"Teacher Ye Liang, are you here?"
A quiet voice called from beneath the tree.
Sasuke was stunned into silence...
"If Teacher Ye Liang could answer, that'd be a real ghost story!" He looked up again but still couldn't spot Ye Liang hiding behind the branches.
Someone started climbing up the tree—was Naruto!
After realizing Ye Liang wasn't really his uncle, Naruto had been deeply affected. After days of thinking about how Ye Liang had treated him, he finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to come.
No matter what punishment awaited, Ye Liang's remains must never be left to rot in the wilderness!
"So my nephew wasn't wrong to call me uncle after all!"
Ye Liang felt deeply moved.
Naruto climbed for a bit and finally neared Ye Liang when two more voices drifted over from a distance.
"Hinata, stop crying. Even if our teacher has passed away, his will shall always remain with us!"
"No matter what Father says, Ye Liang was always right. He definitely had some unspeakable hardship!"
It was Sakura and Hinata!
Still cloaked in long black robes, they obviously didn't want to be recognized.
"You know something? You're just too trusting. Be honest, how many decent men do you really see these days? Face it—Teacher Ye Liang was old-fashioned and shameless! He lusted after your body!" Sakura continued, her body shuddering as she spoke.
Naruto quickly hid behind a leaf!
He stood beneath Sasuke, both of them equally blocked by the branches.
"I don't care! If Teacher truly loved me, then I accept it completely! These past few days, I've made up my mind. There's simply no one better than Ye Liang!"
Hinata declared firmly.
"What a girl!" ×3
The three men above the tree immediately spoke in unison!
In their island nation, a girl like Hinata—with such purity, cuteness, and integrity—was extremely rare!
"You're just too trusting," Sakura said again.
She thought she had seen through everything, shaking her head.
"Disgraceful girl!" ×3
Voices echoed again from the tree.
For some reason, Sakura suddenly sneezed—as if someone were talking about her.
"Let's hurry and rescue Lord Ye Liang," Hinata suggested.
Actually, there was no need to climb all the way up at this point. Ye Liang's head hung at the very tip of a branch, where limbs were thin. Just a light palm strike would send his head falling down.
Sakura punched the tree trunk accordingly. Ever since learning the Yin Seal technique, her punches carried significant force, easily shaking the branches.
Ye Liang's head dropped down!
"Damn!"
Both people hiding in the tree exclaimed in shock.
It wasn't that they hadn't considered this possibility, but they couldn't possibly make the move themselves!
They were right at Konoha's gate, where guards kept watch. Any sudden branch movement would definitely draw them over!
Peng!
Ye Liang's head landed heavily into something soft.
It was Hinata's chest that caught him!
"Holy hell, this is amazing! I'd gladly stay a severed head forever!" Ye Liang secretly shouted in delight.
Suddenly, the distant woods began rustling!
Sure enough, the guards were coming.
"Hinata! Let's go quickly! Now that we have the head, we should bury it together with Teacher Ye Liang's body right away."
"Okay."
Hinata nodded vigorously.
In a flash, the two disappeared.
Ye Liang's body had been buried in Konoha's back mountains at this moment. Although his head had been cruelly severed, the kind-hearted Hiruzen still erected a gravestone for him.
Not long after, two guards arrived at this spot. Upon discovering that Ye Liang's head was missing, they were just about to chase when they were intercepted by the two figures perched on a tree.
"Sorry, but although we can't offer much help, stopping the two of you is something we can manage," Sasuke said, exchanging glances with Naruto without showing any surprise that the latter was also sitting on the same tree.
...
"Wish time could freeze—this moment forever!" Ye Liang shook his head slightly as he nuzzled tightly against Hinata's embrace.
"Sakura, I feel like… did Ye Liang just move?"
"Move?" Sakura stiffened, then quickly shook her head. "Hinata! Even though you like Master Ye Liang, this is going too far! His head has already been cut off!"
"But I really felt him move! He even seemed to lick me!"
Hinata's face instantly flushed red.
Sakura sighed helplessly, feigning ignorance...
Evening fell.
The two girls arrived at Konoha's back mountain.
Konoha's rear mountain was essentially a graveyard where many were buried. Gravestones stood everywhere; most were for heroes who had died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha.
"Sakura, why does it feel so strange here?" Hinata nervously moved behind Sakura, anxiously scanning their surroundings while tightening her grip on Ye Liang's severed head.
You think *this* is weird? How about *someone* walking around a graveyard with a severed head?
"You're the one carrying a severed head and wandering around a graveyard—it's you who's strange!" Sakura didn't even know how to respond properly anymore. She marched forward first, grabbing onto Hinata's coat hem as they went.
They continued deeper into the graveyard.
Because it was nighttime, eerie winds blew through the cemetery, giving off an icy chill. Focused only on locating gravestones, they didn't realize an old man wielding a broom had quietly appeared.
He looked just like a Shinigami—his face was pale yellow and covered in wrinkles—and his broom resembled a scythe!
Silently, he stood before Hinata and the others.
"You two must be Genin from the ninja village. Why are you here tonight in such darkness?" A deep voice suddenly echoed. The two girls jumped in fright!
Who the hell is this?!
Sakura hastily pulled out a Shuriken.
Recognizing the old man's true identity, she hurled it without hesitation.
"Irritating child!"
With a wave of his hand, the old man knocked the shuriken aside. Then, in a blink of an eye, he disarmed both Sakura and Hinata!
He approached from behind them.
Even Ye Liang's head seemed to widen in shock at what had just happened.
The two hadn't used any Taijutsu at all; this old man had simply walked past them with pure speed. With a flick of his hand, he removed their Ninja Tool Pouches unnoticed!
"So fast!"
Sakura was stunned.
She hurriedly checked her pouch only to find it completely empty.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Hinata asked urgently.
"Just an old man!"
The Old Man smiled. "I'm actually quite curious. Why would two Young Girls come here in the dead of night? Aren't you afraid of running into ghosts?"
"Y-y-you shouldn't say such things! How could there possibly be ghosts in this world!" Hinata said shakily with fear.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?"
The Old Man's voice turned cold and eerie once again.
Under such circumstances, anyone would feel something was wrong, especially when the two involved were women.
Sakura grabbed Hinata's hand and sprinted off without listening to another word the Old Man said.
This Old Man is way too powerful!
Ghost or not, he was someone they could never beat.
Watching the two Young Girls running for dear life, the Old Man helplessly shook his head.
"If I hadn't met him, I might've believed there were no such thing as ghosts either. What a shame!" With that, he turned and walked toward a small bamboo house.
Inside, Mū was pacing back and forth!
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