The Arrogant Captive

Looking out over the endless, boundless grassland, a group of people were moving at a sprint. The distance that would take an ordinary person several minutes of slow trudging was covered by this group in a mere flash; at a conservative estimate, their speed was comparable to certain modes of transportation.

If one were to look only at this, they were truly a dashing and formidable group. Unfortunately, the fly in the ointment was that there were four very discordant things in the crowd, ruining the aesthetic of the entire team.

It was a stretcher, carried by two people, one in front and one behind, with a guy lying on it who looked as if he had already kicked the bucket. Additionally, there were three other unlucky souls tied up like rice dumplings, each being carried on someone's back...

No matter how you looked at it, this resembled a group of human traffickers on the move with their cargo...

Needless to say, this was that group of Sunagakure Ninja, and the one lying on the stretcher was Qi, while the three unlucky souls tied up like dumplings were naturally Kakashi, Obito, and Rin...

Come to think of it, Qi was quite lucky. Tsang Yeh had never intended to kill him. Although he appeared to have been beaten half to death, his internal injuries were actually quite limited. Coupled with his freakish Recovery Ability, he was now, aside from feeling a bit weak all over, essentially in no real danger.

But he didn't want the others to notice, so on the surface, he maintained that ghostly appearance of someone hanging on by a thread...

"Kakashi, are you dead yet?"

On the stretcher, Qi looked boredly at Kakashi, whose head was bobbing around beside him, and suddenly hummed in a mocking, sarcastic tone.

"I won't die even if you do!"

Kakashi was already dizzy from being carried and jostled about, and this remark from Qi almost made him want to just slam his head into him.

He really couldn't understand how this guy could still be in the mood to tease him when he was in such a state...

Kakashi's treatment was definitely not good. After he was disarmed, the White Fang Short Blade naturally fell into the hands of the Sunagakure Ninja. If there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance that other Sunagakure Ninja might not recognize this blade, Tsang Yeh was more familiar with it than he was with his own parents...

The hole in his body was made by White Fang with this very blade. If it hadn't been slightly off-target back then, he, Tsang Yeh, would have long been underground, drinking tea with his predecessors...

However, Tsang Yeh was, after all, an Elite Jonin. What was an Elite Jonin? They were existences so rare that even among the hundreds of thousands of ninja in the entire world, there were only a hundred or so of them! So, how could he stoop to bickering with a junior?

But since the opponent was White Fang's son, he had to put on a show; otherwise, he would be doing a disservice to the large group of Sunagakure comrades that White Fang had taken out!

And so, amidst Tsang Yeh's breezy, spring-like smile, Kakashi had been beaten to a pulp by a group of Sunagakure Ninja, turning his face into a pig's head...

Therefore, Kakashi and Qi were now more or less on equal footing. While Obito and Rin were at most dizzy from the motion, he was in agonizing pain all over. Damn it, these bastards hit way too hard...

"Not dead? Good, as long as even you aren't dead, the rest of us certainly won't be."

Qi smiled brilliantly, but retribution came quickly; the smile tugged at his wounds, causing him to wince and bare his teeth... Damn it, that old immortal Tsang Yeh didn't hold back either...

"Do you want to fight?"

Kakashi was fuming, almost forgetting that he was currently tied up like a dumpling. His only thought now was to drag Qi off the stretcher and beat him to a pulp...

What did he mean by "as long as he wasn't dead"? Was that even human language!?

"Shut up!"

Suddenly, the Sunagakure Ninja carrying Kakashi turned his head with a vicious glare.

"Do you want a beating?"

"My mouth is my own, what business is it of yours!"

Qi sneered repeatedly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, my flesh and blood aren't meant for pounding right now. You'd better be careful not to accidentally kill me. I assume we must be useful, otherwise, you would have killed us long ago instead of letting you talk so much nonsense."

"Fuck!"

The Sunagakure Ninja was instantly furious, his hair standing on end. Honestly, Qi had been chattering away the whole journey, and it was making his head feel like it was about to explode...

"I'm going to kill you, you little bastard!"

"Stop! These people can't be killed yet!"

Seeing that this Sunagakure Ninja was about to swing his fist in a fit of rage, his companion nearby was startled and immediately stopped him.

"Look at this kid, he's barely breathing; how could he withstand a punch from you? If that Yellow Flash goes berserk, it won't do us any good."

"You're lucky, kid!"

At this moment, the Sunagakure Ninja felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly, but he knew his companion was right. Otherwise, why would they be dragging such dead weight along?

He glared fiercely at Qi a few times, but in the end, he sullenly retracted his claws, only pointing at Qi.

"Brat, watch your mouth, or I guarantee you'll be very unhappy!"

"Idiot!"

How could Qi ever accept such a threat? Amidst the stunned silence and boiling rage of the Sunagakure Ninja, this guy actually "weakly" raised a middle finger at them.

"Do I look like I'm happy? Did you grow your eyes on your asses? Also, I'm dying of thirst, get me some water!"

"Damn it... who exactly is the prisoner here..."

Beyond frustrated, the Sunagakure Ninja couldn't help but look at each other. Having been in the ninja business for so long, this was the first time they had ever seen such an arrogant prisoner...

They really had the urge to drown him with water. They hadn't seen this bastard stop for a second the entire way. If it weren't for his ghostly appearance of having only half a breath left, they would have rolled up their sleeves and beaten him up long ago!

And so, except for Tsang Yeh and the other ordinary Jonin who had no interest in paying attention to this side, the other Sunagakure Elite Chunin all had bulging veins and heavy breathing, enduring Qi's incessant noise pollution while burying their heads and pushing forward.

They were completely disgusted. They couldn't take action, and they couldn't exactly get into a shouting match like a bunch of shrews, could they? It would be better to just turn a deaf ear and treat him like a pile of dung!

This wasn't taking hostages; this was like bringing a master along for the ride! What bad luck!!!

Since they stopped making noise, Qi naturally couldn't be bothered to entertain them. If they weren't reacting, why would he keep yapping?

He naturally knew what this group wanted to use them for. Regarding that, other than cursing them as idiots under his breath, he had nothing else to say.

Elite Jonin are indeed monsters that stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world, but even among these monsters, there are levels; freaks like Namikaze Minato and Orochimaru are the types who can walk sideways even among Elite Jonin. Konoha has always been the strongest, and isn't that precisely because the quality of their top-tier experts is the highest?

Just by listening to the conversation among this group of Sunagakure Ninja, it was clear that apart from that Tsang Yeh, none of the others had ever encountered such freaks. Taking them hostage? The idea was good, but unfortunately, Minato's greatest achievement was instantly wiping out fifty Rock Ninja in a single moment. This group would likely be nearly wiped out before they even had time to put down their hostages!

People, ignorance is truly terrifying...

Qi sneered inwardly while casting malicious glances back and forth across the many Sunagakure Ninja.

Do you really think I'm a cripple? I might not be able to take on a Jonin, but you Chunin had better just wait; by then, I should be just about recovered.

Before Minato left, he had patted his shoulder, and that pat wasn't for nothing... This group was in for a stroke of bad luck...