He Feng

The longsword fell from above, cleaving Yizhe in two.

"Eh!" A startled cry rang out through the wind and snow.

The hidden attacker was shocked to discover that there was no blood when "Yizhe" was split in half by the sword.

As he stood there in confusion, the two halves of "Yizhe" on the ground turned into two pools of water.

"Water Clone Technique!" The attacker suddenly understood.

"You find that strange, don't you?" A white-clad youth appeared behind the attacker.

Who else could it be but Yizhe!

"You suspected me long ago?" the attacker asked softly.

As he spoke, he suddenly spun and slashed backward, cutting the youth behind him into two pieces!

"Another clone!" The attacker could clearly feel that his blade had not struck a real body.

Sure enough, when he looked closely, the two halves of the corpse in the snow were turning into water.

As the wind and snow dispersed, the five people in the clearing were revealed.

The samurai keeping watch with He Feng held a blood-dripping sword. Two corpses lay at his feet—the two guards who had carried the "bell" for Yizhe.

The one who had attacked Yizhe also revealed his true face. It was the young samurai—He Feng.

"Watch out!" He Feng shouted at the only remaining samurai in the clearing.

"What?" The sword-wielding samurai was jolted by the shout.

Unfortunately, it was already too late!

One of Yizhe's Shuriken struck the back of his head! The samurai only felt a chill at the back of his head before his vision went black. He toppled into the snow and lost consciousness.

"Ninja sir, you really can't be underestimated!" Even with the warning, he had still failed to prevent his companion's death. He Feng sounded rather helpless.

The two stood roughly ten meters apart, wary of each other. Neither dared to make a rash move.

"By the way, sir, when did you begin suspecting me?" As he spoke, He Feng tossed aside his longsword and pulled a Kunai from behind his back.

Clearly, he was also a ninja.

"I presume you are one of Red Ant's two leaders?"

Watching He Feng draw a Kunai with practiced ease, Yizhe confirmed that he was a ninja and concluded that he was one of Red Ant's two leaders.

However, he had never seen the faces of Red Ant's two leaders, so he could not tell which one He Feng was. He had never expected one of Red Ant's leaders to be a youth.

"Oh, no, no, no! I think you've misunderstood! I'm not either of Red Ant's leaders!" the youth said with a grin.

"I am..."

Taking advantage of He Feng's pause, Yizhe scattered three Shuriken. Under their cover, he used the Body Flicker Technique to close in.

Clang—

He Feng casually blocked the Shuriken.

"What!" The instant He Feng blocked the Shuriken, he was suddenly startled to find Yizhe already right in front of him.

Giving him no chance to react, Yizhe swept aside his guard with his left hand and drove his Kunai straight at his throat with his right.

Pfft—

He Feng, struck in the throat, turned into a piece of wood.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! Ninja sir, aren't you being too hasty?" He Feng's voice came from behind Yizhe.

"Hmph!"

Yizhe snorted, halted, and without turning around, thrust his Kunai backward.

Clang—

Kunai collided. Yizhe was slightly faster than He Feng, causing He Feng's sneak attack from behind to fail before it could succeed.

With his attack thwarted, He Feng borrowed the force of Yizhe's counterattack and leaped several steps back, pulling away.

"I am Furukawa Kazekaze, son of Red Ant's leader. May I ask how I should address you, sir?"

After several exchanges, He Feng believed he had already gauged Yizhe's strength. Seeing that he could not deal with Yizhe for the moment, he introduced himself and asked about Yizhe's origins, hoping to probe his background.

"Just call me Yizhe!"

"It seems you come from quite an extraordinary family, sir! You don't even dare reveal your surname. Are you afraid of exposing your trump card?" After some thought, He Feng guessed the general situation.

"Hmph!" Yizhe snorted, tacitly admitting it.

"May I ask, sir, when did you begin suspecting me?" He Feng asked.

From the moment his initial sneak attack had failed, he had known Yizhe was prepared. He simply could not understand where he had exposed a flaw!

"I'll let you die knowing the truth!" Yizhe said, turning around.

"Your sword exposed you!"

"My sword?" He Feng asked in surprise.

"A samurai's foundation lies in his sword! What samurai does not treat his sword as his life and cherish it dearly? But you?"

"Me?" He Feng looked utterly confused.

"I examined your sword. It looked silver and gleaming, extremely sharp. Yet there were many tiny chips along its edge! If you were a samurai, someone who loved his sword, how could you maintain it in such a state?" Yizhe said disdainfully.

"So that was it!" He Feng suddenly understood.

"That's not all!"

"There's more?" He Feng asked in alarm.

"Only one who practices the Way of the Sword can be called a samurai! Those who practice swordsmanship are mostly unyielding rather than pliant! I once asked how my swordsmanship was, yet you actually said it was very good!"

"But how could a samurai devoted to the Way of the Sword flatter others so shamelessly! Even if you wanted to butter me up, shouldn't you have done it less outrageously? I don't know any swordsmanship at all!"

"All the signs showed that you were not a samurai at all! A person who was not a samurai, yet disguised himself as one—wasn't that enough to arouse suspicion?" Yizhe shouted as he stared at the youth in the distance.

"Ha, ha, ha! So that's how it was, so that's how it was!" He Feng laughed loudly.

"Now that your wish has been fulfilled, be on your way! Furukawa Kazekaze!"

Yizhe gripped his Kunai in reverse and charged toward the youth, moving several degrees faster than before.

"Lord Yizhe, don't be so hasty! Once my father and uncle escape from beneath that snow, it won't be too late for you to fight them!" He Feng said with a light laugh. He dodged Yizhe's attacks and retreated again and again, defending without counterattacking.

It seemed he had no intention of fighting Yizhe head-on. He intended to wait for the reinforcements buried beneath the snow.

This avalanche ambush had been a great success! Yizhe had buried most of the Red Ant Bandit Group's elite. Only a handful were likely to survive!

Naturally, Yizhe had not expected an avalanche alone to kill the two ninja leaders. His goal had been to use this ambush to reduce the Red Ant Bandit Group's numbers and create a numerical advantage for his own side.

He had simply not expected the Red Ant Bandit Group to be so much more complicated than the rumors suggested. There were supposedly only two ninjas on the surface, yet there was unexpectedly another Genin in the shadows.

Even though their numerical disadvantage had been reversed, the caravan's overall disadvantage had not changed.

What was more, Yizhe had wiped out nearly all of the bandit group's men this time. They would surely become enraged and seek revenge.

In the past, they would have worried about their own casualties and been unwilling to launch a direct assault. But now that so few of their people remained, they probably no longer had any reservations.

At the thought of three ninjas slaughtering without restraint, Yizhe felt chills run through his heart.

If an ordinary Genin attacked him, Yizhe was ninety percent confident he could take him down. If there were two Genin, he had a fifty percent chance of fighting them to a draw. If three Genin came at once, he could only flee in panic.

After all, two fists could not beat four hands!

Therefore, to avoid facing three Genin attacking at the same time in the future, Yizhe had only one choice.

Before the two Red Ant leaders beneath the snow could break free, he had to eliminate the youth before him on the spot!