Delivering the Warning

(Continuing the climb to the top of the charts, three chapters released today!)

(Second update, please click, recommend, favorite and tip!)

(Wu Yue, please accept my thanks!)

"Strange?"

When Uchiha Yue arrived at Minato Namikaze, his brows furrowed slightly, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Moreover, at the same time, Uchiha Yue's mind was filled with images of himself and Minato Namikaze hiding in the caravan. Recalling how, when he had just disguised himself as an ordinary child, the loli Hoshino Aki appeared before him, giving him no chance to familiarize himself with the caravan before starting to talk about ninjas, Uchiha Yue finally sensed a conspiracy.

Because, just as the little girl Hoshino Aki was pestering Uchiha Yue to tell her ninja stories, Uchiha Yue also noticed a stranger in the caravan grabbing Minato Namikaze and starting a conversation. Their purpose in doing this was simply to confuse Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze, preventing them from having a chance to investigate the secrets of the caravan.

However, this method of trying to cover up the truth has a major flaw, and Uchiha Yue only realized it after being reminded by Minato Namikaze.

In the world of ninjas, ninjas hold a much higher status than other professions. Even the once-powerful samurai would avoid their sharp edge. Ordinary merchants would feel fear when they see ninjas, so the fact that the merchants in this caravan were able to strike up a conversation with a strange ninja is undoubtedly a flaw.

However, because he was preoccupied with the young girl Hoshino Aki and lacked experience, Uchiha Yue failed to notice anything suspicious about the caravan at first. Furthermore, if Minato Namikaze hadn't specifically pointed it out, Uchiha Yue wouldn't have realized that the caravan, despite being attacked by bandits, showed no signs of panic and was able to immediately take precautions. Such composure is simply impossible to find in an ordinary caravan!

Therefore, after receiving a reminder from Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Yue secretly nodded to Minato Namikaze without engaging in further conversation.

Then, as if forgetting his earlier words, Minato Namikaze, along with Uchiha Yue, once again hid within the caravan, preparing to probe their strength from within. Clearly, both Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze were confident, given that Kushina Uzumaki and Hatake Kakashi were still hidden and hadn't been discovered by the caravan. Even if the caravan intended to attack Uchiha Yue Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki and Hatake Kakashi, lurking in the shadows, would be a formidable surprise.

However, after returning to the caravan, Uchiha Yue observed the loli Hoshino Aki much more carefully. He wanted to further investigate the strangeness of the caravan from the girl's behavior. Unfortunately, the loli Hoshino Aki either highly skilled or completely unaware of the caravan's secrets. When Uchiha Yue tried to find a breakthrough with her, he spent several hours without finding a single flaw.

Furthermore, when Uchiha Yue used his spiritual energy to sense whether there was Chakra in the loli's body, he found that there was not a single fluctuation of Chakra within her. It should be noted that Uchiha Yue's spiritual energy was now much stronger than that of an ordinary Chunin, so when Uchiha Yue discovered that there was no Chakra fluctuation within the loli Hoshino Aki, he lowered his guard considerably and turned his attention to the other members of the caravan.

Subsequently, after careful observation, Uchiha Yue indeed discovered that the members of this caravan were not ordinary merchants, but rather well-trained samurai. Uchiha Yue also did not sense Chakra fluctuations within the bodies of these caravan members, but their Jingran work style, like that of soldiers, made the expression in Uchiha Yue's eyes become much more serious.

As night fell, the bright moonlight shone on the ground, and Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze, who were hidden in the caravan, also began to rest along with the other caravan members.

Seeing that some members of the caravan had gone out on sentry duty while most began to rest, Uchiha Yue secretly analyzed their actions. He deduced that if the caravan members had any ulterior motives, they would definitely attack him and Minato Namikaze during the night. Therefore, while the caravan members were eating dinner around the campfire, Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze, although also gathered around the campfire, consistently refused the caravan members' hospitality, only eating the dry food from their own ninja tool pouches.

Moreover, once all the caravan members had fallen asleep, leaving only a few to keep watch, Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze, though leaning against a tree, were merely resting with their eyes closed, remaining vigilant for the caravan members' every move. Furthermore, Uchiha Yue was constantly concentrating his spiritual energy, covering himself and Minato Namikaze with it, sensing all the caravan members' actions.

However, what Uchiha Yue never expected was...

Just as it was 2 a. m., the time when humans are most tired, the little girl Hoshino Aki secretly came to Uchiha Yue's side.

"Yue! Yue! Wake up!"

Quietly approaching Uchiha Yue's side, the loli Hoshino Aki's eyes were filled with anxiety as she gently nudged Uchiha Yue's body.

After being woken up by the little girl Hoshino Aki, Uchiha Yue looked at Hoshino Aki's fair face with a confused expression, even a hint of annoyance at being woken up in his eyes, and said indifferently, "Aki, it's so late, why aren't you asleep yet? We still have to travel tomorrow, you should go to sleep early! If you want to hear ninja stories, I'll tell you some tomorrow!"

"No... that's not how it is!"

Seeing that Uchiha Yue was about to fall asleep again, the little girl Hoshino Aki stepped forward and covered Uchiha Yue's mouth, saying cautiously, "Yue, actually I'm not a member of this caravan, but I was captured by them! These guys aren't merchants at all, but the most vicious bandits in the Land of Fire! They captured me to cover their own identities! If I'm not mistaken, you and Mr. Minato will be in danger tonight, you'd better run away quickly!"

"Um?"

Hearing the little girl Hoshino Aki say this, Uchiha Yue raised an eyebrow slightly and said in a teasing tone, "Aki, it's not right for you to tease me like that!"

"No, no!"

Seeing that Uchiha Yue still didn't believe her, Hoshino Aki's anxiety deepened. She gripped Uchiha Yue's sleeve tightly and said, "Yuki, I'm telling the truth! I've been waiting for a chance to escape, and since you and Minato- san are here, I want to escape with you tonight! Yuki, please wake Minato first! I think if it's Minato, he'll be able to see through those bad guys' intentions!"

Upon hearing this, the loli Hoshino Aki released Uchiha Yue's sleeve and turned to wake up Minato Namikaze.

Who would have thought that just as the little girl Hoshino Aki turned around, a dark shadow suddenly loomed over her frail body!

"Hmph, I knew you'd tip off those damned ninjas!"

"You brat, since you're still thinking of running away, then go die with those two damned ninjas!"