What Utakata Couldn't Figure Out

The Mist Ninja whose jutsu had been interrupted hurriedly dodged, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes.

"Are you 'Bone Lord' Kimimaro?"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh!

Suppressing their fear and uncertainty, the Mist Ninja abandoned their original target, Utakata, and quickly gathered together, facing Kimimaro.

Taking advantage of the opening, Utakata landed safely.

At the same time, Lin Cheng, who had set off a little later, arrived at a leisurely pace.

"'Laughing Asura' Lin Cheng!"

Cold sweat slid down their foreheads. The masks on the faces of the Mist Ninja present now made them feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

The masks simply made that unpleasant cold sweat linger on their faces far longer than usual!

"Heh. I never expected that after the Mist Village hunted me for so long, I'd end up with a title."

"What do you want?"

Feeling the terrifying pressure the kid across from him was giving off, the Mist Ninja captain asked in a low voice.

"You can decide for yourselves!"

With the corners of his mouth raised, Lin Cheng stood there casually.

"I don't understand what you mean."

Lin Cheng made no more than a casual movement, yet the pressure the Mist Ninja felt instantly doubled!

"No, you do."

Lin Cheng leaned forward slightly, and the few people facing him suddenly felt an urge to attack.

"You can leave right now, or I can take you out."

"You!"

Humiliation washed over the Mist Ninja's face. If Lin Cheng's fearsome reputation weren't so well known, he would have attacked already.

"Heh. Don't be rash. Once you act, you won't get the chance to regret it."

A chill crept across Lin Cheng's face. His threat was unmistakable.

"We're leaving!"

Sensing that Lin Cheng might attack at any moment, the squad leader of the Mist Village's assassination unit reluctantly made this humiliating decision.

"Captain!"

"Go! That's an order!"

"Yes!"

The Mist Ninja were reluctant, their expressions hidden behind their masks, but in the end, they left.

Lin Cheng glanced at the reluctant Mist Ninja as they departed, then at Utakata, who was also preparing to leave, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey! You're really cold, aren't you? My brother and I just helped you out!"

"Thank you."

Utakata said the two words in a detached tone and continued walking without stopping.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Kimimaro, who had just come to Lin Cheng's side, flew into a rage!

To Kimimaro, this was nothing less than a show of contempt for his big brother, Lin Cheng.

In his anger, Kimimaro was about to rush over and teach the other man a lesson!

"Little Kimimaro! Don't do anything rash. Let him go."

Lin Cheng held back the impulsive Kimimaro, shook his head, and let Utakata leave.

"The Mist Village isn't the only one hunting you. Others will be after you too.

"More precisely, they're after the Six-Tails inside you.

"That's all I have to say. Be careful."

"...Thank you."

Utakata paused, then fell silent for a moment. After saying those two words again, he still chose to leave.

Utakata didn't believe what Lin Cheng had said!

Ever since his own master had "betrayed" him, a barrier of suspicion had formed automatically in his heart.

Utakata thought Lin Cheng must have approached him with some ulterior motive.

In fact, he might well be after the Six-Tails Tailed Beast inside him!

What surprised Utakata, though, was that Lin Cheng had simply left after warning him.

He hadn't tried to keep him there at all.

Utakata thought it over for a long time, but still couldn't make sense of it. He couldn't help feeling irritated.

After a long while, Utakata still couldn't figure out why Lin Cheng had helped him.

All he could do was irritably set aside the thoughts he couldn't make sense of and stop thinking about them.