Sleeping the Moment He Hit the Ground

"Damn it!" Hyuga Kaze silently cursed.

A ninjutsu lay ahead, his son behind him, and mountain walls on either side.

Gritting his teeth, he stopped himself from dodging. He crossed his arms before his chest and faced the ninjutsu head-on.

Just as the ninjutsu was about to strike Hyuga Kaze, a curtain of water suddenly appeared before him.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The wall of water surged up from the ground, sealing off the inside and outside of the cave and shielding Hyuga Kaze behind it.

The rapidly spinning current collided with the explosion on the ground.

Bang!

The two forces vanished into nothingness, sending water splashing everywhere.

Hyuga Kaze, who stood closest, bore the brunt of it and was drenched from head to toe.

The sudden ninjutsu left him somewhat stunned.

Before he could react, Hyuga Qingchuan had already grabbed him and rushed out of the cave under the cover of the spray.

Once outside, they finally saw the culprits behind the Earth Pillar Blast.

Two tall men stood outside the cave entrance, one burly and one lean.

The burly man had his arms crossed over his chest, chin slightly raised as he looked down on them.

When he saw Hyuga Qingchuan and the other emerge, both with Byakugan in their eyes, his gaze immediately lit up with excitement.

"So it's the renowned Hyuga Clan, the clan famous for its taijutsu."

The comparatively thinner man beside him rolled his eyes and mocked him.

"Da Tu, why do you only ever see taijutsu?"

"Don't you think it's stranger that the Hyuga Clan just used ninjutsu?"

Da Tu paused, scratching his head.

"Did they use ninjutsu just now? I thought that was Palm Rotation!"

Then he waved a hand. "Doesn't matter, Mo Lin. You watch from the side later. Don't get in my way."

Mo Lin pressed a hand to his forehead, looking utterly helpless.

Here it came again!

Who knew what the higher-ups had been thinking, pairing him with a taijutsu maniac like this?

The moment Da Tu encountered a taijutsu ninja, he could no longer move on.

Mo Lin could only try to persuade him.

"Don't forget Lord Tsuchikage's mission."

"That kind of thing doesn't matter." Da Tu grinned, brimming with excitement.

His face was filled with fanaticism, his gaze fixed motionlessly on Hyuga Qingchuan and his father.

"Today, I only want to beat these two to death..."

"Or be beaten to death by them."

"..."

Hyuga Qingchuan looked at the two men ahead, his expression grave.

The ninja called Da Tu might possess Jonin-level strength.

And Mo Lin was at least an above-average Chunin.

They could not run. Hyuga Kaze's Body Flicker Technique was not good enough.

Fighting was their only option.

But how were they supposed to fight?

He carefully surveyed the surroundings with his Byakugan, considering countermeasures.

"Qingchuan, run. Dad will cover the rear."

Hyuga Kaze could also sense how powerful their enemies were, and his expression was full of urgency.

His movement speed was too poor for him to escape, but his son still had a chance.

He could hold them off and let his son leave first.

Hyuga Kaze turned to look at Hyuga Qingchuan, who remained motionless.

He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. This was not the time for sentimentality. If one of them could survive, that was enough.

"Dad..."

"Don't say anything. Go!" Hyuga Kaze cut him off as soon as he spoke.

"Okay!" Hyuga Qingchuan replied.

With that, he spun around and plunged straight into the forest behind the mountain.

"???"

Hyuga Kaze's eyes widened. He had not quite processed it. "That decisive?"

He had been worried that his son would stubbornly refuse, and had been thinking about how to persuade him.

Seeing his son leave, his expression turned solemn as he stared intently at the two opponents.

Da Tu looked disappointed. "One got away!"

He turned to his companion. "Mo Lin, go after the little one. This cripple looks stronger."

"Fine, I know. You really love ordering people around!"

Mo Lin grumbled, then used the Body Flicker Technique to chase after Hyuga Qingchuan.

Hyuga Kaze wanted to stop Mo Lin.

Da Tu instantly used the Body Flicker Technique and kicked at him.

"I'm your opponent!"

Hyuga Kaze hurriedly raised his guard.

The tremendous force sent him stumbling back several steps.

Da Tu snorted and loosened up his limbs and neck.

"I'm a taijutsu ninja too. Today, I'll experience the famed Gentle Fist for myself."

Meanwhile, inside the dense forest.

Towering trees blocked out the sky, while vines sprawled everywhere and weeds grew thickly.

The moment Mo Lin entered the forest, he saw the crude attempts to conceal tracks on the ground and could not help laughing.

"A brat is still a brat. It would've been better not to hide them at all."

After sensing carefully, he headed in one direction.

Before he had gone very far, a trap lay brazenly on the only path forward, so crudely made that it looked like a prank.

"This counts as a trap? Not even a pig would step on it."

The smile on Mo Lin's face grew wider.

His pace did not slow in the slightest. He lightly tapped a thick tree root with his toes.

Like a leaf drifting in the wind, he smoothly and lightly slid past the side of the trap.

Over the next stretch of road, he avoided another three or four traps in exactly the same manner.

Those traps were placed either left or right, as though they had been cut from the same mold—rough and childish.

Each time he avoided one, Mo Lin's contempt deepened.

He continued his pursuit.

In the distance, the terrain ahead suddenly narrowed.

He spotted another crude trap.

But this time, the instant his gaze swept over it, he instinctively felt something was off.

Looking a little closer, he found that the color of the soil on either side of the trap differed subtly from the surrounding ground.

If it had been an ordinary ninja without much experience, it would have been difficult to notice.

"Trying to use inertia in my thinking to lure me into circling around the trap from either side again?"

"Not bad. You've got a little brain, but unfortunately, you ran into me."

Mo Lin inwardly judged it from on high, as though he were looking at a child's scribble.

Without stopping, he observed the surroundings as he ran.

"The vines on both sides block out the sky. If I want to avoid those three traps by going around them, I'll have to take a huge detour."

"And if I want to save time, the most reasonable route is to jump over from that branch above."

He looked at the empty space ahead between the branches, understanding dawning in his mind.

"Since I can only jump across from this branch..."

"Then the real killing move..."

"Must be here!"

While running, he pulled out several kunai and shuriken with both hands and hurled them forcefully toward the space between the branches above.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The hidden weapons triggered the trap among the branches, detonating the Explosive Tags concealed within.

"Cheap tricks!"

Mo Lin sneered, his contempt mixed with the pride of having solved the puzzle.

He hurried beneath the tree and leaped up with absolute confidence.

As his body rose past the trunk, the scene behind the tree came into view.

The little brat he had been pursuing.

At that moment, he held a huge blue-and-white Spirit Bow in his hands.

He stood on the path ahead.

With the arrow drawn, his eyes were icy.

He aimed at Mo Lin in silence.

"Huh?"

Before Mo Lin could figure out what that thing was,

the brat released the string. A lightning-fast arrow of light shot out and streaked toward him.

Mo Lin hung helplessly in midair, with nowhere to push off.

Before he could even struggle,

he could only watch helplessly as the arrow of light

struck his head with crushing force!

Boom!

A spray of blood burst through the air.

Mo Lin's body had nearly cleared the branch under the momentum of his jump.

But the arrow of light slammed heavily into his head, sending his entire body flying backward.

He crashed stiffly onto the ground.