Mu He

"One palm, two palms..."

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

Just moments ago, when he had thrown the Explosive Kunai to cover himself while forming hand seals, Yizhe had also 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 forced himself to form seals and use ninjutsu at such close range. There had to be something wrong.

Sure enough, he had used himself as bait, deliberately giving Yizhe an opening to approach before unleashing this mutually destructive tactic.

If he had not feared death and used only five Explosive Tags, Yizhe would probably have already died on the ground.

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

Faced with the sudden ambush from the Shadow Clone behind him, he had no time to react, much less dodge, and took the entire combo head-on.

Yizhe did not have much chakra left to begin with, and even less after sharing it with the Shadow Clone, leaving it with only enough power for one attack.

Originally, he had planned to have the 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 for nothing?

So, 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 the Sixty-Four Palms, expended every last bit of chakra, and vanished in a puff of green smoke. Gu Chuan Mu He, meanwhile, collapsed into the snow like a lump of mud.

"As expected... of a ninja... from Konoha..."

"I... I won't... accept this..." Gu Chuan Mu He howled miserably from the snow.

Victory had been right before his eyes, only for someone to turn the tables at the brink of defeat. No one could accept that.

After an unknown amount of time, Yizhe finally regained a little ability to move.

He struggled to inch toward Gu Chuan Mu He. To avoid any unexpected complications, he needed to end Gu Chuan Mu He's life.

Despite being badly injured by the Explosive Tags and having 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 heroes or villains turn the tables when pushed into desperate situations.

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.

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 helping Gu Chuan Mu He with this final request. Fulfilling a dead man's wish might also bring him a little comfort.

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

Huff—

Watching Gu Chuan Mu He die, Yizhe let out a long breath. The tension left him, and he collapsed into the snow.

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

Especially Gu Chuan Mu He's final, almost mutually destructive attack, which had completely robbed him of his fighting ability.

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

The Explosive Tags had detonated at such close range that his internal organs had all suffered injuries to varying degrees. Every bone in his body felt as if it had been crushed, making even the slightest movement difficult.

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

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

"Lord Yizhe—" "Lord Yizhe—"

After an unknown amount of time, Yizhe, who had fallen asleep, was awakened by a burst of noisy voices.

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

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

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

As it turned out, the battle here had long since been decided.

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.

"All right, my ass... 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 up 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.

"Is there anything else you wish to instruct us to do, Lord Yizhe?" Qing Shi sidled up to him obsequiously.

"Go search him and see whether Gu Chuan Mu He has any distinctive belongings. Bring them to me. Then find someone to bury him," Yizhe instructed quietly.

He had promised Gu Chuan Mu He that he would find an opportunity to take his belongings back to his homeland.

Hearing this, Qing Shi ran 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.

"All right!"

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

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

Quite a few of the caravan guards had also died. After all, their opponents were bandits who lived by the blade. Once they went all out, even though the guards had the numerical advantage, they had found them exceptionally troublesome and difficult to handle.

There had also been several bandit accomplices among the guards, who had caused them no small amount of trouble once the fighting began.

The only pitiful ones were the bandit underlings. They had continued fighting desperately and bloodily on the bridge, hoping their leader would arrive, sweep aside the caravan's many guards, and reverse the situation.

But Yizhe's strength had exceeded Gu Chuan Mu He's expectations. He had no way to defeat Yizhe quickly and return to reinforce the bandit group.

Or perhaps Gu Chuan Mu He had intended from the very beginning to use his many underlings to hold back the caravan guards, creating an opportunity to duel Yizhe alone.

So from the very beginning, the fate of those bandit underlings had already been decided.

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

Yizhe killed Gu Chuan Mu He simply 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 mix as well.

Yizhe did not know why Gu Chuan Mu He had wanted to rob this shipment. Was it for money? To strengthen the bandit group? Or something else entirely?

But whatever his purpose had been, it no longer had anything to do with Yizhe, because everything had been buried underground along with his death.

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

I realized the damage from Explosive Tags makes no sense! In Boruto, Shikadai got blown up at point-blank range by a whole bunch of Explosive Tags, and aside from slightly torn clothes, he was completely fine T_T

Yet Hidan got caught in an explosive trap and was blown into pieces. That damage makes no sense!

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

Judging by Shikadai's damage, even dozens more might not be enough to kill him →→ Even if chakra protected his body and reduced the damage, isn't that a little too ridiculous? →→