Ghostly Self-Defense!

On the west bank of the lake, in the woods behind the wooden cabin.

Du Hu sat sideways on a thick tree branch, frowning slightly as he gazed at the calm surface of the lake. Li Tong had been submerged for quite a while this time, and he was just starting to consider going over to check on him. Just as he was about to move, the water surface rippled, and Li Tong poked his head out.

Du Hu could not discern anything unusual, as it was night; although there was moonlight, visibility was poor at a distance.

Li Tong gasped violently in the middle of the lake. It took him a good while to catch his breath. He remained extremely weak, as his chakra had yet to recover.

To put it simply, chakra is an energy derived from the conversion of physical energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy is the foundation, while spiritual energy is the force used to extract chakra. When a ninja trains to increase their chakra reserves, they are actually increasing their spiritual energy; only with stronger spiritual energy can one extract more chakra from every single cell in the body.

The so-called state of being "out of chakra" or near exhaustion is, in reality, the depletion of physical stamina. When spiritual energy can no longer extract or convert chakra from physical energy, that is the reason Li Tong felt so fatigued and weak.

The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding, staining a patch of the lake red, but no one noticed because the night was dark and the water's surface reflected the light, obscuring the view.

"Damn guy! Bastard!" Li Tong cursed under his breath. He looked at the wound on his shoulder, intending to take out the Basic Healing Card he had previously obtained from his Item Space to treat it. According to the rules, consuming such a card should be able to heal this kind of injury directly.

But after a moment of thought, Li Tong gave up.

He wasn't going to die yet!

Li Tong only had one Basic Healing Card, and it was meant for life-saving; he wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.

Leaning back, Li Tong floated diagonally on the lake, his upper body completely exposed while his lower body remained submerged. He took deep breaths, gradually relaxing himself, drifting motionless on the water like a legendary floating corpse.

After resting for a moment, Li Tong gathered his spirits, flipped over, and dove headfirst back into the water.

Swimming quickly toward the bottom of the lake, Li Tong soon reached the corpse of Hyuga Anan. Above the body, he collected six cards. Without checking what they were, he stashed them directly into his Item Space. Immediately after, he grabbed the corpse by the ankles and swam upward!

As he neared the surface, a thought struck Li Tong. He reached out and felt around the corpse, pulling a kunai from under the ribs of the clothing. He gripped the kunai in reverse and stabbed the body repeatedly with fierce intensity!

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!...

Li Tong shredded the chest of the corpse until more blood flowed out, dyeing the surrounding lake water a deep crimson. He didn't even remember how many times he had stabbed it, only stopping when the traces of the finger-piercing wounds were no longer recognizable.

He had to hide the fact that he possessed the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai!

That would absolutely bring him trouble!

Moreover, Shikotsumyaku was his trump card. When in danger, he had to avoid exposing it if possible so that it could exert a miraculous effect at a critical moment.

On the grassy shore.

Li Tong dragged the corpse onto the bank and tossed it aside. He put his hands on his hips and shouted, "Someone, come here!"

The Anbu ninjas had already moved, as they had all witnessed Li Tong pulling the corpse onto the shore!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four figures appeared like ghosts around Li Tong. Du Hu stood directly facing him. Seeing the wound on Li Tong's shoulder, his pupils constricted. He then looked at the corpse lying nearby with eyes wide open in death, and his expression shifted again!

Hyuga Anan!

Du Hu recognized him!

This was an assassin from the Hyuga Clan who specialized in handling "special disputes." The Anbu had known long ago that Hyuga Anan had assassinated many Konoha ninjas, but because there was no concrete evidence, they could not arrest him.

If it were any other clan, the Anbu would have arrested him long ago, but the Hyuga Clan was not to be trifled with lightly.

And yet, he was dead!

Dead at the hands of this brat?

Du Hu looked up abruptly, staring at Li Tong. "You killed him?"

"He wanted to kill me; I was just acting in self-defense!" Li Tong said, shaking the kunai in his hand.

Du Hu had already crouched beside the corpse and conducted a quick examination.

All the wounds were concentrated on the torso, and they had been stabbed to shreds. Furthermore, Du Hu could tell that the vast majority of the knife wounds had been inflicted after the person was already dead. How ruthless! This wasn't self-defense; this was mutilation!

Self-defense, my foot!

Du Hu suddenly remembered that Li Tong had returned to the surface earlier to catch his breath. Estimating the time of death, he could conclude that Li Tong had already killed the man when he came up for air! But he had been very calm, not shouting or calling for help despite his injury; he had simply rested on the lake surface before diving back down to drag the body up.

"How did you kill him?" Du Hu stood up and asked.

"His swimming skills weren't as good as mine. We fought at the bottom of the lake, he choked on water, and so he died," Li Tong bluffed. He didn't care if Du Hu believed him; that wasn't the point anyway.

Du Hu naturally didn't believe him!

Choked on water?

An elite Chunin choking on water underwater? And losing to a Genin like you?

At this moment, Du Hu felt there was something very wrong with Li Tong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. After all, the fact that Li Tong was a Genin was indisputable! A Genin with amnesia, at that!

"Go notify the captain and have him come to handle this!" Du Hu turned his head to order. The fact that the Hyuga Clan had sent someone to assassinate Li Tong, only for Li Tong to kill the assassin in return, was no longer something Du Hu could handle. He had to let the Anbu captain, White Fang, deal with it!

"Yes!" The Anbu ninja to Li Tong's left acknowledged the order, performed a hand seal, and vanished.

"Lord Du Hu, could you please care about me first? I'm here..." Li Tong pointed at his shoulder helplessly. This group of ninjas protecting him was completely unreliable; it was as if they couldn't see such a large wound!

Du Hu didn't waste words and immediately performed a hand seal!

He knew medical ninjutsu!

A faint green light glowed on his hands as Du Hu pressed his right hand onto the wound on Li Tong's shoulder. A tingling, numb sensation immediately spread around the injury. A short while later, Du Hu withdrew his hand. The wound on Li Tong's shoulder had already healed, leaving only a faint scar.

This was medical ninjutsu; simple flesh wounds like this could be healed directly.

"Thank you, Lord Du Hu!" Li Tong moved his shoulders around, feeling that they were truly completely healed and moved with total ease.

Du Hu crouched back down to examine the corpse, seemingly wanting to find some issue with it, because he truly could not comprehend how Li Tong had managed to kill Hyuga Anan!

"Lord Du Hu, may I return now?" Li Tong pointed toward the wooden cabin illuminated by candlelight, then hugged his shoulders and shivered, "It's freezing!"

He was not wearing any clothes.

"Hmm!" Du Hu nodded.

Li Tong walked to the side to pick up the clothes and pants he had left on the shore, then quickly returned to the wooden cabin. Once inside, he shut the door, tossed the clothes he had been wearing onto a chair, rummaged for the new clothes he had bought that afternoon, and pulled on a bathrobe.

Standing by the window to look outside, Du Hu and the three other Anbu ninjas were still on the shore, busy studying Hyuga Anan's corpse.

It should still take some time for White Fang to arrive.

Li Tong thought for a moment, then drew the curtains and sat on the chair by the window. With a flick of his wrist, a stack of cards appeared in his hand! Not many, not few, exactly six!

The rewards dropped from killing Hyuga Anan!

The first card had a very peculiar color; it was black, with its back facing up!

Li Tong's pupils instantly constricted. He had obtained one black card before as a reward from the Awakening Gift Pack, and it was only after consuming that card that Li Tong had gained the Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku!

And this one...

Li Tong quickly flipped the card over, face up.

A line of text appeared at the top of the card: Kekkei Genkai - Byakugan!