One Night

When Ueno Kei left, a figure flickered in the shadow of a large tree not far away.

In the dappled sunlight filtered through the tree's shade stood a mysterious figure, completely concealed beneath a black robe.

The mysterious figure looked up in the direction Ueno Kei had gone, then blurred and vanished from the spot. If Ueno Kei had been there, he would have realized that the stranger had used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from sight.

He had not truly vanished. He had simply used a burst of chakra and physical Taijutsu to move faster, making him seem to vanish to an ordinary person's eyes.

However, in the Ninja World, the Body Flicker Technique could generally be mastered only by Chunin and above. This meant the mysterious figure was at least a Chunin. What was more, Ueno Kei had been training there for half a day.

Yet he had never noticed the mysterious figure's presence. Ueno Kei was one of the strongest Genin around, perhaps even comparable to a Chunin,

but he had been completely unaware of the stranger's whereabouts. That meant the mysterious figure was unquestionably far stronger than Ueno Kei.

A short while later, more than a dozen suspicious people in black robes gathered elsewhere in the woods west of the village. Their faces were all hidden beneath their hoods.

The mysterious figure who had been watching Ueno Kei was among them, and his position made him look like their leader.

"Number One's area is clear!"

"Number Three's area is clear!"

"Number Four..."

Several black-robed figures reported in orderly succession. Once they had finished, the one who looked like their leader bowed slightly to the black-robed figures at the center and spoke respectfully. "Head of the family, everything is in place. The people there haven't changed their arrangements. Everything is normal."

"Good. The original plan remains unchanged. The Anbu are yours to deal with. Wuyi, Wuheng, you two will take care of everyone else in the mountains. We can't let word get out. The rest of you will come with me to welcome Yun'er." The speaker was the same black-robed figure who had appeared at Ueno Kei's training ground.

His voice was low and aged, chilling to the bone and deeply unsettling.

The black-robed figure had gone to the training ground to check the surrounding area. If he had noticed anything amiss, he would have called off the plan or changed it.

When he ran into Ueno Kei, he had initially planned to kill him. What his family was plotting was extremely important to them.

If they succeeded, the entire clan would have to leave Konoha immediately, or face annihilation. The leader knew perfectly well that Konoha's higher-ups would never tolerate their actions if they learned of the plot.

It didn't matter whether they had caused Konoha any losses. The village would never allow such a thing to happen.

So they had to snuff out anything that might expose them before it could come to pass. Just as he was about to kill Ueno Kei, he suddenly shuddered and drew back the foot he had already stepped forward.

It wasn't that the black-robed man had suddenly taken pity on him. He had sensed a ninja approaching, whose chakra was at least at a Chunin's level. He could have killed Ueno Kei without making a sound, but dealing with that Chunin would not have been so easy.

If that brought more Konoha Ninja to the scene, the consequences would be disastrous. So he hid himself completely and waited until the Chunin had moved beyond his sensing range.

Only then did the black-robed man breathe a sigh of relief. By that time, Ueno Kei had already left.

The black-robed man saw that Ueno Kei was heading down the mountain toward the village. After a moment's hesitation, he abandoned the idea of pursuing him. He couldn't know what might happen along the way, and Ueno Kei had already decided to leave.

The black-robed man didn't want to invite unnecessary complications, so he let Ueno Kei go.

The leader stood still, silently reviewing the entire plan and searching for any flaws.

Then a voice came from beside him. "Big Brother, should we reconsider?"

A shorter black-robed figure standing beside the leader spoke hesitantly. He knew that calling off the plan now would be absurd and might lead to even worse consequences, but for some reason, a dark unease would not leave him.

After agonizing over it, he finally spoke up.

The leader turned toward him, but before he could reply, a burly black-robed figure standing to the left spoke. "Ye Yi, what are you thinking? We've come this far, and you still want to back out? Isn't that ridiculous? Besides, Yun'er is a once-in-a-generation talent for our clan. How can you bear to leave her trapped here by Konoha? Hmph! Once we rescue her, even if our clan suffers heavy losses, as long as we wait for Yun'er to grow up, she'll surely become a Kage Level powerhouse! Then our clan will be able to stand against the great clans!"

His voice was rough and his tone brash. As he spoke, he pulled back his hood, revealing a resolute, broad face with thick eyebrows—the face of a man who spoke his mind.

"But... Konoha isn't..." Ye Yi said, troubled. Then he seemed to realize something, and his tone turned firm. "Exactly! You're right, but do you really think Konoha is that simple? If anything goes wrong, our clan will be wiped out! Yewu, have you thought about that?"

Yewu let out a scornful laugh. "Ye Yi, no wonder you never took charge of anything back then, Second Uncle. Always looking before and after, afraid to take a risk? Are you sure you're not three years old? Hmph! Big Brother, don't listen to Ye Yi's nonsense. Our clan has no way back!"

After mocking his cousin, Yewu turned to the leader in the middle and spoke with unwavering resolve.

At his cousin's taunt, Ye Yi's body trembled slightly. Though his black robe hid his face, he must have looked utterly humiliated.

The black-robed man they called Big Brother rubbed his forehead in frustration and shook his head.

"Yewu, don't worry. At this point, I won't—and can't—turn back. Everything will proceed according to the original plan. The outcome rests on this one attempt. If Heaven means for our clan to be destroyed, then we'll accept it as fate."

"But, Big Brother..." Ye Yi began, agitated.

Hearing his elder brother's decision, Yewu relaxed, a pleased look coming over his face. When he heard his cousin was about to argue again, he glared at him, ready to say something.

But their Big Brother raised a hand to stop him. Yewu reluctantly shrank back and said nothing.

Beneath the leader's hood, a flicker of unease crossed his face. He gazed blankly at his cautious cousin and silently sighed, in a voice only he could hear.

"Ye Yi, I understand what you're saying. Your Fourth Brother understands, too, and so does the entire clan. You were the one who opposed this from the start, and you still oppose it now. We all know why. But we have no way back. We have to make a decision. Do you understand?"