Infiltration

Night fell, and the snowfield was so quiet it was frightening. Only the howling wind could be heard.

The caravan did not continue traveling. Even if the people could endure it, the pack beasts could not. Moving through the snow consumed too much of their strength, so rest was necessary.

Everyone sheltered inside the carriages to rest, with guards taking turns keeping watch in each one.

Bright moonlight fell upon the snow, turning the entire ground into a vast expanse of white that glimmered faintly. Everything nearby was plainly visible.

In such an environment, even bandits probably would not launch a nighttime raid.

Everyone thought so. Even the sentries felt that standing watch was somewhat unnecessary.

Of course, that was only what they thought. Though they had grown somewhat lax, they were not foolish enough to abandon their watch altogether!

Their lives and possessions were at stake!

"Hey, Kobayashi! What are you looking at?" A voice suddenly emerged from one quiet carriage.

"So it's Nakamura!" Kobayashi, the guard on watch, shuddered. Turning around, he saw a black-clothed companion calling to him and complained, "Why aren't you asleep yet? You startled me!"

"What are you looking at?" Nakamura asked again.

He had tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Then he suddenly noticed Kobayashi peering outside the carriage.

"I think I just heard something! A rustling sound! But I didn't see any movement outside!" Kobayashi said strangely.

"Maybe you're too tired and imagined it. You probably heard wrong," Nakamura said casually.

"Really?" Kobayashi was still somewhat doubtful.

"Forget it, forget it! Go get some sleep first. I'll take over the watch. I can't sleep anyway!" As he spoke, Nakamura pulled Kobayashi aside and moved to the carriage entrance himself.

Kobayashi had not imagined it. Someone really had infiltrated the caravan.

Kobayashi had not seen anything because the intruder had approached from beneath the snow. The rustling he heard was the sound of someone digging through it.

Under the night sky, atop the white snow, a white figure silently broke through the snow beneath a carriage.

That carriage was the largest and sturdiest one in Qing Shi's caravan, and it was also Qing Shi's private carriage.

The white figure moved quickly, slipping into the carriage in the blink of an eye.

The two guards stationed at the carriage entrance only felt a breeze brush across their faces before their throats were cut and their breathing ceased.

After entering the carriage, he immediately saw a fat figure lying on its side with its back facing him.

"Leader Qing Shi, it's been a long time!" A cold voice sounded beside Qing Shi.

Accompanying it was a white figure—the Red Ant's deputy leader.

"Likewise, likewise!" The answer was not Qing Shi's terrified voice as expected, but that of an unfamiliar youth.

"Who exactly are you?" The deputy leader clenched his Kunai, assuming a guarded stance as he asked warily.

A wisp of white smoke dispersed, and Qing Shi's fat figure transformed into that of a young man.

"I was planning to catch a couple of little rats, but I never expected to catch a big one instead! May I ask which of the two leaders you are?" Yizhe answered in a cool voice.

After warning Qing Shi during the day, Yizhe had transformed into Qing Shi and waited for his prey. He had thought catching two assassins would be enough, but Red Ant's leader had actually come personally.

That truly surprised him.

Perhaps they thought dealing with the leader of an ordinary caravan would be too easy, so only one person had come. If both had attacked together, Yizhe would likely have already considered retreating.

Fortunately, only one of them had come. This instead gave Yizhe an opportunity to defeat them one at a time!

"Transformation Technique? You're a ninja! Are you the one who killed He Feng?" The deputy leader instantly realized that the youth transformed into Qing Shi was the young ninja he hated to the bone.

"May I ask your name?" Yizhe asked calmly.

"Remember this—the one who kills you is Red Ant's deputy leader, Furukawa Muchi!"

The middle-aged man's eyes reddened as he roared and lunged at Yizhe.

"Getting revenge won't be so easy!"

Yizhe chuckled. With a casual palm strike, he deflected the Kunai in Furukawa Muchi's right hand. Then he slipped behind him and drove an elbow into Furukawa Muchi's waist, knocking him off balance.

Furukawa Muchi rolled with the momentum, reversed his angle of view, and threw several Shuriken to force Yizhe back before swiftly climbing to his feet.

Unexpectedly, after suffering such a minor setback, Furukawa Muchi reined in the fury on his face and assumed a grave expression.

As expected of a battle-hardened bandit leader! He had returned to fighting condition so quickly!

Yizhe was secretly startled.

He had originally intended to continue provoking Furukawa Muchi, then seize an opportunity to find an opening and kill him. But now, it seemed that provoking him would be useless.

The two faced each other, neither making another move.

This kid is a little faster than me. I'll probably be at a disadvantage in close combat! And according to the medical ninja who treated He Feng's injuries, He Feng was wounded by a series of fierce taijutsu attacks.

It seems this kid is highly skilled in taijutsu! I need to be careful and avoid trading taijutsu with him as much as possible, lest I get caught by surprise! Furukawa He Feng guarded against Yizhe as he thought.

The greatest remaining threat of the Red Ant Bandit Group was the existence of its two ninja leaders. If he could take down the deputy leader here in one stroke, the rest would be nothing to worry about.

Yizhe silently made up his mind to give everything he had to keep Furukawa Muchi here for good.

Suddenly, Furukawa Muchi fired two more Kunai from across from him, though something seemed to be attached to their ends.

"Not good! Explosive Tags!"

Yizhe cried out and used the Body Flicker Technique to leap from the carriage.

Boom—boom—

Two loud explosions shattered the silence of the night, and a burst of fire lit up the vast white snowfield.

"What happened?!" Numerous guards rushed out and immediately saw the burning carriage.

Such a huge commotion woke everyone in the caravan. No one could keep sleeping!

"Don't interfere! Spread out and surround the area! Don't let him escape!"

Yizhe shouted. Warriors of average skill could not be of much use against a ninja and would instead only get in the way.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of letting these warriors throw away their lives for nothing.

The "sturdy" carriage Yizhe had been in was blown to pieces, with burning fragments scattered all around.

Qing Shi had said that his own carriage was the best and sturdiest in the entire caravan, but its materials were merely somewhat better than ordinary wood. That was all.

It was hardly surprising that two Explosive Tags had blown it to pieces.

Though the carriage was not large, the blast radius of two Explosive Tags was enough to cover it entirely. However, Yizhe did not believe Furukawa Muchi would die so pathetically at his hands.

Sure enough, Yizhe saw an earthen wall standing behind the flames, with a white figure atop it.

It seemed Furukawa Muchi had used Earth-Style: Earth-Style Wall to block the Explosive Tags.

However, his originally white clothes now bore quite a bit of black ash and several uneven tears. Apparently, he had not completely blocked the force of the explosion and had been caught in some of it.

He would rather injure himself than use Explosive Tags at such close range.

It seemed Furukawa Muchi wanted to widen the distance between them. Yizhe quickly saw through his intentions.

"Apparently, he made some guesses about me based on Furukawa He Feng's injuries. That's why he's so wary of letting me get close!" Yizhe sighed.