Finally Meeting the Target

"Your little brother is going to die soon." The ninja said softly.

"Impossible. My brother is gifted. If there was something wrong with his body, they should have known long ago and would have gone to treat him." Zi Quan shouted fiercely.

"No, no, no. I don't mean he'll die of illness like that, but rather die by my hands."

"What? You want to kill him? Don't you want to live either? You must remember that everyone here belongs to Rain Ninja Village. Do you dare to make a move?" Zi Quan's expression at that moment was a bit fierce of port and weak of lung, as if the surrounding Rain Ninja Village ninjas could give her the strength to resist.

"Originally I certainly didn't dare, but isn't there you now?"

"This is even more ridiculous. What does it have to do with me whether you can kill my brother? Wait, could it be that you—"

"That's right, it looks like you are still quite smart, Madam Boss!"

"Hehe, what a pity, what a pity. The relationship between my brother and me is not very good!" A trace of trembling laced the Madam Boss's words.

"Is that so? Then why are you trembling?"

"I—I'm cold, alright?"

"Hahaha, your reaction time is really quite good, but unfortunately I already inquired about it yesterday."

"What? Could it be that you were talking to me yesterday—"

"That's right! Alright, enough nonsense. Will you capture yourself without a fight, or shall I do it?"

"Help! Someone's going to murder a ninja!" After crying for help, Zi Quan saw that the other party had no intention of stopping her and shouted a few more times, but the surroundings were dead quiet without any response.

"Hahaha, keep shouting. Why aren't you shouting anymore?"

"How can this be? Why is nobody answering me?"

"Take another look at where this is! Release!"

At that moment, the surrounding houses gradually dissipated, slowly revealing a jungle.

"What? Impossible? I actually left the town!"

"I already used an illusion on you when you came out. Now, feel the despair."

At this, the Madam Boss lowered her head, looking as if—she was truly in despair.

"Since you've chosen to surrender without a fight, then here I come! Gulp!" The ninja swallowed a mouthful of spit. Right now he could possess this woman, though he would definitely kill her afterward.

Then, just as he walked toward Zi Quan, the head-lowered Madam Boss suddenly asked a question.

"Are you the only one today?"

Seeing that the situation was entirely in his palm, the ninja didn't think much and answered directly.

"Killing a genius is a great achievement! Why give it to others?"

"Hmph, wasting my time!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The Madam Boss, who had been lowering her head, suddenly raised it. At that moment, before the ninja, she seemed like a completely different person, transforming from the pitiful little rabbit of a moment ago into a lioness eyeing her prey.

"What? Th—this feeling, why is it giving me such heavy pressure?" The ninja suddenly felt something was amiss, for this was not his first time experiencing such pressure. It was precisely this sense of déjà vu that filled him with despair, because he had only ever felt this sensation in the presence of their Tsuchikage.

"Impossible, no way! A Shadow Level expert would stay here to run a brothel Madam Boss? No, this is impossible, no!" As he shouted loudly, his hands suddenly slammed against the ground.

Earth Style, Yellow Springs Swamp!

Earth Style, Earth Flow Spear!

As it turned out, all his hysteria from just now had been fake, merely meant to hide the hand-sealing motions so he could launch a sneak attack. Yet the Madam Boss seemed not to have reacted at all, or perhaps she had no way to dodge, instantly being pierced clean through by the Earth Flow Spear.

"Hoo! Hoo!" Pulling off two B-rank ninjutsu in a short time was still somewhat tiring for an elite Chunin, but he was overjoyed. After all, his sneak attack had taken down a Shadow Level! This was a Shadow Level! He figured he could brag about it for a lifetime.

"It looks like living the long life of a Madam Boss has slowed down your reactions!"

"Is that so?"

"Ah?" A familiar voice came from behind him. He had no time to think and could only form hand seals.

Earth Style, Petrification!

His back instantly turned into a petrified form. A smile also appeared at the corners of his mouth: To think the Madam Boss's attack speed is so slow, she won't be able to kill me now, right?

Thwack!

The sound of a sharp blade tearing through flesh rang out. The ninja's smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth as he looked at his own back.

"What's going on? Why can I see my own back?" Then looking at the person standing in front of his body—So she had already gotten in front of me. So, I'm already dead.

The Madam Boss disdainfully shook the blood off her fan, then left. The moment she turned around, three people wearing Rain Ninja Village forehead protectors arrived before the corpse. About ten minutes later, everything here returned to its normal appearance, as if nothing had ever happened here.

Zi Quan walked with her hands behind her back, humming a little tune and swaying back toward her shop. It was starting to brighten up by then, and quite a few shops had opened their doors. Everyone would greet Zi Quan when they saw her, or tease her a little, and as for her, she replied to them one by one, as if the present her was the real her.

On the other side, Zhou Yang finally encountered the target: Tu Wu.

Tu Wu was dressed like an ordinary person at the moment, wearing a yellow bamboo-woven hat, ordinary black clothes, and gray cloth shoes with a bit of mud on them. He carried a shovel on his shoulder, looking all the world like he was headed out to do farmwork.

He looked left and right on the street, seemingly watching something while muttering to himself. Then he walked out of the town and headed toward one of the rare arable areas in the Land of Rain.

Zhou Yang looked at this stretch of road; it seemed just right for making a move. Sighing at the gift of a golden opportunity, he prepared to step forward.

Right as he decided to move, a shovel suddenly came flying over.

With an object of that volume, Zhou Yang couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to, and he easily dodged it. At the same time, he knew the other party must have discovered him long ago.

At that moment, the opponent flashed over to the side of a tree and pulled out a package. So that was where he had hidden his things.

Having retrieved the package, Tu Wu seemed to gain confidence. Standing behind the tree, he said, "Kid, I have to admit that your tracking skills are truly pathetic, simply incomparable to others from Rain Village."

Zhou Yang certainly knew his skills in this area were lousy. Besides, he had never intended to pull off a sneak attack in the first place, seeing as what he used wasn't ninjutsu at all.

Seeing Zhou Yang remain silent, Tu Wu took it as tacit agreement, so he spoke again: "I remember the hiding abilities of Rain Ninja Village are famous throughout the Ninja World. How is your level so poor? Even if you aren't specializing in this aspect, you should definitely know a trick or two. How come it feels like you don't know anything at all?"

"I really don't know." Zhou Yang figured that since the other party wanted to chat, they could chat.

"Huh? You're actually this young? Heh, I didn't expect you to still be a genius. Geniuses are even better, that way my plan is more likely to be completed."

"Oh? What kind of plan do you have?"

"What do you think I came here for?"

"Could it be for some item?"

"Of course not. What item is more important than my life?"

"That's true."

"However, deep in my heart there is indeed one thing more important than life, and that is hatred."

"Hatred?" Hearing this word, Zhou Yang seemed to think of something, yet it didn't seem to connect.