Shifting Winds and Clouds

Hui Youling had just used a ninjutsu, leaving her in a brief vulnerable window. The Grass Ninja was incredibly fast, too, and grabbed her foot, pinning her firmly in place.

The long pillar of earth then branched out like a tree, quickly winding up from Hui Youling's ankle. It split in two, one branch wrapping around her other leg and the other around her torso. In moments, her entire body was tightly bound.

Hui Youling felt her body being squeezed, as if a giant serpent had coiled around her. Worse still, the earthen restraints were jagged. As they wrapped around her, their edges dug painfully into her body, leaving a dull ache. The crushing pressure was so intense that even the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed was restricted.

She could imagine what she must look like, wrapped up like this. Only her head was exposed now, while the earth pressed tightly against her body. Her muscles were probably being crushed out of shape.

Hui Youling struggled desperately, only to find that she couldn't exert force anywhere. She was completely immobilized!

Her eyes were wide with shock. In a fight like this, once you were caught, there was almost no chance of winning. She couldn't bear the thought of losing. Struggling with all her might, she tried to break free of the Earth Release.

The Grass Ninja leaped from underground to the surface. Looking at Hui Youling, trapped not far away, he exchanged a glance with the Fat Ninja, then laughed smugly. They had gone to so much trouble, but at last they had caught her. The Fat Ninja's trap from the start hadn't been laid in vain.

The Fat Ninja put away his Meteor Hammer and jumped over beside Hui Youling, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.

They had indeed underestimated Hui Youling's strength, but years of experience had taught them to keep one backup plan after another. When the Grass Ninja used his wall technique, the Fat Ninja hadn't simply stood by watching. He had already begun preparing their final trap. It was a great honor for this brat to force them to use their trump card. Now the little bug had finally stopped jumping around.

If she had just admitted defeat, she wouldn't have to suffer like this. The weak were weak; defeat was their only fate. Struggling was nothing but a way to console themselves.

But the two had barely had time to celebrate before a gale erupted around Hui Youling. The air instantly grew turbulent. Currents could be seen swirling rapidly through the sky, fierce and destructive. Turbulence filled their every line of sight.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!

The gale sliced through everything around it, spreading outward without pause. Like a storm sweeping through, it crashed into the surroundings, flinging every nearby object away and clearing everything in its path. The Fat Ninja took the brunt of it and was immediately swept off his feet, soaring high into the air.

The Grass Ninja stared in disbelief, overwhelming fear welling up inside him. He quickly retreated, forming Hand Seals at the same time. "Earth Release: Earth Land Return!!!"

Unlike his earlier defense, this time he raised several walls of earth, one after another, to withstand the gale's assault. But the walls didn't hold for long. The gale swept them away and smashed them apart, sending the Grass Ninja behind them flying into the earthen wall he himself had raised.

Boom!

When he slammed into the wall, several of his ribs broke at once. His pupils shrank from the immense pain, then slowly dilated. He collapsed to the ground, powerless, and passed out. Blood spread across his back in patches, and numerous gashes covered his body—the work of the Wind Blades.

The earthen wall had been scored with deep cuts by the stray Wind Blades, but it recovered even faster than before. It hadn't been broken through!

Hui Youling moved her body, but she was still bound tight. The Grass Ninja lay injured on the ground, and the Fat Ninja had also fallen facedown, his body covered in bloody gashes. But why hadn't the restraints disappeared?

"Damn it!" Hui cursed. She had started forming Hand Seals when she saw the Fat Ninja's wires, but the technique had shown no effect for a long time, so she had used Wind Blades to cut through them. She hadn't expected the Grass Ninja to take advantage of her ninjutsu's vulnerable window and catch her off guard.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu really was powerful, but it came with serious drawbacks. Her chakra had been completely drained in an instant, and she couldn't break free of the Grass Ninja's technique. If she hadn't been pinned in place, she might have collapsed to the ground too.

Now the Grass Ninja was barely alive, lying there, and she still couldn't escape. The battle had ground to a stalemate.

Hui Youling glared furiously at the Grass Ninja, only to realize that the Fat Ninja seemed to be even more badly injured. He was lying there on the verge of death. The Grass Ninja's chest was at least still rising and falling, but the Fat Ninja was completely motionless.

"Damn it... What do I do..." Hui looked around anxiously. The walls hadn't disappeared, and she was still trapped, with barely any chakra left. Even an ordinary ninja could kill her now.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu was always like this: after one strike, she was left completely unable to fight back. If she hadn't been pushed to that point, she would never have used it. And this time, even the attack had failed her—it had activated only after she'd already been caught. How was she supposed to get away now...

Before she could come up with a plan, an unfamiliar chakra descended from above. A vicious presence bore down on her from the sky, as though pronouncing her death sentence.

She stared in terror at the sudden newcomer, her pupils abruptly widening. He landed beside Hui Youling without the slightest pause, then kicked her hard in the stomach. The force was so great that it broke through the Grass Ninja's restraints, shattering the hard earth into pieces. The blow sent her flying straight into the earthen wall, and a scroll flew out of her pants pocket.

Boom!

Even the self-healing wall cracked open. The Grass Ninja seemed to have been struck by the impact and regained consciousness. Propping himself up, he coughed up a large amount of blood, staring at the newcomer in disbelief. "M-Milord..."

Hui Youling slowly slid down the wall, her gaze growing vacant and dull. But before she could reach the ground, several shuriken flew toward her, piercing her shoulder and pinning her firmly to the wall.

"Ah!!" Hui screamed in pain. Blood kept pouring from her shoulder, quickly staining her entire body red. Red liquid streamed down her arm, ran along her fingers, and dripped to the ground, spreading and soaking into the earth beneath her feet.

Her forehead had also been scraped open against the wall. Blood ran down from it, seeping into her eye socket. It slowly welled out of her eye and slid down her face, making it look as if she were weeping blood.

The newcomer turned to look at the Grass Ninja and the Fat Ninja. His eyes held the disdain of a powerful man, and his cool voice was like icy water. "You're truly useless. You got beaten up this badly just trying to capture a little girl from the Uzumaki Clan."

Hui Youling's heart clenched. Her pupils trembled as she looked at the man before her.

Such powerful chakra... This man was strong... So strong... Was she going to die? Was she really going to die...

She hadn't felt this way in a long time. Since Orochimaru had eased up on her training, she hadn't had an experience like this for ages. The battles during these past few years of traveling had almost made her forget how badly she'd once been beaten.

The crushing difference in strength, the fight in which she had no chance to fight back, the way she had lain on the ground like a stray dog, every nerve in her body hurting until it went numb—no matter how unwilling she was, all she could do was look up at others in wretched defeat.

The man finally turned to face Hui Youling, a faint sneer on his lips. "The entire shinobi world is searching for the descendants of the Uzumaki Clan. You didn't just refuse to hide—you even dared show your face in the black market. You've got courage."

This man was none other than the owner of the Jade Shop—the one who had told her where to find the black market.