Return Journey

Fei Yun leisurely scrubbed his well-defined upper body. His muscles were not overly bulky, yet they contained strength not to be underestimated.

Mr. Thirty-Five Million Ryo, there are plenty of ordinary people here. You wouldn't want to start a fight here, would you?

Fei Yun's refined voice rang out, though he did not look at the two people across from him.

Asuma turned his head slightly and whispered to Kurenai Yuhi, "Kurenai, retreat first. I'll keep an eye on him."

Kurenai Yuhi shook her head. "You can't handle him. I heard he has strength enough to repel even Lord Jiraiya, one of the Sannin."

"Let's go together, Sarutobi!"

Asuma subtly glanced toward the entrance to the bathhouse.

I have to get my ninja pouch immediately. Empty-handed, I'll only die faster.

With that thought, Asuma gave Kurenai a look.

With just that one look, Kurenai already understood Asuma's intention.

Having fought together for so long, the two had developed perfect coordination. Countless enemies had fallen beneath their blades because of that tacit understanding.

Just as the two prepared to act, Fei Yun merely lifted his head. "Go ahead. Take your things. Run if you want, or wait for me if you want. I'll come collect my thirty-five million ryo within a minute."

Hearing this, Kurenai Yuhi's expression changed slightly.

"You'll let us leave?"

Fei Yun revealed a polite smile.

"I already said it. There are many ordinary people here, and I simply don't want to fight here. Are Konoha's ninja really so indifferent to the lives of ordinary people?"

Only then did Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma sweep their gazes around the area, as if they had only just noticed the other people in the hot spring.

Though Fei Yun said that, if the two truly chose to fight, he would not hesitate in the slightest. Not wanting to kill ordinary people did not mean he would deliberately protect them. If battle began, he would be more ruthless than anyone.

Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi rushed out of the hot spring inn at top speed. They had not even fully dressed before pushing their speed to the limit and vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Asuma fastened his belt in midair and turned to say urgently, "Fine, you go first. I'll hold off Uchiha Feiyun."

Kurenai Yuhi cried out in alarm.

"How could I abandon you? We'll go together!"

Asuma said gravely, "You'll be useless if you stay. He's not someone we can handle. If you leave, you might be able to find reinforcements for me. Staying won't save me."

But Kurenai Yuhi saw things differently.

"We may not be his match in a direct fight, but if we run, he might not necessarily be able to stop us."

Several kunai flew in from behind, aimed straight for Asuma and Kurenai's backs.

"He caught up that quickly?"

Asuma and Kurenai knocked the kunai aside, but even more shuriken came flying at them. The two hurriedly leaped away to evade the remaining kunai.

Asuma had just deflected several shuriken when he caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of Explosive Tags crackling and burning on the kunai flashing past him.

The bursting sparks brought an intense sense of danger. A violent explosion rang out, flames erupted, and thick smoke billowed. Powerful shockwaves sent the surrounding trees swaying wildly, while a dazzling red signal flare pierced through the smoke and shot straight into the sky.

Fei Yun glanced at the sky, then withdrew his gaze and walked toward the smoke.

"A distress signal?"

As the smoke gradually dispersed, the figures of Sarutobi Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi appeared opposite him. Neither was injured; clearly, they had used defensive ninjutsu.

Asuma did not choose to keep running, because he already knew Fei Yun was faster than them and certainly possessed powerful sensory abilities as well. Under such circumstances, fleeing would only lead to a quicker death.

"Damn!"

"Don't look into his Sharingan! You'll fall under his genjutsu!"

Asuma held two specially made short blades, wind-nature chakra flowing into them.

Asuma charged first, unleashing the close-quarters combat he excelled at most.

Yet his prideful chakra blades were blocked.

With a sweep of his katana, Fei Yun knocked Asuma back.

"You're not the only one who can use chakra blades!"

Asuma retreated while throwing both blades. After forming hand seals, he swiftly caught them again.

Fire Release—flames erupted along their trajectory and surged into the sky, engulfing the area ahead in smoke and fire.

Suddenly, a giant golden skeletal hand extended from within and seized Asuma in its grip.

Asuma cried out in shock. "Th-This is... what is this?"

Fei Yun slowly emerged from the smoke. Although the skeleton had yet to completely envelop his body, golden chakra had already formed a protective shell around him.

Asuma shouted urgently, "Kurenai, are you done yet?"

Fei Yun paused slightly and fixed his eyes on Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai Yuhi's figure dissolved in a bizarre distortion, and the surrounding scenery changed as well.

Vines sprouted beneath Fei Yun's feet and bound him. Then the vines grew into a towering tree, tightly tying him to its trunk.

Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!

Kurenai Yuhi emerged from the massive tree trunk, raised her kunai, and stabbed it toward Fei Yun's head.

Fei Yun curled his lips into a smile. "Using genjutsu against me? You're looking down on me a little too much."

In the blink of an eye, the situation reversed. Kurenai Yuhi became the one bound to the tree.

Fei Yun stood before the stunned Kurenai Yuhi as his gear-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan took form.

Kurenai Yuhi was startled and hurriedly shut her eyes, but it was already too late.

Tsukuyomi had already been activated. The surroundings returned to normal, and the Asuma held in the skeletal hand burst into a log with a bang. Asuma's real body flashed forward and kicked at Fei Yun, only for Fei Yun to block it effortlessly.

However, Asuma had already grabbed the immobilized Kurenai Yuhi and leaped backward with her. Asuma formed seals with two fingers and shouted, attempting to dispel Kurenai's genjutsu.

Fei Yun sneered and said, "Kill Asuma!"

The dazed Kurenai Yuhi suddenly sprang into action and viciously slashed with the blade in her hand. Though Asuma reacted immediately, his chest was still cut open. Blood sprayed out wildly, and the wound was deep enough to expose bone.

Asuma stared at Kurenai Yuhi in horror. "Th-This is the same pupil technique mentioned in the intelligence?"

Fei Yun frowned when even that failed to kill Asuma. The intelligence had been right after all—he had actually managed to escape death.

Logically speaking, Asuma should have died just now and should not have been able to react. Yet he had miraculously survived. It was likely because he had always been on guard against Fei Yun's pupil technique.

The leak of ability-related intelligence truly was troublesome for ninja. No wonder even someone as formidable as Nagato had guarded his own intelligence so closely in Fei Yun's memories.

But it was already over. Asuma was severely wounded now.

Kurenai Yuhi, freed from Tsukuyomi's control, came to Asuma's side in terror.

"Asuma, a-are you alright?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know... I didn't do it on purpose."

Asuma gasped heavily.

"It's not your fault. That innately evil Uchiha just wants to toy with us. He could have defeated us directly."

Fei Yun smiled mockingly.

"This is a battle to the death. Am I not allowed to use methods?"

As he spoke, Fei Yun walked toward them step by step.

Asuma slowly raised his chakra blades. Seeing this, he shoved Kurenai Yuhi away, grabbed his special short blade, and charged at Fei Yun, stabbing fiercely.

Fei Yun shifted slightly aside and caught the stabbing short blade with one hand. Then he thrust his katana forward, piercing straight through Asuma's heart. Blood poured from Asuma's mouth, yet his other hand gripped the katana tightly.

"Roar!"

"Get back!"

Asuma let out a furious roar and triggered his hidden move. Countless Explosive Tags surged forth.

"Evil Uchiha, you won't escape! Go to hell with me!"

Fei Yun sneered. "You merely grabbed my sword. Does that mean I can't escape?"

As he spoke, Fei Yun released both Asuma's arm and the sword hilt, then rapidly flew backward.

He could have used Susanoo to block the blast, but he simply wanted to ridicule such a useless tactic.

Sure enough, when Asuma saw Fei Yun retreat, intense unwillingness and rage filled his eyes, and he deactivated some of the Explosive Tags.

The explosion rang out. Fei Yun immediately blew away the flames and smoke, flashing over to Asuma's mangled corpse and inspecting it anxiously.

"Please don't tell me my thirty-five million ryo got blown up!"

Only after seeing that Asuma's corpse was damaged but still usable did Fei Yun finally let out a sigh of relief.

Tears welled in Kurenai Yuhi's eyes. She stood there blankly, watching Fei Yun store Asuma's corpse into his storage ring.

"Good, the thirty-five million ryo is finally mine!"

Only after finishing all this did Fei Yun turn to look at Kurenai Yuhi.

"You didn't take the chance to run. Did you know you couldn't escape?"

Fei Yun raised his blade and walked toward Kurenai Yuhi. He had no intention of sparing her. Since they stood on opposing sides, they were enemies. There was nothing to say to an enemy—it was either kill or be killed.

Kurenai Yuhi came back to her senses and activated the tree illusion she had long prepared. Fei Yun cut Kurenai Yuhi in half with one slash, but her two severed halves transformed into cherry blossoms and scattered away.

"An illusion?"

Fei Yun's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun as he slashed toward a large tree.

A streak of blood burst forth, and Kurenai Yuhi's figure appeared. After taking another slash, she turned into petals and drifted away again.

"Useless. Before these eyes, you have nowhere to hide!"

Just as Fei Yun prepared to attack the bushes again, a flash of golden light crossed his mind. He then turned to look northeast.

"He's actually nearby?"

Thinking about it, that made sense. This was the Land of Fire, after all—within Konoha's sphere of influence.

Fei Yun flicked the blood from his katana, then sheathed it.

"You're lucky. Consider today the day you picked up your life!"

"Damn it!"

Before his words had even faded, Fei Yun vanished from the area, leaving behind only a devastated forest.

A moment later, a thick-browed, bowl-cut man appeared there like a green bolt of lightning. He was Might Guy, dressed head to toe in a green jumpsuit.

Might Guy found the severely wounded Kurenai Yuhi and helped her up.

"Kurenai, what happened?"

"What happened here?"

Kurenai Yuhi's chest rose and fell violently.

"It was... it was Uchiha Feiyun!"

"He... he killed the Hokage's son!"

"Huh?"

"Really?"

"What?"

"Asuma is dead?"

"How is that possible!"

"We came over as soon as we saw the signal."

"How could it have happened so quickly?"

Might Guy looked shocked, his face full of fury.

But before he could ask further, Kurenai Yuhi had already fainted.

Only then did three figures arrive behind Might Guy and Kurenai Yuhi.

"Th-That's Kurenai-sensei?"

Tenten covered her small mouth in shock.

"Guy-sensei, what happened?"

Rock Lee clenched his fists and asked.

Guy rose with a solemn expression and said in a deep voice, "The mission is over. We have a new mission now."

The three youths also turned serious.

Guy continued, "Lee and Tenten, take Kurenai back to Konoha. Neji, come with me to track the enemy and recover Asuma."

Hearing this, Rock Lee stepped forward. "In that case, I want to join the pursuit too."

Might Guy refused firmly. "No. Even I am not confident of defeating this enemy. If Neji's Byakugan were not needed, I would not let him come either."