The next morning, Xia Huanao sat up in bed, groggily rubbing his eyes. "I slept so well. Maybe it's because I've been so tired these past few days."
He swayed his body on the tatami mat and saw the… well, the bundle tied up in a peculiar position in the corner of the room, or rather, the girl with her mouth gagged.
Xia Huanao seemed a bit confused. He scratched his head and muttered to himself, "What in the world? How did this thing get into my room?"
Mei, who had been tied up by Xia Huanao, hadn't slept at all. Her eyes were red, and she let out a series of muffled sounds towards Xia Huanao. It was hard for Xia Huanao to tell what Mei wanted to say from the sounds.
After tidying up his futon, just as Xia Huanao was about to remove the towel from Mei's mouth, Feng, the ninja, pulled open the door and entered.
Xia Huanao really wanted to complain. While this was his own house, it would be best to knock before entering, especially when there were guests.
Seeing the scene in the room, Feng bowed to Xia Huanao and then turned to leave. Xia Huanao quickly called him back, then called Rotom to translate, asking Feng to take Mei away so he could question her.
Feng took Mei behind the dojo and interrogated her, only then learning about Mei's intentions from the previous night. Mei was tied up and gagged by Xia Huanao because Xia Huanao feared she would disturb his sleep.
An hour after Xia Huanao was "caught red-handed," he and Muzi Shui enjoyed a very nice Man'ying-style breakfast. While eating, Mei kept her head down, blushing, and only occasionally looked up to steal glances at Xia Huanao.
Muzi Shui didn't notice anything amiss. After breakfast, she went to play in the village with Rotom. She wasn't particularly interested in ninja training, while Xia Huanao followed Feng and Mei to the training grounds behind the dojo.
"Mr. Hu, I apologize for what happened last night. I have already punished Mei. You can check if you don't believe me."
Seeing Feng and Mei bow to him, Xia Huanao didn't know what to do. He could only force a laugh and change the subject: "Feng, didn't you say you wanted to show me your dojo's ninjutsu training? Let's go quickly."
Feng and Mei clearly understood that Xia Huanao didn't want to dwell on last night's events. So, Feng led Xia Huanao to the kendo room in the dojo. Xia Huanao watched the two ninjas training in the kendo room: "So, you still practice kendo?"
Feng nodded, "Yes, ninjas also need to train their physical skills. How about it, want to give it a try?"
Xia Huanao waved his hand, "No, thank you. I know very well that I'm not suited for such things."
The three continued to walk around the dojo. Mei stealthily sidled up to Xia Huanao. Seeing that Feng wasn't paying attention, she whispered to Xia Huanao, "Mr. Hu, Feng has already punished me with a board..."
Xia Huanao didn't expect Mei to come over and bring up the matter again. He also whispered a threat, "If you dare to mention this again, I'll have Feng do it again."
Mei obediently withdrew to act as a translator. Feng then led Xia Huanao to a shooting range. The range was empty. Feng took out a few shuriken from his ninja pouch: "How about it, want to try this?"
While kendo might be somewhat difficult for Xia Huanao, shuriken were very interesting to him. He had previously tried folding paper shuriken and throwing them, but because they were too light, the feel was terrible.
Xia Huanao, with great interest, took a shuriken from Feng and weighed it: "It's a bit heavier than I expected." Xia Huanao aimed at the target from a distance and threw the shuriken. The three shuriken in Xia Huanao's hand all whizzed past the ear, the hand, and the leg of the human-shaped target.
The system laughed at Xia Huanao: "Triple miss. Not a single one of the three shuriken hit."
Xia Huanao looked at the target from afar: "That's strange. I aimed so accurately, why didn't I hit it?"
Feng picked up the shuriken that Xia Huanao had thrown from beside the target: "For a beginner using shuriken for the first time, your performance is already very good."
Xia Huanao threw out a Poké Ball: "Kwass, you try throwing shuriken at that target."
Kwass also took the shuriken from Feng and quickly threw all three. The three shuriken flew through the air and accurately hit the target's forehead, crown, and throat.
Not only was Xia Huanao stunned, but even the professional ninja Feng was dumbfounded: "This is truly a Pokémon destined to be a ninja. Even if it evolves into Greninja in the future, its talent with shuriken is too outstanding."
Xia Huanao quickly realized. He knew himself. Since Xia Huanao taught him Tai Chi and developed the 'Clear Water Movement,' Kwass's mastery of rotation had been on an unstoppable high-speed road.
Xia Huanao patted Kwass's shoulder: "Kwass, well done."
Kwass nodded shyly and retreated behind Xia Huanao. Feng, after his initial surprise and brief loss of composure, quickly regained his composure: "Kwass has a great talent for shuriken. Shall we try some other tools?"
Xia Huanao nodded, "I'd really like to try a smoke bomb. How is that thing made?"
Feng took out a smoke bomb: "You can try throwing one. It's quite simple to make, but remember, hold your breath and don't talk casually."
Xia Huanao remembered the senior ninja's advice and threw the smoke bomb he was holding towards a distant wall. The smoke bomb hit the wall and exploded, spreading thick smoke. Feng glanced at Xia Huanao, who said matter-of-factly:
"Is there a problem? I don't have to throw it directly in front of me. The purpose of a smoke bomb is to obscure vision. Throwing it into the opponent's eyes has the same effect, doesn't it? This move also exists in our Minglong Kingdom, but it's not called a smoke bomb; it's called throwing lime."
Saying that, Xia Huanao walked to the wall and rubbed a bit of powder between his fingers: "Speaking of which, your smoke bombs are also lime, so this is like sharing the same origin. Remember to pay us for patent usage."
After examining the usage of the smoke bomb, Xia Huanao continued to discuss with Feng: "Feng, how do you ninjas use the Substitution Jutsu?"
Feng was taken aback: "Substitution Jutsu? That's a psychic-type Pokémon's ability. Other skills like the Clone Jutsu are created through Pokémon moves. That's why every ninja carries many Pokémon."
Xia Huanao nodded, "I see. So, can you show me? A ninja's performance?"
Feng nodded, "Certainly. It's been a while since someone wanted to witness a ninja's combat power."
Feng did a few simple warm-up exercises, then suddenly accelerated. He ran to the wall, jumped up, and ran along the top of it. After running a few steps, Feng threw a smoke bomb at his feet, and smoke billowed up. Amidst the smoke, the sound of rushing air could be heard, and several shuriken flew towards the puppet target.
With three 'thwip' sounds, three shuriken embedded themselves in the puppet target. A figure then flashed out from behind the target, and a kunai was thrust into the target's chest from the front.
Feng emerged from behind the target, having finished his demonstration, and walked over to Xia Huanao: "How was it? I've shown you the basics."
"Very impressive. Ninjas can actually run on walls. And that was teleportation just now, directly from the wall to behind the target. But why didn't I see a Pokémon? Did you recall it?"
Feng thought for a moment and said, "What you said is pretty close to the truth. The actual situation is that I used an incomplete form of teleportation without fully releasing my Pokémon. I can't tell you exactly how it's done, as it's a closely guarded secret of our clan."
Xia Huanao nodded, "I understand, and I won't ask. But then, Feng, you're a ninja who specializes in infiltration and assassination, right?"
"That's right. If we were classifying things hundreds of years ago, I would indeed be assigned more of such missions."
Xia Huanao then looked at Mei: "What about Mei? What kind of ninja is she responsible for?"
Feng glanced at Mei, "You let her tell you herself."
Mei, blushing, said to Xia Huanao, "I personally excel in techniques including disguise and seduction. I generally carry out espionage missions."
Xia Huanao couldn't help but recall Mei trying to undress in his room last night: "So, that's how it is."
The blush on Mei's face didn't fade, and she continued shyly, "Last night was actually my first mission, and it turned out..."
Xia Huanao waved his hand, "Alright, let's not talk about last night anymore."
Feng continued to show Xia Huanao around the dojo. As it was almost noon and time for lunch, Feng asked Xia Huanao, "How about it, want to have some pre-lunch exercise?"
Xia Huanao thought for a moment, then looked at Kwass. Kwass nodded, indicating he also wanted to battle.
"Alright, let me see the combat power of a ninja-trained Pokémon. Mei, could I ask you to be the referee?"
Mei, who was translating for Feng, was startled when Xia Huanao asked her to be the referee. She then sought Feng's opinion: "Feng, he wants me to be the referee. Is that okay?"
Feng had no objections, so Mei was assigned as the referee for this match. However, Feng looked at the training ground they were in and said, "It's not ideal to battle here. Shall we move to the main hall?"
Xia Huanao didn't mind where they battled, but since Feng wanted to battle in the main hall, Xia Huanao would accompany him.
The three arrived at the main hall, just as Muzi Shui and Rotom returned from the village: "Huh? What are you guys up to?"
Xia Huanao looked intently at Feng: "A battle, of course."