Chapter 25: Tracking

Yujin appeared to have no way to begin, but he believed that with patience, he'd soon find an opening.

And sure enough, after spending three days holed up in an inn, observing the outside from his window, he finally spotted ninja activity in the town on the afternoon of the third day.

It wasn't that Yujin was especially skilled at gathering intel—it was just that the ninja he saw made no effort to conceal his identity.

Seeing this, Yujin didn't hesitate. He immediately left the inn and silently tailed the man.

Wanting to keep his trump cards hidden—and also hoping the target would eventually discover his pursuit at the right moment—Yujin refrained from using the Mayfly Technique right away. Instead, he relied on the varied building heights and the town's complex layout to follow him.

The ninja moved swiftly through the town. From his purposeful movements, it was clear this wasn't his first time here.

Eventually, the ninja entered an inconspicuous alley, then slipped into a low building at the far end.

He didn't emerge again until over forty minutes later... Clearly, that place was worth noting.

Yujin now had two options: continue tailing the ninja or investigate the building directly.

To be cautious, he chose the former.

He wanted to gather as much intel from the ninja as possible.

Yujin followed him out of the town. To his surprise, the ninja headed north and gradually picked up speed.

Yujin could guess why, and heightened his vigilance as he kept up the pursuit.

Soon after leaving the town and passing through a sparse forest, the terrain changed into a swampy wetland cloaked in miasma.

Still water and decaying vegetation stewed together under the heat. In the thick, gray-brown puddles, half-submerged bones of large animals occasionally surfaced.

It was the kind of place clearly suited for burying bodies.

"Come out. I noticed you a while ago."

The ninja had stopped and was speaking in the direction of Yujin's hiding spot.

That's exactly what I wanted.

Yujin stepped out without hesitation. Meeting the ninja's wary yet slightly smug gaze, he calmly approached until he was just over ten meters away.

Once he stopped, the rotten stench in the air overwhelmed him, and he instinctively raised his left hand to cover his nose and mouth.

That's when things took a dramatic turn—the ninja launched an immediate attack, flinging several shuriken at Yujin.

The conversation hadn't even started, yet it was already over.

No one trusts a sneaky stalker, after all. To this ninja, any move made by a stranger—like lifting a hand—was an aggressive act.

Roughly speaking, forming hand seals equals "attacking." Covering your mouth and nose? Also "attacking." So the ninja struck first to gain the upper hand.

Yujin wasn't a native, so he often couldn't understand the local mindset… The chaotic ninja world had already driven its inhabitants—who were extreme by nature—into near-paranoia.

Although the attack was sudden, the distance gave Yujin plenty of time to react. He dodged the shuriken with ease.

Just as he was about to speak—

A kunai pierced through his chest from behind.

Startled, Yujin turned to see a second ninja had ambushed him.

So it's two-on-one. Fitting that the one who likes backstabbing gets backstabbed himself. Clearly, there was more than one enemy.

"Heh…"

The ambusher tried to flash a vicious smile—only for Yujin to dissolve into a splash of water the next second.

"A Water Clone?"

Not far away, the real Yujin reappeared.

Even though these people had just tried to kill him, he didn't retaliate right away.

"I mean no harm. I just wanted to ask you two something."

"No harm? Every ninja has 'no harm' written all over them—until they try to kill you," one of them replied.

Then the two exchanged a glance and charged at Yujin from different directions.

Yujin had no choice now. He decided to subdue them before continuing the conversation.

He quickly formed hand seals and, almost instinctively, used the ninjutsu he was most proficient with:

Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!

He used to open with a regular Fireball, but now that he had more chakra to spare, he upgraded to the Great Flame Bullet.

There was no denying the psychological impact of such a technique—an enormous fireball over six meters wide roared toward the enemy with surging waves of heat. Most ninja wouldn't ignore something like that.

That said, due to the slow speed of fire-style projectiles, unless cast at close range, it was difficult to hit directly or cause serious damage.

The lead ninja sidestepped, narrowly dodging the flame.

In short, Yujin's attack was only effective in delaying his opponents. However—

Buzz… BOOM!

A massive explosion suddenly erupted—the Great Flame Bullet had triggered a secondary blast.

A skilled ninja always takes the environment into account in battle. By that standard, Yujin was not a skilled ninja.

He had barely considered his surroundings before casting a fire technique here.

This wasn't so much a swamp as it was a giant methane pit.

The outer flames of the fireball ignited the swamp gas. A shockwave rippled outward, and the long-trapped gases buried in the swamp were instantly ignited.

With a thunderous boom, the built-up energy inside the marsh exploded like a volcanic eruption. The muddy waters burst into the air.

For a moment, even the ground seemed to tremble.

Fortunately, Yujin had been on the outer edge of the swamp. Even though he triggered the explosion, he had space to back away.

His escape speed was top-notch. He dove into the earth and, within seconds, had bolted over fifty meters away. Even so, the blast still left him covered in grime.

Temporary tinnitus and a mild concussion were unavoidable.

The two enemy ninjas weren't so lucky. They were caught in the heart of the explosion, completely encircled by the blast radius.

Climbing out of the earth, Yujin shook his head hard and staggered to his feet.

Looking ahead, the swamp was a disaster zone.

After the massive blast, decades of sediment had been blown to the surface. Combined with the stench of incompletely burned gas, the overwhelming mixture of odors was nauseating.

Fires burned across the swamp. Yujin spotted a charred, humanoid figure.

One unlucky ninja had been blown to bits.

Apparently, backstabbing Yujin came with consequences.

Only one enemy was dead. Yujin instinctively looked up and saw a giant eagle hovering overhead, carrying the surviving ninja on its back.

A summoned beast?

That enemy had reacted quickly, summoning the eagle and escaping skyward before the explosion.

It also helped that he'd been farther from the blast's center.

"Lunatic."

Yujin's ears were still ringing, so he couldn't hear the words, but based on the man's mouth movements, he figured that's what he'd said.

"I really didn't mean any harm. What just happened was an accident—it doesn't mean I'm some villain."

Unfortunately, of the three people present, thanks to the explosion's deafening force, none of them—Yujin, the airborne ninja, or the one reduced to charcoal—could hear his feeble explanation.