Arriving in Time

"Could something have happened to Zhou Yang? No, that couldn't be. Zhou Yang was so strong; these wild animals shouldn't have been a match for him. But why was he nowhere to be seen? Could other animals have attacked him after he was completely exhausted? But then there should have been a large amount of blood here." Nan usually did not voice her opinions, not because she was unintelligent, but because she knew Zhou Yang had his own ideas. As his wife, she only needed to support him and remind him when he made mistakes.

Then Nan recalled that although Zhou Yang slept for a while during the day, it was never for long. After an episode at night, the exhausted Zhou Yang might have fallen asleep. If a wild beast had carried him away while he slept, there indeed would not have been a large bloodstain. This possibility was highly likely, so she needed to consider what creatures lived nearby.

Because Zhou Yang's episode had caused such a huge commotion, ordinary animals would not have approached this place. Only powerful creatures might have come near. After thinking it over, she remembered hearing villagers mention that there was a huge snake in this forest. Snakes were naturally cunning and treacherous animals, so an ambush was very possible. Having identified her target, Nan decided to notify some villagers, perhaps even a few ninja, and ask them to help search. But how could she persuade them? Although everyone usually got along well, she did not think they would readily agree to something as dangerous as searching for a giant snake.

"Right, I can just ask them to help look for Zhou Yang. But how can I get them to search the forest?" As Nan pondered, a drop of liquid suddenly landed on her shoulder.

Nan paid it no mind. Rain Ninja Village had long rainy seasons, so an occasional shower was perfectly normal. Right now, she only wanted to figure out how to solve this problem as quickly as possible.

But then she suddenly felt a slight pain in the shoulder where the liquid had landed. Sensing that something was wrong, she immediately rolled forward. Yet her body was not like Zhou Yang's, nor had she received any training. She could not get back on her feet at once after rolling, but in the process, she saw what was in the tree.

It was a giant snake!

Nan did not feel as if she had found it without effort. She was not the future Kage-level powerhouse, merely a helpless girl.

Before Nan could stand up, the giant snake charged again. Her frail body was slammed beneath a tree, and Nan, gradually losing consciousness from the pain, could only half-open her eyes and watch the snake slowly approach.

"Zhou Yang, I can't avenge you. But I'm happy that we can die together. I just... won't get to see our future child." The light in her eyes gradually faded, while the giant snake opened its enormous, blood-red maw. She had clearly given up.

At that critical moment, a figure descended from above. A Japanese long sword pierced straight through the giant snake's head and nailed it to the ground. Then the figure turned to Nan. "Lady Nan, this subordinate arrived a little late."

"Are you... a ninja, sir?" Nan asked haltingly, light returning to her eyes.

"That is not important. What matters is that Lord Zhou Yang is waiting for you. Please endure for a little longer. You will receive treatment soon." With that, the ninja instantly pulled out the blade, lightly swept it across the snake's neck, and headed for the hospital without looking back. The giant snake on the ground slowly split into two halves.

Shi was frantic. With no medical knowledge, he had no idea how severe Nan's injuries were. He could only use the Body Flicker Technique again and again, hoping to reach the hospital faster. At the same time, he cursed the ninja ordered to keep watch over the girl. "Bastard! You saw the girl being attacked and didn't help?" Though Shi knew the ninja had not been unwilling to help, but simply had not received orders, he still hated it—hated that the man had no human feeling at all. He had completely forgotten how he himself used to punish those who disobeyed orders.

Fortunately, Rain Ninja Village was not large. In less than a minute, Shi had delivered Nan there.

Rain Ninja Village's hospital was especially lively today. Not only had three leaders' disciples arrived, but two jonin had also come. What surprised everyone even more was that their leader had arrived as well, holding a child covered in injuries.

Seeing Nan in Shi's arms, Rain could not help asking, "What... what happened?"

Shi did not waste words and carried Nan straight to the doctor. He completely failed to notice the expression on the nurse's face beside him.

"What is going on? Usually calm as a mountain, Lord Hanzo personally brought in a patient. Now Lord Shi has brought in another. And Lord Rain sounds so panicked. Are these two important figures? Even the three disciples Lord Shi brought earlier did not make everyone this serious. What happened?"

Then, amid the nurse's bewilderment, Shi emerged from the doctor's examination room and let out a long breath, as though a massive burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness. Only a few ribs were broken."

"Shi, what were you doing?! I told you to invite someone—how did that person end up like this?"

"I had no choice either!" Shi then explained what had happened to Rain. Rain also let out a long breath, seemingly relieved that Nan's injuries were not serious.

At that moment, someone leaning on a cane emerged from another ward.

"Rain, Shi, why are you here? And just now, I think I saw Lord Hanzo carrying a child through the hallway. What happened? Could they have fallen into an ambush?!" The "they" naturally referred to Qian Bai and the others. From the way he spoke, it was clear that he was one of the village's higher-ups.

"Ahem." Rain and Shi did not answer, merely coughed a few times. The man immediately realized that discussing such matters here was indeed unsafe, and Rain and Shi then ushered him elsewhere.

"Yao, at your age, why are you still so careless?"

"Hey, wasn't I worried about Rain Ninja Village's future?" Yao rubbed his gleaming bald head.

"Sigh, it really has been hard on you."

"Hm? Hard on me? What do you mean?"

"Hard on you for pretending to be a fool for so long." As those words fell, a blade pierced straight through the bald man's chest.

But the bald man abruptly turned into a puddle of mud. It was an Earth Substitute.

Rain and Shi clearly knew this technique well. Shi immediately formed hand seals toward a certain direction.

Lightning Release: False Darkness

Rain followed with Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave.

A massive bolt of lightning erupted from Shi's mouth, merging with the water and surging toward one spot.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall

A huge earthen wall rose in that direction. But the combination of Lightning Release and Water Release was not something that wall could stop, and it was almost instantly destroyed. The moment it broke through, Shi used Fire Release: Flame Bullet again to attack the target.

But after the attack ended, there was no trace of anyone.

Then, from the blind spot in their vision, a person slowly emerged from their shadows. This was Yao's proudest assassination ninjutsu; countless people had fallen to this move.

Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison

The two people ahead seemed to only realize it now, but they had already been trapped.

"Tch, I didn't expect you to know that ninjutsu too, Yao."

"Heh heh. Although you two are stronger than me, it will still take you some time to break free from this Rock Pillar Prison. I don't know how you discovered me, but that no longer matters. I only need to bring the information back."