Where Is Spring?

The purpose of hand signs was to set the chakra inside the body vibrating and flowing. A sequence of signs formed a specific chakra circuit, releasing ninjutsu.

If the goal was to move energy through the meridians, pressing the right acupoints ought to work too.

The acupoints of the twelve primary meridians were all on the fingers.

Based on the chakra circuit for the Substitution Technique, Lu Zeming only needed to press Lesser Shang and Lesser Marsh.

He tried it at once. The next moment, he appeared five meters away, leaving only a broken stone in his place.

According to the book, casting it with hand signs required five signs—Ox, Boar, Ram, Tiger, Hare, and Snake—and both hands.

Lu Zeming only needed to press two points on his fingers. He could do it with one hand, and faster at that.

After a few more attempts, Lu Zeming thought his one-handed acupoint pressing looked remarkably like a Taoist making hand seals.

Lu Zeming remembered that in the early days of Naruto, when opponents were evenly matched, hand-sign speed mattered enormously alongside combat instincts and chakra reserves.

Whoever formed signs faster could cast first and seize the advantage.

Hand seals were perfect: faster and harder to spot. Lu Zeming was confident that no one could cast the same ninjutsu faster than he could!

No one!

In a single night, Lu Zeming had learned not only the Three Body Technique but also Spiritual Power Object Manipulation, the beginner skill of every cultivator.

For now, he could only control light things like leaves and pebbles, and only within three meters. But Lu Zeming believed that as his cultivation improved, flying on a sword was within reach.

"That counts as entering Qi Refining, right?"

Looking around again, Lu Zeming found he could clearly sense how concentrated the Spirit Energy was in each direction.

I'll need to find somewhere with denser Spirit Energy to cultivate. With that in mind, Lu Zeming got up and prepared to return to the village.

Unlike on the way there, the children had grown much livelier. They crowded around Lu Zeming, chattering nonstop.

"Zeming, you're amazing! You took down those three bad guys in just a couple of moves!"

"Don't make things up. You had your head covered and didn't even dare look!"

"I saw it! Zeming really is amazing. He saved us all and avenged Shota. He's my hero!"

Shota was the boy who had been thrown to his death.

At the mention of Shota, the children fell quiet.

Rin tipped her little face up and said earnestly, "Big brother, can you teach me? I want to protect you too!"

Lu Zeming smiled and patted Rin's head. "Of course. I'll teach you when we get back to the village!"

Children were always resilient. Before long, they were playing and making noise again.

They picked pretty flowers and caught bugs to scare one another. Lu Zeming even taught them a song.

Where is spring? Oh, where is spring?

Spring is in those lush green woods.

There are red flowers here, and green grass too,

And little yellow orioles that sing!

The children walked along singing, like a flock of happy, carefree birds.

Suddenly, rustling came from the woods beside the road.

Lu Zeming's senses and eyesight were far sharper than before. He could already make out several Konoha ninjas leaping through the trees.

The ninjas were in a hurry and had no intention of bothering travelers. Lu Zeming had no desire to invite trouble either.

Then a yellow figure flashed through the woods, and Lu Zeming couldn't help blurting out a cry.

"Yondaime!"

The figure abruptly stopped, then flashed to Lu Zeming's side.

"You know me?" the figure asked, looking puzzled.

Green shirt, black vest, blue eyes, blond hair. It was Minato Namikaze.

He's even more handsome than in the manga!

Lu Zeming looked Minato Namikaze up and down.

Minato Namikaze looked even more puzzled. "What manga?"

"Ahem. Nothing. I just think you're handsome!"

Minato Namikaze smiled faintly. "You still haven't answered my question."

"The Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, made a name for himself in the Third Shinobi World War. Is it strange that I know you?" Lu Zeming asked.

"I don't sense any chakra from you, and we've never met. But something about you feels familiar. Hmm. It's a little like Master Jiraiya."

Lu Zeming cursed inwardly. Of course it does! His Sage Mode uses the same kind of energy I do!

Minato Namikaze continued, "You're a war orphan, aren't you? Would you like to come back to Konoha with me? I could introduce you to Master Jiraiya. He'd be delighted to meet you!"

Like hell I'm going back to Konoha with you. That fine student of yours is about to unleash the Nine-Tails' Attack. I'd have to be tired of living to go with you.

Lu Zeming refused firmly.

Though disappointed, Minato Namikaze respected Lu Zeming's decision.

Before leaving, Minato Namikaze gave Lu Zeming a kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God seal as a token.

"If you ever want to come to Konoha, use this token to find me!"

With that, Minato Namikaze vanished.

Lu Zeming watched the direction he had gone and sighed.

"What a shame."

Rin asked curiously, "What's a shame?"

"That good people die young."

On the way there, Takeda and the others had taken back roads. Their business was hardly respectable. Lu Zeming took the main road on the return trip, so they traveled much faster.

It took the group only a day and a half to reach the village.

Their joy vanished when they reached the entrance. They could scarcely believe their eyes.

The village had become a field of ruins. Some houses were nothing but ash.

A few villagers wandered through the wreckage in a daze, searching for belongings they could still use.

Heart-wrenching sobs rose from the ruins. It looked like the end of the world.

"Dad! Mom! Where are you?"

"Grandma, Mayuko's back! Where are you?"

Several of the children who had returned with Lu Zeming ran crying toward their homes.

Lu Zeming and Rin reached their house and found it burned to the ground.

Uncle Kisuke's house next door was still standing, but its doors and windows had been smashed. Aunt Akiko held Uncle Kisuke's body in her arms. Beside them lay the body of their baby, barely a month old.

Aunt Akiko's eyes were empty. She kept muttering to herself.

"I was so foolish. I knew the bandits were coming, so I told you to hold the door. I didn't know they'd climb in through the window. I should've told you to take the baby and run. I was so foolish, so foolish..."

As Lu Zeming listened to Aunt Akiko repeat herself, he thought of someone: Xianglin Sao.

Akiko had done nothing wrong, yet this was what had become of her.

Her home was gone. Her family was dead!

Lu Zeming stared at the scene before him, lost. Why had this happened? In truth, he knew the reason better than anyone.

Where is spring? There's no spring here at all!

This world was rotten to the core. Nobles, ninjas, and bandits loomed over ordinary people like mountains, crushing any hope of rising.

Should I join a ninja village and become one of them?

Lu Zeming knew all too well the man-eating truth hidden beneath their fine words.

An ordinary ninja without connections or a bloodline was no different from an Explosive Tag or a Shuriken: a tool, something to be used up!

A bold idea kept rising in Lu Zeming's mind...

Bandits, huh? Then I'll start with you!

On a moonless, windy night, a winding mountain path led to a stronghold halfway up the slope.

The stronghold's gate blocked the path completely. Two men leaned against the wall, chatting.

"The boss is stingy. He goes down the mountain and comes back with wine, meat, and women, but makes us two stand guard."

"Just put up with it. We're the ones who didn't go along this time."

"Damn it. Next time, I'm going down with the boss for a big haul!"

A gust of wind swept past, making the torches on the wall flicker. Both men felt a tickle at their throats.

Thinking mosquitoes had bitten them, they raised their hands to scratch. Their hands froze halfway up.

Then they toppled stiffly to the ground like puppets. They tried to shout for help, only to discover in horror that they couldn't even move their tongues.

As terror seized them, they saw a small figure standing atop the wall. Neither knew when it had appeared. It was like a ghost...