Queen of Roran

After considering it for a moment, Kurenai Yuhi nodded and said, "All right, then. I agree."

Douyang smiled and stroked Kurenai Yuhi's snow-white skin. "I might not be able to return to the village anytime soon."

Kurenai Yuhi knitted her brows tightly. "How long are you planning to stay away?"

Douyang pondered for a moment before saying, "Around twenty days if things go smoothly. Over a month if they don't, but less than two months at the latest."

Kurenai Yuhi suddenly sat up, and Douyang immediately sucked in a sharp breath.

"You... are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Douyang, it's not that I won't help you, but that's such a long time. What if Torifu Akimichi summons you, or there's an urgent mission? Can a Shadow Clone keep up the deception?"

What Kurenai Yuhi had brought up was indeed a problem.

Douyang thought it over and replied, "If something urgent comes up, go to Kakashi or Shisui and explain the situation directly. They'll understand and find a way to handle it."

Kurenai Yuhi brushed back her hair and smiled. "Since you've put it that way, I can only agree. But..."

At this point, Kurenai Yuhi paused, a sly smile appearing on her lips. "How will you reward me?"

Douyang instinctively rubbed his lower back, steeled himself, and said through gritted teeth, "I'll agree to anything you want me to do. Will that do?"

After using every trick he had to appease Kurenai Yuhi, Douyang wasted no more time and secretly slipped out of the village that afternoon.

Before leaving, Douyang had already scouted his route, so once he was some distance from the village, he immediately raced toward the Land of Wind along his planned route.

To guard against unforeseen trouble, he even used the Transformation Technique to disguise himself as an ordinary wandering ninja.

Three days later, within the Land of Rivers.

Someone's following me?

Noticing the little rat behind him, Douyang frowned slightly.

He had felt someone watching him as soon as he entered the Land of Rivers.

He had walked the whole way, and the other party had followed the whole way.

They were clearly after him.

With my current appearance and clothing, it can't be someone from the village.

A bounty hunter?

Douyang rubbed his chin and muttered to himself for a moment, then suddenly turned around and headed back.

As he reached a dense patch of forest...

Whoosh.

A rope flew out of the bushes and looped straight around Douyang.

The next instant, a dark figure sprang out from each side, driving their long blades viciously into Douyang's sides.

Seeing that the ambush had succeeded, one of them grinned viciously. "We've caught a big fish."

The other gave a disdainful smile. "This kid looks unfamiliar. He's probably a ninja from the Five Great Nations, but he's far too weak. He couldn't even spot such a crude trap."

Poof!

Just as his words fell, Douyang, who had been pierced by the long blades, suddenly turned into smoke and dispersed.

Both men's expressions changed drastically, and they exclaimed in shock, "A Shadow Clone?"

The Shadow Clone was a B-rank ninjutsu that only Jonin or exceptionally talented Chunin were qualified to learn.

Some small ninja villages did not even possess the teachings for the Shadow Clone.

Douyang darted over from a distance and kicked left and right, sending both men flying to the ground.

With his arms folded across his chest, he looked down at the two attackers and said indifferently, "I wondered who you were. Just bounty hunters, then."

"Please spare us, sir."

"We failed to recognize who we were dealing with. Please be magnanimous and let us off."

Realizing they had picked the wrong target, the two bounty hunters hurriedly begged for mercy.

Douyang's expression turned cold. "Spare you, so you can go kill other people?"

With that, Douyang picked up a long blade from the ground and brought it down, finishing off both bounty hunters.

Ninja from small nations were generally weaker.

These two bounty hunters were not even Chunin.

After killing them and looting their belongings, Douyang changed his face again and continued toward the Land of Wind.

A day later, at the border of the Land of Rivers.

Leaning against a large tree, Douyang ate his dry rations while spreading out a map and checking his current location.

Once he crossed a dense forest, another half hour of travel would bring him to the Land of Wind.

The route he had chosen was the shortest as the crow flew, but it was truly difficult to traverse, consisting of either endless primeval forests or towering mountains.

Although it was a little troublesome, its advantage was that people rarely ventured there, making it safe enough.

Douyang drew a small circle on the map.

That location was an oasis, the destination of his journey.

The Land of Wind was covered in desert, and oases were extremely rare.

This oasis was where the surviving people of Rōran lived.

After resting briefly, Douyang immediately set out, racing toward the oasis.

A week later, Douyang finally arrived at the oasis and found the Queen of Roran, who was in her twenties, among the surviving people of Rōran.

Douyang did not approach the Queen of Roran immediately. Instead, he found a secluded place to rest, planning to wait until dark before taking action.

The sun sank in the west, and the moon rose in the east.

Bonfires sprang up across the oasis, and the surviving people of Rōran gathered around them, singing and dancing.

The Queen of Roran did not enjoy this leisurely time with her people. She sat alone in her tent, singing folk songs at ease.

Douyang slipped silently into the tent, looked at the Queen of Roran as she hummed a tune, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, how have you been?"

Only when his words fell did the Queen of Roran realize there was another person in her tent. Startled, she looked warily at Douyang and lowered her voice. "You... who are you?"

"Just a businessman."

Douyang did not reveal his identity. He wanted to take the ryūmyaku, and if the Queen of Roran learned who he was, it would not be a good thing for either her or him.

The Queen of Roran fixed her gaze on him. "A businessman?"

Ever since the ancient city of Rōran had been destroyed, its people had wandered throughout the Land of Wind, eating and sleeping in the open, unsure whether they would survive another day.

They had nothing of value worth trading.

The Queen of Roran realized that Douyang had something else in mind.

But she did not dare shout and alert anyone else.

Since he had been able to reach her without anyone noticing...

There was no doubt that he must be an extraordinarily powerful ninja.

If she shouted and angered him, the consequences would be severe.

"I'm a ninja, but I'm also a businessman."

"Cough, cough!"

The Queen of Roran wanted to say something, but she could not help coughing.

Douyang examined the Queen of Roran carefully and noticed that her face was pale and her vitality depleted. She was clearly suffering from a serious illness.

The people of Rōran wandered through the Land of Wind without enough food or clothing, to the point that even the Queen of Roran often went hungry and had contracted a grave illness.

Douyang reached into the ninja tool pouch at his waist, took out a small bottle, and handed it to the Queen of Roran. "Three times a day, one pill a day. It can ease your suffering."

The Queen of Roran took a labored breath, studied Douyang carefully, then solemnly accepted the pills.

Although Douyang's origins were mysterious, the Queen of Roran chose to trust him.

If he wanted to harm her, he had far too many ways to do so and had no need to go to this much trouble.

The Queen of Roran pondered for a moment, then asked with some confusion, "Do business? We don't have anything valuable. Have you made a mistake?"