Mu He

"One palm, two palms..."

What appeared behind Gu Chuan Mu He was Yizhe's Shadow Clone.

Just now, when he had thrown the Explosive Kunai to cover his hand seals, Yizhe had taken the opportunity to create a Shadow Clone and hide it beneath the snow as a contingency.

After all, this bandit leader had known Yizhe would get close, yet he had still insisted on using ninjutsu at such close range while forcing himself to form hand seals. There had to be something wrong.

Unexpectedly, he had truly used himself as bait, deliberately giving Yizhe a chance to get close and employing a tactic that would injure them both.

If he had not feared death and used only five Explosive Tags, Yizhe, lying on the ground, would likely already have been dead.

Even with the Hardened Body Technique protecting him, Gu Chuan Mu He had suffered serious injuries in that explosion and exhausted all his chakra.

Faced with the Shadow Clone's sudden attack from behind, he had no time to react, much less evade, and took the entire combo head-on.

Yizhe did not have much chakra left to begin with, and there had been even less when he divided it into this Shadow Clone, leaving it with enough strength for only one attack.

Originally, he had planned to have the Shadow Clone finish Gu Chuan Mu He with a Rasengan. But on second thought, what if Gu Chuan Mu He's armor still retained some effect? Wouldn't that make all his efforts futile?

Thus, to be safe, he used the Eight Trigrams Palm. Even if it could not kill him in one blow, it would leave him unable to fight again.

The Shadow Clone smoothly completed all Sixty-Four Palms, exhausted all its chakra, and dispersed into a puff of blue smoke. Gu Chuan Mu He, meanwhile, collapsed into the snow like a pile of mush.

"As expected of... of someone... from Konoha Village..."

"I... I'm... not... willing..." Gu Chuan Mu He howled miserably as he lay in the snow.

With victory right before his eyes, only to have someone turn the tables at the last moment—no one could accept that.

Who knew how long passed before Yizhe finally recovered a little ability to move.

He struggled to inch his way toward Gu Chuan Mu He. To prevent any unforeseen complications, he had to end Gu Chuan Mu He's life.

Although Gu Chuan Mu He had been badly injured by the Explosive Tags and then had all his vital chakra points sealed by Yizhe's Shadow Clone's Eight Trigrams Palm, leaving him at death's door—

Yizhe still would not lower his guard.

After all, countless stories had featured protagonists or villains having the tables turned on them at the last second.

Only a dead enemy could put him at ease.

"You... want... to take my..."

"Yes, I want to take your life. Do you have anything else to say?" Yizhe struggled to sit beside Gu Chuan Mu He and asked calmly.

"I want... to go... home..." Gu Chuan Mu He forced the words out of his throat.

At that, Yizhe fell silent.

"Where is your village? If I get the chance, I'll take your belongings back for you," Yizhe whispered after a long while.

If it was convenient, he did not mind doing Gu Chuan Mu He a favor. Fulfilling a dead man's wish might also bring him a little comfort.

"Thank you... If... the Land of Snow... could also... become... as strong... as you... that would be... good..." After saying that, Gu Chuan Mu He closed his eyes in satisfaction.

Huff—

Watching Gu Chuan Mu He die, Yizhe let out a long breath. Once his mind relaxed, he collapsed into the snow.

He was truly exhausted. His battle with Gu Chuan Mu He had nearly drained all his energy.

Gu Chuan Mu He's final, almost mutual-destruction strike had especially left him completely unable to fight.

Then he had forced himself to crawl over to Gu Chuan Mu He's side, intending to deliver the final blow, which had used up the last shred of Yizhe's strength.

The Explosive Tags' blast at such close range had injured his internal organs to varying degrees. Every bone in his body felt as though it had been crushed, making even the slightest movement difficult.

His hands were probably the most seriously injured part. Since they had been closest to Gu Chuan Mu He, they had suffered the worst damage. He could clearly feel that his palms had gone numb; even clenching his fists was difficult.

He did not want to move anymore. He would wait for Qing Shi's rescue.

"Lord Yizhe—" "Lord Yizhe—"

Who knew how long passed before the unconscious Yizhe was awakened by a burst of noisy voices.

"It's Captain Qing Shi!" He opened his eyes and saw Qing Shi's round face.

"My lord, it's wonderful that you're all right!" Qing Shi said in delight upon seeing Yizhe open his eyes.

After clearing out the Red Ant bandits at Cold Wind Bridge, they had immediately rushed to Yizhe's battlefield to investigate.

As a result, they discovered that the winner had already been decided here.

Both men lay in the snow, and Yizhe was covered in blood, looking utterly miserable.

When Qing Shi first saw him, he had thought Yizhe had already died in battle.

"Of course I'm not all right... Hiss—" Yizhe tried to turn over, only to find that his entire body hurt unbearably.

"You two!" Qing Shi called out to the two samurai beside him and barked, "Hurry and carry Lord Yizhe back to the caravan! Find a comfortable carriage and settle him in!"

"Yes, my lord!" the two samurai answered.

They immediately lifted Yizhe from the ground and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Yizhe called softly.

"Do you have anything else to instruct us to do, Lord Yizhe?" Qing Shi eagerly sidled up to him.

"Go search Gu Chuan Mu He. See if he has any distinctive belongings and bring them to me. Then find someone to bury him," Yizhe instructed softly.

That was what he had promised Gu Chuan Mu He: that he would find a chance to take his belongings back to his hometown.

Hearing this, Qing Shi trotted over on his short legs and began rummaging through the corpse.

Before long, Qing Shi's shout came from over there.

"My lord, I found a ring and a forehead protector!"

"Bring them both to me," Yizhe replied.

"Mm!"

"Let's go! We're heading back!" Yizhe urged the two samurai carrying him.

In this battle, the Red Ant Bandit Group was completely wiped out.

The caravan guards had also suffered many casualties. Their opponents had been bandits who lived by the blade. Once they went all out, even with a numerical advantage, the guards found them extremely troublesome and difficult to deal with.

Moreover, there had been several bandit accomplices among the guards, who had caused them no small amount of trouble when the battle began.

Those bandit lackeys were the truly pitiable ones. They had continued fighting desperately and bloodily on the bridge, hoping their leader would come and sweep aside the caravan's many guards, turning the tide.

But Yizhe's strength had exceeded Gu Chuan Mu He's expectations. He simply could not defeat Yizhe quickly enough to return and support the bandit group.

Or perhaps Gu Chuan Mu He had intended from the beginning to use his many lackeys to hold the caravan guards back, creating an opportunity for a one-on-one duel with Yizhe.

Thus, from the very beginning, the fates of those bandit lackeys had already been decided.

The ninja world had always been like this. There was no right or wrong.

Yizhe killed Gu Chuan Mu He only because he had accepted the caravan's commission and had to do everything possible to protect its safety.

Gu Chuan Mu He wanted to kill Yizhe because he wanted to seize the caravan's supplies, perhaps with revenge added to the equation.

Although Yizhe did not know Gu Chuan Mu He's purpose in robbing this shipment of supplies—whether it was for money, to strengthen the bandit group, or something else—

Whatever his purpose had been no longer mattered to Yizhe, because everything had been buried underground along with his death.

With his death, it had become an illusion, like flowers reflected in a mirror and the moon in water.

I've realized that Explosive Tag damage is really inconsistent! In Boruto, Shikadai got blasted point-blank by a whole bunch of Explosive Tags. Other than slightly torn clothes, he was totally fine T_T

Yet Hidan got caught in an explosive trap and was blown to pieces. The damage scaling is seriously inconsistent!

I remember Tsunade's younger brother was also killed by Explosive Tags!

Going by Shikadai's durability, even several dozen more probably wouldn't be enough to kill him →_→ Even if chakra protected his body and mitigated the damage, that's still ridiculously overpowered, isn't it? →_→