Scaring Himself

After the Bamboo Pole Man incident, Ye Yuexin slowed down and headed east with greater caution.

Ye Yuexin admitted that he had underestimated the enemy from the very beginning. The situation was nothing like what he had seen in anime or read about in novels.

The enemy wasn't just a bunch of brainless idiots.

They were a squad of experienced ninjas. An idiot couldn't even make it as a villain.

Any slipup could put him in serious danger.

Beyond the mountains stretched a long expanse of plains and hills, about fifteen li across. Two dirt roads crossed there, each leading far into the distance.

There was almost no cover in a place like this, making it extremely difficult to hide.

Ye Yuexin grew a little worried. If there were another ambush up ahead, it probably wouldn't be as simple as facing the Bamboo Pole Man alone.

He was still fretting when—

At that very moment, the protagonist's plot armor seemed to kick in once again. Dark clouds began gathering in the sky, which had been full of stars.

The bright moonlight dimmed at once. It wasn't pitch-black, but there was enough darkness to conceal his movements.

Under normal circumstances, Ye Yuexin would have bragged about his luck.

Taking advantage of the dark night, Ye Yuexin sped up again. This stretch of road was simply too dangerous.

Ninjas were naturally adept at fighting in forests.

He felt that he'd never be able to do what the Third Raikage had done in the anime—take on three thousand Rock Ninja on an open plain. After all, a human shield and a tank were two entirely different builds from an assassin.

Fortunately, the area around Twin Ox Mountain was still forested. Ye Yuexin was fairly confident in his speed—not out of arrogance, but self-assurance.

Though he felt uneasy along the way, he made it across the plains and hills without incident.

A close call, but it seemed that the Rock Ninja Lin Mu hadn't sent anyone over.

Gradually, the trees ahead grew dense again.

Moving through the darkness, Ye Yuexin quickly approached the woods.

Once inside, he slowed to a crawl.

This stretch of forest was probably already part of Twin Ox Mountain's territory.

Ye Yuexin devoted all his attention to keeping watch as he made his way forward.

Moving this cautiously was really difficult. He resolved to develop a sensory ninjutsu after he returned to the village.

He hadn't even considered whether he might fail. He had plenty of confidence in his boundless imagination.

Feeling the dark, still silence all around him, Ye Yuexin inched along for a long time before finally reaching the foot of the mountain.

The forest ahead belonged to Twin Ox Mountain proper.

He was just about to enter when he suddenly heard footsteps crushing branches. Ye Yuexin swiftly ducked out of sight.

After following them for so long, he'd finally heard something out of the ordinary. Ye Yuexin felt a little relieved. Keeping his mind on high alert the whole time had been exhausting.

Now that he'd found someone, he actually felt better. At least he didn't have to keep worrying about whether there were traps hidden in the dark.

But as he listened more closely, something felt wrong. Why was the sound coming from behind him?

His nerves instantly tightened again.

He had just come from that direction. He hadn't noticed anything unusual.

All sorts of possibilities flashed through his mind, most of them ending with the enemy discovering him and surrounding him.

He panicked. This time, Ye Yuexin was truly panicking. The Rock Ninja mostly specialized in Earth Release. Wasn't it perfectly normal that he hadn't noticed anything unusual?

But what was he supposed to do now? Ye Yuexin couldn't think of a plan.

He'd only been thinking about how to follow them. Now he'd suddenly learned that he'd been discovered and was being surrounded. He was at a loss.

He still lacked experience.

Ye Yuexin gritted his teeth. His only option was to fight his way out.

Itachi Uchiha was frantic. He had no idea whether Ye Yuexin had already gotten into a fight.

After Ye Yuexin left, Itachi thought it over and decided not to follow his instructions. He would catch up and fight alongside him.

After taking a special Military Ration Pill made by the Uchiha Clan, Itachi had spent an hour recovering and regained most of his chakra.

With his Sharingan awakened, he could definitely fight alongside Ye Yuexin.

As a child, Itachi had been stubborn and proud. Though much of it came from worrying about Ye Yuexin's safety, he was also upset that he'd been defeated so easily.

Especially after awakening his Sharingan and reaching Chunin-level chakra, he felt that he and Ye Yuexin could complete the mission together.

That was the confidence of a genius—or the Uchiha's inexplicable pride.

Looking back, Sasuke's famous line, "The sky's cleared, the rain's stopped, and I'm feeling myself again," hadn't come out of nowhere. It must have been hereditary.

Still, with Itachi's talent, he was usually right to think he could handle things. He wasn't like Sasuke, who was simply putting on an ignorant, boastful act.

Itachi traveled as fast as he could. At last, he too reached the territory of Twin Ox Mountain.

He slowed once he entered the forest, but he was still much faster than Ye Yuexin. Just after leaping across a dirt road, Itachi suddenly stopped.

The forest had fallen unnaturally silent. Even the faint rustling of the wind had vanished.

Then, all at once, he sensed mortal danger.

Cold sweat broke out across Itachi's face.

But then he didn't even try to dodge.

The sensation of death locking onto him was too intense. It felt as if he would die no matter how he dodged or defended himself.

Itachi had never experienced anything like it before, but the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come.

His head hurt. A piece of bark smacked him on the head as a low voice muttered, "Damn it, what are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me!"

"Bro, I almost put a hole through you just now."

Ye Yuexin wanted to kill Itachi right then and there.

What the hell was that? He'd scared himself!

Ye Yuexin had been so tense that the back of his shirt was soaked through. He'd thought he was as good as dead.

Itachi didn't say a word. He stared intently at the knives at Ye Yuexin's waist. Then he said, "You really are stronger than me." His words seemed completely unrelated to what had just happened, and he sounded utterly certain.

"We're about even. I've only got three knives, and once I use them up, I'm out of options," Ye Yuexin said, brushing him off. If a transmigrator couldn't even outperform someone his own age who'd been born and raised in this world, what was the point of transmigrating? He might as well have given up his precious spot.

"But I couldn't dodge them. Why have you never used knives in a fight back in the village?" Itachi asked seriously.

He seemed a little discouraged. Ye Yuexin felt this was the perfect moment to show off a little.

Whether he'd be able to take on the future Itachi was still an open question.

In his previous life, the rogue Itachi had practically been mythologized.

He was seen as an almost perfect ninja.

So Ye Yuexin touched one of his knives and said, "My knives have a code. Once they're thrown, they always hit. They never miss."

"So I only use them in real fights, never in a spar."