"Th-that was close... I almost died..."
As the afterglow of the explosion faded, Zhi Qiang was nowhere to be seen. Only Chixing, Uncle, and Jiraiya—who no longer looked human in the slightest—stood amid the devastated land.
Even now, Jiraiya still felt shaken. He'd lost all his hair and couldn't use defensive ninjutsu. Not that it would necessarily have helped even if he could...
Fortunately, Uncle's "Qi Magic Shield" had blocked the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion, saving him from certain death.
(In the original Jackie Chan Adventures, Uncle used this shield when turning Shendu into a statue. It could easily defend against the Dragon Talisman's attacks.)
Losing the Talisman was certainly a shame, but they didn't have time to worry about that right now... They had something more important to do: get their human bodies back!
Since Uncle had turned into a goat and couldn't speak, Chixing had to carry him around the market while Uncle pointed out the ingredients needed to undo the spell with his hooves.
Of course... this might take quite a while...
"Excellent! It seems the plan is proceeding in an orderly fashion."
In Konoha, Qian Yu enjoyed a massage from Jack while taking a bite of an apple. Watching the Dimensional Points steadily increase on the system interface left him feeling refreshed.
"Looks like investing in Zhi Qiang paid off."
Zhi Qiang had originally been a by-product of Qian Yu's Talisman draw, and nothing worth paying attention to. But after Qian Yu drew the "Zhi Qiang Origin," everything changed.
He'd been wondering how a creation inspired by a fan work could even be drawn, when the system told him: [Host, don't be surprised. The internet is also included among the myriad worlds. With enough luck, even Brother Kun could be drawn.]
As it happened, Qian Yu had been planning to use his remaining Dimensional Points to set the One Piece World as his target and see if he could get the Ice-Ice Fruit to assemble Bikini Bottom's seafood Three Admirals. Then he just happened to draw the advanced version of Three Haki.
So Qian Yu didn't hesitate. He fused it with Baldy Qiang and ascended him! And just like that, Zhi Qiang was born.
Baldy Qiang with his own origin... No... Zhi Qiang's strength was terrifying. At the very least, he could take on a Tailed Beast one-on-one.
"Now all that's left is to wait for the remaining Talismans to appear, and then this arc can reach its conclusion..."
After the Monkey Talisman fell into the hands of Zhi Qiang—that is, the Hidden Organization—the last three Talismans also appeared at the same time.
The capital of the Land of Fire.
At the end of an underground passage beneath the Daimyo Mansion—
The fighting between several villages had given the Shadowkhan a chance to pick up the pieces and reclaim the Pig Talisman. The other Talismans, however, had scattered into the hands of various factions.
"Lord Shendu, it seems only Kumogakure has responded to our bounty..."
"And the Talisman they brought back is damaged..."
Enshi Shu presented the shattered Tiger Talisman in both hands, his expression strange, as if asking Shendu what to do and whether they should still pay the bounty.
"Don't worry, my child... The Talismans that hold my divine power cannot be destroyed so easily. The fact that it's split in two only means its power has been unleashed..."
As Enshi Shu pressed the Tiger Talisman against the hollow in Shendu's body, Kakuzu—who was far away in the Land of Waves, wrestling with his good side—broke into a smile for the first time in nearly a century.
"At last... I've finally returned!"
In only a few days, good-hearted Kakuzu had spent nearly half of Kakuzu's fortune on charity. Kakuzu had even considered killing himself back then, but the two of them were evenly matched, and the idea came to nothing...
"Excellent...!" Kakuzu had already decided to reclaim all the money he'd lost first!
The Land of Grass was a small country caught between the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and several other nations. It had once been a powerful ninja nation, but environmental deterioration, barren land, and other problems had led to its decline.
With no powerful ninja to protect it and a terrible location, the Land of Grass could now only survive by selling information about neighboring countries.
In the original Naruto series, Karin and her mother had once lived in Kusagakure, in the Land of Grass. But Karin hadn't been born yet, and for now, her mother was the only one there, forced to let people suck out her chakra every day like a human medicine pill.
"Misaki, you've got even more wounds today... You've been through so much..."
(Note: The original work never gave Karin's parents names, so this book has given them the Japanese-style names Misaki and Kenichi... Considering when the original series was published, I feel Kishimoto would probably have chosen something similar...)
In a somewhat dilapidated house, a man and a woman sat facing each other. The man rolled up Misaki's sleeve and gently applied ointment to her wounds.
"I'm fine... Kenichi..."
She'd been bitten who knew how many times that day and was covered in wounds, but seeing her boyfriend made Misaki feel incredibly happy.
All Kenichi could do was feel helplessly sorry for her. As a Grass Ninja and a mere Chunin, he couldn't interfere with the village's decisions. The fact that the village still allowed him to be Misaki's boyfriend, despite her precious Uzumaki Bloodline, was already an act of great mercy...
He'd even thought of taking Misaki away from Kusagakure and escaping with her, but... he simply wasn't strong enough.
He had just finished applying the ointment when other Grass Ninja called from outside: "Hey, Misaki! I'm hurt! Get out here and give me a hand!"
Though they said they needed help, the Grass Ninja sounded like a bunch of thugs, with not a hint of gratitude in their voices. Misaki had no choice. This was her duty.
Watching his girlfriend slowly walk toward several men who were obviously no good, Kenichi felt his anger with nowhere to go. The only thing he could do was clench his fists, like a useless husband.
After forcing a smile and bowing to greet the Jonin, Kenichi left the house on the pretense of buying medicine for Misaki and went to a nearby stream.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
He punched the soft mud, berating himself for his powerlessness. If only he had the strength... If only he really had the courage to take Misaki away from the village...
As Kenichi kept pounding the earth to vent his feelings, a sudden, searing pain shot through his fist. It felt as if he'd punched a sheet of steel.
"What is this?"
An unfamiliar object was faintly visible in the damp mud. Kenichi carefully wiped away the dirt, revealing the hard object beneath: a Talisman covered in mud, engraved with a red dragon...
"This is... a Talisman?!"
News of the Land of Fire Daimyo's bounty on the Talismans had spread throughout the Ninja World. Even a Chunin from a small country like him knew about it. He'd even tried to find a Talisman and claim the reward so he could escape the village with Misaki and live a carefree life, but in the end, he hadn't even found a trace of one.
"Wonderful! With this, I can claim the bounty and run away with Misaki!"
His excitement was plain to see. But before Kenichi could discuss their plan to leave the village with Misaki that evening, several Jonin showed up, drawn by the news.
As Misaki's boyfriend, Kenichi was watched nearly twenty-four hours a day, so the news about the Dragon Talisman couldn't be kept secret. It didn't take long for the Grass Ninja leadership to find out.
"Kenichi, will you hand it over yourself, or do we have to take it from you?"
The Jonin had already drawn their Kunai and gripped them tightly. Like a pack of ravenous wolves, they were ready to rush in and tear him apart the moment Kenichi said no.
Before you continue