Chapter 192: King-Level vs. Silver, A Crushing Fight
"Uncle, I caught this fish! Look, isn't it big?"
At Uncle Yujing's house, Li Yao and the other four sat around a dinner table with Yujing and his family of three—eight people in total. The table wasn't large, so Yuzu sat tightly beside Li Yao, holding her chopsticks and proudly pointing at the big fish head in the pot.
Seeing the smile on her face—one she rarely showed except when she was with him—Li Yao nodded with satisfaction. "Mm, very big."
"Eat up, everyone, don't be shy," Uncle Yujing said warmly.
"Here, Uncle." Yuzu picked up the largest piece—the fish head—and gave it to Li Yao.
Thanks to Yahiko's sincerity and Konan's companionship, she was integrating into the group quickly.
Li Yao basked in the joyful atmosphere.
Everyone chatted and laughed over fish soup—it was the kind of simple happiness that made life worth living.
Unfortunately… someone always had to ruin these moments.
Just as they were eating, Yuzu furrowed her brow, subtly set down her chopsticks, and tapped Li Yao's thigh under the table.
Li Yao didn't react.
Seeing that, she wanted to warn Yahiko and the others. A squad of twelve shinobi was approaching the village—but she held back, trusting Li Yao's judgment.
Li Yao wanted to see how sharp Yahiko's team's sensory abilities were—especially Nagato's.
As it turned out, they only noticed the enemies once they triggered the traps at the village's edge.
"It seems the Rinnegan—no, Nagato's sensory ability—is lacking," Li Yao thought.
"Something's wrong. Someone's coming."
Yahiko's face changed. He immediately turned to Uncle Yujing's family. "Uncle, take your family and hide. Leave the outside to us."
Nagato and Konan were already in combat mode.
Li Yao pulled up the hood on his waterproof cloak, raising the collar high to cover most of his face, revealing only his eyes.
Yuzu did the same—after all, she was still wanted.
Ordinary villagers wouldn't recognize her, but rogue shinobi might. Best to stay disguised.
The five of them quickly exited and rushed toward the village gate.
At the perimeter, the twelve intruding shinobi, upon triggering the traps, realized there were other ninja in the village. They grew cautious and didn't advance.
Soon, Yahiko arrived with Li Yao and the others, facing off against the twelve enemies.
From their builds, all twelve were adults. Each wore a shinobi sword, and their uniforms looked like Hanzo's men—well-equipped, though without the iconic gas masks Hanzo's elite usually wore.
Yahiko guessed these were likely ex-Hanzo shinobi who had left Amegakure.
Now, for some reason, they had set their sights on this village.
"Twelve of them... that's quite a lot."
Seeing a dozen enemy shinobi—especially ex-Hanzo forces—Yahiko's expression changed slightly. But he relaxed a little when he glanced at Li Yao and Yuzu nearby.
They weren't the same trio they used to be.
With Brother Li and Sister Yuzu around, twelve enemies wouldn't threaten the village behind them.
"This village is under our protection. I'm warning you—leave immediately."
If they could avoid fighting, they would. Yahiko's ideal was always to resolve conflict through communication.
But... as the saying goes—
For your words to carry weight, people must be willing to listen.
In modern Earth terms, that means having power or wealth.
In the ninja world, which worships strength, it means being stronger than the one you're talking to. Only then will they sit down and listen.
What do you think allowed Hashirama to unify the world?
What convinced Madara to co-found Konoha?
Power.
Absolute power.
Only when your fists are bigger will people stop and listen to your words.
Clearly, Yahiko hadn't shown enough strength to make these twelve men want to listen.
"You're Hanzo's people?" the lead enemy ninja asked, seeing the Amegakure forehead protectors. He didn't wait for Yahiko to reply before shaking his head. "Never mind. Doesn't matter. Kill them."
With that, he and his men charged.
Faced with enemies who attacked without a word, Yahiko's talk-no-jutsu was useless. Again—it all came back to strength. Without power, no one would hear your words of peace.
"Don't let them near the village!"
"But—don't kill them!"
Yahiko called out. If he wanted to resolve hatred and conflict through dialogue, then he couldn't kill—how do you talk to someone who's already dead?
"Understood," Nagato and Konan responded immediately. They had long embraced Yahiko's ideals and followed his commands without question.
Truthfully, that order was meant more for Li Yao and Yuzu .
"Got it." Li Yao shrugged.
Only Yuzu frowned and said, "I'll try."
"Mm." Yahiko nodded, a small smile forming. He understood Yuzu 's past. For her to even try was already commendable.
Besides—he was the one who would protect her. No harm would come to her if he had anything to say about it.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
Yahiko, ever the ninja who liked to open with jutsu, launched a massive wave toward the enemies.
Other ninja—like the ones attacking—tended to open with close-range combat.
Only when Yahiko's torrent surged toward them did the enemy leader finally stop, form hand seals, and slam the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
A half-meter-thick wall of earth rose up just in time to block the wave, shielding the leader and his eleven subordinates.
"Charge!"
The water crashed past the sides of the wall. The enemies quickly climbed up and hurled kunai at Yahiko and the others—each kunai tied to an explosive tag.
This was a standard technique used by Hanzo's men.
"Not good—explosive tags!" Yahiko's face changed, calling out a warning.
But he didn't need to—Nagato was already responding. He clapped his hands together, releasing a swirling vortex of wind that swept toward the incoming kunai.
Boom boom...
The tags exploded midair, black smoke billowing and obscuring Yahiko's team's vision.
At that moment, their lack of battle experience was laid bare.
(END CHAPTER)
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