Chapter 94: , An Expected Encounter

Meanwhile, four or five kilometers away from Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Tian Yang lay on the ground, unconscious and motionless, while beside him, a hunched figure hidden beneath a black robe stood waiting.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss."

A strange sound emanated from the black robe, as if it were chuckling secretly.

Then, a furry claw reached out from the robe, and five sharp, cold-glinting talons suddenly popped out from the pads.

"They should be here soon, too."

"Need to prepare quickly, meow!"

The black-robed figure then snatched the forehead protector off Tian Yang's head, threw it on the ground, and hoisted Tian Yang up, running off in one direction.

Back in the thick fog, the squad, following the direction of Ryosuke's perception, began to encounter constant trouble.

As the squad explored and advanced, hidden weapon attacks would frequently appear from the surrounding haze.

And when Mizunuki Ryosuke tracked them down, he discovered these were merely pre-arranged traps and mechanisms.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Mizunuki Ryosuke swung the ice kunai in his hand, blocking all the sharp hidden weapons flying toward them.

He then casually threw the ice kunai toward the source of the projectiles.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, a device used to release the sharp weapons fell from a tree branch; clearly, this attack was also a pre-set trap.

Such arrangements, combined with the deep haze, caused the squad a great deal of trouble.

Although it didn't cause any casualties, it significantly slowed the squad's tracking speed.

It was obvious that the opponent had arranged this intentionally to drag out their progress.

This made Suishi Tatsuo lose all hope of rescuing Tian Yang.

Consequently, Suishi Tatsuo began to harbor thoughts of persuading Ryosuke to give up.

But before Suishi Tatsuo could speak.

Suddenly, Mizunuki Ryosuke abruptly raised a hand to signal them to stop, then made a gesture to the left and right respectively.

Ryosuke's signal was instantly understood by the two.

The next second, they both dove into hiding at high speed.

At the same time, Mizunuki Ryosuke himself used Earth Style to submerge into the ground.

Before long, two figures arrived side-by-side in the clearing.

Because they were in the thick fog, Mizunuki Ryosuke, hidden in the shadows and underground, could not see their forms clearly.

However, in a scenario like this, there was naturally no talk of peaceful coexistence.

Mizunuki Ryosuke, hidden beneath the ground, quietly appeared behind the two.

Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!

As Mizunuki Ryosuke formed a seal with one hand and slammed it into the ground, the earth beneath the two figures suddenly turned into a deep swamp.

The powerful suction made it impossible for them to break free.

At the same time, Suishi Tatsuo and Terumi Mei, who had been hiding on both sides, attacked together.

Fire Style: Great Fireball!

Ice Style: Thousand Needles of Death!

Flames and ice attacked the two trapped in the Swamp of the Underworld from two directions simultaneously.

With their movement restricted and under a pincer attack, these two ninjas seemed to have fallen into a desperate situation.

But soon, the two ninjas under attack displayed their formidable strength.

One of the ninjas in the fog quickly formed seals, and a massive amount of water surged up, forming a wall of high-pressure water around them.

Water Style: Water Wall!

The massive water wall perfectly defended against the attacks from Terumi Mei and Suishi Tatsuo.

"BOOM!!!"

Immediately following, a violent explosion accompanied by firelight came from within the water curtain.

Then, mud filled the sky as it was blasted upward.

Clearly, the Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld used by Mizunuki Ryosuke had been destroyed by the opponent, and they had completely broken free.

With the ambush failed, Ryosuke's squad instantly changed tactics.

Terumi Mei and Suishi Tatsuo quickly moved behind Mizunuki Ryosuke to form a defense.

From this Water Style: Water Wall, Mizunuki Ryosuke could already see that this ninja's strength was not to be underestimated.

To be able to unleash a Water Style of such scale in a rush meant the opponent's strength was far above Terumi Mei and Suishi Tatsuo.

Yet for some reason, after being ambushed by Ryosuke's squad.

The opponent did not counterattack, but instead walked slowly through the fog toward the three of them.

Seeing this, Ryosuke was in no rush to attack, instead walking toward them as well.

He also wanted to see what kind of medicine they were selling in their gourd.

Once both sides were close enough, Ryosuke finally saw the opponent's face clearly.

"Mizunuki Ryosuke, you really are here."

A delicate, handsome face with short, pale hair reaching the ears.

The opponent was none other than Hozuki Mangetsu!

Ryosuke understood why they hadn't retaliated; they must have seen the Ice Style released by Suishi Tatsuo and realized they might be "on the same side."

That was why they stopped and chose to approach for negotiation instead.

Upon seeing Hozuki Mangetsu, Mizunuki Ryosuke did not show any surprise; it seemed seeing him here was within his expectations.

Ryosuke looked beside Hozuki Mangetsu, and the other person was his teammate, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Ameyuri Ringo.

The explosion just now was the effect of the unique ninja sword, the Blastsword Shibuki, used by the opponent.

Besides them, the other two Seven Ninja Swordsmen were not in their group.

Mizunuki Ryosuke guessed that they must have encountered something similar to his squad, causing their members to be separated.

At the same time, Hozuki Mangetsu's appearance verified another conjecture in Mizunuki Ryosuke's mind.

That was:

The missions for the three squads were exactly the same!

As for the "Mizukage Assessment" being the premise, the deep meaning behind it went without saying.

It meant that only the one who completed the mission first would be qualified to inherit the position of Mizukage!

Therefore, the two were currently competitors.

Seeing that Mizunuki Ryosuke's squad was also missing a person, Hozuki Mangetsu narrowed his eyes and revealed an excited smile.

"How about it?"

"Want to exchange the intelligence we have?"

Clearly, Hozuki Mangetsu had no intention of starting a war, but rather wanted to exchange intelligence with Mizunuki Ryosuke.

And this was the tacit understanding between Hozuki Mangetsu and Mizunuki Ryosuke.

The mission had just begun; if the two sides fought now, it would clearly only benefit Mizunuki Eiro.

"Sure."

To this, Mizunuki Ryosuke agreed with a smile.

"What is the content of your mission?"

Hozuki Mangetsu asked directly, without any unnecessary probing.

Both sides were smart people; the moment he saw Ryosuke's squad, Hozuki Mangetsu knew what was going on, and this question was just to add an extra layer of insurance.

"Mizukage Secret Scroll."

Mizunuki Ryosuke didn't hide anything and revealed the mission content directly.

"Same here."

Hozuki Mangetsu responded with a light laugh, not hiding his own mission either.

In that instant, both seemed to understand something.