Shifting Winds and Clouds

Hui Youling was still in the cooldown period after using her ninjutsu, and the Grass Ninja was incredibly fast; he grabbed her by the feet, pinning her firmly in place.

Immediately after, the long, pillar-like earthen blocks transformed into something resembling tree branches, rapidly wrapping upward from Hui Youling's ankle. They then split into two strands, one winding around her other foot while the other coiled around her torso. In just a moment, Hui Youling's entire body was tightly bound.

Hui Youling felt her body being crushed, as if she were being constricted by a giant serpent. Even worse, the earthen blocks were jagged; they pressed painfully into her skin as they tightened, causing a dull, throbbing ache. The intensity of the constriction even restricted the rise and fall of her chest as she tried to breathe.

She could imagine what she looked like, wrapped up like a mummy. Only her head remained exposed, while her body was compressed by the earth, her muscles likely deformed by the pressure.

Hui Youling struggled with unwilling desperation, only to find she couldn't exert force anywhere; she was completely immobilized!

Hui Youling's eyes were filled with shock. In this kind of battle, once you were caught, there was basically no chance of victory. She couldn't bear the thought of failure, so she struggled frantically, trying to break free from the restraints of the Earth Style.

The Grass Ninja leaped from the underground to the surface. Looking at the trapped Hui Youling not far away, he exchanged a glance with the Fat Ninja and let out a cold, arrogant laugh. It had taken a great deal of effort, but they had finally caught her; it made the trap the fat man had set at the beginning well worth it.

The Fat Ninja stowed his Meteor Hammer and jumped to Hui Youling's side, a sneer curling his lips.

They had indeed underestimated Hui Youling's strength, but years of experience had made them accustomed to leaving one backup plan after another. When the Grass Ninja used this wall ninjutsu, he hadn't just been standing by watching; he had already begun preparing the final trap. It was a great honor for this brat to have forced them to use such a trump card, and now, the little pest had finally stopped jumping.

If she had just surrendered obediently, she wouldn't have to suffer this pain now. The weak were just the weak, destined only for failure; struggling was nothing more than self-delusion.

However, before the two could enjoy their victory for long, a hurricane centered on Hui Youling suddenly erupted. The air turned chaotic in an instant, and one could see the flowing currents rotating rapidly in the sky—powerful and destructive, with turbulence visible to the naked eye.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

The hurricane shredded everything in its path, spreading outward like a gale sweeping across the land. It blasted away everything in the vicinity, clearing the area entirely. The Fat Ninja bore the brunt of it and was instantly sent flying high into the air.

The Grass Ninja's eyes were filled with disbelief, and a great fear welled up in his heart. He retreated rapidly, his hands moving in a blur of seals: "Earth Style? Earth Land Return!!!"

Compared to his previous defense, this time he erected several layers of earthen walls to block the impact of the hurricane. But the walls didn't last long; they were also blown away and shattered by the wind. The Grass Ninja hiding behind them was sent flying, slamming hard into the very Earth Style wall he had erected.

Boom!

Upon hitting the wall, several of his ribs snapped instantly. The immense pain caused his pupils to shrink for a moment before slowly dilating. He collapsed powerlessly to the ground and lost consciousness. His back was stained with patches of blood, and his body was covered in many lacerations—wounds from the wind blades just moments ago.

Although the earthen wall had been carved with deep grooves by the overflowing wind blades, its recovery speed had increased, and it hadn't been completely broken!

Hui Youling moved her body, still tightly bound. The Grass Ninja lay there injured, and the fat man was also sprawled on the ground with many bloodstains, but why hadn't this thing dissipated yet?

"Damn it!" Hui cursed. She had begun forming seals the moment she saw the fat man's thin wires, but there had been a delay in the response, which was why she had used the Wind Blade to cut the wires—she hadn't expected to be ambushed by the Grass Ninja during her ninjutsu cooldown.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu were indeed powerful, but the side effects were equally severe. Her chakra had been exhausted in an instant, and she couldn't break free from the Grass Ninja's technique. If she hadn't been pinned in place, she might have collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Now, the Grass Ninja was half-dead, and she couldn't escape either; the battle had reached a stalemate.

Hui Youling glared fiercely at the Grass Ninja, only to realize the fat man seemed even more severely injured, lying there on the verge of death. At least the Grass Ninja's chest was still rising and falling, while the other was completely motionless.

"Damn it... what do I do..." Hui looked around anxiously. The wall hadn't disappeared, she was still trapped, and with her chakra depleted, even an ordinary ninja could finish her off.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu were always like this—after one strike, there was no strength left to fight back. If she hadn't been pushed to that point, she never would have used this technique. Moreover, this attack had been a failure; it only activated after she was already caught. How was she supposed to run now...

However, before she could think of a way, an unfamiliar chakra descended from the sky. A fierce aura struck her from high above, as if pronouncing her death sentence.

She looked in terror at the person who had suddenly appeared, her eyes widening. The figure landed beside Hui Youling and, without a moment's hesitation, delivered a brutal kick to her stomach. The immense force actually shattered the Grass Ninja's restraint; the hard earthen blocks crumbled into pieces, and she was sent flying by the sheer power, slamming straight into the earthen wall. A scroll flew out of her pocket.

Boom!

The wall, which was supposed to heal automatically, cracked open. The Grass Ninja seemed to have been struck by a heavy blow and regained consciousness, propping himself up as he coughed up a large amount of blood. He looked at the person who had suddenly appeared with eyes full of disbelief: "My... Lord..."

Hui Youling slid slowly down the wall, her eyes becoming unfocused and dull. Yet, before she could slide to the ground, several shuriken flew toward her, piercing deep into her shoulders and pinning her firmly to the wall.

"Ah!!" Hui screamed in pain. Blood flowed continuously from her shoulders, instantly soaking her entire body. Red liquid also slid down her arms, dripping from her fingertips onto the ground, where it spread and soaked into the earth.

Hui Youling's forehead had also been scraped by the wall, and blood trickled down, seeping into her eye sockets. As the blood overflowed from her eyes and slid down her face, it looked just like tears of blood.

The man turned to look at the Grass Ninja and the fat man, his eyes filled with the contempt of a superior. His cold voice sounded like ice water: "Truly useless. To be beaten like this while trying to capture a child of the Uzumaki Clan."

Hui Youling's heart turned cold, her pupils trembling as she looked at the person before her.

Such powerful chakra... This person is strong... really strong... Am I going to die... am I going to die...

She hadn't felt this way in a long time. Ever since Orochimaru had relaxed her training, she hadn't experienced this in ages. The battles during her years of traveling had almost made her forget how miserably she had been beaten in the past.

The feeling of being easily crushed, a battle where she had no power to fight back, crawling on the ground like a stray dog, her nerves numb with pain, her heart filled with unwillingness yet forced to look up at others in a pathetic state.

The man finally turned to look at Hui Youling, a cold sneer on his lips: "The entire ninja world is looking for the descendants of the Uzumaki Clan. Not only did you not hide, but you dared to appear in the black market. You have quite a lot of courage."

This person was none other than the owner of the Jade Shop, the one who had told her the location of the black market.