Watching the ninja and samurai fight, Ye Wuji began to understand the difference between them. It wasn't about strength or skill, but their attitudes toward battle. To a samurai, an honorable, open duel might be what they sought. That was why Ken had moved away from the carriage and gone over to the ninjas, ready to deal with them.
As for the ninjas, as long as they could defeat their enemies and complete their mission, they didn't care what methods they used. That was why they attacked the carriage while fighting Ken. There was no right or wrong, just different sides. From the ninjas' point of view, their choice and their methods were perfectly reasonable. At the very least, they had managed to distract Ken.
If Ken had been a ninja, he should have made protecting the carriage—or the people inside it—his top priority. Only then should he have focused on killing the enemy, and finally on rescuing Ye Wuji, the woman, and the child. But the moment Ken got out of the carriage, he had moved away from it. Judging by his attitude toward the carriage, he clearly cared about it a great deal.
Looks like I'm clearly better suited to being a samurai. It didn't even occur to me that they'd attack the carriage. I thought they'd go after Ken first and then deal with the people inside. Shan Yi really is an elite Iwa ninja. He's excellent at seizing an opportunity. Ye Wuji thought.
Ken was in danger now, too. Shan Yi had already gotten behind him. If Ken tried to get back to the carriage, Shan Yi's punch would surely hit him. Judging by the ninjutsu Shan Yi had used—Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique—if that punch landed, it might well kill him. This was reality, not the Naruto anime, where it was so hard for anyone to die.
Sure enough, just as Shan Yi's fist was about to hit Ken, Ken spun around and used the katana in his hand to block the punch. Bang! Crack! Two sounds rang out in quick succession.
The bang was the sound of the fist colliding with the katana, while the crack was the sound of Ken's blade starting to split.
Ken had been sent flying more than ten meters. He barely managed to keep from falling, plunging his katana into the ground to stop himself from sliding backward. By the time he came to a halt, a third of the blade had cracked.
"What tremendous strength," Ken said, looking at his katana.
Ye Wuji was stunned again. That strength was incredible. Never mind anything else—the katana had to be made of steel, yet one blow had wrecked it. The marks on the blade showed that it had been pure force that broke it. He hadn't expected Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique to be so terrifyingly powerful.
Shan Yi stood there, his right hand—the one that had struck the katana—dropping bits of rock to the ground. Yet his hand was completely unharmed. This was Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique. When Ye Wuji watched Naruto, the Third Tsuchikage had loved using that move.
Sure enough, the ninjutsu in real life was completely different from what Ye Wuji had seen in the anime. With techniques this powerful, it was no wonder ninjas dominated the Naruto World.
Ken was panting heavily. It seemed that although Shan Yi's blow hadn't landed, Ken had still been hurt and probably wouldn't be able to fight for a while.
Only then did Ye Wuji remember the attacks aimed at the carriage. The people inside were in danger! He hurriedly turned to look, only to see that nothing had happened to the carriage. The fireball had simply vanished, and there were no signs of shuriken or kunai on it.
Following Ye Wuji's gaze, he noticed traces of shuriken and kunai on the ground around the carriage. Someone else might not have understood what had happened, but having watched so much anime, Ye Wuji immediately figured it out. He didn't know how they'd done it, but there was clearly a powerful expert inside the carriage. A really powerful one.
Is this a lucky encounter, or protagonist treatment? I can't believe I just happened to run into an expert. I don't know if he can beat that Iwa Jonin, but it looks like I might survive today after all. Ye Wuji thought.
Just then, the canopy at the front of the carriage opened. A handsome man who looked about thirty stepped out. He had long blue hair and wore white samurai robes. Holding a sheathed sword, he climbed down from the carriage.
"I'm sorry, young master. I disturbed you." Ken immediately apologized, though no one else said anything. After apologizing, he began to rest. It seemed he had complete faith in his young master.
"Another one who's asking to die?" Shan Yi said nothing as he watched the man emerge, but gestured for Tanaka and the others to attack.
As Tanaka spoke, he signaled to the men beside him to attack. He also took out a kunai, apparently waiting for a chance to strike himself.
The ninjas no longer bothered throwing shuriken. They must have realized the technique was useless. All of them charged forward with kunai in hand, attacking from six different directions. As they reached the man, Tanaka moved too, attacking him from behind.
The man watched the attackers closing in from every direction and smiled faintly. His right hand gripped the sword's hilt, while his left held the scabbard. He seemed not to take the men rushing at him seriously at all.
"Swallow Six-Strike Sword Technique," he murmured. Then he took a step forward. Afterimages appeared behind him. When they vanished, the man seemed not to have moved at all, aside from being in a slightly different spot. His posture was exactly the same as before.
The six ninjas—or rather, seven, including Tanaka—stood motionless behind him. A moment later, they all fell to the ground. Each of the seven had a wound on his neck. In an instant, the man had killed them all, striking the same spot with the same wound.
Ye Wuji was dumbstruck. He had thought the man was powerful, but he hadn't imagined he was this powerful. Shan Yi was clearly shocked, too. The man was already walking toward him.
Just as the man was about to reach Shan Yi, the latter launched an attack. First, he threw several shuriken, then jumped backward. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!" As the words left his mouth, several sharp earthen pillars suddenly burst from the ground beneath the man, stabbing toward him.
But before the pillars could even rise fully, the man had sliced them all apart with his sword. His blade was unbelievably fast. As each pillar appeared, he cut through it. Though it all happened in a split second, he still managed to make more than a dozen strikes.
Seeing that ninjutsu was useless, Shan Yi immediately abandoned it and charged forward. Clang, clang, clang! The two clashed more than a dozen times. They seemed evenly matched, but their expressions told another story: the White-Clad Samurai had the upper hand. He even had time to return his sword to its scabbard. Each time, he only drew it when he attacked.
Shan Yi seemed ready to risk everything. He threw his kunai and charged barehanded. The White-Clad Samurai dodged the kunai, and his sword met Shan Yi's fist. Neither of them was sent flying as expected. They were evenly matched—no, Shan Yi was momentarily stunned, and the man's sword stabbed straight at him. Shan Yi was clearly shocked that the samurai's strength could match his while he was using Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique. The samurai took advantage of his surprise.
As the sword slid back into its scabbard, Shan Yi seemed to have no injuries. "Hahaha!" He burst into laughter. "You're pretty good, but you still couldn't get past my Hardening Technique. Now it's my turn!" Still laughing, Shan Yi prepared to attack again—but just as he moved, he realized the sword had cut him in half. He hadn't even felt it.
"What a fast sword," Shan Yi said, looking at his wound.
"Daddy's amazing!" The girl's voice rang out from ahead. Ye Wuji turned toward it and saw the girl, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, getting out of the carriage. It seemed she had come out to see her father win.
Just as the girl's feet touched the ground, a voice rang out. "Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage!" A hand reached up from underground and grabbed for her foot.
Swish! A flash of swordlight passed. The White-Clad Samurai was already standing beside the girl. Shan Yi, who had just been cut in half, had turned into a pile of earth and rocks. The severed hand had quickly turned to earth and rocks as well. They had both been clones.
"Impressive. I've never encountered such a powerful samurai. This has really opened my eyes." About ten meters from the White-Clad Samurai, a figure slowly rose from the earth. It was Shan Yi.
Once Shan Yi was standing on the ground again, he looked around. His gaze swept over the fallen ninja corpses before he spoke. "I can't believe I was so unlucky today, running into someone like you. Guess it's my bad luck. I'll leave this to you, then. I'm going." Shan Yi had realized he couldn't win. He had no confidence he would come out on top if the fight continued. He wanted to retreat, but didn't want to leave without a few parting words, so he tried to save face before going.
"So you think you can just leave? Don't you think that's a little too easy?" the White-Clad Samurai said.
"What are you going to do about it? If I really want to leave, do you think you can stop me?" Shan Yi said, suppressing his anger. He had worked hard to find those subordinates, only to lose them just like that. He was furious, especially about Tanaka, who had the skill of a Special Jōnin. Wandering ninjas like him were hard to find. The other six had Chunin or Genin-level skills, which Shan Yi didn't care much about. He could find others of their caliber.
Shan Yi had hoped to take the girl hostage, but that had failed too. If he hadn't succeeded when they were caught off guard, he certainly wouldn't succeed now that they were prepared. As for Ye Wuji, the young woman, and the child nearby, Shan Yi had simply written them off.
The other man was a samurai, so taking a hostage would be an effective threat. But grabbing someone unrelated would at most make the man stop. Shan Yi was confident he could escape, and taking hostages now would only create trouble for himself.
"I'm not going to do anything in particular. You've killed so many people. If I hadn't crossed paths with you, that would've been one thing. But since I have, that's too bad for you," the White-Clad Samurai said.
"Hmph. Then come and get me." Shan Yi seemed completely unbothered by the White-Clad Samurai's threat. After saying this, he turned to leave.
"Secret Technique: Swallow Reversal!" The White-Clad Samurai launched an attack. Several flashes of swordlight surrounded Shan Yi. When they passed, only a few pieces of wood, neatly cut apart, remained where he had stood. "Substitution Technique." The White-Clad Samurai's face had gone somewhat pale. The few flashes of swordlight seemed to have taken a lot out of him.
Far away, Shan Yi appeared on a tree, and angrily shouted, "I'll settle this with you another day!" After saying this, he tried to leave, but as soon as he moved, he fell from the tree.
From where Ye Wuji stood, he could see Shan Yi's body spouting blood. Shan Yi had died just like that. What a terrifying guy. Ye Wuji had never seen anyone kill someone who had used the Substitution Technique. He couldn't believe he had encountered one here. The killer wasn't even a ninja, but a samurai. If they were all that powerful, what was the point of being a ninja? And the Substitution Technique Ye Wuji had considered a lifesaving skill hadn't worked at all.
Later, Ye Wuji learned that it wasn't that the Substitution Technique was useless. The Secret Technique: Swallow Reversal seemed to counter techniques like it, and hardly anyone in the entire Naruto World knew the move. The best way to deal with Swallow Reversal was to block or counterattack. If you tried to run, you were in trouble.
The Swallow Reversal was said to have been created by a master samurai who had watched swallows. Swallows could endure the wind and dodge a blade, and it had nothing to do with being fast or slow. No matter what kind of blade it was, it was impossible to swing it without disturbing the air. The swallows sensed those vibrations and changed direction. That was why no strike could cut one down. A blade was only a line. There was good reason it couldn't catch a swallow darting through the air in every direction.
Then you only have to block its escape routes. One blade attacks the swallow, while another blocks the route it would take to dodge with the wind. But they're agile, and with a long sword, there's no time to follow up with a second strike. To succeed, the two strikes have to land almost simultaneously, in a single instant. But if they're completely simultaneous, both strikes will be too slow. That's why there also needs to be a third blade to block the escape route to the side.
The Substitution Technique was a ninjutsu used when someone was attacked. To leave behind a substitute and escape, the real body needed a gap to get away. Swallow Reversal closed off that gap. That was why Shan Yi had failed to escape even after using the Substitution Technique.
After Shan Yi fell, the White-Clad Samurai looked over the scene before him, then turned to Ken, who seemed to have recovered. "Uncle Ken, sorry for the trouble. Please take care of this."
"What about the others?" Ken meant the three who were still alive.
"Take them with us for now. We'll decide what to do with them later. We can't just leave them here," the White-Clad Samurai said.
Before you continue