Double Drop Today!!
The Rain Ninja tailing Ye Zi was unaware that his death was imminent. As he saw Ye Zi following the two fellow ninjas into the alley, he frowned slightly, he was certain that Ye Zi was indeed tracking them but unsure of his purpose. Unbeknownst to him, he had already been detected. As he watched Ye Zi's figure disappear around the corner, he silently followed.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Before he could grasp what had happened, his consciousness plunged into darkness.
With a cold expression, Ye Zi withdrew his sword, Thunder Fang, and dragged the body into the alley, casually tossing it aside. The two Rain Ninjas he had been following were knocked unconscious as soon as they entered the alley. Ye Zi then swiftly used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the Rain Ninja who had been tailing him and killed him with a single strike.
The entire process was completed in just a few seconds.
Of the two Rain Ninjas, one was older, while the other was younger.
Ye Zi quickly searched them and found a photo on the younger one—a picture of a young woman holding a baby, just one month old.
He stared at the photo in silence for a moment before crumpling it up and tossing it into a dark corner. He then decapitated the older Rain Ninja, holding the severed head in his hand. Afterward, he woke up the younger one.
When the young Rain Ninja regained consciousness, he found a stranger holding a short blade to his throat. His expression changed dramatically, and he was about to scream.
"Silence," Ye Zi ordered, pressing the blade slightly into the ninja's neck.
The young Rain Ninja swallowed his scream, his gaze now fixed on the severed head in Ye Zi's hand. His eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out, trembling uncontrollably in their sockets. His face was filled with terror.
"Don't—don't kill me..." he begged.
Ye Zi's expression remained cold as he let the severed head drop to the ground with a thud, rolling away a short distance. The air was thick with the stench of blood.
"First of all, I want you to know that you are going to die," Ye Zi said icily, looking at the terrified Rain Ninja as if he were nothing more than a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. "But you have two choices. You can either cooperate—answer my questions, and I'll kill you afterward—or you can die a noble death, and I'll make sure your wife and child follow you."
Upon hearing this, the Rain Ninja's eyes widened to their limit. Despite the dim light and the loud sound of the falling rain, Ye Zi could clearly see the mix of anger and fear in his eyes, and he could also hear the stifled sobs in the ninja's throat, like the desperate growls of a dying beast.
"So, what will it be?" Ye Zi's voice was colder than the rain falling from the sky.
"Don't hurt my family!" the Rain Ninja pleaded in a voice on the brink of breaking.
"Very good," Ye Zi responded coldly.
Ten minutes later, Ye Zi emerged from the alley and headed straight for the gate of the Rain Village.
The information he had extracted from the Rain Ninja wasn't very detailed, but it was enough. He now knew where Kanyoru was headed.
At the moment, Kanyoru was employed by Hanzō and was traveling with a team of Rain Ninjas to investigate a newly emerging mercenary group known as "Akatsuki." In the Land of Rain, where mercenary groups were rampant, this was not unusual. However, the rapid rise of this mercenary group had reached a point where Hanzō could no longer ignore it.
As the supreme ruler of the Rain Village, Hanzō could not allow a force to grow so quickly under his watch. If necessary, he would eliminate it without hesitation.
The Akatsuki's base was quite far from the Rain Village.
The Land of Rain wasn't very large, and the Akatsuki had also established a city of steel. However, compared to the Rain Village, it was much smaller in scale, and its population was almost negligible.
After learning about Kanyoru's whereabouts, Ye Zi wasted no time in leaving the Rain Village and reuniting with Kotoha and the others.
Their mission was simply to capture or kill Kanyoru on the spot. They couldn't involve themselves in the internal conflicts of the Land of Rain.
The next day, after a brief rest, Ye Zi led the group straight to the Akatsuki's base.
Although they knew Kanyoru's destination, his exact location was still unknown, making him difficult to track down.
After all, Kanyoru's mission was to gather intelligence, so he was unlikely to reveal himself.
If they couldn't find him, they would have no choice but to ambush him on his way back to the Rain Village.
After half a day of travel, Ye Zi and his team arrived at the village where Akatsuki was based. The architecture was similar to that of the Rain Village, but the buildings were more sparsely located.
Ye Zi was unfamiliar with Akatsuki, having never heard of such a group.
When faced with an unknown enemy, he never acted recklessly. Along with Kotoe and the others, he hid in the rain, patiently observing.
After a day and night of watching, they only saw two people in black raincoats enter the village. Other than that, there was no movement.
From their concealed vantage point, it was impossible to determine Kanyoru's location within the village.
Ye Zi didn't want to drag things out any longer, but he couldn't take Kotoe and the others into the village. He felt that bringing them along would be a burden.
Just as Ye Zi was about to enter the village alone, leaving Kotoe and the others behind, there was a sudden commotion in the village. Nearly a hundred people marched out of the village in a grand procession, heading in the opposite direction. Their purpose was unclear.
Ninashi noticed this and approached Ye Zi, suggesting, "Now is the perfect time to sneak in."
Ye Zi remained silent for a moment before saying, "I'll go in. You three stay here. It's likely that Kanyoru will take advantage of this opportunity to sneak in as well. I'll find him and track him. Your task is to intercept him when he leaves."
The three of them exchanged uncertain glances.
With their abilities, intercepting a Jonin-level ninja and a squad of Rain Ninjas was practically a death sentence.
However, they chose to trust Ye Zi.
After giving some final instructions, Ye Zi carefully made his way toward the village.
At the same time, Konoha rogue ninja Kanyoru also saw this as an opportunity. After Akatsuki mobilized a significant number of people to leave, he decided to sneak in and gather intelligence as well. Unlike Ye Zi, however, he was not alone—he was accompanied by a three-man Rain Ninja team.
The mission was to gather intelligence, and the Rain Ninjas involved were all highly skilled, so Genya Hara didn't doubt their abilities.
Both parties infiltrated the Akatsuki village from different directions.
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