Sacred Buddha Ridge

After Leiyin put him through all that trouble, Beck no longer dared provoke him.

They were both members of Sixth Squad, and Beck was even the squad leader. Although they lived under the same roof, Beck greeted Leiyin with a smile every time they met, calling him "Big Brother" at every turn for fear of offending this young man of unknown origins. As a result, Leiyin seemed nothing like a Private Third Class and more like some grand military officer.

The Navy Privates and Privates First Class stationed in local areas usually only practiced target shooting or the most basic sword and bayonet techniques. For the first few days after arriving, Leiyin could still train with the sailors. Before long, however, he found it boring.

Such training was practically a waste of his life. So after a few days, he simply stopped attending and began cultivating on his own. Even so, Sergeant Beck did not dare utter a single complaint.

One day, while Leiyin was cultivating the Rasengan alone, the system suddenly issued a notification: According to the system's assessment, you have reached the level required to enter another dimension and hunt Summoning Beasts. Confirm entry now?

Oh, this was truly an unexpected delight. Leiyin clicked "Confirm" without a second thought.

The next moment, Leiyin arrived in another world.

Looking around, he saw towering mountains and ridges shrouded in mist. It looked exactly like a land of immortals.

Before long, Leiyin reached the foot of the highest peak. A stone tablet stood there, with three large golden characters written clearly upon it: "Sacred Buddha Ridge."

Sacred Buddha Ridge?

This left Leiyin deep in thought. The Three Great Sage Lands in Naruto were Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest, but he had never heard of this Sacred Buddha Ridge.

As he pondered, an unfriendly creature suddenly emerged from behind the stone tablet.

It was over three meters long, a white tiger with black stripes, though it also looked somewhat like a cat. Leiyin only learned later that its name was the Cat Tiger Beast.

The moment it saw Leiyin, the Cat Tiger Beast unceremoniously bared claws sharper than razors and pounced, knocking him to the ground.

Lying on the ground, Leiyin remained calm and smiled. "What the heck? You attack and bite people the moment we disagree. You've got quite the temper for such a big tabby."

Hearing this, the Cat Tiger Beast roared and opened its enormous maw to bite Leiyin's head. In an instant, Leiyin used the Flying Thunder God Slash and vanished from the spot, leaving the Cat Tiger Beast biting empty air.

By the time the Cat Tiger Beast noticed him, Leiyin had already appeared behind it. Looking at it, Leiyin teased, "Hey, little kitty. If you could kill me so easily, I probably wouldn't be qualified to enter this Sacred Buddha Ridge."

The Cat Tiger Beast roared upon hearing that and split into four copies, surrounding Leiyin from the east, west, south, and north.

Was this a Shadow Clone? Or a Clone Technique?

As expected of a Naruto beast—it could actually use techniques like these.

Without bothering to think about it, Leiyin's eyes suddenly changed from their original form.

"Sharingan, activate!"

In the next moment, two tomoe began slowly rotating in Leiyin's eyes.

Without another word, the four Cat Tiger Beasts pounced at Leiyin from all four directions.

"Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique!"

As Leiyin's hands flashed up and down, he swiftly formed a seal and aimed at one of them, unleashing a burst of scorching flames.

It turned out that the Cat Tiger Beast's clones were only E-rank Clone Techniques. Leiyin saw through the real body at a glance with his Sharingan and launched his attack decisively. The three Cat Tiger Beast clones struck by the attack vanished instantly. However, what Leiyin had not expected was—

The real body struck by the Great Fireball Technique actually spat out water, instantly extinguishing Leiyin's fireball. Not only that, but the force of the water sent Leiyin flying more than ten meters.

The water-style technique used by the Cat Tiger Beast was not the C-rank Water Wave, but the higher-level B-rank Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

This immediately aroused Leiyin's great interest.

Seeing that his technique had been ineffective, Leiyin gathered chakra in his right fist and smashed it toward the Cat Tiger Beast...

Just as his fist was about to hit the Cat Tiger Beast, a sturdy wall suddenly appeared in front of it. Leiyin's fist struck the wall, leaving behind only a fist-shaped dent.

What was this?

Earth Release—Earth Flow Wall?

This creature could use not only Water Release, but Earth Release as well.

This was getting more and more interesting.

Looking at the sturdy wall created by the Cat Tiger Beast, Leiyin's lips curved into a smile.

The next moment, he drew the ninja blade from his back and infused it with lightning. The entire blade crackled loudly.

"Lightning Sword—Chidori Blade!"

When Leiyin charged forward again, his sword rose and fell, cleaving straight through the earthen wall and striking the Cat Tiger Beast's body. Blood sprayed in all directions...

The next moment, the Cat Tiger Beast that had been struck transformed into an adorable Little Tiger Cat. It recovered completely, as though it had never been injured, and was no bigger than a young house cat.

Huh?

While Leiyin was still surprised, the Little Tiger Cat dashed toward him, leaped onto his shoulder, and gently licked his cheek like a puppy.

He had thought the little creature was about to attack again, but judging from this, it was clearly trying to show goodwill.

Just as Leiyin stood there in bewilderment, another cat appeared—one that was standing upright.

More accurately, it was a tanuki.

A standing tanuki?

Leiyin studied the tanuki before him. It stood like a person and wore clothes resembling a Daoist robe. It was only about 1.2 meters tall. Ridiculously, it also carried a sword on its back that was only slightly shorter than its own height, yet somehow looked completely natural.

Seeing its appearance, Leiyin nearly burst out laughing, but he managed to hold it in.

Leiyin and the tanuki stood face-to-face for a while. After a long silence, the tanuki finally spoke.

"You're quite extraordinary. You actually defeated the Cat Tiger Beast."

The moment it spoke, Leiyin was startled. "Who are you?"

(Strictly speaking, he should have asked, "What kind of tanuki are you?")

"I am the Tanuki Sword Sage of Sacred Buddha Ridge. You may also call me the Tanuki Wandering Sage. The Buddha Lord instructed me to wait here for you."

Tanuki Sword Sage? Buddha Lord? Leiyin was completely confused.

"What are you talking about? What Buddha Lord? What exactly is this Sacred Buddha Ridge? And what's the deal with this little cat?"

The Tanuki Sword Sage did not answer him directly. Instead, it drew the sword from its back. "I'll tell you once you defeat me."

As it spoke, the tanuki suddenly charged forward...

Seeing that a fight was about to break out, the Little Tiger Cat jumped down from Leiyin's shoulder.

Seeing this, Leiyin's hands flashed up and down, and a ninja technique burst forth...