Something Impossible

At that moment, the people at the front of the group had already fallen into disarray.

Seeing a group of armed men running toward them from the distance, all looking openly hostile, the group grew uneasy.

The few men on horseback at the very front, clad in armor, put even more pressure on them.

However, after Xia Mu arrived, the group quickly settled down, visibly calming in a very short time.

Everyone looked at Xia Mu expectantly. Without the slightest hesitation, he rode out on a donkey.

Seeing Xia Mu riding out on a donkey in such a ridiculous fashion, the bandits across from them burst into laughter in unison.

But soon, they could no longer laugh.

As Chiba watched in disbelief, Xia Mu drew his bow with a cold expression and fired an arrow, easily knocking the other side's leader off his horse. Whether he was alive or dead was anyone's guess.

Xia Mu's bow did not stop there. He fired several more arrows in quick succession, easily taking down four or five more men before finally stopping.

He pointed his bow indifferently at the people opposite him, his face utterly cold.

After a moment of deathly silence, the bandits—dozens of them—scattered like frightened birds and beasts, fleeing in a panic.

A noisy cheer immediately rose from the crowd.

Only then did Xia Mu lower his bow and breathe out softly.

A moment later, a tall young man from the group cheerfully led back several horses, talking excitedly to Xia Mu.

Xia Mu, however, wore a cold expression, seeming inexplicably out of sorts. He merely waved a hand and returned to the back of the group on his own.

After dinner, Chiba saw Xia Mu sitting alone beside the bonfire and quietly walked over.

Chiba gazed at Xia Mu, his thoughts complicated.

At that moment, he truly couldn't figure out what kind of person Xia Mu was.

Chiba had always thought Xia Mu was just a mild-mannered, kindhearted man. He had even thought more than once that Xia Mu might be betrayed by his subordinates at any moment.

But now, judging by how he had killed people earlier as casually as if he were eating or drinking, Xia Mu clearly wasn't so simple.

When Xia Mu had said earlier that they wouldn't dare go too far, he had clearly meant it. After seeing what had happened, Chiba believed that no one would dare rebel against him. It was obvious that this group couldn't do without him, either.

Chiba had worried for so long about the possibility of those people causing trouble or rebelling, but in truth, it had all been his own needless anxiety.

As Chiba continued to ponder, Xia Mu noticed him approaching.

"What is it, Chiba?"

Looking at the faint, gentle smile still on Xia Mu's clean-cut face, Chiba couldn't reconcile the man before him with the cold Xia Mu who had killed those bandits earlier that day.

After a long silence, Chiba finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time.

"Um... Xia Mu, do you know how to use chakra?"

As he spoke, Chiba looked up, his eyes holding a hint of expectation.

"Chakra?"

Xia Mu looked at Chiba in surprise. "You even know about chakra?"

A moment later, Xia Mu's gaze flicked over the ninja tool pouch at Chiba's waist, as though he understood something.

"Have you seen a ninja's power?"

"Yeah." Chiba nodded lightly.

Xia Mu didn't press him about what had happened to him. He only shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to use chakra."

"If you don't know how to use chakra, then how were you able to kill those people so easily today...?"

Xia Mu didn't answer Chiba directly. Instead, he calmly asked him a question.

"Since you've already seen a ninja's power, what do you think of my performance today compared to theirs?"

"Of course..."

Chiba suddenly remembered the fierce battle between Heichen and the others a few days ago.

Forget an elite Chunin like Heichen; Chiba couldn't even make out the speed of those few Chunin, let alone their various strange techniques.

For a moment, Chiba fell silent. It was plain as day who was stronger.

Seeing Chiba's silence, Xia Mu sighed. "Now you should understand the gap between me and those ninjas. To be honest, under ordinary circumstances, I can't even beat a regular Genin."

Chiba lowered his head silently. He knew Xia Mu wasn't lying.

In the entire Naruto world, it seemed that aside from some nameless character from a small country, almost nobody used bows and arrows. There was a reason for that: against ninjas, they posed almost no threat.

Chiba clearly remembered that even a random Genin taking part in the Chunin Ninja Exams could use what looked like an umbrella to instantly fire a thousand needles. Puppet users could rain down arrows with ease, and everyone else had their own astonishing techniques.

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

The Transformation Technique could disguise someone as a familiar person to carry out an assassination, while the Clone Technique could easily confuse ordinary people. In every respect, ninjas had an absolute advantage over ordinary people.

Even someone like Xia Mu, who seemed quite capable to ordinary people, was probably no match for a ninja at all.

Chiba couldn't help feeling discouraged. He had thought that it would be great if he could learn how to cultivate chakra from Xia Mu, but reality showed that he had clearly been getting ahead of himself.

Looking at Chiba's dejected expression, Xia Mu let out a quiet sigh.

"Do you want to learn chakra and gain power?"

Chiba didn't deny it. He nodded lightly.

Xia Mu's expression grew even more complicated.

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

"Huh?"

Chiba looked at Xia Mu in confusion, unsure why he would say something like that.

Xia Mu stared into the bonfire, as if remembering something. A jumble of complicated emotions drifted through his eyes.

"Back then, I wanted to learn chakra and gain power just like you. For that, I even left the Land of Rain and traveled from country to country. But in the end, I realized that for ordinary people to learn chakra and ninjutsu was simply impossible."

Chiba looked utterly astonished. "Impossible? Why would you say that?"