The Battle with Shennong (Part 2)

Shennong had been appearing on the battlefield all along. How could he possibly avoid attracting attention? Even if he was always doing good deeds, someone was bound to investigate. The person Konoha sent might well have been Orochimaru, and that was how the two of them ended up working together.

As it turned out, Shennong had been terribly unlucky. He'd traveled through so many countries without finding a suitable Jinchuriki for the Zero-Tails. Yet, right near Angkor Fortress, he'd found a village with someone who fit the bill. The irony was hard to miss. Even so, the Zero-Tails was still an incomplete entity. It was only the product of Shennong's research, and he'd made a mistake from the moment he began by targeting a Zero-Tails Jinchuriki. After all, it wasn't a true Tailed Beast; it was meant to serve as a power source. That was why Naruto and Sasuke were later able to destroy it so easily—and why Angkor Fortress was destroyed as well.

Back to the moment Shennong and Ye Wuji were fighting. That brief recollection had taken place in an instant. It might have seemed long, but in reality, very little time had passed. Ye Wuji's clone was still within Shennong's sight.

In that instant, Shennong made up his mind. His identity had to remain absolutely secret. Even if the Sky Ninja village still existed, plenty of people would have known of him, but very few had actually seen him. Shennong was certain he'd never seen the person in front of him. A ninja's memory was sharp: even if he'd only seen someone once and couldn't remember them clearly, he would still feel some sense of familiarity. But he felt none now. Whoever this person was, Shennong wouldn't allow anyone who might know his identity to remain alive in this world. So he quickly gave chase.

After pursuing him for a while, Shennong relaxed. There was no way the man ahead of him could have set a trap up front. Ye Wuji's clone was running around aimlessly. If he had a destination, he would keep heading in one direction. But Ye Wuji's clone ran east for a while, then, when Shennong caught up, switched to the south. He showed no sign of heading toward any particular place. Whenever Shennong blocked one direction, he immediately changed course instead of trying to break through.

It had taken Ye Wuji a long time to come up with this plan. First, he would draw Shennong's attention and lead him into a chase, running in a random direction each time. Only at the end would he head toward the prepared trap. If Shennong caught him before he reached it, Ye Wuji would retreat at once. That would mean Shennong might be too strong. He could be wrong, of course, but Ye Wuji wouldn't gamble with his life. This time, no one would come to save him.

Things were progressing exactly as Ye Wuji had hoped. It showed that Shennong really wasn't very strong, and that he didn't know any powerful ninjutsu. Otherwise, he could have used ninjutsu to catch up faster. After testing him several times, Ye Wuji concluded that Shennong was considerably stronger than he was. Shennong managed to catch up every time, but he wasn't strong enough to defeat Ye Wuji with ease. Ye Wuji was caught each time, yet he always managed to get away.

With Shennong at this level, the trap should be enough to take him out. The trap was getting closer. Ye Wuji's real body could already see his clone and Shennong. The clone had very little chakra left. Once it ran out, the clone would disappear, and it still had to spend chakra to maintain its Transformation Technique.

"Why do you keep chasing me? I told you, I don't know you." The clone leaned against a tree, panting heavily.

"Then why did you run when you saw me? You can't run any farther now, can you? Why did you run as soon as you saw me? Why does it matter that I'm a Sky Ninja? Do I look like someone from the Sky Ninja?" Shennong stood some distance away, watching the clone carefully as he surveyed the area. They were deep in the woods, with no one around. Shennong was mainly checking for traps.

"I was wrong. I really don't know anything about the Sky Ninja or the Zero-Tails," the clone panted. As soon as he said it, he seemed to realize something was wrong. He immediately threw all the Shuriken he was carrying, then turned and ran with all his might.

Shennong had shown no reaction at first, but the moment he heard "Zero-Tails," his expression changed dramatically. He fixed Ye Wuji's clone with a murderous glare. When the Shuriken came flying, he knocked them aside and lunged toward Ye Wuji. Hearing that the man knew about the Zero-Tails finally dispelled Shennong's hesitation. He charged at Ye Wuji's clone with all his strength, moving far faster than before. In an instant, he was right beside him. Perhaps he wanted to find out how much the man knew, because Shennong didn't kill him. Instead, he kicked the clone to the ground.

Then he planted a foot on the clone as he tried to get up. "Why do you know about this? Tell me, or I'll kill you."

Shennong was genuinely shocked. How could anyone else know such a closely guarded secret? Back when the Sky Ninja were researching the Zero-Tails, only a few of the village's higher-ups knew about it. If not for what happened at the end, even he might never have found out.

Even among the attacking force, only some people from Konoha knew about it. Most believed Konoha simply wanted the Sky Ninja village's Sky City, Angkor Fortress. So Shennong had to get to the bottom of this. Angkor Fortress couldn't be moved right now, and the Zero-Tails hadn't been completed. If the secret got out, his plan to avenge the Sky Ninja village would be ruined. Angkor Fortress and the Zero-Tails might even become spoils of war for Konoha.

Shennong stared at the man before him. If he refused to cooperate, Shennong planned to take him away and use certain methods to make him talk.

"I-I... Don't kill me! I heard it from someone. He also told me to keep an eye out for you. He showed me your picture and asked me to find you, so that's why I acted that way when I saw you." The clone struggled, but when he realized he couldn't move Shennong's foot, he stopped. He was also deeply shaken. Shennong had nearly kicked him apart just now. The clone had only survived because Ye Wuji had given him extra chakra and Shennong had held back. No wonder an ordinary clone fell apart with a single blow. A ninja's strike was nothing like an ordinary person's. Against an ordinary person, one blow would probably kill them.

"Who is that person? If you tell me and take me to him, I won't kill you," Shennong said.

"Really? That person said he'd give me a lot of money once he found you. I wonder..." As the clone spoke, he gave Shennong a knowing look.

"No problem. If you take me to him, I won't kill you. I'll give you a fortune, enough to make sure you'll never have to worry about money again. Now, tell me his name. Don't try any tricks, or I'll kill you right away." As he spoke, Shennong pressed down harder with his foot, as though he were about to crush Ye Wuji's clone.

Feeling the pressure of Shennong's foot increase, the clone hurriedly cried out, "Easy, easy! I'll die, and then you won't find out who it is." If Shennong put any more force into it, the clone would turn into water and disappear.

"Hmph." Shennong snorted but said nothing. He did, however, ease the pressure of his foot.

"I... That person's name is..." The moment the man was about to reveal it, Shennong grew tense. Could it be one of the people who had escaped the Sky Ninja village back then? But just then, dozens of weapons came flying from three directions: Shuriken, Kunai, and Senbon. The main target was the clone lying on the ground. A few were aimed at Shennong, but only a handful.

Shennong immediately understood the situation. Dodging would have been easy if he only needed to save himself, but with all those weapons converging on the man on the ground, the clone was as good as dead. Shennong still hadn't heard the person's name. How could he let the clone die so easily?

So Shennong quickly bent down, preparing to grab the clone and dodge the weapons. But the instant he seized him, he saw a smile on the clone's face. Shennong's heart lurched. He knew he'd been tricked. But before he could react, the clone wrapped his arms around the right hand Shennong had used to grab him. Then Shennong saw several spots on the clone's body sparking.

"Explosive Tags!" Shennong realized instantly.

With a tremendous BOOM, flesh and blood flew through the air. Some of the weapons were also hurled away by the blast, and smoke billowed over the ground where the explosion had torn through it.

Ye Wuji stared intently into the smoke, watching carefully. If only he had the Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan, he could have seen what was happening inside.

This was only the first trap Ye Wuji had set. Poor Ye Wuji had been fooled by the Fire Shadow anime. In the show, Explosive Tags never killed anyone except nameless extras. Every time one exploded, smoke would fill the scene and hide everything. Then someone would leap out of the smoke, usually with only a minor injury—and sometimes without a scratch. So Ye Wuji had treated this trap as nothing more than a test, with the second trap ready to follow right after.

But as the smoke slowly began to clear, no one leapt out. Ye Wuji found it strange and hid himself even more carefully, ready to use the Substitution Technique at any moment. He had already chosen a substitute. He was worried that when the smoke cleared, there would be no one inside—or just a shattered log, with Shennong's real body having escaped using the Substitution Technique.

As the smoke thinned further, vague shapes appeared. Ye Wuji was puzzled. Had someone really survived? Had Shennong taken the full force of the attack? That made no sense. Where was his Substitution Technique?

That was what baffled Ye Wuji. The Substitution Technique was one of the Three Basic Techniques, wasn't it? Every Genin had to master it before graduating. Why did so many people die without even trying to use it? It made no sense.

When the smoke finally cleared, Ye Wuji saw that the figure really was Shennong. Several Shuriken, Kunai, and Senbon were embedded in him. His right hand was gone, and blood was pouring from the stump. The rest of his body was covered in wounds from the blast. One of his eyes had even been blown out. Blood kept welling from Shennong's empty left eye socket.

Although Shennong looked awful, Ye Wuji stubbornly believed he couldn't have been taken out that easily. He remained on guard, watching Shennong carefully. Shennong stood there, coughing up blood. After a long while, he said between bloody coughs, "Who's plotting against me? You know about all those things, so you must be from the Sky Ninja village too. Why? Why would someone from my own village plot against me like this? You want Angkor Fortress, don't you? Come to think of it, that's the only thing that could tempt you. Or maybe you want the Zero-Tails too. Hahaha... So fate really is against me. But since I'm finished, and we're from the same village, I'll tell you where Angkor Fortress is. You must remember to rebuild the Sky Ninja village and take revenge on Konoha."

As he spoke, Shennong kept coughing up blood. After a violent fit of coughing, he told Ye Wuji the location. Ye Wuji showed no reaction, continuing to watch the surroundings carefully. After waiting a while longer, Shennong's breathing grew weaker and weaker. He could barely stay on his feet. Seriously? Was he that easy to beat? The first trap took him out?

But to make sure, Ye Wuji went ahead and triggered the second trap. At the movement of his finger, more than a dozen steel wires set nearby whooshed toward Shennong. This had been the second trap: if someone dodged the first attack, the wires would strike from the opposite direction of the explosion as they leapt out to attack. But now Ye Wuji triggered them directly. The dozen or so wires came from behind Shennong in a crisscrossing pattern and passed through his body without the slightest resistance.

A moment later, Shennong's body split apart, turning into large chunks of flesh. Even from a distance, Ye Wuji could see the pieces flying through the air. He immediately threw up, violently and without warning.

There was no way Ye Wuji could search the body himself now. In the end, he sent one of his clones to search Shennong while another kept watch in every direction.

Although it was only a clone, it was still Ye Wuji. The clone fought back its nausea and carefully searched Shennong's remains. After all, Shennong was a medical ninja; who knew whether he might have been carrying poison? Once the clone found the two scrolls Ye Wuji had been looking for, Ye Wuji had it bury Shennong on the spot.

Then Ye Wuji carefully retrieved some of the traps he hadn't used. He checked the time and found that not much time had passed. Even counting the time his clone had spent running earlier, the whole thing had taken only about half an hour.