A Sudden Turn

They hadn't gone far before they soon spotted another group of ninjas fighting.

"Damn it. They've blocked this road too."

"Xia Mu, what should we do?"

Gritting his teeth, Xia Mu pointed in another direction.

"We'll go this way."

But they hadn't gone far before they once again saw flames shooting into the sky in the distance.

"This way's no good either."

After running into fighting ninjas blocking their way several times in a row, Xia Mu's forehead was already slick with cold sweat.

"How could this happen? Why are there so many people? Which way are we supposed to go?"

Boom!

Just as Xia Mu was agonizing over what to do, a sudden, deafening blast erupted. More than a dozen people on the side of the group were instantly swallowed by a massive fireball.

"Sanmu!"

"Little Pang!"

The group stared in panic toward the explosion, at a loss for what to do.

Chiba's expression froze, too.

Several of the kids who'd always followed him around, calling him "Big Brother Chiba," were caught in that fireball.

In the blink of an eye, every one of them had been reduced to nothing.

Before anyone could figure out what had happened, several Rock Ninja suddenly stepped out.

"Damn it, those bastards ruined the trap I spent so long setting up! I'll kill them!"

As he spoke, one of the Rock Ninja angrily hurled the Kunai in his hand at Xia Mu and the others.

Thwack!

The two young men in the group dropped to the ground without a chance to fight back.

Another Rock Ninja gently stopped the one who had attacked them.

"Forget it. There's no point getting angry with a bunch of civilians. They're not worth wasting our time on. They've already learned the lesson they needed to, haven't they?"

"Hmph. You're lucky. I'll let you live this time."

A moment later, as they watched the Rock Ninja walk away, everyone in the group fell silent.

"The lesson they needed to..."

Chiba gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

Was the death of so many people really just the lesson they needed to learn?

Xia Mu had already collapsed to his knees, utterly spent.

"It was me. I got them killed."

At some point, tears had begun streaming down Xia Mu's face.

"Xia Mu..."

Izumi gently put her arms around him.

"This isn't your fault. No one blames you. No one blames you."

Chiba and the others joined in, comforting Xia Mu.

It was a long time before Xia Mu finally recovered from the brink of collapse.

Clenching his teeth, he held the map in a trembling hand.

Chiba understood that Xia Mu was under immense pressure.

The burden of having everyone's lives entrusted to him was undoubtedly more than Xia Mu could bear.

After a long silence, Xia Mu pressed his finger firmly against the map.

"We'll go this way."

Having regained some of his composure, Xia Mu analyzed the situation with a grave expression. "Given our circumstances, staying in the forest is just asking to die."

"Our only chance is to get out of the forest. We'll head from here toward the hills. The terrain there is open, and there shouldn't be many traps."

Soon, the group set out again in a heavy silence.

"I'll go first this time. Stay close behind me."

"Xia Mu..."

"Don't say anything. I'm the only one who might be able to spot these traps and avoid them."

A little while later, Xia Mu and the others had reached the depths of the forest.

It was clear that, for once, fortune had finally turned in their favor.

Although they encountered several groups of ninjas, they all happened to be Rain Ninja. Faced with civilians from their own country, the Rain Ninja, who were rushing to their destination, didn't do anything drastic. This allowed Chiba and the others to make it out of the forest.

As they emerged from the forest, the view opened up before them.

Standing on a tall cliff, Chiba and the others had an unobstructed view of the scene below.

Thousands of ninjas were fiercely locked in battle across the vast plain below. The brutality of the war was beyond description.

The battlefield was filled with dazzling ninjutsu and the sounds of fighting. Even Xia Mu, who had seen plenty, couldn't help but stare in a daze.

The so-called great battle Chiba had witnessed with Heichen's squad last time couldn't compare to this at all.

A moment later, Xia Mu had calmed down a little and pointed in one direction.

"There. There aren't any ninjas fighting over there. See that river? It should be our only way out. Once we cross it, we should be safe."

Soon, the group cautiously slipped through the area below where no ninjas were fighting.

Chiba didn't believe nobody had noticed their band of refugees. Perhaps, just as the Rock Ninja had said earlier, they simply weren't worth the effort. That was probably the only reason they'd made it out safely.

Before long, the group hurried across the river Xia Mu had mentioned.

Without stopping, Chiba and the others fled as fast as they could toward the distance.

They had gone a long way before finally stopping.

"We should be safe now, right?"

Watching the occasional flashes of light in the distance, Chiba asked between breaths.

"Probably."

Xia Mu looked around at the empty wilderness, his tone uncertain.

"We should be far from the battlefield by now, but even here, we aren't safe. Let's rest for a bit. Once we've recovered our strength, we'll get moving as soon as possible and put as much distance as we can between ourselves and this dangerous place."

But just as the group was celebrating their escape, the ground suddenly began to tremble for no apparent reason.

Hiss—

Screech—

Two immense roars, like the cries of some unknown beasts, rang out. In the distance, a pillar of flame suddenly shot into the sky.

Boom!

The earth began shaking even more violently.

Before anyone could react, a boulder three or four meters tall came tumbling into the middle of Chiba's group.

Thud! Thud!

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

Staring blankly at the two enormous, indistinct shadows in the distance, the group began to tremble.

"W-what are those...?"