The True Disciple

"No, no. I was very happy to fight you, because I'd never found an opponent among people my age before."

"Hm? What did you mean?" Zhou Yang's tone was especially relaxed, but his heart tightened. Damn, could this guy be much stronger than the other two? That shouldn't be possible, right? Aren't they all Hanzo's disciples?

At that moment, Qianbai suddenly turned to look at Hanzo. Hanzo seemed to understand what he meant and nodded. Only after receiving permission did Qianbai continue.

"Actually, Hanzo-sama's only true disciple is me. Those two merely help share my burden."

Zhou Yang was stunned by the answer at first, but then felt it was only natural. The ninja world had always been cruel and real. Every nation wanted to grow stronger, and every nation wanted others to grow weaker. A nation's strength was basically judged by its military power—by its top experts. Thus, assassination was a fundamental choice and form of rivalry between great nations during relatively peaceful times. That was also why underground bounties could exist so openly.

But killing experts was always difficult, especially famous ones. They were even more dangerous, and one careless mistake could cost someone their life. Since killing established experts was difficult, why not kill future experts instead? That was why disciples of village leaders from every ninja village naturally became targets.

Naturally, village leaders would find ways to protect their disciples before they had fully matured. For example, they simply would not allow them to appear in public before they reached a certain level—a thorough method of concealment. But its drawback was obvious: they would have practically no real combat experience. Hanzo was using this half-real, half-fake method. Clearly, a ninja's growth was not so simple.

Then Zhou Yang suddenly realized something and directly asked, "Wait, if that's the case, won't your teammates be jealous?"

"Wait, don't tell me they're still being kept in the dark?" Zhou Yang continued with his guess.

The moment he said that, the scene suddenly fell silent. Shi He and Rain looked elsewhere, their expressions somewhat awkward. Well, there was no need for an answer now. Their faces already made the outcome obvious.

Then Zhou Yang suddenly shuddered. "Wait, why are you telling me this? Damn, I've got a bad feeling about this!"

"So now, I'm extending an invitation to you. I hope that in the future, you can become my right-hand man. Of course, this is only an invitation, and you may refuse. But if you refuse, you will face my full-force attack. As for why? You were only allowed to learn this because Teacher nodded, so we will automatically regard you as one of us. There are two kinds of people among us: true core leadership, and future candidates of Amegakure."

How did this suddenly turn into a contest for an Amegakure candidate? Isn't that too unfair to the person who was here before? Zhou Yang thought.

At last, Hanzo spoke. "Because our leader must be the best. This is not only for our sake, but even more so for all the villagers under our rule."

"But how can you trust me? I'm someone whose past you can't verify."

"Heh. From our earlier conversation, I can tell that you are an ambitious person. How could someone truly ambitious give up becoming part of a nation's upper ranks to become a spy? Besides, with your physique, how could the people behind you bear to train you as a spy? Wouldn't that be tantamount to destroying their nation's future?" Hanzo suddenly turned his head toward him. "So, are you willing to accept? Whether or not there is someone behind you."

"Heh, I came here to become your disciple in the first place. What about you?"

"Very good." At last, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Hanzo's eyes. He seemed very satisfied with that answer.

"Fine. Since you've already made things clear with Teacher, you must understand the relationship between us. You should also know that when it comes to something like this, I absolutely will not hold back. And I can give you a piece of advice: Teacher has already given me the Summoning Technique scroll to sign a contract with. You'd better think carefully. So what is your answer?"

"I refuse."

"Why?" Qianbai was stunned as well. Even after he had made things this clear, this kid showed no fear of death whatsoever. Qianbai had signed a summoning contract with Hanzo's Salamander Clan!

"Why be second when I can be first?"

"But you can't possibly be my opponent. Why throw your life away?" Seeing that Zhou Yang still looked unconcerned, Qianbai finally gave up trying to persuade him. He smacked his lips twice, seemingly finding it a great pity.

Since he could not recruit him, he could only be ruthless. Though Hanzo would very likely save Zhou Yang, Qianbai still had to strike hard, because today he would let this future—

—core of the village know who would truly be the boss in the future.

Without wasting a single word, he bit his finger and smeared the blood across his right hand.

Boar—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram

Summoning Jutsu!

After pressing his hand to the ground, web-like markings spread outward from the center of his palm. Then, after a burst of smoke, Qianbai's figure suddenly rose within it. The enormous cloud of smoke billowed in every direction, and Zhou Yang instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.

Then, accompanied by a strange sound like an exhalation coming from beneath Qianbai, all the smoke was blown away.

Through the gaps between his fingers, Zhou Yang saw what was beneath Qianbai's feet. A dark-red creature lay sprawled on the ground. It somewhat resembled the giant salamanders Zhou Yang had seen online before, but it was far larger. Judging by sight, it was likely around a meter wide and three meters long. If it stood up, it would probably rise thirty centimeters off the ground.

"So this is an Ibuse? It really is huge!" Zhou Yang was already short, so he had to look up at people older than Qianbai. Now the difference was even greater. Fortunately, although he was sitting, he was still quite far from Qianbai, so he did not have to crane his neck painfully to look up.

"Do you see this? This is a ninja's true power!" Qianbai stood atop it with his arms crossed, gazing down imperiously at Zhou Yang twenty meters away. This was the first time he had used the Summoning Technique in battle, and only Zhou Yang had forced him to do so. Standing high above really did give one the feeling of overlooking all mountains; the enemy before him seemed utterly insignificant.

Zhou Yang looked at the Ibuse before him, unsure whether he should feel fortunate or miserable. Fortunately, its legs were short, so he still had a chance to attack Qianbai above it. Miserably, his opponent had far too much chakra—he had actually summoned a complete Ibuse. Zhou Yang had thought his opponent would be like Naruto in the original story, summoning a Spiritual Beast with only two legs or one that was not very large. All he could do was cry out inwardly over his miscalculation. As expected of Hanzo's true disciple!