"Ah, so you were sent by an old acquaintance. No wonder you were hiding your faces—you were afraid I'd recognize you?"
Uchiha Chen had initially thought these masked men were the targets of his mission: people from Sunagakure.
But the fleeting red glint in the Masked Man's eyes just now was something Uchiha Chen knew all too well. That was the Sharingan!
So it was obvious who had sent these men, wasn't it?
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's finish this quickly. Kill him!"
The Tiger Mask Man's eyes narrowed, killing intent surging as he waved his hand and gave the order.
"Yes!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
The Eagle-Beaked Mask Man on the Tiger Mask Man's left struck first. He began with the Snake hand seal and ended with the Tiger hand seal, sending a straight line of flames hurtling toward the tree beneath Uchiha Chen's feet.
"Boom!"
The tree snapped with a thunderous crack and toppled backward. Uchiha Chen pushed off lightly with his toes, leaping forward before preparing to land steadily on the ground.
"Just as I expected. I've already seen through your movements!"
"Earth Style: Rock Plate Coffin!"
The Tiger Mask Man let out a cold laugh. Finishing the Snake hand seal, he slammed his palm onto the ground.
As the earth trembled, several stone slabs of different shapes abruptly burst from the ground, surrounding Uchiha Chen just as he landed.
"Boom!!"
The stone slabs suddenly closed in, trapping Uchiha Chen completely and forming a raised pillar of rock around him.
"Let's see you survive being crushed by the rocks this time!"
But before the Tiger Mask Man and the others could enjoy their triumph for long, a piercing whistle of wind sounded from inside the stone pillar.
Then, several cracks appeared in the pillar that had trapped Uchiha Chen. Their number multiplied exponentially, and needle-thin strands of energy shot out through the web of fissures, setting off bursts of energy like fireworks.
Watching the scene unfold before them, all five men stared in disbelief.
"How is this possible?!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the sturdy stone pillar crumbled into powder and scattered in the wind, revealing Uchiha Chen, who had been trapped inside.
"This Rasengan packs quite a punch."
Uchiha Chen smiled and brushed the stone dust off himself, thoroughly pleased with his handiwork.
"Attack together! I refuse to believe we can't take him down! We've got three Chunin, one Special Jonin, and one full-fledged Jonin!"
Seeing Uchiha Chen unharmed, the Tiger Mask Man ground out the order through clenched teeth.
Before the others could respond, Uchiha Chen had already made his move.
"I just learned the Rasengan today, so you'll make good targets for some practice!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Poof~"
In the blink of an eye, five clouds of white smoke rose around Uchiha Chen, and five Shadow Clones identical to him appeared.
"Rasengan!"
"Big Ball Rasengan!"
"Fire Style: Great Flame Rasengan!"
"Compressed Rasengan!"
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
The five clones charged at the five masked men the instant they appeared, each with a different type of Rasengan in hand.
"Rumble!!"
As the five clones attacked, Uchiha Chen turned and walked away.
Real men never look back at explosions. That was confidence, pure and simple.
But before long, Uchiha Chen hurried back, looking rather awkward. He'd been too busy showing off and had walked in the wrong direction!
He glanced at the five bodies on the ground, their masks shattered and their breathing gone... No, four bodies. The Tiger Mask Man was still barely alive.
"Why... you only just awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan..."
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in the Tiger Mask Man's eyes had already dimmed, but his gaze was still full of disbelief and resentment.
They had both awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Why was Uchiha Chen so terrifyingly strong?
"There are differences even between Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Besides, what's so impressive about having three tomoe?
"Blame that old fool Uchiha Sanhe for underestimating me. He thought he could kill me by sending a bunch of nobodies."
Uchiha Chen spoke calmly, his expressionless face betraying nothing.
"You..."
The Tiger Mask Man's eyes bulged, and then he fell silent forever.
"Don't worry. That old fool will be joining you soon enough."
With that, Uchiha Chen walked away with a carefree air.
Not long after Uchiha Chen had left, a blue toad came hopping out of the bushes and stopped beside the five bodies. Then a large hand emerged from the toad's gaping mouth, and a tall, white-haired man climbed out!
The white-haired man was none other than Jiraiya, who had said not long ago that he and Uchiha Chen would split up.
"You took care of those men in no time at all. You really are my Chen. Now I can feel at ease letting you work on your own."
Watching the direction Uchiha Chen had gone, Jiraiya murmured with a smile before slipping back into the toad's mouth...
"Brother Seishin, according to the map, we're almost at the border of the Land of Fire. Once we leave the Land of Fire, we'll be in our Land of Rivers."
A line of carriages hurried along the broad road, kicking up clouds of dust. In one of them, an old man with a full head of white hair and a sprightly demeanor pointed ahead with a cheerful smile.
Beside the old man sat Uchiha Chen, though he was dressed quite differently now.
The old man was named Izumitani Yoju. He owned the merchant caravan and came from Hot Spring Village in the Land of Rivers.
They were returning to Hot Spring Village after purchasing supplies in the Land of Fire. Along the way, they had run into bandits, who were strong enough to slaughter all the bodyguards he had hired.
Just as Izumitani Yoju had given up hope, Uchiha Chen had appeared out of nowhere and killed all the rampant bandits in just a few minutes.
Naturally, Izumitani Yoju had been immensely grateful to Uchiha Chen for saving his life. After chatting with him, he learned that Uchiha Chen was a wandering ninja named Seishin (when you were out traveling the world, you naturally needed an alias), and he had eagerly invited him to travel with the caravan.
That was exactly what Uchiha Chen had planned, so he readily agreed to join them.
According to the intelligence Jiraiya had given him, a squad of Sunagakure vanguard shinobi had appeared at the border of the Land of Rivers. Uchiha Chen's job was to find them, learn their movements, or kill them all.
"Old man, the Five Great Nations are at war, and the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire could start fighting at any moment. Isn't it dangerous to keep traveling for business?"
Uchiha Chen looked ahead and asked as if the question had just occurred to him.
"Alas, for people like us who make a living on the road, taking risks is the only way to survive in these troubled times."
Izumitani Yoju sighed deeply.