"Huh?"
Ryuu, who had followed Bai Yu, also let out a surprised sound not far away but immediately covered her mouth.
She saw Bai Yu's situation and understood that the opponent hadn't gone for a killing blow, so she didn't intervene immediately to save him.
But what she never expected was that Bai Yu actually escaped, and he used the Water Clone Technique.
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind, making Ryuu tremble all over.
"Lord? Is that really you?"
Ryuu turned around in confusion, blinking her eyes, and looked at Bai Yu curiously.
Bai Yu smiled and nodded: "Of course it's me. But since Liu Yu-jie, you're here, let's quietly go around using your ability."
He also didn't expect that his cheap Father would even send a new bodyguard.
Although Ryuu leaned towards being a sensor Ninja, she was at least a Chunin. Not to mention fighting multiple opponents, just dealing with that guy from earlier would definitely be more than enough.
"But..."
Bai Yu's request made Ryuu hesitate a little.
She had clearly been ordered to protect him secretly, but now...
"What's wrong? Did Father say you can't help me with your ability?"
Seeing Ryuu's troubled expression, Bai Yu was a little confused.
"No... it's just that... wouldn't this diminish the family's prestige?"
Hearing Ryuu say this, Bai Yu immediately understood.
"Liu Yu-jie, you're being too rigid. You have to think about my current situation. I'm not about to face one opponent, but at least three. I'm only twelve years old. Even if my strength isn't bad, you have to consider my stamina."
After Bai Yu reminded her like this, Ryuu suddenly remembered Gui Deng Jin Yu's instructions.
Secret protection wasn't the main point; the most crucial thing was to ensure Bai Yu's safety.
Having figured it out, Ryuu no longer hesitated.
"I understand, then come with me~"
Ryuu leaped lightly and landed on a distant rooftop. Bai Yu didn't fall behind and quickly followed her leap.
"Can you keep up?" Seeing that Bai Yu had also leaped onto the rooftop, Ryuu looked at him as if he were a monster.
Although this was a bit like asking the obvious, Bai Yu knew very well that the leap he just made to follow Ryuu, which looked simple, was actually not simple at all.
His ability to follow and jump onto the rooftop was based on his long-honed ability to discern positions by sound and his seasoned skill in estimating distances.
The harmonious combination of the two ensured that he could accurately follow Ryuu in the heavy mist environment.
It seemed like a simple leap, but the intricacies involved were such that even a veteran Genin couldn't do it as easily and calmly as he did.
That's why Ryuu asked the question like that.
To avoid being too astonishing, Bai Yu scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.
"I can, but don't go too fast."
"Alright, I'll try to slow down."
Ryuu glanced at Bai Yu, then leaped again onto the opposite building, with Bai Yu slowly following closely behind.
After confirming that Bai Yu could indeed keep up, Ryuu orderly led him forward.
Hidden Mist Village was built in the deep mountains, but it was actually located among the mountains on an island, so it was still surrounded by the sea on all sides, and the water vapor was much richer than inland.
It was precisely because of this that most of the buildings in Hidden Mist Village were made of brick and stone, and the houses were mostly domed.
Stepping on the houses was like stepping on built stone platforms.
However, the distance between these stone platforms was not constant, sometimes close, sometimes far.
Although their speed wasn't too fast, as they leaped up and landed in the air, the wind whistling past their ears kept making whooshing sounds.
Fortunately, it wasn't winter at this time, so the wind wasn't too cold.
Only the mist was carried by the wind onto their faces, wetting their cheeks in no time.
Just as the two of them were very tacitly wiping the mist off their cheeks, they suddenly sensed something was wrong.
"Lord, do you have a strange feeling?" Ryuu asked while vigilantly observing her surroundings.
Bai Yu wiped the water from his cheeks and also became alert.
"It feels a bit cold. Is it the same for you?"
"Mm, I don't think this is normal. At this time, it shouldn't be cold."
Feeling the surrounding air become increasingly cold, Ryuu's expression turned serious.
If the slight chill they felt just now could have been an illusion, both of them soon found themselves trembling involuntarily.
With such a significant temperature difference, anyone would know it wasn't normal.
"It seems we might have been discovered by the enemy. Liu Yu-jie, can you see anything?"
Bai Yu took out the hidden Kunai from his sleeve and immediately formed a defensive formation with Ryuu, standing back to back.
"Who's there?"
Ryuu questioned in a cold voice, and the Kunai in her hand shot out mercilessly towards a spot not far away.
Clang~
The Kunai hit something, emitting a muffled sound.
Hearing Ryuu's challenge, Bai Yu wanted to turn around.
"Liu Yu-jie, is the enemy on your side?"
"No, Lord, the enemy is very cautious. They might have already detected my ability. Now even I can't find him."
Ryuu's ability was unique even within the Village!
As long as she was in a place with sufficient water vapor, her perspective would expand to a full 360 degrees with no blind spots, and even in the dense mist, her vision wouldn't be affected in the slightest.
However, unlike the Hyuga's Byakugan, she could only see what the naked eye could see and did not possess the ability of X-ray vision.
"This level of coldness should be an Ice Release Ninja from the Renwu family." Bai Yu slowly exhaled a few times, trying to lower his breathing rate as much as possible.
But the surrounding temperature kept dropping, and ice crystals began to form with cracking sounds on the rooftop where they stood.
The ice on the damp rooftop, like fire on dry grass, spread continuously towards their location.
"This won't work. If we stay too long, we might get frozen."
Ryuu quickly formed hand seals as she spoke.
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!"
As Ryuu brought her hands together, a gust of strong wind whooshed, and the surrounding mist was quickly pulled away like a white cloth.
Although it was just a casual attack, it was precisely this Wind Release that carried away a large amount of the cold air around them.
The temperature slightly rose a little, and the visibility improved significantly, but the cold air still didn't stop invading.
After a while, ice crystals began to form again with cracking sounds where they were standing.
If this continued, they would both be frozen into ice sculptures sooner or later. Using Wind Release again would only be a temporary solution.
Ryuu gritted her teeth and turned back to Bai Yu, saying.
"Lord, please continue moving forward with me."
"Mm, I understand, let's keep moving forward."
Bai Yu didn't hesitate at all.
Because he understood that the opponent being able to evade Ryuu's perception likely meant they used a Ninjutsu like Water Release: Hidden in Water Technique. If they stayed put, Ryuu would probably have difficulty finding him again.
So they needed to move to draw the opponent out; otherwise, they would just be slowly exhausted to death.
Furthermore, the opponent would likely pursue them, and then their chance would come!
Seeing Bai Yu's decisiveness, Ryuu immediately moved and leaped towards the next rooftop.
But just as Bai Yu's body, which was following her leap, reached its peak height, the surrounding mist suddenly rapidly condensed, and in no time, dense senbon made of ice gathered all around.
Poof~
The senbon were all fired instantly, accurately hitting Bai Yu without fail.
"Lord!"
Seeing Bai Yu, who was pierced like a porcupine, about to fall to the ground, Ryuu anxiously leaped down from the rooftop immediately, trying to catch him.
However, the moment Bai Yu fell, he shattered into water splashes, dripping onto the ground like raindrops with a splashing sound.
Some people might be a bit confused about the Renwu clan being Ice Release Ninja, so I'll provide some explanation here.
Renwu is a type of fruit.
Setting the Ice Release clan's surname as Renwu is, firstly, because the Hidden Mist Village Ninja are all based on fruits – when Kishimoto named the Hidden Mist Ninja, most were taken from fruits. Secondly, I often hear people say that Haku's surname isn't Yuki.
So I came up with one myself, following Kishimoto's habit and adding pleasant-sounding elements. I named the Ice Release clan's surname Renwu.
Cough, cough... But, well, Haku probably shouldn't have the surname of the Ice Release clan because his father wasn't from the Ice Release clan.
So Haku won't be Renwu Haku; I'll still name him Haku Yuki.
Here, only the Ice Release clan's surname is named Renwu by me.