“Bang!”
A muffled sound erupted as the water ball and flame lotus collided.
The water ball turned into countless droplets that rained down like raindrops, while the flame lotus dissipated into nothingness.
At the moment of impact, Fire Rose’s figure flashed as she wielded a small knife made of fire attribute energy and slashed towards the waists of three black-clad ninjas.
The three ninjas didn’t dare to resist head-on and retreated quickly while throwing several poisoned ninja darts at Fire Rose. The ninja darts caused Fire Rose’s figure to stagger, giving the three black-clad ninjas an opportunity to turn into shadows and disappear into nearby woods.
Fire Rose snorted coldly and dodged the ninjas like a firefly. At the same time, she released her fire knife from her hand.
The fire knife grazed the shoulder of the last black-clad ninja who was darting into the woods.
The ninja grunted and stumbled, then disappeared into the forest in pain.
“Leo, let’s chase after them!” Fire Rose didn’t hesitate and immediately went after them.
Leo knew that these three black-clad ninjas must be sent by the Maniwa clan. In a situation where the enemy was hidden and they were exposed, he initially didn’t want to pursue them. However, Fire Rose had already chased into the woods.
Leo couldn’t let Fire Rose face the danger alone. His eyes flashed with determination, and he activated his Spiritual Power, quickly catching up to her.
However, these three black-clad ninjas didn’t seem to be escaping for their lives. Instead, they were intentionally luring Leo and Fire Rose.
After chasing for seven to eight hundred meters, a large clearing unexpectedly appeared in front of them within the forest.
Leo and Fire Rose stopped upon reaching the clearing because they sensed something strange about it.
The grass and shrubs surrounding the clearing had withered, and even the previously lush trees in the vicinity had lost their vitality, as if they had suddenly lost their life force.
Fire Rose suddenly pointed at the ground beneath her feet and said, “Leo, look at the ground!”
Leo lowered his head and saw cracks forming on the ground beneath his feet, while the moisture was rapidly draining away.
“Fire Rose, be careful. There’s something strange about this place,” Leo warned.
Just as Leo finished speaking, a thick mist suddenly billowed out from the surrounding trees, quickly enveloping the clearing.
The visibility for Leo and Fire Rose became blurred, with the mist obscuring their vision to less than five meters.
Faintly, they could hear the sound of footsteps echoing within the mist, numerous footsteps.
On a nearby cliff not far from the clearing, three people stood. There were two women, Maniwa and Yuriko, and one man from Orientia named Fukutsuchi Koto, who was in charge of the Koken family’s operations in Langstel.
All three of them held binoculars, closely observing the situation in the clearing.
“Miss Koken, Leo has fallen into the trap, and there is a woman with him,” Yuriko said.
“That woman should be an esper from Atraria WONDER. I will make Leo deeply understand the power of the Koken family in this battle. If he is smart enough, his only choice will be to submit to the Koken family!” Maniwa’s tone exuded great confidence, and as she spoke, a slight smile curved her lips.
Four Human Ninjas, eight Upper Ninjas, and the formidable Earth Ninja Yonamine. What a terrifying force!
“Leo, what do we do now?” Fire Rose released as much of her fire energy as possible to dissipate the thick mist surrounding them.
“Merely a petty trick from the Orientia little devils. Let the wind come!” Leo formed a hand seal with his right hand and shouted.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew through the previously windless clearing, rapidly dispersing the surrounding mist.
Leo and Fire Rose’s vision became clear once again.
At the boundary between the open ground and the forest, twelve masked individuals stood.
Among the twelve, four were dressed in orange ninja suits, while the other eight wore black ninja suits.
The twelve individuals stood at different positions, surrounding Leo and Fire Rose.
Upon seeing the clothes worn by these twelve individuals, Fire Rose’s face couldn’t help but change color. “Four Human Ninjas and eight Upper Ninjas!”
In Orientia, ninjas typically use the color of their ninja suits to indicate their rank, with black representing Upper Ninjas and orange representing Human Ninjas.
“Leo, it seems like the Koken family has spared no expense to deal with you,” Fire Rose said with a bitter smile.
An Upper Ninja is equivalent to a Warrior General-level cultivator, while a Human Ninja is equivalent to a Warrior Venerable-level cultivator.
The current situation is equivalent to facing eight Warrior Generals and four Warrior Venerables at the same time.
Facing eight Warrior Generals and four Warrior Venerables is no exaggeration to say that they could easily annihilate a second-rate martial arts sect.
After gazing at Leo and Fire Rose for a moment, one of the Upper Ninjas spoke in Orientia Language, saying, “Ninja Demon Vine!”
“Hey!” The eight Upper Ninjas responded in unison.
Then, all eight Upper Ninjas raised their right hands simultaneously, extending their palms and cutting their palms, reciting incantations in their mouths. They pressed their bleeding palms onto the ground at the same time.
The four Human Ninjas weren’t idle either. They quickly formed hand seals, chanting strange incantations.
“Fire Rose, do you know what they’re doing?” Leo remained calm and asked.
Fire Rose’s expression turned serious as she replied, “They have planted the seeds of Demon Vine in this open ground. They are using ninjutsu to summon the Demon Vine.”
“What is Demon Vine?”
“Demon Vine is a strange vine cultivated by Orientia ninjas. It is exceptionally tough and, once it binds a target, it absorbs the target’s essence and eventually drains them dry.”
Having dealt with Orientia ninjas before, Fire Rose was well aware of the terrifying nature of Demon Vine.
Just as Fire Rose finished speaking, four ink-green vines burst out of the soil like snakes.
Under the control of the four Human Ninjas, two of the vines attacked Fire Rose, while the other two targeted Leo.
Fire Rose had already condensed a fire knife in her hand, and as the vines approached, she slashed at them with the fiery blade.
The ink-green vines were incredibly resilient. Fire Rose’s empowered fire knife only left a shallow cut on the vines and failed to sever them.
Moreover, the vines possessed astonishing regenerative abilities. The cut rapidly healed before their eyes.
“Storm Energy Blades!” Leo raised his right hand, forming seals, and hundreds of energy blades condensed in front of him.
With a push of his hand, the countless sharp energy blades, as fierce as a storm, assaulted the entangling vines.
Although the energy blades could easily slice through tree trunks as thick as thighs, they failed to sever the vines. Instead, they created numerous openings on the vines, which quickly healed.
This situation made Leo’s expression grow serious as well.
He had underestimated the ninjutsu of these little devils from Orientia.
“Dragon Soars in the Sky!” Spiritual Power surged within Leo, and above his head, a majestic fire dragon materialized.
The fire dragon roared and soared towards one of the vines, biting and devouring it.