Fierce Battle

Senju Kyogawa, having finished off several enemies, was the closest to the carriage.

He rushed over only to find that the maid had already had her neck snapped, and several bandits were prying open the carriage curtain to grab Xiao Xi.

Xiao Xi, who had been crying and making a fuss earlier, was now strangely quiet, and Kyogawa's nose was once again filled with that peculiar fragrance.

Senju Kyogawa gripped his kunai and lunged, stabbing the arm that was grabbing Xiao Xi. He immediately slid his hand in a reverse motion, catching the bandit off guard and slashing his throat.

Seeing this, the bandit immediately changed targets; holding a large saber in his uninjured left hand, he thrust it toward Kyogawa's face.

Kyogawa reacted quickly, tilting his head back to dodge, but the bandit remained relentless, bringing the blade down in a slashing motion.

Kyogawa couldn't dodge in time and could only raise his kunai with both hands to block, but how could the strength of a four-year-old child compare to that of an adult man?

With a forceful shove from the bandit, the heavy saber came crashing down. Kyogawa tried his best to block with his kunai while turning his head to the side.

The saber struck Kyogawa's right shoulder.

Having lowered his pain threshold, Kyogawa only let out a muffled grunt, suddenly struck by a flash of inspiration.

Senju Kyogawa kicked the bandit in the groin, causing the man's back to arch violently; he was now completely unable to pay any attention to Kyogawa.

The bandit lost his strength from the pain, and Kyogawa took the opportunity to knock the saber away and roll to the side.

At this moment, Senju Chenghe arrived and delivered a fatal blow, slitting the bandit's throat.

"Are you alright?" Senju Chenghe asked.

"I'm fine." Senju Kyogawa shook his head, placing his left hand on his right shoulder to cast a healing jutsu.

By now, the bandits had suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining few, seeing that the situation was lost, scrambled away in a panic.

After catching his breath, the adrenaline that had surged through Senju Kyogawa during the crisis began to fade. Looking at the severed limbs mixed with blood and viscera on the ground, he instantly felt dizzy and nauseated.

Beyond the sickening stench of blood, Kyogawa also smelled that strange fragrance that made his head spin.

Senju Kyogawa suddenly felt lightheaded and vomited, retching uncontrollably, wishing he could purge everything he had eaten over the past two days.

By the end, there was nothing left to throw up, and only stomach acid remained burning in his throat.

Seeing that Kyogawa was mostly finished, Senju Chenghe handed him some water and said:

"I was about your age when I first went to the battlefield, and I felt just as sick as you do. But soon, I didn't have the luxury of vomiting; there were too many enemies. To survive, I had no choice but to keep killing."

Senju Kyogawa spat out the mouthwash, drank a few more gulps of water, and slumped onto the ground. He looked at Senju Chenghe, who was squatting in front of him, with a pale face, cursing inwardly without stop.

[What a fucked-up world! How can there be a world that forces children onto the battlefield!]

In his past life, even as an orphan, Kyogawa had lived under the warmth of socialism. He had scavenged for trash, slept in bridge tunnels, and gone hungry, but he had never experienced war, nor had he ever killed anyone.

Before today, Kyogawa had never had a concrete concept of the Ninja World, nor of war.

But now, only one thought filled his mind—

This is truly a goddamn terrible world!

Could he really manage to live until he died of old age?

Senju Kyogawa couldn't figure it out, and he didn't dare to keep thinking about it.

He just wanted to scream and curse this world, a world where children were forced to take up weapons and go to war.

After calming down for a while, Senju Kyogawa resigned himself to his fate.

He was already a part of this terrible world, and he would frequently experience these things in the future.

He hadn't killed anyone personally today, but he would in the future.

He had to learn to adapt to this environment, or change it.

Lacking the power to do otherwise, Senju Kyogawa had no choice but to adapt to this environment for now.

After clearing his head for a moment, Senju Kyogawa stood up to treat everyone.

In this battle, the ninjas of the Senju clan had all sustained injuries of varying severity, but they were all still alive, which was the only consolation.

After healing them, Senju Kyogawa harvested another batch of "Affection Points" and "Healing Points."

After resting for a while, they had to continue their journey; after all, staying on the mountainside to regroup was too dangerous, and the Earth and Water jutsus used earlier had already loosened parts of the mountainside.

Thus, Senju Kyogawa endured the blood covering his body and continued on. He just wanted to find a place with a river to wash up; he really couldn't stand the sticky, foul-smelling blood clinging to his skin.

Once he had calmed down, Kyogawa approached the carriage where the noblewoman and Xiao Xi were, but he could no longer smell that strange fragrance.

Kyogawa was puzzled. He had definitely smelled a strong, exotic scent while fighting the bandits, but now he couldn't smell a thing.

Strange, truly strange.

Xiao Xi, who had been acting insane earlier, hadn't cried or screamed when he was in mortal danger.

Senju Kyogawa recalled the moment carefully and realized that Xiao Xi hadn't just refrained from crying; he hadn't even shown an expression. He had been completely blank and dull, his expression utterly numb.

Furthermore, that noblewoman hadn't screamed once from beginning to end. Even if she were calm from having seen the world, she had been far too composed for someone whose life was under threat.

A noblewoman with no strength to truss a chicken, traveling with only one maid, no accompanying samurai, and having hired fewer than ten ninjas.

If they encountered another situation like today where the enemy outnumbered them, wouldn't that be incredibly dangerous?

The more he thought about it, the more the gentle smile on the face of the noblewoman in Senju Kyogawa's memory began to feel terrifying.

Senju Kyogawa shuddered suddenly and stopped thinking about the matter.

With so few clues available, even if Senju Kyogawa racked his brains, he would not be able to make sense of anything.

After Senju Kyogawa and his party reached the summit, the sky gradually grew dim, and dark clouds churned as if rain were imminent.

Fortunately, the top of the mountain was relatively flat. They found a spot with dense foliage, and the Senju ninja used Earth Release to construct a shelter, intending to rest there for the night.

Sure enough, once the group had settled in, the sky grew even darker. Before long, the sky above was blanketed in thick clouds, thunder roared, and a torrential downpour began.

The heavy rain would bury all traces.

Blood would be washed away, mixing into the mud.

"The weather changes so quickly; it was bright and sunny just a moment ago, and now it's pouring," Senju Kyogawa remarked. The fresh scent brought by the rain and the forest helped his restless heart return to tranquility.

Senju Kyogawa liked the rain and the fresh smell that accompanied it; it made him feel as though all sins were being washed away.

However, it was still the turn of winter and spring, yet such a heavy, sudden rain was falling.

Senju Chenghe reached out to catch a few drops of rain and explained:

"Once we cross this mountain, we will be in the Land of Lightning. The outskirts of the Land of Lightning rain year-round, and the country itself is often surrounded by thunder, lightning, and mist. Being in this border region, rain and thunder are very common occurrences."

Following this, Senju Chenghe introduced the other nations to Kyogawa:

The Land of Fire enjoyed spring-like weather all year round, the Land of Lightning was filled with flashes of lightning and thunder, the Land of Wind was ravaged by sandstorms, the Land of Earth was covered in rocky forests, and the Land of Water was surrounded by water on all sides...

Senju Kyogawa nodded, unable to help but marvel at the true diversity of the nations in the Ninja World.