"Pant, pant, pant..." Rapid breathing echoed through the dark, silent forest as three small figures ran for their lives.
The three were extremely familiar with the forest terrain. They nimbly weaved between towering trees and rocks as if walking on level ground. Though it was daytime, the dense canopy overhead blocked most of the sunlight. In the dim forest, ordinary people would have had no way to move so quickly.
The three soon arrived at a peculiar area. The trees here grew more densely, and all kinds of low vegetation covered the ground. A closer look revealed countless threads hidden among the trees and plants, easily overlooked in the dim forest.
The three racing figures did not slow down in the slightest as they approached the area. Instead, they leaped forward with all their strength, their bodies diving into the air. After tracing three neat arcs through the sky, they rolled nimbly across the ground and safely left the area. Throughout the entire process, they passed perfectly through the gaps between the threads without touching a single one.
Clearly, those gaps were backdoors deliberately left by whoever had laid the wire formation. As long as one leaped to a specific height using the proper technique, they could pass through safely. Judging by how smoothly the three figures moved, they had done this plenty of times before.
Once the three figures safely crossed the wire formation, a voice suddenly rang out. "Why did you three come into our alert zone? And do you realize how dangerous those moves just now were? If we hadn't set this up strictly according to Ninja Academy standards, you'd be dead by now!"
The voice was gentle and clearly belonged to a girl. At the same time, a black-haired, red-eyed girl emerged from the woods, glaring