The Battle Begins

The night before had been quiet. Yizhe had thought the Red Ant Bandit Group would be unable to resist launching a sneak attack.

Unexpectedly, they had held back.

The wind and snow had stopped, but the sky remained oppressively dark, weighing heavily on everyone.

The caravan finished breakfast in silence. Everyone knew a fierce battle was imminent, and no one was in the mood for idle chatter.

"Set out—"

At Qing Shi's low-voiced urging, everyone packed up and headed toward Cold Wind Bridge.

A journey of over an hour was neither particularly long nor short.

Soon, a long black line appeared in their field of vision, strikingly conspicuous against the vast white snowfield.

Only when they drew closer did they discover that it was a bottomless ravine cutting across their path.

The cliff that split the flat ground stretched beyond sight in both directions. Trying to go around it was nothing but wishful thinking.

As they approached further, they finally saw a great bridge by the edge of the ravine, spanning from one side to the other.

That must have been Cold Wind Bridge!

"Everyone, Cold Wind Bridge is right before us! Once we cross it, we will enter the Land of Iron!"

"Please, gentlemen..."

With Cold Wind Bridge drawing near, Qing Shi spared no effort in rallying everyone while there was still time.

Yizhe guessed that the guards outnumbered the bandits, but bandits made their living on the edge of a blade. Every one of them was a desperate outlaw, so the guards inevitably lacked their momentum.

That was why Qing Shi, the leader, worked so hard to boost the guards' morale.

As they neared the bridge, the situation atop it became increasingly clear.

The bridge was roughly five meters wide. At its entrance, it was packed with bandits clad in white, nearly indistinguishable from the endless snow.

"Halt—"

Nearly a hundred meters from the bridge, Yizhe signaled everyone to stop.

He wanted them to catch their breath, steel themselves, and make their final preparations.

The bandits across from them did not move at all. Everything was silent. It seemed they had no intention of charging out to attack and had resolved to hold their ground.

"Would the leader of Red Ant dare come out and fight?" Yizhe stepped out from the caravan and shouted.

The murder of a son and brother was an irreconcilable blood feud. He did not believe there was any possibility of negotiation between them.

"Boy, give me your life!" An enraged roar came from the Red Ant Bandit Group's ranks.

A grayish-white figure shot out like an arrow, charging straight at Yizhe.

Clang— It was the sound of Kunai colliding.

Yizhe casually blocked the newcomer's furious strike.

"You must be Red Ant's last remaining leader!" He smiled as he deflected his opponent's Kunai, then leaped back a step and temporarily left the man's attack range.

Only then did he see clearly that the man was middle-aged, dressed in grayish-white half armor, with shoulder-length hair and a conspicuous scar between his brows.

After venting his rage with that strike, the man calmed down and did not rashly pursue.

"I am Gu Chuan Mu He! My son and brother both died by your hand, yet I still do not know your name. What a ridiculous state of affairs! Please enlighten me!" Furukawa Muchi suppressed his anger and carefully sized up his opponent without revealing anything on his face.

Though he appeared composed, Yizhe could still sense the thick killing intent in every word he spoke.

"Just call me Yizhe. There's no need to mention my surname." Yizhe answered calmly, but his eyes remained fixed on his opponent, not daring to relax in the slightest.

"Boy, you don't even dare give your surname?" Gu Chuan Mu He roared, abruptly firing three Kunai at Yizhe.

"Explosive Tag!"

Yizhe clearly saw the talismans attached to the ends of the three Kunai. With a Body Flicker Technique, he easily evaded Gu Chuan Mu He's sneak attack.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent explosions erupted where the Kunai landed, and the powerful shockwaves threw snow into the air.

The thunderous explosions seemed to signal the start of the battle.

"Kill!" The caravan guards shouted as they charged toward Cold Wind Bridge.

The swirling snow swallowed Yizhe's vision. By the time the stirred-up snow had settled again, Gu Chuan Mu He had vanished from the field.

"Byakugan!"

Yizhe did not dare let down his guard and immediately activated the Byakugan's combat stance.

After all, his opponent had come to fight for his life. The slightest carelessness could bring fatal consequences.

Bang—

A grayish-white figure descended from above. Yizhe shifted aside, and the man's falling strike missed completely, slamming into the snow.

"How could this be!" The figure who had fallen from the sky was Gu Chuan Mu He, and his eyes were filled with shock.

It would have been one thing if his sure-kill strike had missed, but Yizhe had merely shifted one small step and avoided his attack, as though he had already known he was in the air and where he would land.

"There's nothing impossible about it!" Yizhe said mercilessly.

Twisting his waist and raising his leg, he delivered a sweeping kick that sent Gu Chuan Mu He flying.

"Pah!"

Gu Chuan Mu He quickly climbed out of the snow, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and stared at Yizhe with a grave expression.

He saw the bulging, web-like veins around Yizhe's eyes and quickly recognized them as the famed Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.

"So it was the Byakugan! No wonder you did not want to give your surname. Sometimes, a surname also represents a clan's unique abilities! No wonder you could track my movements and easily evade that strike from above! No wonder He Feng's injuries were so strange!" Gu Chuan Mu He suddenly understood.

"It's not too late for you to realize it now," Yizhe said softly, never taking his eyes off him.

"Yes, it truly isn't too late!" Gu Chuan Mu He said bitterly.

Now that he knew his opponent belonged to the Hyuga Clan, it would be difficult to gain an advantage in close-range taijutsu combat.

With that thought, he decided to use ninjutsu to suppress Yizhe and search for an opportunity to land a fatal blow.

First, I have to restrict his movements!

His fingers danced as he rapidly formed a series of hand seals and unleashed a ninjutsu.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Yizhe immediately felt vibrations coming from beneath his feet.

Clusters of earthen spikes burst chaotically from beneath the snow, covering an area nearly ten meters wide! The range was even greater than the technique Furukawa Muchi had used before!

It completely crushed Yizhe's plan to swiftly charge out of the attack's range.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

A massive spinning sphere of light appeared around Yizhe, grinding the Earth Flow Spears erupting around him into dust!

"Hmph!" Gu Chuan Mu He snorted coldly. Though he had not expected this move to injure Yizhe, the sight before him still displeased him greatly.

From the looks of it, the person inside had likely emerged completely unscathed!

After restricting him, I'll wear him down in waves! Gu Chuan Mu He planned his next move.

"Earth Release: Earthfall Spears!"

Above the area that had originally been covered by the forest of Earth Flow Spears, a mass of earthen spikes appeared out of thin air.

Boom!

Thick earthen spikes crashed down from the sky, sending waves through the snow on the ground and completely burying Yizhe's position within a forest of spikes.

I can't keep taking hits passively! A long defense is bound to fail! Protected by Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, Yizhe spun at high speed as he rapidly considered a countermeasure.

Although Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven possessed unmatched defensive power, Yizhe could not guarantee that he could sustain it forever.

The centrifugal force created by high-speed rotation placed an enormous burden on his body; moreover, Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven consumed a considerable amount of chakra.

He had to quickly break free from this unfavorable situation!