In the Hidden Mist Village.
The Ninja Hall.
As the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, Yagura sat stiffly in his office chair. He had a baby face, green hair, was about four foot seven tall, and still carried a hint of innocence in his eyes.
If it weren't for the fact he was in the Hidden Mist Village, Yagura would definitely be mistaken as an ordinary child by outsiders. However, Ye Liang knew he was already over thirty years old.
"Kumano An! Go play somewhere else. I still have many things to do!" Yagura said to his son, who had come to visit, before immediately walking out the door of the Mist office.
Kumano An, his teenage son, watched his father leave with a mixed feeling inside him.
For some reason, his father's personality had suddenly changed. He was no longer cheerful and enthusiastic, but instead became somewhat aloof toward his own people, and even often beat him.
After his father left, he couldn't help but shiver.
Before long, Yagura met a group of returning Hidden Mist ninjas outside the village.
Ye Liang was among them!
Yagura immediately walked over: "Wow! Chang Jiulang, you guys did great this time. You've already captured all these rogue ninjas so quickly."
"Indeed, it's you, Lord Yagura."
Upon hearing these words, a leader named Chang Jiulang stepped forward. He was the same man who had just negotiated with Ye Liang — a man with a short buzz cut, holding a large sword. Upon receiving Yagura's praise, Chang Jiulang silently knelt to the ground.
"Lord Yagura! Capturing rogue ninjas is exactly what our Reconnaissance Unit should do. I am willing to share your burdens."
"Hmph, you're quite good, kid. Even after earning merit, you remain so humble." Yagura smiled. He walked directly to the rogue ninjas and began examining them with wide eyes.
Suddenly, he noticed Ye Liang hiding behind the group, and his expression froze: "Who is this guy? He shouldn't be one of our Hidden Mist ninjas, right?"
"He's just a traveler passing through, but we couldn't have captured these rogue ninjas without his help," Chang Jiulang replied.
"A traveler, huh?"
Yagura looked suspicious for a moment: "Could it be... he's a bounty ninja?"
Bounty ninja?
Ye Liang felt confused.
Along the way, the phrase he had heard Chang Jiulang muttering the most was "bounty ninja." Now everyone else also looked deeply worried, as if this was someone extremely significant. Chang Jiulang had even repeatedly warned — if they ever encountered this bounty ninja within the Hidden Mist Village, they must report it immediately!
As for who exactly this bounty hunter was, Ye Liang remained clueless.
There was no such figure in any of our records!
Could it be... Lady Misfortune again...?
This thought made him feel incredibly annoyed.
"He's from the Sky Ninja Village," Chang Jiulang immediately explained.
"The Sky Ninja Village?"
Upon hearing Chang Jiulang's words, Yagura paused for a moment. Thinking it was just some obscure small village he'd never heard of, he casually walked away.
Seeing Yagura leave, Ye Liang sighed in relief.
"Big Brother Chang Jiulang, I keep hearing you mention this bounty ninja. Did he do something bad in your village?"
"Oh! You've just arrived and probably don't know yet! This bounty hunter makes it his job to hunt down rogue ninjas. Almost every ninja on a wanted poster ends up dead — killed by him!
Our Hidden Mist Village has also experienced several such incidents — all involving elderly ninjas who had just defected.
The bounty hunter killed them and then brought the rogue ninja elders' heads to our village to cash in rewards. That's extremely despicable!"
"What? Cash in rewards! Didn't you already catch the rogue ninja yourselves? Why would he come for more money?"
"Ahh!"
Chang Jiulang sighed, "Indeed, those criminals were originally captured by us! He came to our prison, killed the rogue ninja, then claimed rewards for their rogue ninja heads. What kind of logic is that!"
"Didn't you ever consider not paying the commission, or even killing him directly?"
Chang Jiulang shook his head.
"That wouldn't work!
The bounty for this mission had already been issued by the Assassination Tavern. Even if our village stops giving rewards to hunters, they can still take these heads to the tavern for payment."
"That's really screwed up!" Ye Liang sighed.
What this bounty hunter did was truly outrageous! It's like a police chief issuing a wanted notice, then catching the criminal themselves, but the bounty hunter sneaks into the jail, kills the prisoner, and then brings the head to police headquarters for money...
"In that case, I'll take my leave now." After finishing the conversation, the two parted ways.
Evening.
Ye Liang suddenly sensed a strong killing intent in Kiri.
"Interesting! This Kiri is quite fascinating."
The killing intent wasn't directed at Ye Liang, but rather toward another direction. He rushed out under the moonlight and spotted a masked man in black darting across the rooftops.
He immediately followed.
Soon, both arrived at a deep well guarded by Kiri ninja.
"Isn't this the Kiri prison?"
Ye Liang looked at the scene with confusion.
The guards were nodding off. While the two guards lowered their heads, the masked man quickly jumped into the depths of the well!
Ye Liang understood immediately.
This person must be the so-called bounty ninja!
"Could this person actually be a woman?" Ye Liang speculated. The bounty hunter's figure was very slim; without seeing the martial arts skills, one might easily think it was a child, but the techniques used were extremely seasoned. If it were a woman, it would make more sense.
He quickly followed.
Inside the well of Kiri there was no water. Instead, it led to a vast underground passage system connected to various prison cells—the secret prison of Kiri.
This person was very familiar with this place. As soon as he arrived, he disappeared immediately. Ye Liang searched the area for quite a while, but couldn't find where this guy went.
Helpless,
He just slowly searched the area blindly.
Suddenly, a scream came from a distant location!
Hearing the scream, Ye Liang immediately rushed over! Just after arriving, he saw that masked man holding a blood-drenched severed head, walking out from the secret prison.
"Damn it! Still arrived one step too late!" He immediately wanted to intervene.
Suddenly!
He thought about this being the Kiri—if he eliminated this bounty ninja openly here, it would easily attract outside attention. This could stir up the hornets' nest and might cause him to miss the hidden Black Zetsu.
"Forget it! Better not to provoke unnecessary troubles!"
Ye Liang decided not to intervene.
The two left the Kiri secret prison one after the other.
The next day.
A group of Kiri ninja openly surrounded the inn where Ye Liang lived, their leader none other than Chang Jiulang. Shortly after completing the encirclement, the Mizukage Yagura arrived at the scene as well.
"Any progress? Did you catch him yet?"
"Not yet. He still hasn't shown his face."
Inside the room, several Kiri ninja had quietly sneaked in. They approached the bed and found Ye Liang lying there. Immediately, they moved in and wrapped prepared ropes around him.
Ye Liang didn't wake up. He let them tie him up tight, but then a sudden puff of smoke burst around him, leaving behind a half-burned log in his place.
[Substitution Jutsu]!
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