Children seem to be a unique and precious 'resource' in any world.
The Demon Hunter's trial of grass has a basic pass rate of only thirty percent for children. Count Steza wants to turn beautiful children into toys to give to the Sun Sect for their pleasure.
And in this world, a group of ninjas is also scouring for children.
Children are a weak, powerless group, but they possess wide-ranging value. In the absence of punishment and control, they naturally become 'food in the mouth' of other powerful, immoral groups.
"You've fought them before." Lann's tone was very calm, but the emotion revealed in that voice sent a chill through people's hearts.
"What characteristics do those ninjas have?"
Ninjas develop group characteristics due to different training methods.
The Lonely Shadow Group, because their training method includes a lot of legwork, all have tall and upright figures.
Aside from the natural physique of Owl, the rest in Iwami are all short and nimble.
The [Light Body Skill] is a basic skill that's pretty much universal among ninja groups, but as training in this body buoyancy manipulation technique progresses, differences naturally emerge into faction characteristics.
When confronted with further questioning, the wolf first turned his head to seek Lord Yuzi's consent.
Only after the little boy gently nodded did he continue to speak in a calm tone.
"They are a group of very short ninjas, definitely not taller than one meter forty. Their torsos are like barrels, with thin but strong limbs. They wear a large straw hat that can be used as a shield, walk on single-tooth clogs, and during combat, they engage in close quarters with small daggers and throwing, the blades are poisoned."
"I encountered a team of eight, eliminated one through stealth and three more in open combat, but got grazed in the waist, poisoned and retreated."
"If Lord Yuzi orders a pursuit, I'll continue to track and behead the remaining four."
As a standard high-level ninja, after briefing the situation, the wolf did not forget to request a mission directive.
But Lord Yuzi calmly shook his head.
"The enemies are ninjas deployed in groups, assigning you to chase them alone would be too much. And with such a large-scale abduction of children, there must be more than one group roaming."
"This is why I want all of Hirata Manor's guard forces to stay vigilant. We are in the dark against the light, having no choice but to defend passively."
"Lord Lann, please do lend us your support."
Lord Yuzi gave a nod in Lann's direction, but immediately noticed that the Demon Hunter's expression was somewhat off.
"You haven't seen those ninjas, but I... seem to have."
The Demon Hunter slowly got up from the tatami mat and walked out with a cold face.
Not only had he seen them, he seemed to have even consoled... a criminal who abducted children!
On the second day, Lann returned again to the water intake by the Longquan River, where naturally, there was no one around.
Although the dark clouds of the Inner Mansion's army pressing down were slowly dissipating, things that were destroyed needed rebuilding, and the plundered food needed to be accumulated, leaving everyone busy.
This worked well for Lann.
The moisture by Longquan River was already substantial, adding to the difficulty of tracking. If more and more different people came to pay respects, even Lann wouldn't be confident in finding clues in such a situation.
He still remembered that on his way back from Pot Spring Captain's place, he saw a strange person fitting the wolf's description here.
The wolf described the unfamiliar ninja's physique as 'barrel,' while Lann saw them as 'potato.'
The deformed man with the black iron straw hat—Tanuki, had once come here to mourn his deceased son.
Lann's cat eyes gazed at the ground, the extraordinary vision of the Demon Hunter transformed the entire world into a fantastically distorted scene on his retina.
And those footprints highlighted themselves in vibrant colors, standing out in red.
"This is a straw shoe, this person is barefoot... single-tooth clog! Found it!"
The tracking skills of the Demon Hunter, augmented by extraordinary senses, far surpassed those of an experienced hunter who had spent ten to twenty years in the trade.
Finding the footprints was the first step.
The ninja's body was very light, his [Light Body Skill] was at an acceptable level, and even wearing single-tooth clogs that should leave deep marks, his passages were extraordinarily inconspicuous.
The level of proficiency was likely close to that of the wolf.
He was an elite ninja... but his mind was troubled.
No one would fill a Renqi Balloon with water from the Longquan River intake just to empty it again!
The Renqi Balloon was made of oiled paper, bamboo strips, and cotton hemp thread, all of which would emit a unique smell when they absorbed water.
The ninja overlooked this fact.
Lann slightly tilted his nose upwards, catching the chaotic scent molecules in the air.
Moments later, he opened his eyes.
His cat eyes looked towards the rugged terrains of the Iwami Region.
In such intricate elevations, geologic faults of five to six meters could be seen everywhere, with narrow rock passages and caves being commonplace.
Lann progressed through this complicated terrain.
He didn't have the convenient movement skills of the wolf, but [Light Body Skill] had already let his arm strength surpass his body weight by a significant amount.
Generally speaking, a large muscular person wouldn't last in a climbing contest against a fluidly built gymnast.
Because the growth in arm strength would never match the overall increase in weight caused by muscle mass.
The Demon Hunter, whose muscle structure was mutated by magic potions, often allowed them to wear armor while traversing rugged mountains.
And after implanting the genetic seed, [Second Heart], and achieving progress in [Light Body Skill], things became even easier for Lann.
So much so, that the inexhaustible vitality from the [Second Heart] made him feel like it wasn't much effort at all; he already climbed the consecutive six elevation differences in full armor.
The total height amounted to nearly thirty meters! Ten stories high!
A naturally formed rock cavern appeared before him.
The scent of lamp oil, straw mats, and sweat wafted out from inside, indicating that the man with the hat had stayed here for a while.
"I suggest you come out yourself, rat."
The actions of the ninja group to which the opponent belonged made Lann less inclined to be polite.
"This cave has other exits, but I can hear the wind, the sound is sharp. It's not big enough for a person to pass through, even someone of your stature can't get through. Don't make me throw something in there."
The Demon Hunter drew out the katana from his waist and spoke coldly.
The cave initially went silent, but seemingly giving up the illusion of deceiving the Demon Hunter with, shuffling sounds started to emerge.
As Lann sensed, the deformed man with the black iron hat slowly walked out of the rock hole.
His movements puzzled Lann.
Because his 'slowness' wasn't born from ninja caution but more like a sense of careless... laxity?
Lann had seen many ninjas, and he felt this was not the emotion a truly elite ninja should have.
Even the average Lonely Shadow Group or Kite-Carrier Group was much more decisive and ruthless than he was at that moment.
The seemingly heavy hat was slightly lifted, stopping precisely at an angle where he could clearly see Lann.
"You are... the one who passed by that night?"
His gaze showed slight astonishment.
It matched with the thoughtful glance from Lann.