Crisis?

For the next three weeks, Zhou Yang traveled the roads, sleeping rough and eating whatever he could find. Of course, he ran into quite a few rogue ninjas, but none of them were particularly skilled, and Zhou Yang ended up robbing them instead.

"Whew~ Bisi Town, I finally made it." Zhou Yang stood on a fairly tall branch and looked out at the town ahead.

Zhou Yang then entered the town. Walking down its main street, he found it far more prosperous than any town he had seen before. There were also far more ninjas here, most of them alone. They did not look like they were on missions; instead, they looked as though they had come on vacation.

But Zhou Yang did not believe they were here on vacation. At a time when war could break out at any moment, ninjas, the military force of their nations, could not possibly be idle unless they were rogue ninjas or missing-nin.

Moreover, the ninjas here did not come from just one country. Ninjas from the three major neighboring nations could all be found here, and familiar forehead protectors appeared before Zhou Yang one after another. But none of that concerned Zhou Yang for now. As a small fry who was not even a genin, protecting himself and staying alive were what mattered most.

"Warm Home," Zhou Yang muttered as he searched the street for the meeting place, unaware that he had already attracted quite a bit of attention.

It could not be helped. His height was rather "outstanding." Although intense training and proper nutrition had made him fairly tall among children his age, he could not exactly defy the laws of growth.

Fortunately, this was Rain Ninja Village territory. The ninjas from other countries found this short ninja somewhat strange, but they did not think much of it. They merely assumed he was underdeveloped.

"Damn, I finally found it. But why does this place feel so familiar?" Zhou Yang looked doubtfully at the strangely familiar signboard. "This place couldn't be...?"

The moment he entered, a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Yo, welcome, Lord Ninja. What type of girls do you like? Could you tell me? Of course, if you are not quite sure, I can call the girls over and let you choose properly!"

Looking at the nearly full sofas, Zhou Yang sighed. "This place is making way too much money at a time like this!" He also noticed that after he entered, the people drinking and chatting, along with the ninjas, all casually glanced at him as though nothing had happened.

Were they looking for someone?

Faced with such a packed crowd, Zhou Yang had no idea where to begin. He recalled the words on the scroll. It had not told him which room to go to, nor had it mentioned any special identifying signal. That left him in a difficult position. With the place this chaotic, he did not even know whether the contact had seen him.

Just then, the proprietress suddenly appeared at his side. She lowered her head and whispered into his ear, "Lord Ninja, why are you not saying anything? Are you dissatisfied with my establishment?"

Zhou Yang, whose theoretical knowledge was maxed out but whose practical experience was zero, immediately blushed. He had thought that after he ignored the proprietress, she would give up trying to entertain him. He had not expected her to be this enthusiastic.

"Wait. She's an ordinary person, yet she got close to me just now without me noticing at all. That... that's impossible! Could it be..." Zhou Yang suddenly sensed that something was unusual about this place. With his especially strong sense of danger, his first reaction was to leave.

He stammered, "Big sister, sorry, I came to the wrong place."

Zhou Yang had assumed that once she heard his childish voice, she would be surprised, lower her guard, and let him go. But the proprietress seemed completely unmoved by his voice and directly wrapped an arm around his neck.

Not good! Zhou Yang cursed himself for being careless. He had rashly entered this place without investigating it first. At the same time, he realized there was a high chance that Rain Ninja Village had spies and his identity had been exposed. Otherwise, no one would go to such lengths to kill such a small child. But he could not simply wait to die. He could only hope that the proprietress behind him was not as terrifyingly strong as he imagined.

He did not hold back at all. In an instant, he bent his arm and struck toward her stomach with perhaps the greatest strength he had ever used. Since she was holding him, nearly all of the right side of her upper body was within his range. A blow to the stomach would make her feel like vomiting; only then would he have a chance to escape. As long as he got outside, he could call for help. Do not ask why he was not shouting now—his neck was in her hands. Even if help arrived, he would already be a corpse.

"Baby, don't think about fighting back~ None of the ninjas outside are a match for me!"

"What?" Given Zhou Yang's attack speed, there was no way he would have given her enough time to say so much. So why had he stopped? Because he did not dare move. He could already feel something sharp against his neck, along with that despair-inducing killing intent.

"I've only seen this kind of killing intent on Hanzo. Could this person be... Shadow Level? Impossible. Female ninjas were already a minority in the original story, let alone Shadow Level ones. Even if there were any, why had she never appeared in the original story?" Though his thoughts churned violently, Zhou Yang could not show it on his face.

He once again put on an innocent child's voice. "Big sister, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand?"

"Oh~ Then why did you raise your hand?"

"Big sister's breathing made my ear a little itchy. I wanted to scratch it!"

"Hehe, interesting. You're still pretending at a time like this?"

Clearly, she already knew his identity, and Zhou Yang naturally had no way to keep pretending. Although his voice remained childlike, his tone was no longer the same.

"With someone of your caliber resorting to assassination to kill someone as insignificant as me, someone who is not even a ninja, that's really beneath you."

"Yo~ You're acting tough now? Aren't you afraid of becoming a corpse right this moment?"

"A corpse? Hehe, I don't know which country's ninja you are, but with your strength, you should have been able to kill me long ago. Yet you are still here talking to me. That can only prove one thing: there is someone here you fear. And who could that be? Let me guess. Is my teacher here too? That must be why ninjas from all these countries are getting along so harmoniously. Otherwise, given their current state, they should have started fighting long ago."

"Hehe, interesting. Didn't I say none of the ninjas outside are my match?"

"Yes, there are none outside. But what about inside?"

"Baby, your reasoning is quite good. Looks like Hanzo has taught you plenty!"

"Taught me? Intelligence isn't something that can just be taught." At this point, Zhou Yang simply let go of all restraint. Judging from her reaction, his deduction was probably correct, so he might as well be shameless for once!