Revenge Can't Wait Even a Minute

Actually, since transmigrating, Yue believes his strongest trump card isn't his knowledge of two worlds.

Nor is it that he knows about certain abilities, broadens his horizons, and can then 'plagiarize' them for his own use.

Because many advantages can't be utilized right now.

His biggest trump card actually comes from this body.

Or rather, from the previous owner.

Before his soul transmigration, this previous owner had been diligently training to please his father.

Before entering the Ninja Academy, whenever he had free time, he would play 'hide-and-seek' with Fuma Ryoma, which is the foundation of the Tracking Technique. In Fuma Ryoma's words, although the Tracking Technique is a basic ninja skill, it's the most practical one on the battlefield; mastering it can save your life at critical moments.

This method of hiding can be used for ambushes, evasion, and even because of a solid foundation, one can see through others' disguises at a glance.

That's why he could see through Ryuga and Yoshitaka's positions during Masada's promotion exam and realize Masada was going easy on them.

In contrast, the previous owner wasn't as outstanding when it came to controlling Ninja Tools.

If it were an ordinary Genin just now, they would have definitely been exposed.

"Two more Explosive Tags left, I need to think of a plan."

Yue frowned.

He couldn't drag this out any longer; time was limited.

These caves were all connected. While Yue was contemplating his battle plan, he heard footsteps.

Big Beard left through the exit at the other end.

Only Ryuga and Yoshitaka remained in the cave.

He waited a moment, confirmed the enemy had left, and immediately flashed inside, appearing before the two classmates.

Yoshitaka was unconscious, while Ryuga, due to his special bloodline, remained conscious... but his expression was one of extreme pain.

In short, their condition was dire.

Seeing Yue appear, Ryuga was stunned, thinking he was hallucinating.

Yue hadn't escaped but had instead put himself in danger to save him?

At this moment, Ryuga felt an inexplicable surge of emotion.

He almost blurted something out, but thankfully, Yue made a shushing gesture.

Then, Yue pulled Ryuga up, preparing to carry him on his back and get him out of there.

As for Yoshitaka beside him, for now... he could only be abandoned.

It wasn't that Yue was heartless, but with his abilities, he couldn't save two people in such a short time; one was his limit... One must know their own capabilities.

Besides, with the objective of Grass Seed, Yoshitaka wouldn't be harmed.

However, just as Ryuga was about to get on his back, his body suddenly stiffened.

A strong gust of wind attacked from behind Yue.

"Yue, watch out!"

Ryuga shouted.

"You little brat, you've got guts. It really is you!"

"I knew it... my instincts were right!"

Big Beard reached out to grab Yue's shoulder, letting out a sinister laugh.

He had only pretended to leave to lure Yue out.

These ninjas who had been adventuring for years had experience that village ninjas in logistics or those who had taught for years couldn't compare to.

Yue showed no panic. He had also anticipated that the other party was trying to trick him into walking into a trap.

He had already produced a special Ninja Tool in his hand.

He grabbed Ryuga with his backhand and pushed him towards Big Beard.

This action startled Ryuga himself.

One moment he was grateful that Yue had risked danger to rescue him, and the next Yue coldly pushed him towards the enemy.

To escape.

As Big Beard lunged for Yue, his other hand had already gripped a Kunai and stabbed towards Yue's vital spot.

This strike wouldn't be fatal, but it was enough to injure Yue and incapacitate him.

His plan was to subdue Yue first; as for the injuries... he wouldn't die anyway.

In special circumstances, special treatment is required.

This brat could defeat Masada, who was a Chunin, making him unwilling to underestimate him.

His sudden appearance was precisely to catch Yue off guard, using overwhelming Taijutsu to suppress him first, giving him no time to dodge or catch his breath.

He saw panic on Yue's face.

As expected, the brat didn't seem to anticipate a feint.

However… Big Beard hadn't expected Yue to push Ryuga away, which immediately interrupted his attack.

Without mercy, he turned his palm into a fist and heavily struck Ryuga's face, sending him flying.

But that brief delay was enough for Yue to turn around.

Big Beard's pupils contracted. He saw the ninja tool in Yue's hand, which the brat had hidden very discreetly before.

"Senbon!"

Swish, swish, swish.

The ninja tool in Yue's hand resembled a small, delicate umbrella. When he triggered the mechanism, countless silver needles instantly shot out like a rain curtain, indiscriminately.

At such close range, coupled with the astonishing speed of the senbon, even Big Beard had trouble reacting.

His entire body was immediately pierced by the dense silver needles.

He wasn't the only one injured by the senbon; Yue was too.

This mechanical ninja tool was his father, Fuma Ryoma's 'masterpiece.' He had also specifically instructed Yue to use it to save his life before he left home, warning him not to use it unless absolutely necessary. The tool's characteristic was its massive kill radius; once within 'range,' even a Chunin-level opponent would find it difficult to evade.

Its drawback was that it was a one-time use tool… and imperfect.

In pursuit of power, a few individual needles would indiscriminately scatter during use, accidentally injuring the user.

But compared to the number of silver needles on Big Beard, Yue, having been prepared, was only hit by a sparse few.

Immediately after, Yue discarded the ninja tool.

Without looking back, he ran towards the exit.

Big Beard was enraged. How could he possibly let the brat go so easily? Enduring the silver needles all over his body, he chased after Yue.

Just as Yue darted into the narrow passage outside the cave, his body suddenly froze.

His limbs felt as if they were bound by an immense force.

It was a control-type ninjutsu.

Kusagakure's most renowned ninjutsu type.

And one of the 'resources' Yue had his sights on.

Before this, Yoshitaka and Ryuga had also been immobilized by this very technique when they intruded into the cave.

"Quite insidious, brat… Your name is Yue, right?"

Big Beard walked slowly behind, asking as he menacingly raised his hand to pull several senbon from his bloody, mangled face.

His tone carried a hint of killing intent.

"Now I understand a bit why you could take down Masada… using such underhanded methods, right?"

"No wonder he wanted to fight you to the death. A brat like you really makes people want to kill you."

"The senbon are poisoned too… Where's the antidote?!"

The man suddenly swayed and shook his head.

He realized something and looked at Yue, shouting in anger.

"This move of yours, I saw you use it before…" Yue said, though he couldn't move.

"Hm?"

The man was confused.

"The range of this immobilization wasn't as far as I'd hoped, but it's enough."

Yue continued.

At this moment, Big Beard finally reacted and looked up sharply.

He saw two burning explosive tags stuck to the rock face at the top of the narrow passage.

"You!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

This was inside the mountain's belly. The mountain itself was hollow, artificially carved out, lacking structural support.

A single explosive tag might not have the power to shatter solid rock, but two would be enough.

Most importantly, this was a narrow passage with limited space.

Big Beard, poisoned, absolutely wouldn't be able to dodge.

The former only managed to curse once before, accompanied by fire and smoke, a large amount of rubble rained down from above.

It completely filled the entire passage.

Swallowed by the smoke and debris were not only Big Beard but Yue himself.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Ryuga, who had circled around to another exit of the cave, finally managed to clear the debris and drag out Yue, who was covered in dust and bleeding.

Yue's position wasn't at the epicenter of the explosion. The amount of rubble pressing down on him was minimal, and the stones themselves weren't large.

Still, it was extremely dangerous.

He had essentially traded his life for this.

Although everything was part of his plan... he was still human, after all. He couldn't control the risks with such precision, and external factors were inherently unpredictable. If the consequences of the explosion exceeded his expectations, then...

But, to escape this predicament, this was the only method Yue could think of.

He had no choice but to put himself in danger.

Fortunately, they were all superficial abrasions, no broken bones or serious injuries.

He took out the antidote from his backpack and swallowed it.

"That guy's dead."

Ryuga looked at Yue, whose expression was calm, and swallowed before speaking.

After enduring such a battle and sustaining such 'severe' injuries, Yue was still so composed.

There was no sign of panic.

This made Ryuga find it hard to believe, yet he couldn't help but admire Yue's mental fortitude and strength.

Ryuga could no longer determine the state of Big Beard's corpse or how he died... because the earth and stones in the center of the passage were impossible to break through; they were incredibly compacted.

There was no need to confirm; he was almost certainly dead...

"In a direct confrontation, my chances of winning were slim. If it truly came down to a fight to the death, I'd say I had no chance of winning... So, I had to utilize the environment and some psychological advantages." Seeing Ryuga staring at him, Yue said calmly.

"..."

Ryuga fell silent.

"Are you so sure he'd fall for the trap, or that the fight would go as you planned?"

"Not sure."

Yue replied.

"Then..." Ryuga began.

"Things are done by people; this was the only way... If it failed, there were only two outcomes. One, I'd be killed. But in my estimation, that was unlikely... because we still had some value regarding the Grass Seed. At most, I would have been tortured, but I would have survived. The second outcome was being controlled by the Curse Mark... If I hadn't broken free, returning to the village would likely have led to the same fate. So... taking the risk to try something had no real downside."

"..." Hearing this, Ryuga's scalp tingled.

Despite his young age, Yue's resolve and maturity struck him with an inexplicable impact.

It felt like he was truly getting to know his classmate for the first time.

"You used me too?" Ryuga realized something.

"Every chip that could potentially contribute to victory had to be used. After all, I was the one at a disadvantage."

"If he hadn't sent me flying earlier, those senbon would have hit me too..."

"Being controlled by the Curse Mark or death... choose one. Besides, even within the senbon's range, the person who would be hit the most was him. You would have at most been caught in the crossfire, not killed."

Yue's words directly cut off Ryuga's 'grumbling.'

"Tch!"

After a moment of speechlessness, Ryuga reverted to his usual personality in class. "You showed off again!"

"Before, I just thought you were someone who liked to put on airs, to act superior... but now, I admit you're worthy of that blank expression of yours."

"..." Yue.

"Can you still move?"

Ryuga asked.

"Yes."

After resting for a while, Yue got up from the ground and stretched his limbs.

Although his condition was poor, his basic mobility was still intact.

"With all this commotion, people outside might be heading back already. We need to hurry..." Ryuga gestured.

The Curse Mark on him had been released with Big Beard's death.

Ryuga's idea was to escape quickly.

But Yue suddenly said, "No! The most threatening person is already dead. Those ordinary people disguised as bandits are nothing to fear. However, the remaining two ninjas are a bit troublesome... but if the three of us team up, it should be fine."

"Huh? You're planning to..."

Ryuga trailed off.

"Being played like this, this matter isn't over. We still need to retaliate."

"Are you scared?"

Yue glanced at his companion.

"Scared? What a joke... Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I wasn't planning on letting this go!" Easily provoked, the young Ryuga immediately changed his tune.

It was clear that he had been 'infected' by Yue.

And revenge was just a pretense.

Yue's true objective was the ninjutsu scrolls in the cave.

Ryuga and Yoshitaka were unaware of the scrolls' existence.

Since that was the case, they would use this pretense to silence them.

The fact that Big Beard could use Curse Marks indicated that he was crucial to this plan by Grass Seed.

After all, as the one performing the jutsu, he was directly controlling the village's future fresh blood.

Even if his 'status' within Grass Seed wasn't high, he was undoubtedly very important.

This suggested that the scrolls in the cave were of significant research value.

They were likely not common items.

As one of the largest factions in Kusagakure, Grass Seed's ninjutsu and information would certainly not be accessible to ordinary people.

Soon, the two returned to the previous cave and woke Yoshitaka.

After hearing the entire story and their current predicament, Yoshitaka's gaze towards Yue changed.

However, it was not admiration, but mostly fear.

If Ryuga hadn't said it himself, Yoshitaka would have thought he was listening to a fabricated story.

"My Bloodline Limit can heal both of your injuries. The effect of this ability is stronger than ordinary Medical Ninjutsu and takes effect faster. It's not simply stimulating cell regeneration with Chakra," Ryuga said after a moment, raising his hands and emitting a warm glow as he placed them on Yue. "To put it simply, it's the transfer of 'life,' but my current level is quite limited... so after healing you two, I will be in an extremely weakened state and probably won't be able to help much against subsequent enemies."

Yue felt his condition improving as the wounds on his body disappeared at a visible rate.

He was touched.

In the ninja world, even the weakest Bloodline Limit possessed irreplaceable properties.

This was practically a built-in 'Medical Ninja' buff, and an extremely powerful version at that.

No wonder the village treasured him.

He was a 'mobile blood bank,' through and through.

Unfortunately, Ryuga's clan was small, with only one person per generation, a single lineage.

"Yue, do you have any plans?"

Ryuga looked at Yue, and Yoshitaka also turned his gaze towards him.

From this point on, both of them now looked to Yue for leadership.

"Mhm."

Yue nodded.

"Next..."