Sudden Change

They did not walk very far before the group soon encountered another band of ninjas locked in combat.

"Damn it. They've even blocked off this path."

"Xia Mu, what should we do?"

Gritting his teeth, Xia Mu pointed in another direction.

"We go this way."

However, they hadn't gone far when the group saw flames shooting into the sky in the distance once again.

"This way is no good either."

After running into warring ninjas blocking their path several times in a row, Xia Mu's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"How can this be? How can there be so many people? Where on earth are we supposed to go?"

"Boom!"

Just as Xia Mu was struggling with the decision, a sudden, deafening explosion erupted, and a dozen people on the side of the group were instantly swallowed by a massive fireball.

"Sanmu!"

"Pang!"

The group stared at the direction of the explosion in a panic, feeling quite at a loss.

Chiba's expression stiffened instantly.

Right there in that ball of fire were several of the brats who were always trailing behind him, calling him Big Brother Chiba.

In the blink of an eye, there was nothing left of them.

Before the group could even react to what had happened, several Rock Ninja suddenly stepped out.

"Damn it, these guys actually ruined the trap I worked so hard to set! I'm going to kill them!"

As he spoke, one Rock Ninja angrily hurled the kunai in his hand toward Xia Mu's group.

"Pfft!"

Without the slightest power to resist, two of the young men in the group collapsed directly onto the ground.

Another Rock Ninja gently held the previous one back.

"Forget it, there's no need to get angry at a bunch of civilians. It's not worth wasting time on them; they've already received the lesson they deserved, haven't they?"

"Hmph, consider yourselves lucky. I'll spare your lives today."

A moment later, watching the backs of the departing Rock Ninja, everyone in the group fell into silence.

"The lesson they deserved."

Chiba gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached, his fists clenched until they creaked.

Was the death of so many people just a lesson they deserved?

Xia Mu had already collapsed powerlessly onto the ground.

"It's me. It's my fault they died."

Without realizing it, Xia Mu was already streaming with tears.

"Brother Xia Mu."

Izumi gently hugged Xia Mu.

"This isn't your fault. No one blames you, no one will blame you."

The others in Chiba's group also stepped forward to comfort Xia Mu.

After a long while, Xia Mu finally recovered from his near-breakdown.

Gritting his teeth, the hand holding the map trembled incessantly.

Chiba understood that Xia Mu was currently bearing immense pressure.

The weight of having everyone's fate resting on his shoulders was, without a doubt, becoming too much for Xia Mu to bear.

After a long silence, Xia Mu pressed his finger heavily onto the map.

"We go through here."

Having regained a measure of composure, Xia Mu analyzed the situation with a grave expression: "Given our current circumstances, if we continue to move through the forest, we are only asking for death."

"Our only chance of survival is to leave this forest and head to the hilly region from here. The visibility there is wide, and there shouldn't be many traps."

Soon, amidst a stifling silence, the group set off once again.

"I will take the lead this time. Everyone, stay close to me."

"Brother Xia Mu, you..."

"Say no more. Only I have the potential to spot these traps and avoid them."

A short while later, Xia Mu's group had reached the depths of the jungle.

Clearly, it seemed their luck had finally taken a turn for the better.

Although they encountered several groups of ninjas, they happened to be Rain Ninja. Facing civilians from their own country, these Rain Ninja, who were in the midst of a forced march, did not take any extreme actions, which allowed Chiba and his group to successfully escape the forest.

Passing through the forest, their field of vision suddenly opened up.

Standing on a high cliff, Chiba and his group had a clear view of the scene below.

Thousands of ninjas were engaged in a fierce and frantic slaughter across the vast plain below; the brutality of the war was simply indescribable.

The entire battlefield was filled with dazzling ninjutsu and the sounds of combat, leaving even the well-traveled Xia Mu somewhat stunned.

The so-called great battle Chiba had witnessed while in Heichen's unit could not even compare to this.

A moment later, a slightly composed Xia Mu pointed in a certain direction.

"There, there are no ninjas fighting there. Do you see that river? That should be our only way out. Once we cross that river, we should be safe."

Soon, the group cautiously snuck past the area below where no ninjas were fighting.

Chiba did not believe that no one had noticed their group of refugees, but perhaps, as that Rock Ninja had said before, they simply weren't worth wasting effort on; this was likely the reason they were able to leave unscathed.

Before long, the group quickly crossed the river Xia Mu had pointed out.

Without stopping for a moment, Chiba and his group fled desperately toward the distance.

It was only after they had traveled a great distance that the group finally came to a halt.

"Now... we should be safe, right?"

Watching the various flashes of fire flickering in the distance, Chiba asked, breathing slightly heavily.

"I suppose so."

Xia Mu looked at the deserted wilderness around them, his tone quite uncertain.

"We should have moved far away from the battlefield, but even here is not safe. Let's rest for a moment, and once we recover our strength, we will hit the road as soon as possible to get far away from this dangerous place."

However, just as the group was rejoicing at having finally escaped, the ground suddenly began to tremble for no apparent reason.

"Hiss—"

"Chirr—"

Accompanied by two unknown, beast-like roars, a pillar of fire suddenly erupted into the sky in the distance.

"Boom!"

The entire earth shook even more violently.

Before the group could react, a boulder three or four meters high came tumbling into their midst.

"Splat—splat—"

In an instant, more than a dozen mangled, bloody corpses lay upon the ground.

Staring blankly at the two blurry, gargantuan shadows in the distance, the group could not help but tremble.

"W-what is that?"