065: Samui's Ninja Academy Escape!

"Little Usagi? What's going on, why are you in front of me?"

Samui's heart lurched, a sense of foreboding washing over her.

"Lady Samui, I hadn't even moved yet. I was just standing here, and then you came up from behind here," the bespectacled girl said with a mournful face.

"Hmph! It seems we're been tricked."

"Such a powerful genjutsu, to make us unaware of being in a genjutsu for this long." Samui's nimble hands quickly formed seals: "Release!"

A moment of silence passed...

The surrounding environment hadn't changed in the slightest.

"Is it broken?"

"No... I don't know. I still can't sense any others, not even the two kids we saw earlier. I can't sense their location." The bespectacled girl closed her eyes, beads of sweat forming visibly on her forehead.

"Then you stay here. We'll know if I run up further."

With that, Samui started climbing the stairs again.

Yet, the next moment, she appeared behind the bespectacled girl once more.

"As expected, it's not working. We haven't escaped the genjutsu," Samui said, slightly breathless.

"How about... we do what those two kids did and climb up the handrail?"

"I have a feeling that those two kids might be the clue to getting out of here. We've actually been sitting on the handrail the whole time, not really moving.

"Meaning, what we're seeing is different from reality. Our vision and perception are under an illusion. It's just that with our methods, we can't break this kind of genjutsu.

"How about...we try a different approach that results in the same outcome as those kids did?" Usagi suggested, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Impossible! I'd rather die than do that! Didn't you hear how they mocked us before?

"Such an unsightly, vulgar, stupid method, I won't use it. You can do it if you want," Samui scoffed, turning her head away.

"Then... then I'll try. If it works, I'll call for you." The bespectacled girl, small in stature, didn't care about looking silly. 

The key was escaping this endless staircase.

She walked over to the handrail and, with a hop, jumped up. Then, clamping her legs around the handrail, she began to ride the handrail upwards.

She was truly, utterly comical. Like a rabbit hopping.

Samui wanted to laugh but held back, afraid to dampen her partner's enthusiasm. She deliberately looked away, yet couldn't help but steal glances from the corner of her eye.

It seemed to be working.

In a short while, the bespectacled girl climbed up to the third floor along the handrail and disappeared from sight.

The next moment, Usagi's voice came from above: "Lady Samui, this method really works! I've reached the third floor; come up quickly!"

Now, Samui was dumbfounded. It actually worked?

Thinking about that awkward posture, would she really have to climb up like that too?

"I don't believe it! I'll run up myself. If I'm fast enough, can this damned staircase still trap me?"

With that, Samui used the Body Flicker Technique, swiftly ascending the stairs.

Soon, the endless cycle repeated once again.

Exhausted and out of breath, she still couldn't escape the staircase.

"Damn it, it seems we can only use this stupid method.

"Good thing no one's around to see me."

Samui looked around, confirming that no one was peeking.

Her face flushed as she jumped onto the handrail, also inching her way up to the third floor.

Unbeknownst to them, three pairs of eyes were observing them like lab rats.

The strange occurrences on the staircase were all due to Natsuki activating his newly acquired Sealing Domain. 

He could modify the rules within the domain as long as they weren't too outrageous.

Unlike Izumi's domain, where the Order of Knights was comprised of Uchiha clan members, Natsuki's Order of Knights consisted of various props and teachers from the Ninja Academy. 

Of course, just like in Izumi's domain, where the true fighting force was the Uchiha captains, the true power within Natsuki's Order of Knights resided in the Academy Teachers.

They would soon make their presence known before these Kumo ninjas...

"Huff... huff..."

Samui's breath came in ragged gasps.

The short distance from the second to the third floor had left her fair face flushed. 

Half from exhaustion, half from embarrassment.

"Little Usagi, this is our secret.

"You can't tell anyone, understand? Otherwise..."

Arriving on the third floor, Samui didn't pay attention to anything else, first threatening the bespectacled girl before her. 

She was still a young woman! If this embarrassing and humiliating behavior were to be exposed...

Ahhh...

The thought alone drove her mad.

"Mhm, mhm, Lady Samui, I won't tell anyone." Usagi nodded her head vigorously.

Leaving the narrow, dark space and entering a more open and bright area, they both felt a sense of relief.

Receiving Kumo Usagi's assurance, Samui regained her composure as the oldest present. 

She walked down the third-floor corridor, preparing to catch those two little pipsqueks and thank them properly. 

Yes, to genuinely thank them. Of course, it would be natural to give mischievous students a lesson as well...

At this time, the fog in the academy grew thicker, visibility decreasing.

As the two walked, they saw a row of brooms leaning against the wall in the corridor ahead, spaced evenly like soldiers in formation.

"Why are we encountering these things again?" Samui's heart skipped a beat.

This academy was too strange. 

The more commonplace the object, the more terrifying it seemed. She didn't want to be pulled into another endless loop like before.

Suddenly, her clothes tightened. Samui looked back.

Kumo Usagi was tugging at the corner of her clothes, her face on the verge of tears: "Lady Samui, be... behind... there's one behind us too, it's following us!"

Samui focused her gaze and, sure enough, the broom they had encountered on the second floor had followed them to the third.

"You fucking wannabe-ghost, get lost!"

"Cloud Style: Flying Blade!"

Several blades of light slashed fiercely behind her, dispersing a large swathe of fog. The broom lying on the ground was cut into several pieces.

"Hmph! Let's go, ignore these things."

"These are just common cleaning tools in the academy." Samui snorted, not bothering to avoid them, pulling Usagi past the line of "soldiers."

The fog was dense, and water droplets covered the windows of the classrooms lining the corridor. It was impossible to see inside.

They could only open each door and check.

"Where did those two brats who came up before us run off to?" Samui frowned.

"I don't know. I didn't see anyone else after coming up to the third floor."

"They were carrying small buckets, they should be going up to clean. Maybe they're in one of the classrooms here, or maybe they went to a higher floor." Usagi stuck close to Samui, occasionally glancing behind her. 

With her sharp senses, she felt as if something unknown was following them.

"Lady Samui, let's leave this place. This academy is too terrifying. Is this really still the Konoha Ninja Academy?"

"I keep feeling like something is following us," Usagi said, her voice trembling. 

As a sensory ninja, she wasn't afraid of snakes or insects, but she was terrified of these inexplicable, undetectable things.

"Tch, what's so scary? Can ordinary cleaning tools kill us? It's not that this school is too weird, it's that it's too ordinary."

To embolden Usagi, Samui turned around and looked intently behind them.

Sweeping aside the fog, they saw a dense mass of brooms standing upright, hopping towards them in a frantic rush. 

There were even more than they had seen in the first half of the corridor.

"The fuck?!"

Even the relatively calm and courageous Samui was startled.

But in the next moment, her battle instincts kicked in, and she quickly drew the ninja sword from her waist.

"Cloud Style!"

Even more fierce blades of light flashed, wood splintered, and straw flew.

The densely packed brooms instantly shattered, lying in pieces all over the floor.

"Hmph! Done! I'll cut down as many as they come!" Samui sheathed her sword, turned around, and clapped her hands, feeling a sense of accomplishment at having eliminated the source of her fear.

"Lady Samui, can you please stop saying things that attract aggro?" Usagi cried.

"What's wrong? Didn't I take care of them?"

Samui froze. A second later, the rustling sound behind them grew louder and louder.

She looked back.

Good heavens!

The brooms, which had been chopped into pieces, were reassembling themselves.

They had recovered!

The next moment, they charged forward again, hopping collectively.

"What the hell are these things?"

Blades of light flashed, leaving behind another scene of devastation.

But moments later, they were restored.

After several repetitions, Samui's hand holding the sword began to tremble.

Damn it!

They had just escaped one endless loop, only to fall into another.

These brooms weren't particularly harmful, but they were incredibly insulting. 

They just wouldn't stop.

If this went on, they would run out of stamina.

"Run!"

Without another word, Samui grabbed Usagi and ran towards the corridor on the other side.

This infinitely looping phenomenon, like the staircase before, must have a key, a way to break the cycle and prevent them from restoring themselves.

But they needed to create some distance, to buy themselves time to figure it out.

The two sprinted, their footsteps echoing clearly in the quiet school corridor, followed by the dense rustling sound behind them.

Just then, a faint light flickered in a classroom ahead in the mist, and they could vaguely make out figures inside.

"Now, let's look at this pressure point," a teacher's voice came, giving a lesson.

"Someone!"

Overjoyed, the two felt like they had found an oasis in the desert. 

Finding other humans in this eerie, lifeless academy, whether friend or foe, was comforting news.

Neither of them, especially Samui, noticed how their mindset of secretly investigating the academy had subtly shifted in this pervasive atmosphere. They were subconsciously ignoring many things.

They quickly darted into the classroom and slammed the door shut. The rustling sound outside rushed past and gradually faded away.

"Phew..."

Leaning against the door, they exhaled heavily, finally escaping those troublesome things.

"Who are you? New teachers?"

Hearing this, the two looked up.

Ahead, the dim light only illuminated the podium. The teacher who was lecturing looked at them with confusion.

"They're actually real people," The two exchanged excited glances.

In the next moment, they remembered their purpose. 

They were members of the Kumo envoy, not new teachers.

Fortunately, they weren't wearing their Kumo headbands. But since this teacher didn't recognize them, perhaps they could...

At this point, they had to admire Konoha. It was truly impressive, the teachers and students working overtime studying until this late, even in such a terrifying school.

No wonder Konoha produces so many geniuses and holds the title of the number one ninja village so firmly. 

Fear-based education was their primary teaching method.

And now, I, the great Samui, have finally uncovered their secret.

"Yes, we are the new..." Samui straightened her clothes and took two steps forward, approaching the podium.

"Wonderful! I was dying to take a break!" the teacher happily interrupted Samui, stepping down from the podium.

"Could you watch the students and teach the class for me? I need to use the restroom, I'll be back soon.

"Oh right, my name is Ikka. These students are quite the troublemakers. Make sure they don't leave the classroom, alright?"

With that, the five-foot-tall Ikka pushed past them, opened the door, and disappeared into the fog outside.

"Um... it's dangerous out there..." Usagi called out kindly.

Unfortunately, he had already vanished into the thick fog.

Sigh, Konoha might have just lost a good teacher. 

And it wasn't their fault.

Fearful that the indestructible broom soldiers would return, Usagi quickly closed the classroom door.

They faced the classroom filled with shadowy figures.

To ease the awkwardness and buy some time to figure out how to break the cycle, they would just have to improvise and make something up. 

And maybe ask these students about the situation in the school.

The two stepped onto the podium.

On the podium sat a wooden mannequin covered in acupuncture point markings. 

Was this to teach the students how to identify pressure points?

"Alright students, let's..." Samui looked up. 

Her attention had been on the door and the teacher earlier. 

Also, due to the dim lighting, only a small area above the podium was lit, leaving the rest of the room shrouded in darkness. 

As she spoke, she finally noticed that there were no students behind the desks.

They were all wooden puppets sitting upright.

"Let's... Nani?! What the-!

"That teacher was messing with us!"

Samui slammed her hand on the podium, furious. 

She immediately turned to leave the podium, intending to catch the bastard teacher who had tricked them.

Suddenly, all the wooden puppets in the classroom stood up.

"Teacher, class isn't over yet!" The unified voice froze Samui in her tracks...

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