Konan and Haruna, System Unveiled

After the gray-clothed Jonin left, Su Zheng relaxed his guard and stretched his body.

He had meticulously designed his plan to land the Chidori. He waited until his opponent became careless before striking. Although he didn't manage to kill him, resolving this crisis was still a good outcome!

Su Zheng looked at the Sand Ninja trapped in the swamp and decided to deal with him first. Since he had finally captured a live one, he definitely needed to extract some information.

Su Zheng formed hand seals and slammed his palms onto the ground.

Earth Style: Mud Sculpting!

The wet soil in the swamp surged and flowed around the Chunin's body, gradually solidifying. It was a simple binding jutsu.

Su Zheng menacingly threatened, "You dare do these things? Don't expect any mercy from me. You'll have to endure all ten tortures!"

The Chunin, Jian, had no expression on his face. He recalled Lord Zhencun's orders when assigning the mission: "If you are captured, self-destruct immediately. If you dare leak any information, your entire family will pay the price!"

The harsh command still echoed in his ears! He had thought this was a simple mission, but he never expected to fall into the hands of a "Genin" he looked down upon.

Scenes of his family flashed before his eyes, one after another.

"No, for the honor of my family, I must make a sacrifice!"

The mud sculpture wasn't complete yet; he still had a chance. Looking at Su Zheng, who was close by, Chunin Jian revealed a cruel smile.

"Die with me!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A violent explosion occurred, turning the swamp where he was into a large crater. Mud splattered everywhere. As Akai and the other two were about to move forward, they were drenched in the flying mud.

After the explosion, the swamp completely vanished, leaving only a dark hole and mud scattered all around.

A member of Akai's squad cautiously stepped forward and sadly exclaimed, "Captain, Su Zheng sacrificed himself to save us, he..."

Just as his emotions were building, he was interrupted.

"Cough, cough, cough... Who said I'm dead? Hurry up and pull me up!"

From about ten meters above the swamp, Su Zheng's dusty figure appeared.

Akai Ueyama quickly pulled him up, looking at him with surprise, not understanding why he was unharmed.

Su Zheng collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, and explained, "When I saw him smiling at me, I knew something bad was about to happen, so I immediately used an Earth Style Ninjutsu to escape. I didn't expect this guy to be able to use such a powerful jutsu even when trapped!"

Akai showed an "I see" expression, then said somewhat sheepishly, "A Zheng, I'm sorry. I used to think you were called a 'genius' only because of Lord Hanzo. I was being petty. Please forgive me, and thank you for saving us."

The change from "kid" to "A Zheng" indicated a shift in his attitude. It took a life-or-death situation to clear up misunderstandings!

Su Zheng waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind, and replied, "It's fine, I'm used to this kind of thing. You guys clean up the battlefield, I'm going to rest for a bit."

The members of Akai's squad no longer dwelled on it, and the rift between the two squads dissolved into nothingness.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Su Zheng's teammates also arrived. The situation seemed to be okay.

At this moment, Akai walked over and said, "Three Chunin, except for the one who died in the explosion, the bodies of the other two have been stored in scrolls. You must accept these spoils of war!"

Since they had saved his squad's lives, he naturally had to give them these spoils.

The spoils of war were nothing more than some ninja tools, medicine, and scrolls. Su Zheng didn't refuse and accepted them all.

Su Zheng observed everyone's condition and suggested taking a break.

Except for Su Zheng, everyone else was injured, and more importantly, their chakra was almost depleted. Therefore, it was better to rest for a while.

Speaking of which, since the battle began, there had been no movement or even a sound from the town, which was very strange.

After deliberation, they decided to investigate. After all, as ninjas, it was their duty to protect the villagers of their country!

The transport squad cautiously searched each room, but there was no one outside the town. Everything seemed to have been rummaged through, leaving a mess!

Inside a few houses in the center of the town, they found a large number of civilians, but they were all unconscious, likely due to genjutsu.

Chunin Akai was about to step forward to dispel the genjutsu when Su Zheng stopped him, "Captain Akai, it's best to use a clone. Be careful of traps!"

Su Zheng's combat power had been demonstrated earlier, so they didn't doubt him. Everyone formed hand seals, "Water Clone Jutsu!"

They used water clones to dispel the genjutsu cast on the civilians.

Suddenly, Su Zheng's water clone discovered an explosive tag attached to someone's body. As soon as the genjutsu was dispelled, the explosive tag ignited. Su Zheng immediately ripped off the person's clothes and threw them out the window.

Boom! The explosion's shockwave shattered the windowpane, and the door creaked loudly.

Everyone's pupils constricted. Fortunately, Su Zheng had warned them; otherwise, they would have been destroyed here.

Su Zheng, however, thought of a certain unlucky fellow who had died from an explosive tag!

Everyone became more cautious and quickly finished the task. The civilians gradually woke up, causing a commotion and chaos.

Su Zheng and his team left the rest to Captain Akai to handle. The three of them went outside to rest.

Su Zheng looked at Shota, who was wrapped in multiple bandages, and laughed heartily, "Look at you, what a mess! You've learned your lesson now, haven't you?"

Shota humbly accepted and then seriously analyzed, "Indeed. That Chunin was very cunning. My casting speed was too slow, and he would interrupt me every time I was about to finish. Moreover, he didn't get close, giving us no opportunities. I just didn't expect him to overplay his hand."

Maki also put on a serious expression and said, "Our weakness is our lack of combat experience. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to injure us at all."

She paused and added somewhat proudly, "My man is very strong!"

The first half was fine, but why did the latter half turn into a "confession"? Watching them comfort each other, Su Zheng rolled his eyes.

Akai organized the civilians and sorted the documents, then brought out a few children and went outside.

After the two incidents, everyone implicitly respected Su Zheng, seeking his opinion on all matters.

"A Zheng, some of these people are locals, and some are refugees. They came here thinking they could escape the war, but they didn't expect it to spread here."

"Moreover, they've lost all their money. There are also two children; they also fled here as refugees."

Su Zheng followed the sound and saw two girls.

"This is... Konan," the screen in Su Zheng's mind lit up.

One girl had a bun hairstyle, blue-purple hair, and light orange-yellow eyes. Her face was delicate, and she was being protected behind the other girl with short black hair.

Su Zheng stepped forward, crouched down, and showed a gentle smile to the black-haired girl. "Don't be afraid. We're here to protect you. What's your name? What happened here?"

The black-haired girl boldly said, "My name is Haruna, and this is Konan. We are both war orphans. We thought this place was very safe, but today a group of people suddenly came, took our money, and locked us up. After that, we didn't know anything else."

Immediately, the girl showed a pleading expression and asked, "Brother, can you take us in? Don't worry, we're very capable. We can do laundry and cooking!"

Konan tightly held her good friend's hand, not understanding why she was asking the young man in front of them to take them in. Although he was good-looking, the conspicuous forehead protector clearly marked him as a ninja, the very people who had destroyed their homes.

Haruna didn't have time to explain. On the way here, she had been thinking about who could command several ninja to do their bidding, and she hadn't expected it to be a young man.

After the war, Haruna had learned a lot. She was sharp-minded. In this chaotic era, how could one survive without relying on the strong!

Haruna's words surprised everyone. Su Zheng was also a bit taken aback. He was still thinking about what excuse to use to adopt them, but she unexpectedly gave him a helping hand.

Sensing the girl's intentions, Su Zheng didn't expose her. Instead, it made him feel a strong sense of sorrow. To have to consider survival at such a young age—war was truly tragic!

Su Zheng took a deep breath to calm himself. Facing Haruna, who was trying hard to remain calm, and Konan, who was a bit timid, he said sincerely, "I'm also an orphan, and I can understand your pain. Are you willing to trust me?"

Haruna nodded frantically while pulling Konan, about to bow in thanks, but Su Zheng pulled them up and gave Maki a look.

"Come, big sister will take you to eat something delicious!" Maki turned and led the two little girls away.

Su Zheng looked at the silent crowd and said, "The war has brought too much suffering to this country. I've experienced that feeling, so I don't want them to go through my pain. Since we met, I want to take them in. What do you all think?"

Shota had no objections; he naturally supported his good brother.

Akai actually admired Su Zheng greatly. To be able to understand the pain of war at such a young age and still protect the weak was truly rare!

Everyone agreed, and the matter was settled!

Akai had a question and said, "The Sand Ninja this time were very strange. It was as if they knew our actions beforehand. But what's strange is why they would rob civilians of their money! It doesn't make sense for them to specifically do this!"

Su Zheng didn't commit either way. This mission was indeed peculiar. He thought of that ambiguous smile.

Could it be him? Just because he didn't want to return to his clan, they would kill him? The reason seemed insufficient!

With no leads, the group no longer dwelled on it. The matter would be reported to their superiors.

The transport team rested in the town for half an hour. After discussion, Maki and Shota would stay in town to look after them, while Su Zheng and the Akai Squad would continue their mission.

Not only to deliver supplies but also to meet his uncle, Hanzo.