The Rogue Ninja of the Land of Honey

"There is one more piece of good news." Yin Xiang looked at Miji, who blinked in surprise. "Your father is not dead; he is being held in prison. We can just rescue him later."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Upon hearing this news, both Miji and Yamashin were overjoyed. "Then... what about Honey Shadow? Is he alright?"

"Honey Shadow? You still have a connection with him?" Yin Xiang frowned. If the question was about Honey Shadow, it certainly wasn't good news.

"Honey Shadow is my brother!" Miji said, looking at Yin Xiang.

"..." Yin Xiang fell silent. Seeing his expression, Miji seemed to understand. "My brother... is he dead?"

Yin Xiang didn't speak, merely nodding. Miji went quiet as well, and before long, the sound of her stifled sobs filled the cave, soon erupting into full-blown weeping.

Yin Xiang sighed and looked at Tenten. Tenten understood, setting aside her food to comfort Miji; girls comforting girls always tended to be more effective.

Several hours passed, and as night fell, the group prepared to sleep.

Swish... swish...

Two sounds echoed from the woods outside. Everyone stood up, except for Miji, who had already fallen asleep. "They actually chose to come at night?" Yin Xiang walked to the cave entrance and peered out cautiously. Sure enough, two ninjas were approaching.

"The bandits should all be asleep by now. Let's take this chance to go in and kill them all," one of the ninjas said. The other nodded, and both drew their kunai, heading toward the cave.

"Lightning Style." Yin Xiang raised his right hand, holding two kunai between his fingers, and coated them in lightning chakra. However, he didn't throw them immediately; he hesitated, wondering whether he should really kill these two men.

"Yin Xiang, a ninja must always be prepared to kill the enemy." At that moment, Shikaku's voice came from behind him. Yin Xiang nodded and remained silent for a moment. Just as the two ninjas were about to step into the cave, the two kunai in Yin Xiang's hand flew out with incredible speed.

Both chunin collapsed to the ground. "Argh!" one of them let out a pained howl. Yin Xiang walked over to him, looking down at the corpse beside him, whose head had been pierced through by a kunai. The two weapons were now embedded in a tree in the distance.

Yin Xiang had killed one chunin and left the other alive. The reason it had gone so smoothly was twofold: the two chunin had assumed they were only dealing with bandits and had lowered their guard, and Yin Xiang's kunai were simply too fast. Furthermore, there was a genuine gap in strength between them and Yin Xiang.

"Konoha... Konoha ninja!" The man on the ground, whose leg had been pierced, saw the Konoha forehead protector on Yin Xiang's waist and understood everything.

"Ugh..." Yin Xiang felt a wave of nausea looking at the corpse. The last time he had buried the four guards of the Insoro Clan was the first time he had seen a dead body, and now he had killed someone with his own hands. Although he didn't vomit, his stomach felt deeply unsettled.

Shikaku went over to tie up the surviving ninja. Yin Xiang eventually dragged the corpse away and dumped it at the bottom of the cliff before returning to the cave.

"Your... Your Highness..." The chunin actually recognized Miji. It seemed he was one of the defecting chunin.

"You know me?" Miji had been woken up by the man's pained howl, and she was surprised to see that the ninja recognized her.

"I... I was a chunin of the Land of Honey..." The ninja hung his head in shame, not daring to look at Miji. Hearing that he was a former ninja of her land, Miji clenched her fists in anger.

"How many ninjas from the Land of Honey have become rogue ninjas in total?" Yamashin asked, looking at the man. His expression was grim; it appeared he recognized this ninja.

"Yamashin..." The ninja looked at him, finally recognizing him. "Along with Jonin Guy and... Jonin Yamaha, they have all defected."

"My... my father?" Yamashin's eyes widened. Yamaha was his father; he never imagined that his own father would defect.

The chunin nodded. "Including myself and the one just now, there are four chunin and ten genin."

"How could my father..." Yamashin remained in a state of disbelief. His father had always been diligent and responsible, guarding the Land of Honey for so long, and had always lectured him on the importance of protecting their land. How could this happen now?