Li Yu received his 37th S-rank mission: go to the Land of Bears and hunt down Mizunashi, a missing-nin from Takigakure.
According to the intelligence, Mizunashi had appeared near the border of the Land of Birds.
Li Yu set out as soon as he received the mission. He crossed the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, planning to enter the Land of Birds as quickly as possible.
The Land of Birds sat beside a lake where migratory birds nested. The lake encircled the town, and lush greenery stretched in every direction. It was a beautiful, peaceful place.
This was Li Yu's first visit to the Land of Birds. He recalled the original story: Sasuke had only recently deserted the village, and Naruto, Tenten, and Neji had teamed up for the "Cursed Warrior" mission in the Land of Birds.
In short, a group of rogue ninja wanted to usurp the daimyo and take over the country.
"This tiny country doesn't have its own ninja, so at most we'll run into a few rogue ninja on this mission. Let's go to the capital and gather some information first."
Besides Li Yu, the team consisted of Yan Xing and two Anbu Ninja.
As the captain of the operation, Li Yu ordered the other two Anbu Ninja to gather information. He and Yan Xing used the Transformation Technique to change their appearances, then sauntered around the capital of the Land of Birds.
The missing-nin they hunted down on these missions were always guys who were at most jōnin-level. To Li Yu, each mission felt like a business trip.
The scenery in the Land of Birds was quite nice, and there were a lot of egrets. Maybe that was how it got its name. But its economy couldn't compare to Konoha's, and before long, Li Yu had lost interest.
At the meeting point, they found the two Anbu who had returned from gathering information. Mizunashi had hired rogue ninja to protect him and had already headed for the Land of Bears.
"What? Mizunashi got away again?"
"He's gone this far and even hired people to protect him. Takigakure paid Konoha a high price to hunt him down, so he must be no pushover."
The two small countries, the Land of Bears and the Land of Birds, both survived in the narrow strip between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Now they had to pursue Mizunashi into the even deeper confines of the Land of Bears.
The four set off in a hurry. They had to intercept Mizunashi before he entered the forest in the Land of Bears. The forest was dense and easy to get lost in. If he made it inside, tracking him would be even harder.
The Land of Bears.
After traveling through the night,
Li Yu sensed four people resting on the ground two kilometers ahead.
Li Yu sneered.
"This Mizunashi from Takigakure can really run. I've finally caught up with him."
After deciding on a plan, the four of them quietly moved in.
The two Anbu Ninja took up positions on either side.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
At night, two fireballs came flying at them. Mizunashi reacted quickly.
"Water Release: Multiple Water Wall!"
Two walls of water rose to block the fireballs. In an instant, steam billowed and obscured their vision.
Li Yu didn't hold back either. He hurled two Specialized Kunai from the side at the four of them.
The Flying Thunder God activated, and he appeared between the two rogue ninja in an instant. He struck one with a Rasengan in his left hand and stabbed the other in the throat with a kunai in his right.
Under the horrified gaze of the other rogue ninja, one of his companions was sent flying, while another clutched his throat and fell.
Mizunashi and his companion quickly leaped away, trying to put some distance between themselves and Li Yu.
Yan Xing caught up with Mizunashi and fought him using Taijutsu. The rogue ninja rapidly formed Hand Seals.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
A sea of figures appeared.
One of Konoha's Anbu exclaimed, "That's Konoha's secret forbidden jutsu! How could he know it?"
Li Yu was also astonished. That was Naruto's signature jutsu. Who hadn't seen it in the Naruto series?
His Sharingan opened, his eyes turning blood-red as three Tomoe spun rapidly.
Li Yu couldn't help sneering.
"Heh, just an illusion. All show and no substance."
Without hesitation, he hurled another Specialized Kunai.
The kunai passed through several figures at the front. Li Yu flashed again, appearing in the middle of the crowd.
He drove his Rasengan down from above, slamming one figure into the ground.
"Boom! Boom!"
All the clones twisted and vanished at once instead of turning into clouds of white smoke.
Only one motionless figure remained, lying in a crater beside Li Yu.
Li Yu muttered under his breath,
"I thought I wouldn't have to use the Sharingan against you. Since you've made me open it, let's finish this quickly."
Mizunashi and Yan Xing clashed kunai. Mizunashi used the impact to propel himself backward, rapidly forming Hand Seals.
Li Yu didn't hold back either. He watched Mizunashi with his Sharingan and copied his Hand Seals, moving even faster.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Water gathered beneath Li Yu's feet, forming a dragon that surged toward Mizunashi.
Mizunashi's pupils dilated. He shouted, "How is that possible?!"
The moment the water dragon beneath his feet raised its head, Li Yu's dragon bit down on it and carried him more than a hundred meters away. Mizunashi passed out on the spot.
Li Yu ordered the two Anbu Ninja to dispose of the rogue ninja's bodies. He deactivated his Sharingan and went over to the unconscious Mizunashi. He noticed a gourd hanging from Mizunashi's waist, filled with a clear liquid that glimmered with a golden light.
Li Yu's heart skipped a beat, and his pulse quickened.
"Hero's Water."
"Takigakure's specialty."
Sacred water collected beneath a giant tree once every hundred years. Drinking Hero's Water could increase one's chakra tenfold, but it came at a price: the water would consume the user's life.
Li Yu unhesitatingly tucked it away.
With Mizunashi dealt with, Li Yu sealed his body in a scroll, ready to take it back and complete the mission.
Suddenly, Li Yu sensed something unusual within his range.
"Something's wrong. A large group of ninja is heading this way."
One of the Anbu stepped forward and said,
"Captain, can you tell which country's ninja they are?"
Li Yu placed his hand against a nearby tree and focused on sensing.
Yan Xing watched Li Yu intently.
As the two Anbu spoke, their hands moved toward their kunai, whose blades still gleamed with a purple sheen.
One of them suddenly stabbed Li Yu in the back, while the other swept in with a strike.
Yan Xing saw what was happening and shouted, "Zi Yu, watch your back!"
Li Yu twisted aside to avoid the kunai aimed at his back, then stepped away.
"Rrrip." His clothes tore, and a spray of blood burst from his arm.
After landing their attacks, the two Anbu Ninja quickly jumped away and stood on a tree.
Seeing that Li Yu's arm had only been grazed, Yan Xing spun and charged at one of Konoha's Anbu. Li Yu hurled a Specialized Kunai and rushed at the other Anbu Ninja first.
Just as Li Yu was about to attack, he suddenly noticed smoke rising from the Anbu Ninja's body. He shouted,
"Yan Xing, watch out! He's going to blow himself up!"
"Boom! Boom!"
Yan Xing heard Li Yu's warning just in time. He halted at the last second and crossed his arms in front of his chest, but the blast sent him flying.
Li Yu easily used the Flying Thunder God Formula he had left behind to return to where he'd started.
He cursed, "Damn it!"
"We got played by people from Konoha!"
"Yan Xing, get out of here! More ninja are coming!"
Li Yu noticed that the wound on his arm had healed, but his chakra was gradually becoming impossible to control.
He formed Hand Seals, and a Wood Clone appeared beside him.
Leaving the clone to cover their retreat, Li Yu and the slightly injured Yan Xing turned and fled toward the Land of Birds.
As Yan Xing watched Li Yu run, his face grew paler and paler. He was even having trouble keeping up.
"Zi Yu, what's wrong? Why are you so pale?"
Li Yu gasped as he replied,
"Yan Xing, the kunai from those Konoha Anbu had poison on them. It seems like the poison was specially designed to target me..."
He stopped where he was and used Medical Ninjutsu to force most of the poison out of his body.
Li Yu hadn't expected the treatment to be so difficult. He was left drained and listless.
Seeing that Li Yu couldn't run anymore, Yan Xing said,
"I'll carry you."
He came straight over, forcibly hoisted Li Yu onto his back, and continued toward the Land of Birds.
Somewhere in his hazy daze, Li Yu passed out.
Wood Release Clone.
"My main body is badly injured. I have to buy him time."
Li Yu's clone set up an Explosive Tag trap nearby, using every last one of its tags. Then it waited for the ninja whose village it hadn't yet identified.
At that moment, around thirty figures were moving swiftly through the trees under cover of night.
Suddenly, a string of explosions rang out.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"There's a trap!"
"Enemy attack!"
Amid the confusion of the explosions, Li Yu hurled five Specialized Kunai toward the densest part of the crowd and activated the Flying Thunder God without hesitation.
"Aah!"
"Pfft! Pfft!"
After several flashes, six ninja wearing headbands emblazoned with pentagrams lay dead on the spot.
The moment he killed them, Li Yu retrieved his kunai. Then he turned and left without lingering to fight.
In that brief clash, he had killed eight of the enemy ninja and injured five others.
"So they're Star Ninja."
Li Yu didn't want to waste his chakra. The road back to Konoha was long, and he didn't know whether this attack would deter the Star Ninja and make them retreat, or at least stop them from pursuing with all their strength.
"Damn it, Konoha ninja!"
"Where are they?"
"Are they hiding somewhere?"
"You Konoha rats! Come out if you've got the guts!"
Hearing their taunts behind him, Li Yu sneered and sped up to catch up with his main body.