The Battle Begins

Last night had been peaceful. Yizhe had thought the Red Ant Bandit Group would be unable to resist launching a surprise attack.

Unexpectedly, they had held themselves back.

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

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

"Set out—"

Urged on by Qing Shi's low voice, everyone packed their gear and headed toward Cold Wind Bridge.

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

Soon, a long black line appeared in everyone's field of vision, strikingly conspicuous against the endless 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 endlessly in both directions. Going around it was nothing but a fool's dream.

As they came closer still, they finally saw a great bridge by the edge of the cliff, spanning from one side to the other.

That had to be Cold Wind Bridge!

"Everyone, Cold Wind Bridge is right ahead! Once we cross it, we'll have entered the Land of Iron!"

"I ask that you all..."

With Cold Wind Bridge close at hand, Qing Shi spared no effort in rallying everyone while there was still time.

Yizhe guessed that the guards outnumbered the bandits, but banditry was, after all, a profession lived on the edge of a blade. Every one of them was a desperate outlaw, so the guards inevitably lacked their momentum.

That was why Captain Qing Shi was working so hard to raise the guards' spirits.

As they drew nearer to the bridge, the situation on it became clearer and clearer.

The bridge was about five meters wide. At its entrance, it was packed with bandits dressed in white, blending into the vast snow so completely that they were nearly impossible to distinguish.

"Stop—"

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

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

The bandits across from them did not move an inch. The silence was absolute. It seemed they had no intention of charging out to attack and had resolved to hold their ground!

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

The murder of a son and the murder of a brother were blood feuds that could never be forgiven. He did not believe there was any possibility of negotiation between the two sides.

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

A gray-white figure shot out like an arrow, rushing straight at Yizhe.

Clang—that was the sound of kunai colliding.

Yizhe casually blocked the attacker's furious strike.

"You must be Red Ant's final leader, then!" He smiled as he knocked aside his opponent's kunai, then leaped backward, temporarily leaving the man's attack range.

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

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

"I am Gu Chuan Mu He! My son and brother both died at your hands, yet I still do not know your name. How utterly ridiculous! Please enlighten me!" Furukawa Muchi forcibly suppressed his anger, showing no change in expression as he carefully sized up his opponent.

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

"Just call me Yizhe. As for my surname, there's no need to mention it!" Yizhe replied calmly, though his eyes remained fixed on his opponent without relaxing in the slightest.

"Brat, you don't even dare give your surname?" Gu Chuan Mu He roared, suddenly firing three kunai at Yizhe.

"Explosive tags!"

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 blasted snow into the sky.

The thunderous explosions seemed like the signal to begin the battle.

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

The snow filling the air swallowed Yizhe's vision. By the time the stirred-up snow 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. Even the slightest oversight could bring fatal consequences.

Bang—

A gray-white figure dropped from high above. Yizhe shifted aside, and the man's descending strike missed completely, slamming into the snow.

"How is this possible?!" The figure that had fallen from the sky was Gu Chuan Mu He, and his eyes were full of astonishment.

It would have been one thing if his sure-kill strike had missed, but Yizhe had merely moved one small step aside and avoided it, as though he had already known the man was above him and exactly where he would land.

"Nothing is impossible!" Yizhe said mercilessly.

Twisting his waist and lifting 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 bloodied 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 famous Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.

"So it was the Byakugan! No wonder you didn't want to reveal your surname. A surname can sometimes represent a clan's unique ability! No wonder you could track my movements and so 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 know 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 any advantage in close-range taijutsu.

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

"First, I need to restrict his movements!" Gu Chuan Mu He silently thought.

His fingers flew as he rapidly formed a set of hand seals and unleashed a ninjutsu.

"Earth Release: Earth Spike 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! Their range was even broader than the technique Furukawa Muchi had used before!

It completely crushed Yizhe's plan to quickly rush out of the attack range.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

A massive spinning sphere of light appeared around Yizhe, grinding the earthen spike spears rising around him into powder!

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

Because judging by the current situation, the person inside was likely completely unharmed!

"Once I restrict him, I'll wear him down attack after attack!" Gu Chuan Mu He planned his next move.

"Earth Release: Falling Earth Spears!"

Above the area originally covered by the forest of earth spike spears, a mass of pointed earthen spikes suddenly 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 beneath a forest of spikes.

I can't keep taking hits like this! If I stay on the defensive for too long, I'll eventually fail! Protected by Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, Yizhe spun at high speed while rapidly considering his options.

Although Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven's defense was unparalleled, Yizhe could not guarantee that he could keep it up forever.

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

He had to break free from this unfavorable situation as quickly as possible!