Bad Luck

It wasn't that Kagami Uchiha didn't want to pursue them. He simply didn't have the strength to keep going. If Biwa Musashi and the others had held out a little longer, Kagami would probably have been in trouble. Now, a streak of blood ran from each of Kagami's eyes.

"Was that still too much for me?" Kagami dismissed Susanoo and covered his eyes. The strain on his ocular power had been immense, and his eyes couldn't take any more.

Biwa Musashi and the others, who had escaped, looked relieved. Who the hell could have expected Kagami Uchiha to have a technique like that? If they hadn't run fast enough, none of them could have withstood that giant thing crashing down on them.

"Send the information to the village. Describe everything in detail!" Biwa Musashi told Kurisare Sankei.

Kurisare Sankei didn't hesitate. He began writing on a scroll, and once he had finished, he pressed one hand to the ground. A small summoning beast appeared. Kurisare Sankei handed it the scroll, and the beast nodded before disappearing.

Meanwhile, five Kirigakure ninjas were still chasing Li Yi. After receiving the message from his Shadow Clone, Li Yi knew they would pursue him. But since he'd already put a good distance between them, he still had some time to set traps.

Between two branches, Li Yi strung a wire connected to an Explosive Tag. He set up plenty of little traps like that to buy himself time to escape.

Sure enough, the explosions kept sounding behind him, and Li Yi knew the traps had been triggered. His pursuers were highly skilled, though, and were very likely all elite jonin. Killing them with traps alone was practically impossible.

But he could still slow them down a little.

He had no idea how things were going for Kagami Uchiha. As Li Yi ran, he couldn't help worrying a little about him.

"That Konoha brat runs fast. He even split off a Shadow Clone to run in another direction. Should we split up and chase?" A Kirigakure ninja asked with a frown, standing on a tree branch.

The Kirigakure ninja leading them hesitated. There was no helping it; Konoha's ninjas were powerful. Based on their earlier skirmish, their opponent was probably an elite jonin too. If they split up, they could easily be picked off one by one. The five of them together hadn't even managed to take him down, so splitting up would be tantamount to suicide.

An elite jonin's life was precious.

"Don't. Let's take a gamble. If we catch up, we catch up. If not, we go back!" the Kirigakure jonin leading them said at once.

Since their leader had made the call, the others wouldn't disobey. They all chased in the same direction. Li Yi had been thinking that if his Shadow Clone could lure away two of the Kirigakure ninjas, he'd find a way to take out the three chasing him. Instead, all of them had come after him.

Li Yi couldn't help feeling helpless. Fighting five at once was a terrible idea. He could only keep running.

"Looks like luck's on our side. Hurry!" their leader laughed. They'd had two options, and somehow they'd picked the right one.

Li Yi cursed under his breath. Luck was hard to predict, but he had to admit the Kirigakure ninjas were unbelievably lucky.

The Kirigakure ninjas behind him were getting closer and closer. Li Yi was at a loss. Did he have to make more Shadow Clones?

While Li Yi hesitated, the Kirigakure ninjas behind him pulled Shuriken and Kunai from their weapon pouches and hurled them at him.

Li Yi sensed dozens of weapons flying toward him. Dodging sideways would waste time and let his pursuers close the gap, but if he didn't dodge, he might end up looking like a pincushion.

With no other choice, Li Yi kept running while dodging as best he could. When he needed to dodge a wider area, he partially transformed into an element. The Kunai and Shuriken passed right through his body without hurting him at all.

"What? Am I seeing things?" one of the Kirigakure ninjas cried out.

The others shook their heads. He wasn't seeing things; some of the Shuriken and Kunai really had passed through the man's body.

"Could it be a Kekkei Genkai? Like the Hozuki Clan's?" one of the Kirigakure ninjas asked.

The others said nothing. They'd never heard of Konoha having a Kekkei Genkai like that. But the world was vast, and full of wonders. Li Yi's value had just gone up another notch. They couldn't let a Kekkei Genkai user like him grow any stronger.

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!" Li Yi crossed his index fingers and created three Shadow Clones, each of whom ran in a different direction.

Seeing the Shadow Clones again, one of the Kirigakure ninjas cursed under his breath. "Konoha's Shadow Clones are so hard to tell apart from the real thing!"

The others agreed wholeheartedly. With other people's clones, they could usually tell which ones were real and which were fake. But Konoha's were much harder to distinguish.

Of course, some of them were quick enough to throw Kunai, but the Shadow Clones dodged nimbly. They were back to the same dilemma as before: should they split up? The ones most likely to catch the real body would be the ones in trouble.

"Ah, whatever!" the Kirigakure ninja leading them could only say with a wry smile. They'd have to leave it to luck again.

So they picked a direction at random and gave chase. After watching the figure ahead for a while without it disappearing, the ninjas exchanged glances. No way. Could they really be this ridiculously lucky?

Li Yi was already cursing the heavens. Did he really have to be this unlucky? Had the Kirigakure ninjas turned on some kind of cheat? It was like they'd put a tracking device on him. How could they be this lucky?

Li Yi didn't believe there was a sensor ninja among them. Sensor ninjas were rare, after all; they wouldn't be sent after a nobody like him.

But that was how luck worked. When you were down on your luck, even drinking cold water could make you choke. He felt like the whole world was against him!

"Fate has decreed it! Konoha ninja, prepare to die!" The Kirigakure ninja leading them didn't know what to make of their luck. It was downright miraculous. Maybe he should try his hand at gambling when he had the chance.

Li Yi ignored the Kirigakure ninja and crossed his index fingers again, calling out, "Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"

Four more Li Yis appeared. The Kirigakure ninja leading the group was dumbfounded. Again? He immediately pulled a heap of Shuriken from his weapon pouch and flung them.

The others did the same. This time, they were determined not to let Li Yi's Shadow Clones scatter.

With Kunai and Shuriken flying everywhere, Li Yi and his Shadow Clones could only dodge. Soon, several of the clones were grazed by Kunai and turned into smoke. Li Yi had no choice but to admit that this bunch of Kirigakure ninjas had plenty of weapons.

Those things cost money, after all, and Li Yi was the only one who was poor.

"I can't keep wasting chakra." Li Yi sighed. He glanced at the ninjas closing in behind him, frowned, and quickly began forming Hand Seals.

He turned around and retreated while continuing to form Hand Seals. Seeing his movements and all those Hand Seals, the Kirigakure ninjas immediately slowed down. Two of them even began forming Hand Seals of their own, spitting out successive walls of water to block Li Yi's ultimate move.

But Li Yi didn't do a damn thing. He simply turned around and ran.

The two Kirigakure ninjas who had used defensive techniques were dumbfounded. What was going on? Had that bastard just been trying to scare them?