Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 128 Wolves

It was an ordinary day, yet with a few unexpected twists and turns.

Five days had passed and they had covered most of the journey, but the wolf pack was getting closer and closer. Even during the day, they could see one or two tan-colored figures flashing by in the distance.

The fifth night arrived. But this time, they still couldn't find a suitable place to rest as darkness fell; the open, rocky terrain made them vulnerable to attack from both sides.

"Even if you're sleeping tonight, you're still going to have this weapon with you, you hear me!"

The leader wasn't unfamiliar with this situation and remained relatively calm as he directed the group. Desert wolf packs rarely exceeded ten individuals, and their caravan consisted of seven people, plus the strange man. Even with one wolf per person, they could easily handle the wolf, not to mention their five camels. While counting heads, he noticed the man was staring in a certain direction, but unfortunately, the man's face was completely obscured, leaving only a pair of distinctive golden eyes visible; he couldn't discern the man's expression.

The leader had no intention of relying on this outsider, nor did he plan to have his own people help him; he didn't even intend to share a knife with the man. This was a desolate, uninhabited desert; indifference was more likely to breed in the absence of watchful eyes, and the law of the jungle always prevailed here. Since he dared to come, let them see the confidence behind his audacity.

Wolves are very patient creatures. In the first half of the night, they appear in twos and threes within the range of the campfire's light, startling the group and keeping them on edge. But they don't rush forward; they retreat as soon as they get close enough to provoke the watchmen to get up and chase them away.

Only two people sat most steadily in the entire camp. One was the leader, who was surrounded in the center, and the other was the oddball who had been pushed to the edge. Several times, wolves appeared from his direction, getting so close that they could almost carry him away, but he remained motionless, too lazy to even open his eyes, as if he were completely asleep.

Anything unusual always attracts attention. Those in the group who weren't asleep all cast their gazes in that direction, wondering when he would be carried off by the wolves. Feeding the wolves was also a way to escape them; when faced with life and death, humans have always been this selfish.

"Woo—" An unusual sound suddenly rang out in the latter half of the night. Along with the sound appeared countless pairs of green eyes that surrounded the entire camp, flickering gently in the darkness not far away, like clusters of will-o'-the-wisps, a harbinger of death. The leader jumped up on the spot, terrified, and immediately climbed onto the nearest camel, but didn't let the camel stand up right away. He had never seen so many desert wolves gathered together in his life; everything about this was eerie. While signaling everyone to be on alert, he looked in the direction of the person, only to find that the place was empty! And that person wasn't among the crowd.

Oh no, could this be a trap?

"Awooo—" The alpha wolf sounded its charge, and the pack howled as they charged. But the first wave of wolves crashed headlong into suddenly appearing rocks, while the second wave used their soft bellies to catch the hard earth spikes. Even so, the third wave did not stop. They leaped over the corpses of their companions, over towering rock spikes, only to be blown down by a gust of wind and disintegrated into fragments in mid-air.

The caravan members had never seen anything like it. Even if they said they would kill it, all they had ever done was kill some animals, fight back against bandits a few times, and the worst they could do was ignore someone in distress. They were just ordinary people trying to make a living, doing the most dangerous jobs, not wanting to cause trouble; they had no time for compassion.

But what just happened? Suddenly, a ring of rock spikes, as tall as a person, rose from the ground, and several wolf carcasses hung from the spikes—that was gruesome enough. Then, when they tried to engage the remaining wolves, what happened next? A gust of demonic wind blew in from the sky, shredding the wolf pack and the rock spikes together. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and some people, too terrified to even close their mouths, vomited uncontrollably.

The eldest brother, crouching on the camel's back, was terrified, because the evil wind had blown right over the top of his head; if he had stretched out his legs, his head would have been chopped off. His hands and feet remained frozen for a long time, until the rock spike suddenly retracted into the ground from one direction, bringing him back to his senses.

A strange figure appeared, his sleeves covered in irregular black markings. He was dragging something along, but when he got closer, he realized it wasn't anything at all, but a person! And those black markings were actually blood splattered on him!

Those who dare to trek through the desert alone are definitely not ordinary people...

"Boss Xu, do you recognize him?" The strange man walked unimpeded through the automatically dispersing caravan, lifted the person in his hand, and considerately let him see his face clearly.

He shuddered and scrambled off the camel, his legs too weak to support him. He was about to kneel down when the strange man caught him.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you? Don't worry, those were just two very simple ninjutsu. I wasn't here, so my methods were a bit rough and not very elegant. Please forgive me." The strange man's voice was surprisingly calm and gentle, and even his facial expression was so sunny and bright, not at all like the person who had just caused such a ruckus.

He said, "Don't be afraid, I will protect you."

"Boss Xu, you know him, right? Who is he?"

As expected of the leader, once the intense shock subsided, Xu Laoda was able to stand up straight by himself, supporting himself on the camel, and asked in return, "Is he dead?"

"No."

“…Then we’re going to die.” Boss Xu’s eyes were bloodshot and red, as if he wanted to stare a hole through this guy. “Where did you go? Where did you find him?”

“It’s nearby. His wolves have been following us for days.” The strange man pointed in a direction. “There are many more people lying in ambush over there. I’ve temporarily trapped them. This blood is from wolves.”

"Then we're going to die too." Old Xu said through gritted teeth, "Do you know who he is? He's the nephew of the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, the lord of this land! Why did you attack him! Why don't you just bury him over there and not bring him here!"

“You’re a ninja, he can’t do anything to you, but we’re just a bunch of ordinary people! We don’t have your supernatural powers! Taking you with us isn’t just asking for trouble, we need to eat, we need to survive!” Old Master Xu was filled with sorrow, he could almost see the end of his family being destroyed. It was too late to let him go now. There were only a few caravans on the Silk Road during this period. If his nephew wasn’t dead, he would definitely come to cause trouble for the caravans. Even if his nephew was dead, his indiscriminate wrath would still be directed at them.

An unsolvable deadlock was sealed the moment this guy made his move.