be the team's sensory ninja.

At the warning, the others immediately went on alert.

As they drew closer, the sensory ninja in the group ahead detected the people behind them. They stopped and prepared to defend themselves.

"Cloud Ninja? What are you doing here?" shouted the hooded young man leading the fifteen newcomers.

Had the Cloud Ninja heard the news too? This was trouble. The hooded young man's heart sank.

There were nine ninjas on the Cloud Ninja side, and their leader frowned as well. "Iwa Ninja have shown up too? The news must be true, then."

Just as the two groups were on the verge of a fight, the sensory ninjas on both sides were startled. Almost simultaneously, they called out, "Careful! Thirteen targets are approaching from behind at high speed!"

Leaving the groups from Iwagakure and Kumogakure aside, Xian Yu had run into serious trouble.

The narrow road through Great Warm Valley was hemmed in by towering cliffs on both sides. It ran straight ahead with no other way through.

"Brat, weren't you pretty cocky just now?" The Rain Ninja bodyguard beside Hua Qi gave a sinister laugh.

By now, the thirteen Rain Ninja reinforcements led by Kuiling Hefan had met up with the Huaqi Caravan's thirty-odd samurai guards. They had Xian Yu and Ayumi surrounded.

Xian Yu looked terrified and shouted angrily, "My dad is Danzo, the Hokage's advisor, Shimura Danzō! I already sent word back. I'll give you the Daimyo Ginseng, so just take it! If I get hurt, Amegakure had better be ready to face Konoha's revenge!"

Kuiling Hefan exchanged glances with several Jonin. Then they noticed the two crossed scars on Xian Yu's chin, and were half convinced.

"Young Master! You can't do that! You can't hand over the Daimyo Ginseng!" Shinozaki Ayumi cried out urgently.

Xian Yu gave a bitter smile and said helplessly, "I didn't think they'd get here so quickly. Ayumi, remember: the weak can't have it both ways."

Kuiling Hefan hesitated. If this brat really was the son of the Hokage's advisor and died at their hands, it would indeed bring disaster upon the Land of Rain.

Although the name of the demigod Salamander Hanzo had resounded throughout the Shinobi World in recent years, and he was even hailed as the greatest ninja since Senju Hashirama's death,

Amegakure might have been on the verge of becoming the sixth great ninja village, but it still wasn't one.

Besides, getting the Daimyo Ginseng and completing the mission safely was the most important thing now.

"Brat, as long as you don't try anything and hand over the Daimyo Ginseng obediently, I promise I'll let you go." After much hesitation, Kuiling Hefan chose the safer option.

His mission was simply to bring back the Daimyo Ginseng; whether he killed this brat or not didn't matter. But if he really killed the Hokage's advisor's son, he didn't know what would happen to Amegakure—but he was sure his own fate would be grim.

"How can I trust you? What if I hand over the Daimyo Ginseng and you kill me? Who would I complain to then?" Xian Yu clutched the sandalwood box to his chest and challenged him.

"My lord, this brat is probably just stalling," said the Genin who had been following Hua Qi.

Kuiling Hefan frowned and snapped, "I don't have time to argue with you. Either hand over the Daimyo Ginseng and I'll let you go, or keep playing games and I'll have no choice but to kill you both first."

Xian Yu's expression darkened, as though he were facing a difficult choice. Just as Kuiling Hefan was about to lose patience and make a move, Xian Yu set the sandalwood box on the ground and said, "You'd better keep your word! The Daimyo Ginseng is in this box. Ayumi, let's go."

With that, Xian Yu pulled Ayumi back.

"Stop!" At Kuiling Hefan's command, three Amegakure Jonin used the Body Flicker Technique and surrounded Xian Yu and Ayumi.

Seeing this, Xian Yu shouted angrily, "What? You're going to kill us to cover this up? I already sent word back by Ninja Hawk. If anything happens to me, Amegakure will be responsible."

Seeing the brat's reaction, Kuiling Hefan felt somewhat relieved. He nodded toward a Rain Ninja standing nearby with an umbrella in hand. "Relax. I, Kuiling Hefan, keep my word! We just need to check whether the Daimyo Ginseng is real first."

The Rain Ninja with the umbrella carefully approached the sandalwood box and used the umbrella to lift the lid from a distance.

The Daimyo Ginseng inside the sandalwood box came into view.

"Can we leave now?" Xian Yu asked, his voice unsteady.

Kuiling Hefan still didn't seem convinced, so he had the Genin who had been following Hua Qi step forward and inspect the Daimyo Ginseng carefully. Only after seeing him nod in confirmation did Kuiling Hefan breathe a sigh of relief.

But just then, one of the three Jonin—a large-eared ninja—suddenly paled. "This is bad! A lot of people are heading this way!"

"Brat! You dared to trick me!" Hearing the warning from the sensory ninja in his group, Kuiling Hefan used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared in front of Xian Yu at incredible speed. Xian Yu had no time to react before Kuiling Hefan seized him. He didn't dare kill the boy, though. Instead, he said coldly, "Girl, if you don't want your young master to die, surrender quietly! Someone, tie them both up! Take them with us and move out—now! If we fight Konoha's ninjas here, we'll be at a disadvantage. They're on home ground."

"So the Daimyo Ginseng ended up in the hands of you Rain Ninja..." Just then, three ninjas appeared in nearby trees, one in each direction.

When Kuiling Hefan saw them, his pupils shrank. He cried out as if he'd seen ghosts, "You're not Konoha Ninja... Iwa Ninja! Suna Ninja! Cloud Ninja! How... how did you get here?!"

The three ninjas surrounding the Rain Ninja from different positions each wore a Forehead Protector bearing the symbol of Iwagakure, Sunagakure, or Kumogakure.

At that moment, Xian Yu and Shinozaki Ayumi both vanished in a puff of smoke...