Chapter 36

"Finally, you can't hold on anymore. Let me think about what kind of death would be the most painful."

Taiyuan Zeng walked over slowly.

His left arm hung limp as if it had no bones; it seemed it had been broken by Might Guy.

He walked forward step by step. Each step felt as if it were landing directly on someone's heart.

"Aren't you very impressive? Why aren't you even moving now? Hmph."

With a single kick, he sent Might Guy flying.

Fortunately, Ebisu caught him in time. Otherwise, he would surely have been severely injured, as every cell in Might Guy's body was already exhausted.

"Kid, you're next."

After securing his broken arm against his body, Taiyuan Zeng smiled at Ye Yuexin.

Ye Yuexin tightened his grip on his short blade. After Taiyuan Zeng activated his Swift Release, he also vanished from sight.

The sound of collisions rang out incessantly in the air.

However, after only a moment, Ye Yuexin was knocked flying out.

He was truly at the end of his rope now.

Watching Taiyuan Zeng rush toward him again, he felt unwilling—truly, deeply unwilling!

Roaring in his heart, he charged forward once more.

His body was sliding significantly, and his Wind Transformation was becoming more and more frequent and distinct.

But Ye Yuexin had almost no chakra left to utilize it.

After falling to the ground yet again, Ye Yuexin didn't even have the strength to stand up.

"Go to hell, kid!"

Taiyuan Zeng didn't waste any more breath. He just wanted to finish off Ye Yuexin and the others as quickly as possible.

He had never seen anyone like them before.

They were simply too tenacious, struggling time and time again.

Each time, they shocked him.

By now, he had lost the desire to torture them, as too much time had passed; he estimated that the people at the main base had already noticed his absence.

He had to escape as soon as possible.

Taking a kunai from his pouch once more, Taiyuan Zeng didn't let his guard down in the slightest as he activated Swift Release and charged toward Ye Yuexin.

Noticing this, Ye Yuexin smiled. It seemed he wouldn't find that one chance of a lifetime this time.

As expected, the true strength of an elite jonin was not something he could withstand.

As if giving up the struggle, he slowly closed his eyes.

But just as Ye Yuexin closed his eyes, he suddenly realized that everything was different.

It wasn't pitch black after he closed his eyes.

Instead, there were countless shimmering specks of light, like a dark night filled with countless fireflies.

Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode had never been deactivated.

But what he saw now was completely different from what he had seen before, and he discovered that he could now see his own body.

The flesh and blood within his body were actually beginning to change, slowly turning into starlike points of light.

It was as if he were assimilating with his surroundings.

When ninjas perform ninjutsu, chakra flows through their meridians.

But Ye Yuexin's footwork was different.

The reason he didn't need to weave hand signs, yet could manipulate the wind to propel himself at any time, was that he had slowly integrated the wind attribute into the cells of his body.

This was all due to his profound insight into the wind, combined with the accidentally formed Flying Dagger Mode.

He guessed that the Hozuki Clan's Hydrification Technique must be done in the same way.

However, he had never achieved a complete transformation before.

So, this time, Ye Yuexin understood exactly what was happening with his own changes in an instant.

His eyes snapped open.

"Wind Transformation!!!"

He let out a roar at the rapidly attacking Taiyuan Zeng.

Following that, the specks of starlight in the surrounding air surged rapidly into Ye Yuexin's body.

At the critical, hair-breadth moment when Taiyuan Zeng's kunai was about to touch Ye Yuexin's carotid artery.

Ye Yuexin's body vanished in an instant.

A short blade appeared without warning on Taiyuan Zeng's right side.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Taiyuan Zeng's right arm was severed by Ye Yuexin just like that.

Because he wasn't very familiar with Wind Transformation yet, there was a slight deviation in distance, which was why it wasn't Taiyuan Zeng's head that had been lopped off.

But it was enough.

Before Taiyuan Zeng could even let out a cry of pain, a flying knife glinting with a cold light was already pressed against his neck.

Ye Yuexin, his body now visible, collapsed onto the ground.

Taiyuan Zeng's face was filled with terror.

"How... is... this possible."

Thud.

He fell to the ground.

He had certainly overestimated Ye Yuexin and the others, but the final outcome was still something he never could have imagined.

Perhaps this was the true meaning of a "Konoha Genin."

A title capable of infinite surprises and infinite power-ups.

"Yuexin, how are you? Are you alright?"

Might Guy, supported by Ebisu, walked over shakily and asked.

"No problem, I've just exhausted my chakra," Ye Yuexin said with a smile toward the two of them.

"I didn't expect us to actually win. I had already thought about how to write my will."

Ebisu also joked half-heartedly.

"Yeah, how is there such a huge gap even among Elite Jonin? The one I fought last time wasn't even a third as fierce as him," Ye Yuexin laughed as well.

No joy could compare to the feeling of relief after a brush with death.

Ye Yuexin felt that although he was exhausted, his mind was infinitely clear.

"You two head to the woods first; I'll handle the cleanup."

Ebisu was still supporting Might Guy, so Ye Yuexin was the only one capable of moving.

Actually, he didn't have to clean up, as it was quite normal for ninjas to leave corpses in the wilderness.

But Ye Yuexin had a feeling that there might be something good on Taiyuan Zeng, so he decided to check.

After Might Guy and the others turned away, Ye Yuexin arrived at Taiyuan Zeng's corpse.

Taking a closer look, he clearly felt something bulging in Taiyuan Zeng's chest.

He pulled it out, and the two large characters on it immediately perked him up.

"Swift Release."

So, the iron plate Taiyuan Zeng had discarded earlier wasn't to protect himself, but to protect this scroll.

This was actually the training method for Swift Release.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Why Taiyuan Zeng's speed was so fast—it was likely because of this scroll.

But Ye Yuexin remembered that Swift Release was supposed to be a Kekkei Genkai. How could it be written down?

There was no time to flip through it to find the answer.

Ye Yuexin briefly disposed of Taiyuan Zeng's body, placing it along with the corpses of the other Rock Ninjas inside the collapsed earth-sphere base.

Taking one last look at Taiyuan Zeng's body, Ye Yuexin slowly walked in the direction of Might Guy and the others.

Thinking of the gains from this battle, Ye Yuexin felt genuinely excited.

First, there was the rare short blade that could be infused with chakra.

Then, there was Taiyuan Zeng's Swift Release. Although he didn't know if he could cultivate it, Ye Yuexin felt that even just using it as a reference could help improve his Conceptual Footwork and speed.

As for Taiyuan Zeng, Ye Yuexin felt he would remember him for the rest of his life.

This was definitely the closest he had ever come to death.

But it was also because of him that Ye Yuexin was able to perform Wind Transformation and bring his self-created "Conceptual Footwork" to completion.

A blessing in disguise, indeed.