Retreat

Whoosh~

A Kunai shot in from behind.

Qian seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. His body tilted slightly, avoiding the Sneak Attack.

He turned to look in the direction the Kunai had come from and saw a Rock Hidden Chunin abandon the two Leaf Village Genin he had been beating down and charge straight toward him.

And it was not just him. Another Rock ninja also abandoned his opponent and moved in this direction.

Clearly, the two of them intended to join forces against him.

Qian had long expected this.

When that Middle-Aged Rock Ninja had launched a Sneak Attack on him earlier, he had known he had already entered these Rock ninja's sights. Being singled out was only a matter of time.

Since he could not avoid it, he might as well take the initiative.

That was why Qian had chosen to kill Ishii Ichiro quickly.

His goal was to disrupt their rhythm.

Just like now. As soon as Ishii Ichiro died, the two men in front of him had no choice but to give up the targets they had been dealing with and focus their energy on him.

On the surface, doing this seemed to make Qian a shield for those Leaf Village Genin, but if one thought a little deeper, they would discover that the risk he bore had not actually increased.

In fact, overall, it had become even smaller.

Because following the other side's rhythm, after these two killed the targets in their hands, they would very likely besiege him together with Ishii Ichiro.

But now, Ishii Ichiro was dead, and the number of people besieging him had gone from three to two. The danger had greatly decreased.

At the same time, whether the surviving Leaf Village Genin were willing or not, they would draw the attention of the other Rock ninja nearby, thereby reducing the number of potential opponents for him.

This way, as long as he controlled the rhythm well, he would not have to face more enemies in the short term.

All sorts of thoughts flashed through Qian's mind. He wasted no more time, immediately drew his Kunai, and rushed toward the two men opposite him.

Seeing Qian charge straight in, the two Rock ninja did not waste words either. After exchanging a glance, they likewise rushed toward Qian, clearly intending to fight him in close combat.

Generally speaking, as long as one was not a genius-level ninja, the Chakra in their body was very limited.

Therefore, during battle, they usually did not use ninjutsu frequently. This was especially true on such a chaotic battlefield.

Because no one knew whether an enemy might appear after their Chakra was exhausted and kill them in passing.

So every ninja was a meticulous calculator.

Admittedly, when Qian had fought Ishii Ichiro just now, he had displayed rather impressive close-combat ability, but that had ultimately been a one-on-one fight.

Now that these two Rock ninja were working together, they did not believe Qian would still be a match for them.

So when they saw Qian close the distance and prepare for close combat, they did not choose to avoid him. Instead, they accepted the fight on the spot.

They even felt a little secretly relieved.

After all, the scene of Qian using ninjutsu to kill Ishii Ichiro just now was still vivid in their minds. Though they did not say it aloud, they were still somewhat wary inside.

Now that Qian had chosen close combat, it suited them perfectly.

They refused to believe Qian could really fight two against one.

The facts were indeed just as they expected.

Even though he had trained Basic Body Technique to the perfection of lv3, fully grasped all its techniques, and gained a wave of real-combat experience from Ishii Ichiro, Qian still could not fight two opponents at once.

Thus, in only a short time, several more wounds appeared on his body.

Fortunately, they were all superficial injuries and did not affect his combat strength for the time being.

Clang~ Clang~

Qian swung the Kunai in his hand, blocking the attacks of the two Rock ninja in succession. Then he took a step back, briefly opening up the distance.

The two Rock ninja did not immediately give chase. Instead, they split to the left and right, slowly approaching from both sides.

During this time, they did not forget to use psychological tactics to affect Qian's will to fight.

"Kid, stop struggling. There's no way you can beat us. Put down your weapon and surrender now, and maybe we'll spare your life," one of them said.

"That's right, kid. Look around. Is there anyone who can help you? Surrender now, and save yourself some suffering," the other echoed.

Hearing this, Qian swept his peripheral vision across the battlefield.

Indeed, everyone nearby was currently fighting, and no one could help him at all. Even Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko were no exception.

At this moment, they were fighting a young Rock ninja, with another Leaf Village Genin assisting from the side.

Three against one. Although the situation was not exactly optimistic, they would not be in mortal danger for a while.

After confirming this, Qian quietly let out a breath of relief.

Then he focused his attention on the two men in front of him again.

Indeed, when fighting two opponents alone, without activating the Sharingan and relying only on close-combat ability, he was no match for them.

But similarly, it would not be easy for these two to kill him either.

And so, the situation reached a stalemate here.

And this was exactly what he needed.

As long as he could maintain this situation, Qian was in no hurry at all.

Time was on his side anyway. Once reinforcements arrived, the crisis would resolve itself. There was no need to fight the two of them to the death.

At that thought, Qian's state of mind grew even steadier.

Seeing that Qian had not been affected by their words in the slightest, the two Rock Ninja simply stopped wasting their breath and charged at him again.

Clang, clang, clang—

A grating series of metallic collisions rang out one after another.

Qian opened up his senses fully and fought one against two, only falling slightly into disadvantage.

The battle went on for a minute or two.

Finally, one of the Rock Ninja could not hold back any longer. After flashing a hand signal to his teammate, he suddenly pulled back, seemingly preparing to use some kind of ninjutsu.

Seeing this, Qian thought inwardly, Not good!

Although he had long known the two of them would not simply let him stall for time like this, the fact that they changed tactics now was still beyond his expectations.

He had thought he could delay them for at least a few minutes no matter what, but their losing patience in such a short time still caught him somewhat off guard.

Qian was just about to pull back when the only Rock Ninja left in front of him suddenly intensified his assault, actually leaving him unable to break away for the moment.

With the situation critical, Qian thought, Should I use the Sharingan?

If he struck with preparation against an unprepared opponent, Qian had ample confidence that he could kill the Rock Ninja before him in a single blow, but if he did that, he was not sure whether he could hide it from the other Rock Ninja.

If the Sharingan was exposed, never mind what trouble might come afterward—just in a little while, a whole crowd of Rock Ninja would probably come over to surround and attack him.

After all, every Uchiha ninja who had awakened the Sharingan was a promising seed. If they could snuff one out, the credit would definitely be considerable.

Moreover, the Sharingan did not have the protection of the Caged Bird. Iwagakure would not mind stealing one for research.

Of course, even without using the Sharingan, Qian might not necessarily be in trouble, but this feeling of losing control over the situation made him feel deeply insecure.

Just as Qian was wavering, several piercing whistle blasts of varying lengths suddenly sounded across the battlefield.

Hearing the whistles, the Rock Ninja who had still been attacking madly abruptly stopped moving. His expression changed drastically, and he quickly exchanged a glance with the Rock Ninja who had retreated to the rear.

Then the two of them formed hand seals in unison, used some kind of Earth Release Ninjutsu, and broke toward the edge of the battlefield together.

"Are they... retreating?!"

Qian was both shocked and delighted. If the other side withdrew, then he would no longer have to agonize over it.