The Final Battle

Deep within the dense forest.

Ever since the rogue ninja captain had left with his men, the man in the black robe had been waiting here. He had now removed his hood; anyone who knew him would immediately recognize him as the man in charge of the Ishihara Clan's second branch—Fei Ishihara.

As time passed, Fei Ishihara grew increasingly anxious. He paced back and forth, occasionally looking toward the direction the ninja had departed, hoping to see the answer he wanted.

Just then, as a rustling sound drifted over from afar, Fei Ishihara immediately pulled his hood back up and looked toward the source of the noise.

The ninja soon entered Fei Ishihara's sight. But his expression changed drastically when he saw that two fewer people had returned—and the person he wanted was nowhere to be seen.

Once the ninja had stopped, Fei Ishihara hurried forward and asked with his last shred of hope, "Aoyama, did you kill that little brat?"

"You've got some nerve saying that!" The rogue ninja Aoyama said furiously. "What great intelligence you gave us. I lost one Chunin and one Genin. What are you going to do about that?"

"What exactly happened? Explain it clearly." Fei Ishihara was becoming impatient as well. You're a ninja, yet you can't get to the point.

"Those Konoha ninja had a Jonin leading them, and the other three weren't ordinary Genin either. We were caught completely off guard." Aoyama still roughly explained what had happened to Fei Ishihara. Fei Ishihara's brow furrowed tightly as he listened, secretly cursing the main branch's good fortune.

"What do we do now? We can't just give up!" Fei Ishihara said unwillingly. "Besides, you all have a share in this too. You don't want the duck already in your mouth to fly away, do you?"

"There's no other way now. We can only wait for Koji to arrive. With Koji, a Special Jonin, joining us, we'll have a chance of winning." Aoyama was naturally unwilling as well. The mission payment he could have kept entirely for himself now had to be shared with someone else. How could he be happy about that?

After cleaning up the battlefield, everyone gathered the scattered carriages and personnel once more. Once they counted the losses, they realized that nearly half their people had been killed or injured in that evening's battle alone.

Masao Ishihara was painfully working his abacus, calculating whether this trip could still turn a profit after compensation payments were deducted.

Taiichi shook his head as he watched from the side. At a time like this, the man was still thinking about making money. He truly was a merchant.

"Mr. Ishihara, arrange for the caravan to make camp and rest early. Everyone has been tired all day. We need to pick up the pace tomorrow, and that won't be possible without proper strength," Taiichi reminded him.

"Yes, yes. Look at me—the fighting just now threw my mind into chaos. I even forgot about that." Masao Ishihara looked full of regret. Once he had calmed himself, he immediately went to arrange the caravan's overnight camp.

Watching Masao Ishihara walk away, Taiichi went over to his teammates. Mrs. Ishihara and Little Ishihara were there as well, but that made sense. What place could be safer than this now?

At that moment, Yohei was telling Saori about his glorious achievements in the battle just now—how he had slaughtered enemies in every direction, and how he had awakened the Sharingan. He claimed that if the attacking ninja had left any later, he definitely would have kept them all there.

Saori covered her mouth and laughed as she listened, while Little Ishihara beside her danced about excitedly.

When Captain Yamaguchi saw Taiichi approaching, he stopped Yohei, who was still talking nonstop. "All right, Yohei. Everyone's been tired all day. Get some rest early."

"Yohei, you'll take the first watch. Taiichi, you'll take the second watch. Saori, you're injured, so rest properly."

"Yes, Captain Yamaguchi!" x2

Saori lowered her head and began counting on her fingers again, completely lacking the fierceness she had shown when facing four opponents alone.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, the caravan rose earlier than usual. Before the sun had even risen above the horizon, the caravan had already packed up and set off.

Perhaps because of the earlier battle, everyone understood that the fighting was far from over. The few ninja who had escaped were already enough to cause the caravan serious trouble, not to mention that they might have reinforcements.

So the caravan traveled especially quickly that day. At this pace, they would reach Jinsong City at noon on the eighth day, and the escort mission would be considered complete.

Today was the sixth day. By the time those attacking ninja delivered the news and reinforcements arrived, they should launch their attack tomorrow.

Just as Taiichi had expected, the entire sixth day passed smoothly, as though yesterday's attack had never happened.

The caravan had safely made it through the day, but no one relaxed. Instead, they became even more nervous. The heavens seemed to sense everyone's anxious emotions. A steady drizzle began as soon as night fell, as though the rain intended to extinguish the restless fire in their hearts.

On the seventh day, the light rain had continued all night without any sign of stopping by morning. Such weather was rare in the Land of Rivers, mainly because the Land of Rivers was influenced by the climate of the Land of Wind and was generally rather dry.

Taiichi did not know whether this weather was good or bad for the attacking ninja, but when he saw it, he wanted to laugh out loud. This weather was simply perfect for his Water Style.

The caravan set out through the drizzle, but today's formation was different. Captain Yamaguchi led Taiichi and the other two in tightly guarding Mrs. Ishihara's carriage at the very front of the convoy. It was as though they were waiting for something, charging forward with no intention of retreating.

Then, when noon arrived, they encountered the enemy waiting vigilantly on the main road. The enemy led a large group of bandits and stood openly in the middle of the road, waiting for the caravan to approach.

They were truly fearless. They could not even be bothered to set an ambush. Those whom Heaven wished to destroy, it first drove mad.

"Listen, Konoha ninja. Hand over the child in the caravan. We only came for him. This does not conflict with your mission," Aoyama, the leading rogue ninja, shouted to Captain Yamaguchi.

"Sorry, I cannot agree. Abandoning an innocent child is not the way of Konoha ninja," Captain Yamaguchi replied bluntly, showing the other side no courtesy at all.

"You'd better think carefully. We have one more Jonin than before. Do you think you can stop us?" In truth, they did not want to fight either. Konoha ninja were not easy to provoke. Otherwise, Masao Ishihara would not have hired Konoha ninja from the start to use their name as a deterrent.

"How will we know if we don't try?"

The instant Taiichi saw the enemy, he began preparing. First, using the carriage as cover, he created a Shadow Clone. Then he had the Shadow Clone prepare the hand seals for the Great Water Prison Technique.

The moment negotiations broke down, Taiichi launched the first attack. Water Style: Great Water Prison Technique! Empowered by the weather, the technique was even stronger. A broad Water Wall rose directly around the enemy, about to complete its encirclement in the blink of an eye.

Seeing Taiichi make the first move, the enemy naturally could not let him succeed. They all used Body Flicker to evade, but they had reacted too late. Taiichi's Great Water Prison Technique caught one Chunin and one Genin. The enemy instantly lost two men, making the battle much easier.

Seeing two of his men trapped, Aoyama cursed, "Damn it!" and immediately led the others in attacking the Konoha ninja.

The newly arrived bald ninja formed hand seals directly. Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere! Several Wind Blades swept toward Taiichi's side in a barrage. Even the carriage was within his attack range, as he hoped to interrupt "Taiichi," who was maintaining the technique.

Taiichi had worked hard to seize the initiative, so how could he let the man have his way? He stepped in front of "Taiichi" and rapidly formed hand seals. Water Style: Water Formation Wall! A Water Wall suddenly rose before him, blocking the incoming Wind Blades.

At the same time, Captain Yamaguchi clashed with the charging rogue ninja Aoyama. Like the other day, the two fought with taijutsu. Aoyama truly deserved to be a rogue ninja from the Sand; his strength was formidable, and he actually fought Captain Yamaguchi to a standstill for a time.

But his expression revealed that he was only forcing himself onward. He could not maintain that state for long.

Meanwhile, Yohei held the clear advantage against the combined assault of two Genin. He beat the two Genin back repeatedly, gradually driving them away from the carriage.

Saori was protecting the carriage and "Taiichi," who was maintaining the technique, while also having to deal with the bandit Roro, who occasionally rushed at her.

Taiichi, meanwhile, was already struggling just to hold back the bald ninja. His opponent was clearly a Special Jonin skilled in Wind Style, wielding it with masterful skill. Taiichi felt that if not for the weather advantage, he might already have been defeated by the man's Wind Style.

The battles in every direction had fallen into a stalemate. Everyone seemed to be waiting to see whose balance would break first.

Just then, a cry of alarm rang out. While everyone had been tied down by their own opponents, another Chunin charged out from the nearby forest. He swiftly dealt with the guards blocking his way and, before anyone could react, abducted Little Ishihara from inside the carriage.

Only then did everyone understand that Koji was not the only Special Jonin who had come. There had also been a Chunin hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Hahaha! Didn't expect that, did you, Konoha ninja? We were still one step ahead!"