Reversal of the Situation

Zhou Yang's lips suddenly curved into a smile as he watched their weapons about to collide. Seeing that smile, Tu Wu's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly recalled the force with which Zhou Yang had punched the ground and knocked him out earlier.

"Could it be that what he used just now wasn't ninjutsu?"

The thought had barely surfaced in his mind when reality gave him the answer.

Clang!

After the sound of weapons clashing rang out, a gust of wind suddenly followed.

"My kunai was actually knocked away—and my hand..." Tu Wu looked at his trembling right hand, which had been holding the kunai, and suddenly realized that the kid before him was no ninjutsu expert at all, but a taijutsu expert.

The situation before him gave him no time to think. Years of experience told him that this kid was absolutely not someone he could defeat in close combat, unless his own taijutsu was exceptional—but there was no "unless." Seizing the moment, he pushed off with both legs, trying to widen the distance between them. Although Tu Wu was indeed somewhat faster than Zhou Yang at the moment, he was retreating, so he was slower than usual.

Naturally, Zhou Yang would not let this chance slip away. He immediately followed after Tu Wu retreated. As long as he could land a single strike on the other side, this mission could be declared a success.

Of course, Tu Wu would not surrender without a fight. While retreating, he pulled several shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw them at Zhou Yang. This man was not like those wandering ninja from before—he was a genuine ninja, perhaps even a Middle Ninja. Zhou Yang did not think this man's shuriken accuracy would be poor, so he could only stop and slash them away with his blade.

But after he knocked aside three of them, even more came flying over. Clearly, Tu Wu intended to use this long-range attack method. Though this method was simple, it was indeed effective against Zhou Yang. His body had strong resistance and recovery abilities, but that did not mean he was invulnerable. If a vital spot was hit, he would still die.

"Tch, did this guy spend all his money buying this random junk? Keep throwing them. Let's see how much stuff you have left to throw."

After blocking dozens of shuriken, the other side threw another six. Zhou Yang blocked them as usual, but then he saw the man take out a scroll. With a summoning, a giant shuriken more than sixty centimeters in diameter appeared in his hand.

"Damn, I've seen this before. I remember Mizuki seemed to be carrying one of these early on in the original story!"

Then, right before his eyes, the other side threw the giant shuriken at him.

Looking at the incoming weapon, Zhou Yang thought, This should be the last thing he has, right?

But at that moment, Tu Wu suddenly formed a hand seal and said, "Ninja Art: Shadow Shuriken Technique."

Hearing those words, Zhou Yang was startled. It can't really be that technique, can it?

Then, before his eyes, the giant shuriken flying toward him split into two, two into four, four into eight, and eight into sixteen. Sixteen giant shuriken came hurtling toward him.

"No, Hanzo, you said this guy was at most a Middle Ninja? Middle Ninja my ass!" Seeing the sixteen giant shuriken, Zhou Yang cursed Hanzo viciously in his heart, but his hands did not stop moving. He had no choice but to try blocking them, though he had little confidence.

A technique the Third Hokage had once used against Sage of Six Paths Obito was now being used on him. He felt his status was a little too high.

"The first one—I'll block it!" Looking at the first shuriken flying toward him, Zhou Yang swung with all his strength. But as his blade came down, he sensed something was wrong. Normally, thrown weapons stirred some of the airflow as they moved through the air, creating a sensation of wind—especially something this large. Yet he could not feel the slightest movement of air. Does Shuriken Shadow Clone now have the ability to conceal its presence too?

The question flashed through his mind, but he had never experienced it before. This was the first time he had seen it in person, so how could he know the actual details?

Then his blade cut through it. Yes, it cut straight through the thing before him.

Of course, Zhou Yang did not think he had truly cut it apart. He had seen this situation before—it was a clone. That was what happened when a clone was attacked. But Zhou Yang had no time to be happy about it, because he had just used a full-power strike. When his blow missed, he instantly lost his balance and toppled to one side. Losing his balance meant it would be difficult for him to dodge the real shuriken.

Rip!

Blood sprayed through the air. Zhou Yang was injured.

Fortunately, Zhou Yang's balance and physical condition were astonishing. At the critical moment when he was hit, he found a point to brace himself against and forcibly twisted his body, so the injury only appeared on his back.

Tu Wu, who had thought he had succeeded, changed expression. "What kind of physical condition is that?! Still, luckily his speed isn't enough. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have had a chance. This distance is enough for me to use Hidden Rock Technique and leave." He no longer had any confidence in killing the kid before him, so he chose to retreat. He formed hand seals with both hands, and during the process, he suddenly saw Zhou Yang bend his upper body down.

"Wait, is this kid about to use some Earth Release technique?" In Tu Wu's eyes, many Earth Release techniques had to be cast toward the ground, so he naturally assumed that was what Zhou Yang was doing. He did not think about why Zhou Yang had not used it earlier, because all he wanted now was to escape.

"You think you can stop me from slipping away with Earth Release just because you won't allow it?" Tu Wu mocked loudly.

Zhou Yang was stunned. When did I say you weren't allowed to use Earth Release? How did I not know that? Do I have some kind of passive anti-magic ability? Wait, is the landlady nearby? Did she get fed up and intervene?

Seeing Zhou Yang freeze, Tu Wu thought he had struck a sore spot. Since he could not kill him for the moment, surely he could at least taunt him. "I can wait five seconds for you. How about that?" As he spoke, he even closed his eyes and began counting down from five.

"Five!"

Boom!!!

"What was that noise? Could it be some kind of ninjutsu?" Following the principle that his life came first, Tu Wu secretly opened his eyes to a slit. He was still trying to keep up the act!

But the moment he saw what was before him through that slit, his hair stood on end in terror.

"Did this kid take some drugs?" The instant the thought appeared, Tu Wu turned and ran. To hell with any promises—his life came first, didn't it?

But after only two steps, he realized that Zhou Yang's speed was now completely beyond his ability to match. It would not be long before Zhou Yang caught up to him. In desperation, he reached into his ninja tool pouch, trying to pull out something useful. But after fumbling around, all he found were useless items like Soldier Pills.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have thrown so many shuriken just now. What am I supposed to do now?" Just as he grew increasingly frantic, he suddenly touched a sheet of paper.

"Huh? What's this?"