Before he could use his other free hand to wipe the blood from his face, a pale, soft hand gently used a sleeve to wipe his face clean, drying the blood there but staining that beautiful, expensive dress.

Akakage shot a glance, half intentional, half not, at this so‑called burden of a princess.

He thought, even a burden seems to have some use.

Come to think of it, it was actually him who dragged this princess into this.

The enemy's target from the start had been him; this woman was just an innocent hostage pulled into the mess.

Whether from the perspective of the mission, or from a sense of responsibility, he couldn't abandon this woman and leave her here to live or die on her own.

Her being so careful in wiping the blood from his face was probably also because she really wanted to help.

But as a delicate woman, this was about all she could do.

"M‑Mr. Ninja…"

Princess Tamahime's breathless voice sounded by his ear, sounding extremely anxious and worried.

Akakage didn't answer, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

Right now he had to conserve his strength as much as possible; even one extra useless word could cause his stamina to drain away that much faster.

But it was almost there; if he remembered correctly, it was just ahead. Akakage looked forward, a hint of hope flickering in his eyes.

Up ahead lay a vast Grand Canyon shrouded in pale yellow mist.

That was the place known as Hell Valley.

A natural canyon formed around the Land of Bear, its depths filled year‑round with a toxin deadly to humans—a land of death that even Ninja didn't dare tread lightly.

But for Akakage, that was undoubtedly the only place he had a chance to survive.

"In the bag, blue, Antidote."

He made his words as short and clear as possible.

One extra word meant one extra bit of stamina lost.

This was no time to relax.

In the bag, Antidote? Princess Tamahime was stunned for just a heartbeat before realizing those words were meant for her.

She wasn't the least bit upset by Akakage's cold attitude; instead, being needed actually made her feel oddly happy.

Very quickly, Princess Tamahime reached out and felt around Akakage's Ninja Tool Bag.

Even after going through an explosion, the Ninja Tool Bag wasn't damaged in the slightest—clearly it was made of some special material.

Princess Tamahime rummaged inside; though the Ninja Tool Bag's space was cramped, all kinds of items were categorized and arranged with impeccable order.

Kunai, Shuriken, Scrolls, medicines—every inch of space in the Ninja Tool Bag had been squeezed for use, yet it didn't feel crowded.

She quickly found the medicine Akakage had mentioned: a small glass bottle containing a dozen or so blue capsule‑type pills.

"One each, hurry."

"O‑oh, got it."

Princess Tamahime didn't hesitate and took one out for Akakage to swallow.

Akakage bit the blue capsule open with his teeth, roughly crushing it and absorbing the drug's potency.

This was a high‑efficiency Antidote secretly developed by Shion Flower Pharmaceutical Company, capable of countering most poisons in the Ninja Realm, including the deadly miasma in Hell Valley.

If he and Princess Tamahime didn't take this Antidote, they would be poisoned to death within moments of entering Hell Valley.

Princess Tamahime also took one herself; the capsule's shell was very sweet, like candy, but quickly turned horribly bitter, making her delicate brows knit.

"Hm?"

The Black-clothed Ninja watching all this from the sky glanced at the massive canyon ahead blanketed in yellow dense fog, seemed to have guessed something, and a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.

He absolutely could not allow them to escape into Hell Valley.

Once you went into a place like that, even wearing an Anti-Poison Mask, it was hard to fully guard against the toxic mist there.

"Mr. Ninja, he's charging down!"

Seeing the Black-clothed Ninja in the sky dive down at high speed, Princess Tamahime's face went deathly pale as she cried out in panic.

Hell Valley was right in front of them; naturally, Akakage didn't want all his efforts to go to waste at the last moment.

But he had to focus on running; his body couldn't handle a direct clash with this powerful Black-clothed Ninja.

"There are white balls in the pack. Press the button and throw them!"

At a time like this, he could only rely on this burden of a princess for a bit.

Right now he had to conserve his strength and charge into Hell Valley in one breath to shake off their pursuer.

White balls… white balls… Princess Tamahime quickly scanned the inside of Akakage's Ninja Tool Bag and immediately spotted four or five strange, smooth white spheres, each with a clearly visible red button on it.

Princess Tamahime took out one of the white balls, pressed the red button on it just as Akakage instructed, and then hurled it out with all her strength.

It actually didn't fly very far, but that distance was enough.

The white ball with its button pressed rolled a few meters on the ground with a series of bumps and clacks before exploding with a thunderous boom.

The Black-clothed Ninja was hit by the shockwave from the explosion below; his Chakra Wings were damaged as well, his body twisting awkwardly in midair before he finally managed to steady himself.

The white ball's blast power far exceeded that of an ordinary Explosive Tag.

It was a simple yet highly efficient assassination‑type piece of Ninja Tools that Akakage liked to use when carrying out assassination missions.

Though the process wasn't all that subtle or covert, as long as the target was eliminated, even a flashy method didn't stop it from being a top‑class assassination Ninja Tool.

When Princess Tamahime saw the white ball she threw carve out a huge crater in the ground, her rosy little mouth fell slightly open.

What she felt inside wasn't fear at all, but a strange sense of thrill.