The Legendary Three Ninja Vs. Edgar’s Pride

On a night when moonlight lit the mountains and forests.

Edgar obtained the “Jewel of Light” at Alec’s request.

After that, he escaped through the forest by leaping from branch to branch.

If he ran on the ground, his footprints would give him away.

Even so, moving from tree to tree, his speed was too fast for the eye to follow.

He glanced at the moon to judge the time.

“At this rate, I’ll make the dawn departure from Kove Harbor—gh!?”

Edgar twisted midair.

A raspy voice thundered out.

“—Fire Release: Red Dragon King Technique!”

The huge tree Edgar was about to land on was suddenly engulfed in a raging inferno, as if it had exploded.

A massive dragon, long as a serpent, coiled around it.

The tree flared up like a torch, scorching the night sky.

The surroundings glowed red, and the heat pouring off it was intense.

“So one of the three legends shows up… Red Shadow, huh…”

Edgar landed on the ground, but the Water Release mist clinging to him evaporated, exposing his position.

An old man in red ninja garb appeared right in front of him.

“So there you were… Azuma, was it?”

“…Master. You still hadn’t retired, huh.”

“My finest disciple vanished, you see… what a waste.”

“I’m sure he took after you—bad habits and all.”

“What did you say!?”

Red Shadow bulged his eyes and roared.

In that instant, Edgar—already holding them—threw his kunai while putting a finger to the side of his mouth.

“—Fire Release: Crimson Lotus Hellfire Technique!”

“Well played! —Fire Release: Crimson Lotus Hellfire Technique!”

A flaming dragon spiraled out from Edgar’s mouth.

A beat later, Red Shadow unleashed a flaming dragon of his own.

The kunai evaporated instantly, and the flames collided.

But because Edgar had forced Red Shadow to burn the kunai away, Edgar’s flame pushed through.

It shattered Red Shadow’s fire and surged closer.

“Double cast—Crimson Lotus Hellfire Technique!”

But Red Shadow belched a second wave of flames.

It crushed Edgar’s weakened fire and then lunged for Edgar himself.

“Nice—just as expected of you, Master.”

“Hmph. Don’t make an old man overdo it.”

“Yeah, but I was waiting for this—Water Release: Hidden Cloud Technique!”

“What!?”

Edgar was wrapped in a film of water.

Red Shadow’s flaming dragon slammed into it, and a blast of pure white steam erupted upward.

Edgar’s figure vanished.

Red Shadow bit his lip in frustration, yet let out a wry smile.

“So you used my technique against me… as expected of a Four-Element Ninja Arts user. What a truly wasted talent.”

When the cloud of steam cleared, Edgar was already gone.

Red Shadow turned his gaze in the direction Edgar had fled.

“What a waste… If only you weren’t too soft. If you don’t finish off the ones you could have killed, you’ll be chased forever… Azuma.”

With sorrow in his smile, Red Shadow vanished in a blur.

Edgar fled through the forest.

Activating both techniques and thief skills, he sprinted at top speed.

He had seen through Red Shadow’s flashy technique—it was not meant to kill.

It was meant to signal his location to the pursuers.

—The blazing tree would serve as a beacon, and the others would come.

“If they weren’t the three legends—no, if it was just one of them, I could manage—maybe.”

As Edgar sprang from a branch, he swung a kunai.

At the same time, a shadow came at him from the side.

Kiiin!

A dry metallic ring echoed through the forest.

The two shadows crossed in midair, then landed on the ground.

It was a small, slender man in white ninja garb, short as a child.

Edgar landed, his messy hair swaying as he curled his lips into a grin.

“So even White Shadow is here… man, I’m popular.”

“Keep talking—Light Release: White Radiance Slash.”

He answered in a youthful, boyish voice, lifted a cane-like concealed blade—

—and White Shadow vanished.

A flash of light glittered.

Slash!

White Shadow landed behind Edgar.

“Once you see the light, you’ve already been cut. That’s Light Release.”

“…That’s insane speed—there’s no time for a decoy swap.”

Clutching his slashed abdomen, Edgar staggered and leapt toward a thick branch jutting out.

White Shadow raised his blade toward the air.

“This is the end—Light Release: White Radiance Slash.”

White Shadow disappeared from the ground again.

Edgar turned back with a small bottle clenched in his mouth.

He thrust out a kunai.

Shhk—shhSHK!

White Shadow landed on the branch, then immediately dropped to one knee.

A tear split his white outfit, and red blood flowed.

“Tch! You attacked expecting a mutual kill!?”

“In midair, you can’t change your trajectory.”

Edgar said it from another branch.

He tipped the bottle and drank the rest in one go.

It was a reckless, all-in strike—boosted by a Puchi Eli.

But White Shadow let out a quiet snort.

“My job’s done. Which means you’re done too, Azuma.”

“What’s that supposed to—!? Wind Release: This Leaf Concealment Technique!”

Sensing something, Edgar’s face tightened as he chanted.

He vanished and ran, hiding his presence. His speed alone was exceptional.

But almost simultaneously, a young, booming shout rolled through the woods.

“Water Release: Cascading Dragon Torrent Break!”

DO-GOOO—!

A blue water dragon surged like a mudslide, swallowing trees across dozens of meters as it targeted Edgar.

“Guh!”

The area was too wide.

Edgar couldn’t escape.

The branch he was using as a foothold was swept up in the violent flood.

—Got me!

That massive technique took time to cast… so White Shadow’s role had been to hold me in place!

A water ultimate art that gouged out the forest on this scale—so Blue Shadow was here too. Seriously, I’m popular.

Tossed around in the vortex, unable to tell up from down, Edgar wore a crooked smile while clutching his chest.

—This is it. I wanted to bring it back myself, but…

Edgar pulled out a foldable box and assembled it, then took out the glowing orb from his clothing and placed it inside.

He shut the lid and poured magic into it. The box glowed.

In the next instant, a shattered log slammed into Edgar, and the box was pulverized.

But the Jewel of Light was already gone.

As the swirling current battered him, Edgar grinned.

—I kept my promise, Alec-san.

More rocks and logs crashed into him, and he lost consciousness.

Some time later, in the forest after the water receded.

Three men in red, white, and blue garb stood around Edgar’s drenched body.

“He’s still alive… what’s going on? Is he invincible?”

“No, the damage is real. It looks like he healed as soon as he took hits.”

“Probably because of that medicine he drank when we fought.”

“I see. Even after leaving the country, he didn’t neglect his training in techniques and tools. As expected of Azuma.”

Red Shadow hummed in admiration.

White Shadow crouched with a fed-up mutter.

“Who praises a thief?”

He searched Edgar’s belongings.

Then his voice tightened.

“Nothing—nothing! Did he hide it somewhere while running?”

“No. When he fought me, it was in his clothing.”

“And it was there during the water dragon technique, too.”

Blue Shadow tilted his head.

White Shadow looked up and swept his gaze over the forest.

The ground was gouged out, trees toppled—half the area was wrecked.

“Then he got shaken up by the technique and dropped it somewhere in the forest?”

“That’s not it either. It isn’t in the forest.”

Red Shadow formed hand signs—he had already used a technique.

Blue Shadow shrugged.

“Then we’ll have to get it out of him directly. Lady Mikoto is good at that.”

“Seems we have no choice. Shall we return?”

“Tch. For me to botch a job halfway—damn it.”

White Shadow frowned deeply, bitterness etched between his brows.

Blue Shadow chuckled softly.

“That just means Azuma was that good.”

“What a waste…”

Red Shadow murmured, looking down at Edgar’s unconscious face.

Then the three bound Edgar, placed a seal on him so he could not use techniques, hoisted him up, and vanished.