Water

Because there were still two companions at the scene, Jiang Rui thought for a moment. After secretly having the black mist devour the person who had been shredded into bloody pulp, he merely finished off the other ninjas and picked up the little cards from the High Ninjas' backs.

This small battle had once again brought Jiang Rui a bountiful harvest. He did not rush to inspect his spoils and instead walked toward Ito Rei and the others.

Though both of them had shock in their eyes, their states were clearly different. The young male ninja, who had long since resolved himself to die, was stunned, but because he had never witnessed Rimuru's "weakness" before, he was not overly surprised. Instead, he was more relieved to have survived the disaster.

Ito Rei, on the other hand, was wondering whether she was dreaming.

Jiang Rui walked over to Ito Rei, who was slumped on the ground, and looked at her current state. Her eyes were wide open, her blank gaze fixed straight on him, while her face was dirty and disheveled, stripped of its usual refinement.

Blood stained the corner of her lips, and tear tracks marked her face...

Heart aching, Jiang Rui stroked her short hair, which had become a muddy bird's nest from rainwater and blood, and softly said, "It's okay now."

Ito Rei stared blankly at Jiang Rui for a while before nodding. Tears flowed slowly from her eyes like a babbling stream. Perhaps it was the joy of surviving, or perhaps grief for the companions who had died in the war. Though she had not shed a single tear throughout the entire mission, she suddenly could not control those miraculous tear glands.

Ito Rei turned her head away. She felt that this was humiliating.

Uh...

Jiang Rui suddenly became flustered. He could naturally see Ito Rei pressing her lips together tightly, trying hard to control her emotions, but... how was he supposed to comfort a girl?!

After a moment of silence, Jiang Rui scratched his head and hesitantly said, "Um... you look pretty when you cry?"

Ito Rei froze, her eyes brimming with tears. ???

She sniffled. Was that even human language?!

Jiang Rui took one look and—oh-ho, it worked!

Sure enough, all he had to do at a time like this was compliment her!

So he decisively nodded. "Much prettier than when you smile!"

???

Ito Rei forgot all about crying. She pulled Rimuru into her arms and grabbed his cheeks with both hands, giving them a thorough kneading. Not bad—this kid was so smooth and tender. His face was actually softer than hers?

Perfect!

While enjoying her facial massage, Jiang Rui turned to the ninja beside them. "What's your name?"

The man's gaze shifted, and he looked as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Hearing Jiang Rui's question, his expression turned solemn. "Tōsei Kunizawa."

"Mm." Jiang Rui nodded. After having Great Sage control the Avatar far away in the Land of Water, he twisted his body and slipped out of Ito Rei's arms like a loach, then pulled her to her feet.

His cute little face was full of seriousness. "Three days. We need to hold out for three days."

The coast was like a cliff in the mountains, with a stretch of reefs below.

Jiang Rui judged the distance to be several dozen meters. The main issue was that it would be difficult to bleed off the impact, though that did not seem like much to ninjas. Even so—

For thousands of miles, there was no beach. The flat terrain formed a natural barrier for the Land of Iron.

Jiang Rui's group hid within an inward-curving recess among the reefs below, quietly waiting for aid from the Land of Water.

The two rested inside, while Jiang Rui stood guard outside—and drank water.

Yes, Jiang Rui sat atop a reef, his little feet swaying in the water. Unseen by anyone, wisps of black mist followed his legs, forming a vortex that madly devoured the vast sea.

He was going to flood the enemy ranks!

No one could stop him!

At the same time, he listened with pleasant surprise as Great Sage reported on the loot.

First, the burly man leading them had been quite generous, contributing 0.4 Strength, 0.2 Agility, and 0.1 Constitution.

Besides that, there were slight increases in Lightning and Fire affinity. Specifically, the magic power consumed when using lightning abilities had decreased considerably.

As for ninjutsu, devouring the leading brute had directly granted him Lightning Armor, which covered the body in lightning, and Nintaijutsu, which stimulated cells to increase speed. Neither seemed particularly useful to him, though.

Dealing with the lackeys had dropped seven or eight High Ninja loot cards. He obtained Lightning Style techniques such as Fake Dark and Earth Run, all of which were directly integrated into Basic Thunder Manipulation.

There were also several Kunai, a pile of Explosive Tags, Ration Pills, and other junk, all of which Jiang Rui tossed directly to Ito Rei.

As for the Explosive Tags... hmm, he would keep those. Maybe he could sell them for money after going to R'lyeh someday.

Jiang Rui's current attributes had also reached:

Life: 100%

Magic Power: 395/768

Constitution: 4.7

Strength: 2.8

Agility: 5 (11.3)

Spirit: 5 (5.6)

Charm: 5 (5.1)

Looking at his attributes, Jiang Rui nodded to himself. In other words, as long as he worked hard and raised his Strength to 5, he could advance directly. On top of that, there would be the substantial attribute boosts brought by raising his Sequence.

His combat power might directly double.

He might look strong right now, but that was only because the ninjas of the Naruto World, despite their formidable combat power, were all fragile assassins. On top of that, he had the advantage of not needing hand seals for ninjutsu and possessing strange abilities.

It was worth mentioning that Jiang Rui's magic power had unknowingly increased by quite a bit!

The reason was that, as a magical creature, he had been continuously growing without realizing it. As time passed, his magic power seemed to be increasing by tiny amounts.

Jiang Rui was actually quite satisfied with his attributes. Well, according to real-world time...

He had only been born for two days, after all!

I'm still a weak little magical creature!

Just as Jiang Rui faced the seawater and lamented why he was both so strong and so cute and handsome, a tall figure came before him.

Jiang Rui looked up, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Ito Rei had already cleaned herself up. A streak of blue reflected in her amber eyes. Since her original trench coat had been torn to pieces, she simply cut away the damaged parts and turned it into a vest-like short jacket draped over her shoulders. She wrapped the remaining strips around her face again, leaving only the tip of her delicate nose exposed.

Together with her perfectly styled chestnut short hair, she looked exceptionally dashing!

Most importantly, because her pant legs, sleeves, and other clothing had been torn, she had cut them off and used them as bandages, revealing two long, straight, fair legs and slender arms. The two or three bandages did not detract from her beauty in the slightest; instead, they added a touch of mystery and dominance.

Tsk, she was actually more handsome than him.

Jiang Rui smacked his lips, somewhat displeased. When would his 1.3-meter body finally grow up?

It seemed that becoming a Demon Lord would raise him to 1.5 meters?!

But that was still so short...

"Before, I thought that you weren't my match on the battlefield."

Because her mouth was covered, her voice came out muffled beneath the scarf.

"But now, you've made me redefine what the word genius means."

In terms of ninjutsu, Ito Rei silently added in her heart.

Jiang Rui smiled. Ito Rei possessed many traits common among girls—for example, she loved sweets, was easily softhearted, and liked cute things.

But she was also very strong-willed and refused to admit defeat.

Mm... a tough girl!

It was not enough for just one person to redefine it.

Next, he would make the entire ninja world understand.

What it meant for the Sea God to arrive.

Routine plea for votes.