Impossible Things

At this moment, the group at the front of the caravan had already descended into chaos.

Watching the group of clearly hostile, weapon-wielding men running toward them from a distance, the caravan fell into a state of panic.

The pressure was particularly intense due to the few armored men on horseback leading the charge.

However, after Xia Mu arrived, the caravan settled down at a visible speed within a remarkably short time.

Everyone looked at Xia Mu with expectant eyes, and without the slightest hesitation, Xia Mu rode out on a donkey.

Seeing the comical sight of Xia Mu riding a donkey, the Bandits opposite laughed in unison.

Yet, they soon stopped laughing.

Under Chiba's disbelieving gaze, Xia Mu drew his bow and fired with a cold expression, effortlessly shooting the enemy leader off his horse, leaving him in an unknown state of life or death.

Xia Mu did not stop there; he continued to fire, easily knocking four or five more men to the ground with successive arrows before finally pausing.

Pointing his bow at the men opposite with indifference, Xia Mu's face was frozen in coldness.

After a moment of deathly silence, the group of dozens of Bandits quickly scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in a panic.

A wave of boisterous cheers erupted from the crowd.

Only then did Xia Mu lower his bow, breathing slightly heavily.

A moment later, a tall youth from the caravan returned, jubilantly leading back several horses, speaking excitedly to Xia Mu without pause.

Xia Mu, however, remained cold, seemingly in a foul mood for no apparent reason; he simply waved his hand and returned to the back of the caravan on his own.

After dinner, seeing Xia Mu sitting alone by the campfire, Chiba walked over silently.

Staring blankly at Xia Mu, Chiba felt a complex mix of emotions.

At this moment, he truly could not understand what kind of person Xia Mu was.

Previously, Chiba had always assumed Xia Mu was just a gentle, good-natured person, even fearing at one point that he might be overthrown by his subordinates at any time.

But now, looking at how he had killed as easily as eating or drinking, it was clear that Xia Mu was not that simple.

Xia Mu's earlier remark that "they wouldn't dare go too far" clearly wasn't just talk. Based on his performance, Chiba believed no one would dare rebel against him, and it was obvious that this caravan could not function without him.

Chiba had wasted so much time worrying about those people causing trouble or potentially rebelling, but in reality, it was all just his own groundless anxiety.

As Chiba was lost in thought, Xia Mu noticed his arrival.

"What's wrong, Chiba?"

Looking at the clean, gentle, and faint smile still on Xia Mu's face, Chiba could not reconcile this person with the cold-faced Xia Mu who had killed those Bandits during the day.

After a long silence, Chiba asked the question he had been harboring for a long time.

"Um... Brother Xia Mu. Do you use chakra?"

As he spoke, Chiba looked up, a glimmer of expectation in his eyes.

"Chakra?"

Xia Mu looked at Chiba in surprise: "You actually know about chakra?"

A moment later, Xia Mu's gaze flickered over the ninja tool pouch at Chiba's waist, as if he had realized something.

"Have you witnessed the power of ninjas?"

"Yes." Chiba nodded gently.

Xia Mu did not press Chiba about what had happened to him, only shaking his head with a sigh: "I'm sorry, I don't use chakra."

"If you don't use chakra, how could you so easily kill those people today?"

Xia Mu did not answer Chiba directly, instead calmly posing a question.

"Since you have already witnessed the power of ninjas, how do you think my performance today compares to them?"

"Of course, it is..."

Chiba suddenly recalled the intense battle involving Heichen and the others a few days ago.

Not to mention a Jonin like Heichen, even the speed of those Chunin was something Chiba couldn't track, let alone their various bizarre techniques.

For a moment, Chiba fell silent; who was weak and who was strong was self-evident.

Seeing Chiba's silent expression, Xia Mu sighed: "Now you should understand the gap between me and those ninjas. Honestly, under normal circumstances, I couldn't even beat an ordinary Genin."

Chiba lowered his head silently; he understood that Xia Mu was not lying.

In the world of Hokage, it seems that aside from some minor characters in small nations, almost no one uses bows and arrows. There is no other reason: to ninjas, such things pose almost no threat.

Chiba clearly remembered that any Genin participating in the Chunin Exams could instantly fire a rain of thousands of needles using umbrella-like weapons, while those puppeteers could easily unleash arrows like rain, and others possessed all sorts of miraculous methods.

As far as ninjas were concerned, Chiba believed that even basic ninjutsu was enough to crush ordinary people.

The Transformation Technique was enough to disguise oneself as a loved one for assassination, and the Clone Technique was enough to confuse ordinary people; from any perspective, the dominance of ninjas over ordinary people was absolute.

Even someone like Xia Mu, who seemed quite capable in the eyes of ordinary people, would likely be unable to withstand a single blow in the eyes of a ninja.

For a moment, Chiba couldn't help but feel a bit dejected. He had originally hoped to learn how to cultivate chakra from Xia Mu, but reality proved that he had clearly overthought it.

Watching Chiba's visibly dejected expression, Xia Mu let out a faint sigh.

"Are you looking to learn chakra to gain power?"

Chiba did not deny it, nodding his head gently.

Xia Mu's gaze grew even more complicated for a moment.

After a long silence, Xia Mu said softly, "Give it up."

"Huh?"

Chiba looked at Xia Mu in confusion, not understanding why he would say such a thing.

Xia Mu stared into the campfire, lost in thought, his eyes flickering with a myriad of complex emotions.

"Back in the day, I was just like you. I wanted to learn chakra and gain power. For that, I even left the Land of Rain and traveled across various nations, only to realize in the end that for an ordinary person to learn chakra and ninjutsu is simply an impossible feat."

Chiba's face was filled with astonishment: "An impossible feat? Why would you say that?"