"Is that so?"
Pakura suspiciously looked back and forth between the two, making Kana lower her head guiltily.
Ryuji, however, remained calm and composed.
Pakura's heart skipped a beat; she couldn't help but clench her fists but still refrained from outburst.
Because she wasn't qualified to say anything.
Although during the Mechanical City's celebration banquet, she had indirectly confessed, and Ryuji had embraced her, implying tacit acceptance,
They hadn't formally confessed to each other in the true sense, nor were they officially boyfriend and girlfriend.
What if she had misunderstood?
If Ryuji had only wanted to comfort her then, but she misinterpreted it as acceptance of her confession, then stood up to accuse him of betrayal… wouldn't that be a huge joke?
After all, this guy had always been so clueless about girls' feelings; perhaps this time was the same.
'But, but, but...'
'I came first.'
Pakura lowered her head, biting her lower lip tightly, feeling aggrieved inside.
"So, what's the current situation?"
Ryuji seemed not to notice the girl's distress, asking about mission-related matters.
In fact, he wasn't unaware.
He simply didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Although he had that kind of relationship with Kana, it was just a transaction.
Otherwise, with such frequent experiments, even a lecher would have long lost interest and feeling… they might even feel disgusted.
How could Ryuji, with his extremely indifferent feelings in this area, sustain it for so long?
Although during the previous Mechanical City banquet, he had responded to her implicit confession, becoming a couple,
But due to the extensive knowledge about the human body accumulated in his mind, frequent dissections, and deep understanding of human physiology, Ryuji viewed love extremely rationally.
Though not to the point of reducing love to biological reproductive instinct or products of certain organ functions so scientifically, it was still very indifferent.
Plus, he was only fifteen now; love certainly wasn't his top priority, hence this mindset.
He believed love should bring happiness to both parties. If it caused both trouble or even pain, then it should end.
"The enemy has six people..."
Hearing serious matters, Pakura instinctively replied.
She raised her head, looking at Ryuji's honest expression. While feeling a sense of loss, she also breathed a sigh of relief.
She wanted to see guilt on Ryuji's face, wanted him to comfort her when he saw her pain.
But she also feared Ryuji would actually do so.
If Ryuji did, while proving he deeply loved her, it would also prove he had truly betrayed her.
Betrayal on the second meeting after confirming the relationship... Pakura felt that no matter how broad-minded she was, she couldn't accept that.
Now, while it was possible Ryuji simply didn't care about her feelings, it was also possible he hadn't done anything wrong against her, had a clear conscience, and she was overthinking everything.
"Two males, four females..."
Pakura continued describing the enemies.
The two men: one middle-aged with a full beard and curly long hair; one young man with blond hair. The four women: one middle-aged woman with wine-red long hair; two young women with blue and black long hair respectively; one young girl with short white hair.
Their appearances somewhat resembled Kumogakure's people but also had significant differences.
Although Kumogakure's people ranged from white to dark-skinned, their overall aesthetic was similar.
But those people had fair skin, thicker body hair, eye colors like blue, green, or brown. Not high cheekbones, relatively flat jaw, narrow somewhat hooked nose, high nose bridge, thin or moderate lips.
Their clothing style also differed greatly from the Shinobi World.
Current Shinobi wore lightweight flak jackets, while they wore heavy metal armor, wielding two-handed greatswords and similar heavy weapons. At a glance, they're clearly not from this continent.
After listening, Ryuji pondered, "...How strong are they? Any special abilities?"
"They rely on physical combat. But their armor has built-in Chakra Shields that can withstand attacks below B-Rank Ninjutsu; their weapons have innate Chakra Nature Transformation, allowing various attack effects similar to ninjutsu; they also have disposable explosive weapons, thumb-sized but with power several times greater than explosive tags.
Additionally, they themselves seem to possess extraordinary abilities, but we've only engaged once, so couldn't discern specifics. We only know they have sensing and anti-sensing abilities."
"To be that troublesome!"
Ryuji frowned.
The appearance features sounded like Western knights from his previous life… nothing strange.
But their strength was extremely formidable.
Even among the current Five Kage, B-Rank Ninjutsu was their regular attack method.
Yet they had Chakra Shields defending against B-Rank and below Ninjutsu, meaning Kage-level experts must use above-regular methods to win against them.
And greatswords with various Chakra Nature Transformations... As is well known, only Jonin-level Shinobi could master two or more Chakra Nature Transformations.
Thus, their attack power likely wasn't weak either.
And bombs thumb-sized but with power several times greater than explosive tags made them fearless against mook encirclements.
Moreover, they seemed to have strange abilities.
After contemplating for a moment, Ryuji continued asking, "How strong are they personally?"
Weapons are just weapons, no matter how strong.
If the users aren't strong, the power displayed is extremely limited.
Like a pistol.
In a sharpshooter's hands versus a child who never held a gun, the power displayed is incomparable.
However, shield armor and Chakra-Transforming Greatswords had a high baseline.
No matter how weak, opponents couldn't be too weak.
"The bearded middle-aged man is the leader. I fought him; his combat awareness and technique were very strong, definitely not someone relying solely on weapons." Pakura said with a serious expression, "As for others, though not as strong, they weren't pushovers either."
"Don't worry, master." Aka patted her chest, confidently guaranteeing, "With me here, no matter what enemies, I'll sweep them clean."
"Don't be careless."
Ryuji slightly shook his head.
Although Aka's raw strength was incredibly strong, she hadn't reached the level of ignoring all schemes and tricks.
If not careful enough, encountering someone with special abilities like Hidan, she might still fail in a careless moment.
"Anyway, let's first see if we can find their tracks!" Ryuji turned to look at Kana behind him.
Kana immediately understood, activating Hawk Eyes to scan around.
Suddenly, she looked across the canyon, pointing, "Ryuji-sama, someone is watching us across the canyon. Her appearance features and clothing match Pakura-sama's description closely."
Everyone followed her direction, inwardly startled.
Because the distance was too close.
Although separated by a canyon, the straight-line distance was only five-six hundred meters.
"These people simply don't take us seriously at all."
A Sunagakure's Shinobi with a bandaged head said indignantly.
Although months of engagement indicated the enemy had been secretly monitoring, they never imagined the distance would be so close.
"Ryuji-sama, she seems to know we spotted her, she's starting to flee." Kana suddenly said.
Ryuji couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"With you all reacting so obviously, how could the enemy not notice?"
While speaking, he released a mechanical bird.
Aka, Pakura, Kana instinctively jumped on, immediately filling the seats.
Looking at Ryuji not yet aboard, staring at them speechlessly, the three women glanced at each other. Kana scratched her head, preparing to jump off.
"Master needs your sensing ability. You stay."
Aka stopped Kana, jumping down herself.
Pakura's brows raised, instinctively wanting to object but finding no reason to refute, ultimately falling silent.
"You go ahead. I'll go with Aka."
"Wait..."
Before finishing, the mechanical bird, understanding its master's intent, flew off carrying the two women.
"Master, you're truly wicked."
Aka couldn't help but tease.
Anyone could see Pakura was hostile toward Kana because of Ryuji. Yet Ryuji himself ran off, letting these two women ride the mechanical bird alone… bystanders couldn't help but find it amusing.
"When did you become so gossipy?" Ryuji said indifferently, "Quickly take me over; don't let them escape."
"Yes."
Seeing the master annoyed, Aka immediately stopped smiling, forming hand seals.
A large mass of sand rose from the ground, carrying the two quickly flying across, soon catching up to the mechanical bird.
But Aka was tactful enough not to approach, just trailing from afar.
Five-six hundred meters passed in an instant, but the enemy also escaped several hundred meters.
From the back, it was a woman with waist-length blue hair trailing behind, wearing Western-style bright silver armor... Actually not purely Western, more like Japanese-style Western armor, female version.
Extremely sexy attire: only shoulder guards, arm guards, wrist guards, chest plate, hip guard, knee guards, metal boots... all other parts exposed, with a Western two-handed greatsword on her back.
Exactly like valkyrie attire in a lot of anime.
"Tch, so shameless."
Aka couldn't help but scorn.
Though she hadn't fought these people, she heard from Pakura: the enemy's Chakra Shield only defended against Ninjutsu, not physical attacks.
This armor exposing so many points simply couldn't serve to defend against physical attacks.
Besides seducing people, wearing it was like wearing nothing.
"Perhaps she herself has some special ability!"
As they spoke, the mechanical bird and sand platform pursued.
The mechanical bird opened its mouth, extending a six-barrel Gatling, under endless roaring and tongues of flame, five types of Chakra Bullets poured forth unrestrainedly.