Clues

After searching two inns, Yizhe still found no trace of the woman.

Instead, he saw a strange sight on the street: a crowd had formed a long line in front of a young girl.

Curious, he stopped a man who was about to join the queue.

"Hey, hey, hey! Brother, what are you all doing here?" Yizhe asked, pointing at the long line beside them.

"There's a young girl over there with decent medical skills, setting up a stall to treat illnesses. Her fees are even cheaper than the hospital's! That's why everyone's lining up to have her take a look!"

As more and more people joined the line, the man hastily explained in just a few words, shoved Yizhe aside, and ran to the back of the queue.

Skilled medicine? Should I have her take a look too?

Forget it. I never expected Miyamoto to be able to treat my injuries anyway. I might as well let this girl examine them!

Besides, so many people are rushing to line up. Her medical skills must truly be quite good. Even if she can't heal me, it would still be good if I could get close to whoever taught her!

After thinking it over, Yizhe decided to let the young girl examine his injuries.

So he too walked to the end of the line and began the long wait.

He had no idea how long he waited. By the time it was his turn, nearly everyone else had left, and there was no one behind him.

The girl treating patients at the stall looked fifteen or sixteen. She wore a long black top and black trousers, with short black hair, and had a delicate, refined appearance.

"Miss, please take a look at my injuries."

As he spoke, Yizhe untied the bandages around his hands, revealing palms covered in scars and twisted into an unnatural shape.

"Th-this... this..." The young doctor was deeply shocked when she saw his hands.

"Can they still be treated?" Yizhe asked quietly.

"I need to examine them carefully!" the girl answered casually, her attention already completely absorbed by Yizhe's hands.

It was the first time she had encountered injuries this severe.

"How did you get hurt?" she asked as she examined him.

"Mm... I encountered a powerful enemy. He used a mutual-destruction tactic and blew them up with Explosive Tags!" Yizhe Responded lightly, as though the blasted hands did not belong to him.

After finishing her examination, the girl shook her head and said regretfully, "The ligaments and meridians have both been damaged. Those bone fragments must be removed!"

"But that requires an extremely precise and advanced operation!"

"With my current medical abilities, I can't treat your injuries. I'm truly sorry!"

"It's fine. I know the state of my own injuries," Yizhe said without disappointment, because he had suspected from the very beginning that this would be the result.

"May I ask if your teacher is here? Could you introduce me?" Yizhe asked earnestly.

"I'm very sorry, but for certain reasons, my teacher stopped treating people's illnesses and injuries long ago!" The girl politely declined, full of apology.

"That really is a shame." Only after hearing that her teacher no longer treated injuries did Yizhe feel somewhat dejected.

"Oink—Tonton—" At that moment, a strange cry came from beneath the stall.

He saw a pink piglet wearing a pearl necklace crawl out from under the stall.

"Tonton, do you want to go back?" The girl gently picked up the pink piglet and spoke softly to it.

"Oink—oink—" The pink piglet responded with strange cries.

"All right, then. Let's go back!" The girl answered seriously, as though she could truly understand the piglet's words.

Yizhe clearly remembered Miyamoto telling him that the woman had a close female companion with an especially conspicuous trait.

She often carried a pink piglet with her and could even converse with it.

If I capture her, perhaps I can find out where that woman lives! I might even be able to use her as leverage to make that woman cooperate with me and trick Miyamoto into treating my injuries! Yizhe thought secretly.

"Miss, do you have a sister who loves gambling?" he asked.

He needed to confirm the girl's identity first.

"What do you want!" The moment Yizhe mentioned a gambling-loving sister, the girl became tense.

It looked like it really was her!

"I have a matter I'd like to ask your sister to help with. Could you introduce me to her?" Yizhe did his best to put on a friendly expression and asked politely.

If the matter could be resolved through conversation, he did not want to resort to force.

After all, forced fruit was never sweet!

"Don't even think about it!" For some reason, the girl became furious and rejected him outright.

She gave Yizhe no chance to negotiate at all!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The girl opened her mouth and spat out several sharp needles that gleamed with cold light as they tore through the air.

Her attack came too suddenly. Yizhe barely dodged the needles, only to see that the girl had already fled more than fifteen feet away with the little pink pig in her arms.

"Don't run!" Yizhe shouted.

His feet did not stop moving as he chased after her with several leaps.

The girl did not seem particularly skilled in taijutsu and was not very fast. Yizhe quickly caught up to her.

Seeing that she could not outrun him, she stopped and pouted helplessly. "You debt collectors really are impossible to shake off!"

Paralyzing Mist

Suddenly, she opened her mouth again and sprayed out a cloud of pink mist that rushed straight at Yizhe.

Though Yizhe's hands were inconvenient to use and he could not form hand seals to cast ninjutsu, his legwork was not bad thanks to his mastery of taijutsu.

He easily avoided this ambush.

Then, with a Body Flicker Technique, he rushed to her side, twisted his waist, raised his leg, and unleashed a sweeping kick.

Although the girl had prepared to defend herself, Yizhe's whip-like kick still sent her sliding backward several yards.

Just as Yizhe charged forward again, intending to continue his assault.

Whoosh!

A piercing sound came from the side as a fierce slash of sword light cut between them.

Yizhe hurriedly turned aside and dodged the sword light.

As the sword light faded, a middle-aged samurai appeared in the field.

"You two, that's enough!" the middle-aged samurai shouted.

Judging by his attire, he was likely one of the patrol samurai responsible for maintaining public order in the Land of Iron's city. He must have come to break up the fight, Yizhe thought.

Having escaped disaster, the girl glared hatefully at Yizhe before turning and vanishing around a corner.

"Hmph!"

Yizhe had just moved to pursue her when the samurai in the field snorted coldly, erupting with an incomparably powerful chakra presence that enveloped him.

An icy chill surged through Yizhe's heart, extinguishing every stray thought he had.

He did not dare move even an inch, because he could feel that the samurai had firmly locked onto his presence.

Who exactly is this samurai? He's so powerful! He entered within three meters of me without any warning!

Although he has no killing intent or hostility, I have a feeling that if he draws his sword, I'll certainly die. I won't have the slightest chance to resist!

Is this what a top-tier samurai is like? Although Uncle Hizashi's presence is similar to his, Uncle Hizashi has never made me feel this much pressure!

Yizhe did not know at the time that the samurai's overwhelming pressure came from the fact that he had stepped into the attack range of the man's Iaijutsu.

By the time Yizhe recovered from his wild thoughts, his back was already soaked in sweat. At some point, the powerful samurai in the field had also left.