Vengeance Couldn't Wait Even a Minute

Actually, ever since arriving in this world, Yue had never considered his greatest trump card to be his familiarity with and understanding of two worlds.

Nor was it the fact that he knew certain abilities, broadening his horizons and "borrowing" them for his own use.

Because many of those advantages were of no use to him right now.

His greatest trump card had actually been brought to him by this body.

Or rather, by its previous owner.

Before his Soul Transmigration, the previous owner had worked hard at training in order to please his father.

Before entering the Ninja Academy, whenever he had time, he would play hide-and-seek with Fuma Ryoma. This was the foundation of the Tracking Technique. As Fuma Ryoma put it, although the Tracking Technique was a ninja basic, it was one of the most practical skills on the battlefield. Master it, and it could save your life at a critical moment.

The art of hiding could be used for ambushes, evasion, and, with a solid foundation, even seeing through other people's disguises at a glance.

That was why, during Masada's advancement assessment, he had immediately spotted Ryuga and Yoshitaka's positions and realized that Masada had been going easy on them.

By comparison, the previous owner had been far less outstanding in the use of ninja tools.

Had it been an ordinary Genin just now, he would definitely have been exposed.

"There are still two Explosive Tags left. I need to think of something."

Yue frowned slightly.

He could not delay any longer. Time was limited.

These caves were interconnected. As Yue considered a 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. Once he confirmed the enemy had left, he immediately slipped inside and arrived before his two classmates.

Yoshitaka was unconscious. Due to his special bloodline, Ryuga was still awake... but his expression was full of pain as well.

In short, they were in terrible condition.

When Ryuga saw Yue appear, he froze, thinking he was hallucinating.

Yue had not run away. He had instead risked himself to come save him?

At that moment, Ryuga felt oddly moved.

He nearly cried out, but luckily Yue gestured for silence first.

Then Yue pulled Ryuga to his feet, preparing to carry him away on his back.

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

It was not that Yue was heartless. It was simply that, with his abilities, he could not rescue two people in a short time. One was already his limit... a person needed to know his own limits.

Besides, Grass Seed would not harm Yoshitaka anyway.

However, just as Ryuga was about to climb onto his back, his body suddenly stiffened.

A fierce gust came from behind Yue.

"Yue, watch out!"

Ryuga shouted.

"You little brat, you've got some nerve. It really was you!"

"I knew it... my instincts couldn't have been wrong!"

Big Beard reached for Yue's shoulder and let out a sharp laugh.

He had only pretended to leave in order to lure Yue out.

Ninjas like them, who had spent years roaming outside, possessed experience that village support ninjas or teachers who spent their lives educating children could never match.

Yue did not panic in the slightest. The other man was trying to trick him into walking into a trap, but had Yue not anticipated that?

A special ninja tool had already appeared in his hand.

He grabbed Ryuga with his backhand and shoved him toward Big Beard.

Even Ryuga himself was stunned by that move.

One second ago, he had been grateful that Yue had risked his life to save him. The next, Yue coldly shoved him at the enemy.

All to escape.

While reaching for Yue, Big Beard had already gripped a kunai in his other hand and stabbed it toward Yue's vital point.

The strike would not be fatal, but it was enough to injure Yue and leave him unable to move.

His plan was to subdue Yue first. As for the injuries... no one would die anyway.

Special circumstances called for special treatment.

This little brat had taken down Masada, a Chunin. Big Beard did not dare underestimate him.

He had suddenly appeared to catch Yue off guard, intending to use overwhelming Taijutsu to suppress him first and give him no time to dodge or catch his breath.

He saw panic on Yue's face.

Sure enough, the brat clearly had not expected him to double back.

But... Big Beard had not expected Yue to shove Ryuga away, and his attack was immediately interrupted.

Without hesitation, he turned his palm into a fist and smashed it into Ryuga's face, sending him flying.

But in that brief delay, Yue had already turned around.

Big Beard's pupils contracted. He saw the ninja tool in Yue's hand. The brat had concealed it extremely well before.

"Senbon!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The ninja tool in Yue's hand resembled a small umbrella. When he triggered its mechanism—

Countless silver needles erupted in an indiscriminate barrage, like a curtain of rain.

At such close range, combined with the terrifying speed of the senbon, even Big Beard could barely react.

His entire body was instantly pierced through by densely packed silver needles.

Big Beard was not the only one injured by the senbon. Yue was too.

This mechanism-based ninja tool was Fuma Ryoma's "masterpiece." Before Yue left home, his father had specifically instructed him to use it to protect himself. Do not use it unless absolutely necessary. The tool's defining trait was its enormous killing range. Once someone entered its "range," even a Chunin-level opponent would struggle to avoid it.

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

In pursuit of power, a few needles would scatter indiscriminately when used, accidentally injuring its user.

But compared to the number of needles embedded in Big Beard, Yue, who had prepared himself in advance, had only been struck by a handful.

Then Yue threw away the ninja tool.

Without looking back, he ran for the exit.

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

Yue had only just darted into the narrow passage outside the cave when his body suddenly became unable to move.

His limbs seemed bound by some powerful force.

It was a control-type ninjutsu.

Kusagakure's most renowned type of ninjutsu.

It was also one of the "resources" Yue had his eye on.

Earlier, when Yoshitaka and Ryuga entered the cave, they had also been controlled by this move.

"You're pretty devious, little brat... Yue, right?"

Big Beard walked behind him at an unhurried pace, asking as he raised a hand and viciously pulled several senbon from the mangled flesh of his face.

There was killing intent in his voice.

"I think I understand now why you could take down Masada... You used underhanded tricks like this too, didn't you?"

"No wonder he wanted a death match with you. A brat like you really makes people want to slaughter you."

"The senbon were poisoned too... Where's the antidote?!"

The man suddenly swayed and shook his head.

He realized something, looked at Yue, and shouted furiously.

"I already saw you use this move before..." Although Yue could not move, he could still speak.

"Hm?"

The man did not understand.

"Although the immobilization range didn't reach what I expected, it's enough."

Yue continued.

Only then did Big Beard finally react. He abruptly looked up.

Two burning Explosive Tags were stuck to the stone ceiling of the passage.

"You!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They were inside the mountain's belly. The mountain had already been hollowed out by excavation and lacked structural support.

Perhaps a single Explosive Tag would not have enough power to shatter solid rock, but two were enough.

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

Big Beard, poisoned as he was, had absolutely no way to evade.

He only had time to curse out one word before, amid fire and dust, huge chunks of rock crashed down from above.

They filled the entire passage alive.

Big Beard was not the only one swallowed by smoke, dust, and stones. Yue himself was as well.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Ryuga, who had circled around through another exit of the cave, finally dug through the rubble and dragged out Yue, whose body was covered in dust and blood.

Yue had not been in the blast's central area. There were not many rocks pressing down on him, and the stones were not particularly large.

But it had still been extremely dangerous.

He had practically been trading his life for Big Beard's.

Although everything had been within his calculations... he was still human. He could not control the risks that precisely, and outside factors were inherently unpredictable. If the consequences of the blast had exceeded his expectations, then...

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

He had no choice but to take the risk himself.

Fortunately, the injuries were merely flesh wounds. His bones and tendons were unharmed.

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

"That guy's dead."

Ryuga looked at Yue's calm expression, swallowed, and said those words.

After going through such a battle and suffering such "serious" injuries, Yue was still so composed.

There was no sign of panic on his face.

Ryuga found it hard to believe, yet he could not help admiring Yue's mental fortitude and strength.

Ryuga could no longer determine where Big Beard's corpse was or what state it was in... because the stone and earth in the middle of the passage could not be cleared at all. It had been packed incredibly solid.

There was no need to confirm it anyway. Big Beard was almost certainly dead...

"In a direct confrontation, my chances of winning were low. If it truly became a fight to the death, it could even be said that I had almost no chance of winning... so I could only make use of the surrounding environment and certain psychological advantages." Seeing Ryuga continue to stare at him, Yue spoke calmly.

"..."

Ryuga fell silent.

"You were so certain he would fall for it? That the battle would go the way you expected?"

"I wasn't."

Yue answered.

"Then..." Ryuga said.

"Man proposes, fate disposes. This was the only option... If it failed, there were only two outcomes. One was being killed. But in my estimation, that was unlikely... because we still had some value to Grass Seed. At most, we would be tortured a little, but we would still live. The second was being controlled by a cursed seal... If I hadn't broken the situation, then even if I escaped back to the village, that would likely have been my fate. So... there was nothing to lose by taking the risk."

"..." Ryuga's scalp tingled at those words.

Though Yue was very young, his resolve and maturity struck Ryuga with an inexplicable force.

It felt as if he were truly getting to know this classmate for the first time.

"You used me too?" Ryuga thought of something.

"Any piece on the board that could influence victory had to be used. After all, I was the one at a disadvantage."

"If he hadn't knocked me away just now, those senbon would have hit me too..."

"Being controlled by a cursed seal or dying... pick one. Besides, even within the senbon's range, he would still have taken the brunt of it. You would have merely been caught in it a little. You wouldn't have died."

Yue's single sentence immediately cut off Ryuga's "resentment."

"Tch!"

After a moment of speechlessness, Ryuga returned to his usual classroom personality. "You got to show off again!"

"Before, I only thought you liked putting on airs and acting all high and mighty... but now, I admit you've earned the right to wear that expressionless face."

"..." Yue said nothing.

"Can you still move?"

Ryuga asked.

"Yes."

After resting for a while, Yue stood up from the ground and moved his limbs.

Although he was in poor condition, he still retained basic mobility.

"With such a huge commotion, the people outside might already be heading back. We need to hurry..." Ryuga urged.

The cursed seal on his body had been lifted with Big Beard's violent death.

Ryuga's thought was to escape as quickly as possible.

But Yue suddenly said, "No! The most dangerous person is already dead. Those ordinary people disguised as bandits are nothing to fear. Only the remaining two ninjas are troublesome... but if the three of us join forces, there shouldn't be a problem."

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

Ryuga trailed off.

"They set us up once. Naturally, this isn't over. We should take our revenge."

"Are you scared?"

Yue glanced at his companion.

"Scared? What kind of joke is that... Even if you hadn't brought it up, I wasn't planning to let this go!" Spurred on so easily, the childish Ryuga immediately changed his tune.

It was obvious that he had been "infected" by Yue.

Revenge was merely a pretense.

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

Ryuga and Yoshitaka did not know the scrolls existed.

Since that was the case, he could use that pretense to silence them forever.

Big Beard's ability to use curse marks showed that he was a crucial figure in Grass Seed's plan.

After all, as the caster, he directly controlled the village's future fresh blood.

Even if his "status" within Grass Seed was not high, he was undoubtedly very important.

That meant the scrolls in the cave had considerable research value.

They were most likely not common goods.

As one of Kusagakure's largest factions, the ninjutsu and information held by Grass Seed were certainly beyond the reach of ordinary civilians.

Before long, the two returned to the cave and woke Yoshitaka.

After hearing the full account of what had happened and their current predicament, Yoshitaka's gaze toward Yue changed as well.

However, it held more fear than admiration.

If Ryuga had not said it himself, Yoshitaka would have thought he was listening to some made-up tale.

"My Bloodline Limit can heal both of your injuries. Its effects are stronger and faster than ordinary Medical Ninjutsu. It isn't as simple as using Chakra to stimulate cellular recovery." After a moment, Ryuga raised both hands. Warm radiance burst forth as he pressed them against Yue's body. "Put simply, it transfers 'life.' But my current level is limited... so after healing the two of you, I'll also fall into an extremely weakened state. I'm afraid I won't be much help against the enemies that come afterward."

Yue felt his condition recovering, the wounds on his body vanishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His heart was stirred.

In the ninja world, even the weakest Kekkei Genkai... possessed irreplaceable qualities.

This was practically an innate Medical Ninja buff, and an incredibly powerful version at that.

No wonder the village treated him like treasure.

He was a bona fide "mobile blood bank."

Unfortunately, Ryuga's clan was sparsely populated. There was only one member in each generation, passed down through a single line.

"Yue, do you have a plan?"

Ryuga looked at Yue, and Yoshitaka turned his gaze over as well.

From this point on, the two had already begun looking to Yue as their leader.

"Mm."

Yue nodded.

"Next..."