Acting Separately

Two hours later.

A cool breeze swept by. Ye Yuexin, hiding in a secluded corner, stared at the empty trap and imagined a flock of crows circling overhead, cawing, "Idiot... idiot..."

By now, he had confirmed that his intelligence had indeed been dragged down by the arrogant young Itachi Uchiha.

No matter how you looked at it, rabbits couldn't possibly eat meatballs.

This was a matter of principle, for goodness' sake. He hadn't even stuck to what he knew. He really had let down the nine years of compulsory education he'd received in his previous life.

Ye Yuexin decided that until Itachi Uchiha matured, he would never trust any of his ideas again.

Itachi Uchiha seemed to have understood—or at least realized—something, too.

But he still calmly said, "Looks like Big-Toothed Rabbits really are a different breed from ordinary rabbits."

With that, he stepped out.

Then he opened his backpack and took out a lunchbox. One by one, he picked the meatballs off the ground again.

Ye Yuexin gave Itachi Uchiha's comment a thumbs-up.

Ye Yuexin could tell that Itachi still hadn't changed his mind at all.

He still believed that rabbits liked eating meatballs.

The Big-Toothed Rabbits hadn't come over because their genes had mutated. His idea wasn't wrong.

He checked the time. There was no time to dwell on anything now.

It would take them nearly half a day just to get back to Konoha. That meant they had only a day and a half left to complete the mission, so they had to hurry.

He would have to change his plan, too. He couldn't keep putting all his hopes into a single approach.

If it didn't work very well by dawn, Ye Yuexin decided he would resort to the dumbest method: catching them one by one.

Ye Yuexin stepped out as well.

He pulled one of the meatballs still sticking out of the ground, saw that it didn't look dirty, and popped it into his mouth.

"Itachi, we're changing the plan."

Hearing Ye Yuexin say this, Itachi looked up at him.

Ye Yuexin continued, "We don't have much time. At most, we've got a day and a half. So I think we should split up."

"Big-Toothed Rabbits aren't rare in the Land of Fire. They're not just found here. Since this problem hasn't appeared elsewhere, we can catch jackals from other places and bring them here."

"That'll restore the local ecosystem." "It's a long-term solution."

"But it'll take a while, and we don't know how long it'll take to catch them all."

"So I'll keep working on the traps. You go look around nearby and see if you can catch a few jackals."

Ye Yuexin didn't dare let Itachi Uchiha keep luring the rabbits here.

But the real reason was that Itachi Uchiha knew genjutsu.

Genjutsu really was a practical ninja technique. Too bad Ye Yuexin couldn't learn it. In this situation, if he went alone, he would have to knock the jackals out and carry them over—one under each arm, two at most.

But with Itachi Uchiha, things were different. Once he cast a genjutsu, he could even ride the jackals over.

Besides, Ye Yuexin would be quicker dealing with the Big-Toothed Rabbits here.

As long as they weren't hiding in their burrows, Ye Yuexin was confident his speed and footwork would let him take them down one by one in a single move. He'd be faster than Itachi Uchiha.

Just his speed alone was enough to leave Itachi Uchiha miles behind.

Itachi Uchiha didn't object. "All right. I'll head over now. I think there are other villages nearby."

He quickly got ready and slung his backpack on again, then ran toward the distant mountains.

He had to cross the mountain ahead.

After Itachi Uchiha left,

Ye Yuexin looked at the few meatballs remaining on the ground, pulled them out, and stuffed them into his mouth. It was a mission, sure, but there was no point wasting food.

After thinking it over, Ye Yuexin decided to look around nearby.

If there were so many Big-Toothed Rabbits in the fields, then something must be attracting them.

On the way over, he'd noticed rice paddies on both sides of the path.

But even after examining them closely, he hadn't found any signs of nibbling in the damaged paddies.

Just as Ye Yuexin was thinking this over,

he heard another Big-Toothed Rabbit cry. He quickly ran toward the sound.

Ordinary villagers could get hurt trying to deal with more than one Big-Toothed Rabbit, so they generally didn't go out of their way to attack or catch them.

And it was nighttime, too. There had been a hint of panic and pain in the rabbit's cry just now. Ye Yuexin was sure something was wrong.

Soon, he spotted a field ahead.

It seemed to be surrounded by wire fencing. And judging by the Big-Toothed Rabbit twitching beneath the fence, the wires were electrified.

When he walked closer, he saw that it was a carrot field. The coincidence felt almost too much to be true.

He'd come looking for bait, and somehow ended up right beside a field like this. It was as if a pillow had been delivered just when he was sleepy.

Even the chosen hero of destiny couldn't be this lucky.

He grew wary and examined the area carefully.

But this didn't seem to be a trap after all.

It wasn't a trap set by a ninja from an enemy village.

If that was the case, then things would be easy.

After a moment's thought, Ye Yuexin decided to use this field. He hadn't found any other good bait.

At worst, he could compensate the owner later. His teammate was rich, after all. He probably wouldn't mind.

He found the power switch.

After turning off the electricity, Ye Yuexin walked into the field. The bright orange carrots stood out beneath the moonlight.

But that alone wasn't enough. The Big-Toothed Rabbits didn't know the electric fence around the field had been switched off.

So Ye Yuexin formed the Seal of Harmony. A fierce wind instantly swirled around him, and a few strands of air seemed to turn into long ropes, circling his body.

With a thought, the wind ropes vanished, and a dozen carrots flew up from the field.

In the next instant, a sudden gust tore them to shreds.

The ability to manipulate wind with chakra without forming hand signs was something even elite jonin might not be able to manage.

He could feel his control over the wind growing stronger and stronger.

This really did have a lot to do with the meditation he practiced on the cliff.

Ye Yuexin even felt that this kind of meditation might go beyond the realm of ninjutsu. Over the past two years, he'd felt as if he had cheat codes enabled.

Even after the gust shredded the carrots, Ye Yuexin didn't stop. He kept at it until, in the end, carrot dust was mixed into the wind.

The colorless wind turned orange, like ribbons fluttering through the air.

Then Ye Yuexin gradually weakened the gust, letting it disperse in every direction.

It was basically the same principle as fishing.

And it worked.

A little while later, the grinding sound of teeth began to ring out.

Ye Yuexin stayed hidden and watched.

First, a few bold Big-Toothed Rabbits realized that the wire fence surrounding the field was no longer electrified.

They happily hopped into the field.

Just one or two taking the lead was enough.

Seeing this, all the Big-Toothed Rabbits soon swarmed in.

At a glance, there were more than a hundred. Ye Yuexin had a feeling the wooden stakes he'd carved wouldn't be enough.

After waiting quite a while without any more Big-Toothed Rabbits showing up, Ye Yuexin knew it was time to round them up.