Leaning back against a rock, he caught his breath.
Ye Liang had originally planned to closely follow Konan after she finished bathing.
Suddenly!
Two servant girls carrying bathrobes approached from a distance.
"Quick! There's an assassin!" The two maids immediately spotted Ye Liang. In fact, they had shown themselves far away, but Ye Liang's mind was completely elsewhere!
It had completely wandered off who-knows-where!
"Oh no! I've been discovered!" Ye Liang was startled.
He quickly stood up and tried to escape when suddenly he saw several explosive tags encircling the rock where he was hiding.
"What fast reflexes!"
Ye Liang recognized this as Konan's technique. Immediately, he rolled away from the rock, but still got caught in the explosion from the explosive tags!
Boom!
The powerful blast sent Ye Liang flying out from behind the rock. Behind him, the maids hastily pulled out their weapons!
Some were hairpins! Others were shurikens!
All of them looked ferocious, without the slightest gentleness typical of women!
Ye Liang froze. Just as he was about to run again, he noticed two more women approaching from behind.
"What are you doing here? Why were you peeping while I bathed!" A sharp feminine voice called out.
Though stern, her tone carried an unexpectedly pleasant charm.
"Do these women get dressed that quickly!" Ye Liang muttered with a sigh.
The woman behind him was none other than Konan and the princess of the Daimyo's mansion. Right now, both were glaring at him furiously.
Ye Liang awkwardly turned around.
The two beauties were very lightly dressed; droplets of water hadn't even been wiped dry yet. Their prominent curves were barely covered by half-worn robes, clearly without undergarments.
He gulped audibly.
"Can I just say... I was just passing by. Would you believe me?"
"You wish!" Princess Shaw angrily snapped, quickly signaling the surrounding maids to attack!
In the Hokage era, maids often had some knowledge of ninjutsu. Given the chaotic times, if the Daimyo's mansion didn't have guards, it would've already been destroyed by wandering ninja long ago!
Konan attacked as well at this moment.
Since Ye Liang had managed to hide undetected for so long right under her nose, his skills must be formidable. She worried ordinary maids alone wouldn't be enough to handle him.
"Pervert! Take this Explosive Tag!"
She formed hand seals, summoning numerous explosive tags from afar.
[Ninjutsu - Paper Shuriken!]
The explosive tags transformed into shurikens hurtling toward Ye Liang. Perhaps out of concern for injuring the maids, Konan used minimal power, and when they exploded near Ye Liang, they only grazed his skin slightly.
"I guess she held back earlier!" Ye Liang mused.
At the moment he was discovered behind the rock, he had been completely off guard. If Konan had used explosive tags with full force then, he might truly have gotten injured!
"Well, not anymore!" Ye Liang suddenly smiled.
Now fully alert, there was no way anyone could harm him. Since Konan missed her chance, it essentially meant her failure.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions erupted around Ye Liang, but aside from the noise, they didn't even singe a strand of hair!
Ye Liang was enveloped in thick armor forged from Earth Release chakra!
Leveraging the naturally powerful defense of Earth Release, he had hardened his body beyond belief! Ordinary ninja tools were no longer capable of harming him.
"How is this possible! How can Explosive Tags have absolutely no effect on you!" Konan exclaimed in shock as she stared at Ye Liang.
Although she hadn't used her full strength yet, regular Explosive Tags shouldn't be completely ineffective!
Seeing Ye Liang withstand them with just his bare flesh surprised her greatly. She gave him a good look, trying to place where she'd seen him before. He didn't seem to be among the well-known ninjas. Just then, Princess Shaw suddenly cried out in alarm!
"You're yesterday's Shuriken Murderer!"
"Huh?"
A confused expression appeared on Konan's face as she turned toward Naizi. "Naizi, do you know this person?"
"Mm," Shaw Naizi nodded as she spoke up. "I was at the Martial Arts Contest for Suitors yesterday, and I saw this guy. He sent many people flying!"
"That's right, he even defeated that person you admired greatly before—Heiluyi—and it only took him one move!"
"Heiluyi?" A shocked look appeared on Konan's face. "That's impossible! Heiluyi is a Jonin from Kumo Village! It took me a tremendous amount of effort to beat him. How could someone defeat him with just one blow!"
"It's true! If you don't believe me, try testing his skills yourself!"
After hearing this, Konan looked Ye Liang over again.
She didn't recognize Ye Liang—or rather, she completely failed to identify him!
Long before entering Kasumi Country, Ye Liang had already changed his appearance through Transformation Jutsu. Maintaining the transformation with Sage Chakra practically cost him no stamina at all!
"Are you Ye Liang?" Suddenly, something clicked in Konan's mind. When she met Heiluyi yesterday, he had indeed mentioned losing to someone named Ye Liang!
At the time, she hadn't taken it seriously.
According to Heiluyi, he had been ambushed and narrowly lost to Ye Liang. But now, things seemed different!
"What a tough guy. Since you defeated Heiluyi, let's have a proper fight! I'd like to see exactly how formidable this so-called Shuriken Murder really is!"
With that, Konan launched her attack directly.
Earlier, because there were servant girls present, she hadn't gone all-out. Now, however, she was ready to unleash fully.
Ye Liang was caught off guard as well!
Originally, he had planned to follow behind Konan after she left the Daimyo's mansion. Suddenly being exposed ruined his plan to tail her.
But there was an even more serious issue!
There was no way he could reveal who he really was!
If he exposed himself now, Konan would definitely refuse to bring him along while searching for other Akatsuki members!
Konan's loyalty to Nagato was said to move heaven and earth!
Ye Liang became serious.
Since he couldn't reveal his identity, he couldn't reuse any techniques he'd already shown. He would have to rely on some lesser, insignificant moves.
Like throwing basic ninja tools...
"Fine then. If you want to test me, come ahead!"
Without hesitation, he formed hand seals and summoned a massive array of ninja tools into existence!
[Tenten's Ultimate Barrage!]
Through [Summoning], he unleashed a barrage of pre-stored ninja tools that rained down upon the enemy like countless attacks!
The power was impressive, but incredibly expensive.
As soon as Ye Liang initiated his attack, dozens of shuriken came flying in.
He estimated quickly—about a small fortune...
"This is exactly why I hate using ninja tools!"
Ye Liang sighed in frustration.
Seeing Ye Liang make the first move, Konan remained completely unfazed. She simply activated her ability, soaring into the air as a pair of paper wings suddenly unfolded from her back!
That's why she was known as the Angel!
Her paper wings beat rapidly as a spark of admiration lit her eyes. "No wonder you're the Shuriken Murderer! Too bad... I won't be your next victim!"
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