The Battle with Shennong (Part One)

The Battle with Shennong (Part One)

After running back to his room, Ye Wuji climbed onto the bed and pretended to cry, in case anyone had followed him. Sure enough, Uncle Ken came after him. When he saw Ye Wuji lying on the bed and sobbing, he shook his head and left.

After Uncle Ken had gone, Ye Wuji stayed sprawled on the bed, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He felt that the first thing he had to decide was whether to make a move. Over the past two months, he had observed that Shennong always carried two scrolls with him and was very protective of them, never letting anyone touch them. Ye Wuji had tried several times, but never found an opportunity.

If Ye Wuji was going to make a move, those two scrolls should be his targets. But given Shennong's personality, he probably wouldn't carry the body-activation ninjutsu around with him. He had most likely stored it inside Angkor Fortress.

Then there was the question of how strong Shennong really was. Based on the past two months of observation, he didn't seem very powerful. At the very least, his stamina seemed poor, though that might have been only a facade.

Actually, not making a move was the best choice. After all, his opponent's strength was unknown, and the reward was uncertain. But if he didn't act now, it might be too late later. A large part of Orochimaru's Body Rebirth Technique had been developed thanks to Shennong's Reanimation Technique. Orochimaru had been killed several times, yet each time he had managed to come back to life. Whatever his strength, the fact that he was alive proved how useful Shennong's Reanimation Technique was.

The Naruto World was full of dangers. If he couldn't strengthen himself ahead of time, he would sooner or later be eliminated. One step behind meant falling behind at every step, and fortune favored the bold.

At last, a glint flashed in Ye Wuji's eyes, and his resolve hardened. He decided to act, and tomorrow would be the perfect opportunity. Ye Wuji picked up the bundle beside him and took out the steel wires. He tugged one, and it gleamed coldly. This would be his first real fight in the Naruto World, so he had to come up with a good plan. He took out everything he had and studied it, slowly forming a plan.

In the middle of the night, while everyone was fast asleep, Ye Wuji quietly slung his bundle over his back and left.

Early the next morning, everyone in Ukyo's family got up to see Shennong off, but Ye Wuji was nowhere to be seen. "That boy still hasn't gotten up. Doesn't he know we're seeing Mr. Shennong off today?" Rei said, then started toward Ye Wuji's room to wake him.

"There's no need, Rei. I went to check. He's already gone, and I have no idea where he ran off to," Uncle Ken said from the side.

"That boy still hasn't come around, it seems. But never mind. You don't all have to see me off. I'll be on my way. If you see him, let me know," Shennong said.

"Of course. If we see him later, I'll give him a piece of my mind. He's usually fine, but not showing up to see you off is just plain rude," Aunt Kei said.

"All right, everyone, no need to say more. I'll take my leave." With that, Shennong set off alone toward the distant exit from the Land of Waterfalls.

Watching Shennong leave, Aunt Kei asked, "Where did Ye go? Could he have..."

"I don't think so. Ye is young, but we've all spent this time together, so we know he's clever and sensible. He wouldn't sneak off just because he wanted to go with Shennong. If he really wanted to do that, he would have left us a letter, even if he didn't say anything in person. Maybe he just didn't want to say goodbye," Ukyo told them.

"That's true." Thinking about how Ye Wuji had acted lately, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Everyone, go on back. Rei, Yuta, come with me," Ukyo said.

By then, Ye Wuji was in a dense forest about five kilometers from the Land of Waterfalls. He had already set his traps, using every Explosive Tag he had acquired. It hurt to think about the money, but this wasn't the time to be stingy. Once all the traps were ready, Ye Wuji went over them several more times to check for anything he had missed. He also planned an escape route. If Shennong turned out to be very strong, he would have no choice but to run.

"He's here. He got here fast." Ye Wuji, resting in the forest, suddenly opened his eyes. He sensed that his Water Clone had disappeared.

Ye Wuji had sent out a Water Clone to scout ahead and determine when Shennong would arrive. As soon as he sensed the clone vanish, he stood up in the tree and formed a hand seal. Water Release: Water Clone Technique! This time, Ye Wuji created three clones. They were an upgraded version, with considerably more chakra than usual. With the three clones and Ye Wuji himself, there were now four of them. Then Ye Wuji used the Transformation Technique, disguising all four, himself included.

Ye Wuji hid with two of his clones and sent the other one out of the forest toward the road. The clone had transformed into a man in his forties. With a few Kunai on him, he went to rest by the roadside.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, Shennong appeared in the distance. When he reached Ye Wuji's clone, the clone slowly looked him up and down. Shennong, in turn, studied the clone's disguised appearance. At that moment, the two of them were alone on that stretch of road.

As Ye Wuji's clone watched Shennong, a puzzled look slowly appeared on his face. In the end, he seemed to realize something. He quickly stood up and headed toward the Land of Waterfalls, deliberately keeping his distance from Shennong as he passed him on the other side of the road. As he walked, his hand rested at his waist, where a Kunai could be seen.

"Sir, do you know me?" Shennong hadn't paid much attention to the man at first. From the direction he had come, he seemed to be heading toward the Land of Waterfalls.

"I don't know you. I've never seen you before." The clone pretended to panic and hurriedly replied, taking a few quick steps forward.

Whoosh! Shennong darted in front of him, then took another close look at Ye Wuji's clone. "I'm certain I've never met you, but you look like you've seen me before. You seem afraid of me, sir. You're so nervous. Do you know why?"

"I really haven't seen you before. I'm in a hurry, so I'm nervous because I need to get moving." The clone tried to walk around him.

"You don't look like you're in any hurry. And even if you were, you only started acting that way after seeing me. You'd better tell me the truth." Shennong frowned. He didn't know why the man in front of him was behaving this way, but he suspected it had something to do with him, so he was determined to find out.

"I really don't know you, and I have no idea what you do. Why are you stopping me? I don't have any money." The clone took a step back and drew his Kunai, holding it across his chest in a guarded stance.

"So it looks like you really do know me. Otherwise, why would you be so nervous?" Shennong was growing more and more suspicious of the man in front of him.

"I don't know you. I had no idea you were a Sky Ninja..." The clone cut himself off as soon as he said it.

At the words "Sky Ninja," Shennong's expression changed, and his eyes grew sharp. "Who are you?"

Whoosh, whoosh! The clone didn't answer. The act had gone far enough; if he kept it up, he might give himself away.

So the clone simply hurled several Kunai at him, then ran toward the woods, while still heading generally in the direction of the Land of Waterfalls.

Clang, clang, clang! Shennong used the Kunai in his hand to deflect the ones flying toward him. Seeing the clone flee, he immediately gave chase.

In the dense forest, the clone and Shennong clashed several more times. The clone kept trying to run toward Takigakure, and Shennong seemed to realize what he was trying to do, so he continually blocked his way.

In the end, the clone seemed unable to break through, so he began to retreat, running in the opposite direction from Takigakure.

Shennong watched the direction in which Ye Wuji's clone was fleeing, paused for a moment, then pursued him. At first, Shennong had suspected there might be a trap ahead, but he soon dismissed the thought. He considered his identity highly confidential. Over the years, he had never contacted anyone connected to the Sky Ninja. Shennong knew that if he contacted the remnants of the Sky Ninja forces who had escaped after their village was destroyed, they would obey his orders. But to be safe, he had never reached out to them, even when those people were sometimes hunted by other countries. On several occasions, he had watched the surviving Sky Ninja being surrounded and attacked right in front of him, yet he hadn't intervened.

There was more than one reason Shennong hadn't stepped in. He wanted to preserve the Sky Country's last secret, the Sky Ninja's ultimate weapon: the flying city, Angkor Fortress. In the final moments, when Konoha destroyed the Sky Ninja's village, their leader had ordered him to escape by piloting Angkor Fortress, while the others held off Konoha to prevent them from getting their hands on it.

Because of Konoha's powerful assault, Angkor Fortress had no time to store a large supply of energy. As a result, it had been unable to demonstrate its full potential during Konoha's attack. If Angkor Fortress had been able to unleash its full power back then, Konoha might not have been able to destroy the Sky Ninja's village.

Shennong had been piloting Angkor Fortress at the time. He had to fly it while also activating its stealth systems, but the fortress didn't have enough energy. That was why it eventually crashed beside a remote village.

To hide Angkor Fortress, the Sky Ninja who had been aboard saw it crash and realized there was no energy left to restart it. They used Earth Release to bury it where it had fallen. Angkor Fortress was called a flying city for a reason: one could imagine its enormous size. It was practically a town—or at the very least, a massive castle, large enough to house several thousand people.

The crash of something so huge must have caused an enormous commotion. The Sky Ninja had quickly put up a barrier to keep civilians away, but if word got out after a while, Konoha might discover it, and the Sky Ninja's last hope would be lost. So the ninjas aboard Angkor Fortress had exhausted themselves using ninjutsu to bury it before the news could spread. As a result, every one of them died from overexerting their chakra. Shennong alone survived, thanks to being a Medical Ninja.