The Secret Was Out

After killing the ninjas at the entrance, Yin Xiang quickly retreated. If anyone came to the entrance, the infiltration would be exposed, and sensor ninjas would start searching Honey Flower Village for intruders. Before that happened, Yin Xiang wanted to take out as many ninjas as possible.

Yin Xiang began moving through Honey Flower Village. There were no Chunin left in the village, only two Anbu, two jonin, and twelve Genin. His goal this time was to kill those twelve Genin. After that, only five ninjas would remain in the village, leaving them practically powerless to fight back.

"I don't know what's going on in the village. So many ninjas went out and never came back, and we still have to patrol the streets." Yin Xiang stood on a rooftop as three Genin passed below.

"I feel like something big is about to happen. The village is really vulnerable right now."

"So many ninjas in the Land of Honey have been killed. Who could possibly be coming after us? They must have gone out on some special mission." The three Genin walked along, talking. Yin Xiang quietly followed them.

Honey Shadow Building.

"What on earth is going on? The ninjas who went out still haven't returned?" Xian Shadow sat in his chair, looking anxious. Two Anbu stood behind him, while two jonin stood before him. One of them was Hekai, the jonin who had defected alongside Yamaha.

"We haven't heard anything from them at all. We sent so many people, and not one has returned," said the jonin beside Hekai.

"How can this be... Are the Konoha Ninjas really that strong?" Sweat trickled down Xian Shadow's forehead. If all the ninjas he had sent out really had been killed, then his resistance would be meaningless. He had thought that sending five jonin with so many other ninjas would be enough to kill the Konoha Ninjas. Now he saw that he had truly underestimated them.

"Only the five of us are left to fight... If Konoha's people break in..." Hekai trailed off, but everyone present understood what he meant. Even the two Anbu looked uneasy beneath their masks.

"Why is Konoha meddling in the affairs of our little countries? Damn it!" Xian Shadow slammed his fist on the table, furious. He couldn't understand why Konoha's ninjas had come all this way when the Land of Honey was a hundred thousand miles from the Land of Fire.

"The princess of the Land of Honey fled to Konoha earlier. She may have hired Konoha's ninjas," said the jonin beside Hekai.

"What can we do now?" Honey Shadow asked the two men before him. He had only just conquered the Land of Honey, and nothing had been secured yet. He had heard that something was happening in the Land of Filling too, but all communication had been cut off. Now Konoha's ninjas had appeared on top of all that, and he truly didn't know what to do.

"I'm afraid the tide has turned," Hekai said, shaking his head. "That Konoha team is deadly. So far, they've killed two of our Anbu, three jonin, twelve Chunin, and fifteen Genin. It feels like we've been sending people to die at their hands one after another, as if they planned it all."

Hekai's instincts were right. They had fallen straight into Yin Xiang's trap. Though the large group of ninjas that arrived later had thrown Yin Xiang into momentary confusion, he had fortunately recognized the Third Hokage, which had steadied him.

Meanwhile, Yin Xiang had killed the three Genin in an alley and transformed into one of them. He now walked openly down the street, hoping to run into more ninjas.

Yin Xiang's attacks had always been completely unconventional. He transformed into someone the enemy knew, letting them drop their guard, then struck so quickly they couldn't react. The Lightning Style Kunai were fast and unexpected, and he attacked from the shadows, leaving his targets no chance to dodge. A ninja like Yin Xiang was truly suited to life in the shadows.

Yin Xiang wasn't like Naruto, who charged straight into a fight, or Sasuke, who always had to show off before finishing off an enemy. He wasn't like Sakura either, who had to shout "Die!" before attacking. Yin Xiang never drew attention to himself. He liked the feeling of killing without a trace.

At the entrance, three ninja squads found the six dead Genin and panicked. After conferring, they hurried off to report to Xian Shadow. Worried that someone had infiltrated the village, they split up and took three different routes. Unfortunately, one of them ran straight into Yin Xiang on the street.

"Sanzan! Sanzan! This is bad! All the ninjas at the entrance have been killed. Someone's infiltrated the village. We have to get to Xian Shadow's building!" the Genin shouted when he saw the person Yin Xiang had transformed into.

"Did you see it by yourself?" Yin Xiang asked.

"No, there were two others. We split up to report it. Come with me!" the Genin said, grabbing Yin Xiang's hand to pull him along. As he turned around, Yin Xiang struck him with a knife-hand and knocked him unconscious. Then he dragged him into a corner and killed him.

Yin Xiang then went looking for the other two Genin carrying the message. He had to catch them. He headed straight for the Honey Shadow Building. He was much faster than they were, and by the time he arrived, two Genin were running toward it from different directions.

"Sanzan, what are you doing here? Hurry and come with us!" one of the Genin said as he passed Yin Xiang, then ran straight into the Honey Shadow Building. The other Genin didn't even acknowledge Yin Xiang and rushed inside too.

Yin Xiang turned and threw two Lightning Style Kunai, killing them both. They tumbled down the stairs. Of the village's eighteen Genin, Yin Xiang had now killed twelve, leaving only six.

As the two Genin ran toward the building, they had also encountered the other two teams on the way. One of those teams had a sensor ninja, who had already begun searching for Yin Xiang, though Yin Xiang didn't know it yet.

Yin Xiang dragged the two bodies under the stairs and left them in a corner.

"D-dead... Someone's dead!" A villager came upon the spot where Yin Xiang had killed the three Genin and shouted. The cry immediately drew the villagers' attention, and they crowded around. The street quickly erupted into a commotion.

"What's happening outside?" The jonin beside Hekai noticed the villagers moving around outside and ran to the window. Seeing a crowd gathered, he said, "It looks like something's happened in the village."