Konoha Ninja Squad

Lu Zeming did not wipe out the bandits in those strongholds. He killed only their leaders, then left without a word.

Even scraps were worth having. Those bandit dens probably still held some valuables, and he was busy making a delivery. Besides, no one was available to escort the captured bandits back, and they would make excellent laborers.

Killing only the leaders would keep the rest from acting rashly without sending them scattering in every direction.

With the sun about to set, Lu Zeming hurried on toward Kusagakure without stopping.

The war had not felt quite so real in the village. Outside it, bodies lay everywhere, with no one to collect them.

Some belonged to civilians, others to ninja. The stray dogs and rats along the road had grown fat and sleek, and they no longer feared people!

No matter the era, ordinary people bore the cruelest cost of war.

He passed several villages. Some had been burned down to broken walls and rubble; others showed no sign of life.

The few survivors he managed to find looked numb, like walking corpses.

Some children were little more than skin and bone, yet their bellies and heads were grotesquely swollen.

Lu Zeming had heard his elders say that people driven to the brink by hunger would eat dirt. Unable to digest it, they would grow more and more bloated until they suffocated.

Lu Zeming sighed helplessly. All he could do was leave them the food he carried and tell them to head south. If they reached Flower Village, they would have a chance to live.

At their most desperate, people turned to superstition, praying for a god to appear and save them.

And Lu Zeming, flying through the sky, became the answer they imagined.

"A god has come to save us! We're going to live!"

"The god gave us food and said to head south! There's a place called Flower Village where we can survive!"

"It's a sign from the god! Everyone, head south!"

Word spread like wildfire among the refugees, and people began heading south...

By the time Lu Zeming reached Kusagakure, the sun had sunk to the horizon. Its fiery light fell across the vast ruins before him, like the last glow of a dying world.

Kusagakure had once been one of the most prosperous cities in the Land of Grass, even if it could not compare to Konoha.

Now that prosperity was gone. Only exposed brick walls, collapsed buildings, and scavengers searching the wreckage for anything useful remained.

Lu Zeming suddenly found himself at a loss. They had agreed that he would deliver the goods to the Shinbu residence, but the residence had been destroyed. Who was he supposed to find now?

As he hesitated, a familiar voice called from behind a broken wall.

"Zeming! Over here!"

The voice was low, but Lu Zeming recognized its owner at once.

"Shinbu Kosuke? What are you hiding here for?"

Shinbu Kosuke pulled Lu Zeming behind the low wall, looking tense.

"The Grass Flower Faction probably has lookouts nearby. We need to be careful!"

"The Grass Flower Faction?"

"It's a long story. Let's get out of here first, and I'll explain. Follow me!"

With that, Shinbu Kosuke led the way.

After winding through a maze of turns, they reached a dry well. Shinbu Kosuke jumped in first.

Lu Zeming narrowed his eyes. After a moment's hesitation, he followed.

A secret passage ran beneath the well. It was narrow at first, but widened as they went until they could walk side by side.

"Zeming, what took you so long? I've been waiting since this morning."

"Something came up on the road. Sorry!"

"Oh, did you bring the goods?"

Lu Zeming did not answer. Instead, he changed the subject. "It's only been a dozen days, and you've already stopped breaking out in cold sweats. I even made you a special potency medicine to bring along. Looks like you won't need it!"

Shinbu Kosuke froze for a moment, then laughed. "My uncle is the head of the Shinbu family. He hired a renowned doctor to treat me. Of course something that minor could be cured. But since you brought the medicine, I might as well use it."

"Oh, all right. I'll get it for you!"

Lu Zeming reached inside his clothes. What he pulled out was not medicine, but a Kunai.

He gripped the Kunai and drove it straight toward Shinbu Kosuke's heart.

Shinbu Kosuke reacted just as quickly, blocking the strike with a Kunai of his own.

"Lu Zeming, have you lost your mind? I'm Shinbu Kosuke!"

Lu Zeming sneered. "You're an impostor, and you still think you can fool me? Talk! Where's the real Kosuke?"

At that, Shinbu Kosuke's expression turned amused.

"Heh. So you caught on? You're smarter than we thought!"

As "Shinbu Kosuke" retreated, his appearance changed. He became a ninja wearing a white ox mask, a short sword strapped to his back. A spiral emblem was emblazoned on his arm.

"A Konoha ninja!"

Lu Zeming's expression darkened, but his opponent seemed relaxed.

"When did you spot the flaw? My disguise should have been flawless."

"Shinbu Kosuke doesn't get along with his father, let alone his uncle. I don't believe his uncle would hire a famous doctor just for him. Besides, Kosuke's only lingering symptom was cold sweats. It had nothing to do with impotence!"

"Heh. That really was careless of me!"

"Kosuke's in your hands, isn't he? Is he still alive?"

"Still trying to pry information out of me? You should be worrying about yourself. Hand over that shipment."

"I don't know whether to curse old Shinbu for being terrible at keeping secrets or praise Konoha's intelligence network!"

"So you're not going to hand it over."

He was about to attack. Lu Zeming sneered. "You can't beat me alone. Call your companions out. Let's see what you Konoha ninja are made of."

Lu Zeming had already sensed two more Konoha ninja hiding in the darkness.

"You're dead! Fire Release: Fire Dragon Swirling Technique!"

The exposed ninja in the white ox mask struck first. Flames filled nearly the entire passage as they surged toward Lu Zeming.

Lu Zeming blocked them with an Earth Flow Wall. The moment the flames died out, another voice rang out.

"Fang Over Fang!"

As the shout came from the darkness, two black whirlwinds punched through Lu Zeming's Earth Flow Wall and kept coming, bearing down on him.

Lu Zeming was about to use a technique to stop them when a woman's voice sounded behind him.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"

A twisted tree sprang up beneath Lu Zeming's feet and bound him fast.

Fang Over Fang was tearing toward him from the front, while the tree held him in place from behind. It looked like certain death, but Lu Zeming did not panic.

"You think a mere Genjutsu can hold me? Supreme Spirit Purification!"

The Genjutsu shattered, and Lu Zeming's blade flashed from its sheath in a sweeping slash.

The two whirlwinds split apart. A person and a dog fell from them, both dead.

"Inuzuka Subaru!"

The ninja in the white ox mask stared in fury and drew his sword, charging Lu Zeming.

Lu Zeming swung his blade casually and met the attack.

After just two or three exchanges, the ninja in the white ox mask had two fresh wounds.

The longer they fought, the more alarmed he became. Since when had the Land of Grass produced a young monster like this?

There was still someone behind Lu Zeming casting Genjutsu!

Perhaps the death of that person's companion had shaken them, or perhaps Lu Zeming and the ninja in the white ox mask were moving too quickly for them to risk hitting their teammate. Either way, they made no further move.

Lu Zeming was in no hurry. His spiritual sense had already locked onto the hidden ninja. No one here would escape today.

After another two exchanges, the ninja in the white ox mask knew he was outmatched. He shouted to his hidden teammate, "We underestimated the target! Run! Take the information back to the village!"

"Too late to run now! Grass Release: Thorn Whip Binding!"

A woman screamed somewhere in the passage. Terror flashed across the face of the ninja in the white ox mask.

Lu Zeming seized the opening and sent a Kunai into the ninja's back, straight through his heart.

The ninja in the white ox mask stared in disbelief at the blood pouring from his chest, then crumpled to the ground.