An Absurd World

During the more than 200 years of humanity's struggle against magical beasts, firearms had still not become obsolete. However, even humanity's most powerful nuclear weapons could only deal with magical beasts below Class A.

Magical beasts of Class A and above had to be dealt with by Jonin capable of "burning mountains and boiling seas," whose power was immense. Firearms were no longer effective against them.

As far as Su Bai knew, magical beasts were divided into four classes—A, B, C, and D—corresponding to Genin, Chunin, Special Jonin, and Jonin.

After going through the original owner's memories, he was astonished!

Unlike the "high offense, low defense" ninjas in the original Naruto, who could be killed with a single kunai, the ninjas on Blue Star were absurdly powerful.

From what he remembered, even Genin had absurdly large Chakra Levels. They seemed about as strong as Elite Jonin in the original series, and they could cast ninjutsu as though it cost them nothing. Firing off dozens or even a hundred ordinary D-Class ninjutsu was no problem!

Although the chakra on Blue Star was also bodily energy drawn from each of the body's 130 trillion cells, Su Bai felt it was more like an elevation in the level of life.

The original owner's memories of ninjas here regrowing their heads after being decapitated might have been an exaggeration. But any ninja at Chunin level or above could regrow severed limbs, and they didn't need the Yang Attribute to do it!

Moreover, ninjas on Blue Star had to rely on Ninjutsu Scrolls produced in Secret Realms to learn ninjutsu!

Secret Realms had their own set of rules. It was simply impossible for ninjas to pass ninjutsu down from master to student as they did in the original series, or to develop ninjutsu themselves. It just wasn't possible.

Take the Rasengan, for example. Even if Su Bai knew how it worked, he couldn't learn it, because the rules of this world wouldn't allow it.

Taijutsu, however, wasn't restricted. People could create their own.

Thinking about how wildly different these "absurd" ninjas were from those in the original series, Su Bai took out his phone, logged into the campus network, and opened a video.

It was a video the school had posted that morning, showing a Genin fighting a D-Class magical beast, an Iron-Horned Sheep.

To encourage students to become ninjas, the school posted videos of ninja battles every day to stir up their "enthusiasm!"

When the video opened, a young man who looked about twenty-two stood amid a field of ruins, wearing a blue school uniform.

It was an abandoned city outside the Base City. Two hundred years ago, it had been a bustling, prosperous place. But after the magical beasts invaded, humanity had been unable to reclaim it, and it had eventually become a "playground" for the beasts.

Facing the young man in the blue uniform was a beast about five meters tall, covered in dark brown fur. Two horns, each about two meters long and gleaming in the sunlight like polished metal, jutted from its head. It was none other than a D-Class magical beast—the Iron-Horned Sheep!

The video was paused, and a commentator had been added to provide an explanation.

"Everyone, take a look. The magical beast in front of you is a D-Class Iron-Horned Sheep. Its opponent is a Genin from Jiuzhou University. This is his test to advance to Chunin: he has to last five minutes against the Iron-Horned Sheep!"

"Don't assume it's easy to last five minutes against a low-level magical beast. It's actually incredibly difficult."

"As everyone knows, magical beasts are not only much larger than humans, but their Chakra Levels are dozens or even hundreds of times higher than those of ninjas of the same rank. That's why it's difficult for a ninja to hunt a magical beast of the same rank alone!"

"Still, nothing is absolute. Some exceptionally gifted ninjas can hunt magical beasts alone with powerful ninjutsu, but they're the exception. So when you hunt magical beasts in the future, it's best to form a ninja squad."

A middle-aged man appeared in the lower-right corner of the video, explaining with a serious expression.

Su Bai's eyes widened as he watched the screen closely.

The middle-aged man said a few more words of encouragement, and the video finally began.

Su Bai watched as the enormous Iron-Horned Sheep spotted the young man in the school uniform and charged at him like an out-of-control tank. It moved astonishingly fast!

The young man in the uniform looked a little nervous, and his Hand Seals were a bit slower than they should have been... Still, before the Iron-Horned Sheep could hit him, he managed to use the Substitution Technique.

A wooden post appeared where he had been standing, while he reappeared fifty meters behind the Iron-Horned Sheep.

Taking advantage of the brief respite, the young man quickly formed Hand Seals with both hands. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" He leaned back slightly and spat out a fireball about seven or eight meters in diameter. It shot toward the Iron-Horned Sheep and slammed into its enormous body!

Boom!

Clouds of dust immediately filled the area, hiding the Iron-Horned Sheep's massive form.

When the young man saw that his ninjutsu had hit the magical beast, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

But before he could relax for long, the Iron-Horned Sheep charged out of the dust. Its fur gleamed from head to toe, and it was obvious that it hadn't been hurt!

The Iron-Horned Sheep's fur bristled slightly, as though the young man had angered it. It opened its mouth and used the C-Class ninjutsu "Water Release: Water Wave"! A torrent of water, more than a hundred meters across, surged toward the young man!

The water moved incredibly fast. It even swept away a boulder more than ten meters across, making its power obvious!

The young man hurried to dodge, but he was too late. The Water Wave hit him and carried him several hundred meters away!

After releasing its ninjutsu, the Iron-Horned Sheep raced toward the young man. He struggled to his feet, then leaped with all his strength, enduring the pain. He jumped more than a hundred meters and barely avoided the Iron-Horned Sheep's attack.

The Iron-Horned Sheep wouldn't give up. Its massive body was extraordinarily agile as it pursued the young man without pause.

The young man seemed to have received special training for this, too, narrowly dodging the Iron-Horned Sheep's attacks again and again.

After avoiding several attacks, he finally found an opening and used the Great Fireball again.

This time, though, it was different. The Great Fireball was a full ten times larger, an astonishing seventy or eighty meters in diameter! Like a meteor, it struck the Iron-Horned Sheep!

"Baa!"

The Iron-Horned Sheep let out a cry as it was hit. This time, it was finally injured.

Its entire body was charred black, and in some places, tender flesh showed through its wounds. It looked pitiful.

After releasing that "perverse" Great Fireball, the young man's aura weakened. He braced his hands against his knees and gasped for breath. He was out of chakra.

A normal Great Fireball was only seven or eight meters in diameter. To maximize the ninjutsu's power, he had used all the chakra in his body to increase its diameter tenfold!

As the Great Fireball grew in size, its power increased exponentially. But the chakra it consumed was just as terrifying. One ninjutsu had nearly drained the young man of all his chakra!

"Pant, pant!"

While the Iron-Horned Sheep was injured and unable to attack, the young man hurried to recover. He pulled a Military Ration Pill from his pocket and ate it.

Su Bai knew about this. It existed in the original series, and it existed in this world, too.

It could restore a small amount of a ninja's chakra and stamina. During a fight, it was an indispensable lifesaver!

After eating the Military Ration Pill, the young man's pale complexion improved a little. He narrowly kept the Iron-Horned Sheep at bay until the time was up.

Then Su Bai saw an old man with white hair suddenly appear. With one punch, he knocked the five-meter-tall Iron-Horned Sheep unconscious. The video ended soon after.

After the video ended, Su Bai sat on the hospital bed and fell into thought.

As expected, this is reality. Compared to the ninjas in the original series, these ones are terrifyingly powerful.

It looks like the original series can only be used as a reference in some respects. If I keep blindly following its rules, I'll be an idiot!

Chapter 5: An Absurd World

After watching the video, Su Bai had gained a basic understanding of the magical beasts and ninjas in this world.

"A Great Fireball seventy or eighty meters in diameter is absurd. There's no way to understand the ninjas in this world using the original series!"

In the original series, the Great Fireball had nothing like that kind of power.

Although ninjas in Naruto could change a ninjutsu's power by increasing their chakra output, the difference could never be that enormous.

Su Bai sat on the bed, frowning as he thought. That D-Class magical beast had shocked him, too. It seemed absurdly powerful.

"Although the video didn't give any specific figures, judging by the Iron-Horned Sheep's strength, speed, and ninjutsu, even a well-equipped firearms squad might not be able to take it down."

In the video, the Iron-Horned Sheep could "split mountains and shatter rocks" with a casual strike. It casually spat out a C-Class ninjutsu, Water Wave, more than a hundred meters wide, like a great river. It completely overturned the worldview of a "modern man" like him, making Su Bai even more eager to grow stronger!

He felt that he had to become at least as strong as the white-haired old man who appeared at the end of the video and knocked out the Iron-Horned Sheep with one punch. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to protect himself in this dangerous world!

And the fastest way to grow stronger was to complete the tasks the system gave him. Su Bai turned his attention to the panel in his mind and stared at the task section for a long while.

"The new task wants me to raise my overall evaluation to Genin... To become a Genin, I need a Chakra Level of one card and mastery of one D-Class ninjutsu."

"I can't get a D-Class ninjutsu for now, so I can only cultivate chakra first. I'll raise my Chakra Level to Genin level before anything else."

Unlike in the original series, where four- or five-year-old children could extract chakra, the chakra on Blue Star was too violent.

People could only start extracting it once they turned eighteen and reached adulthood. That was why Su Bai had so little chakra now.

He had been extracting chakra for less than a year. On top of that, his body was weaker than most people's, making him the kind of person with poor talent. That was why he had so little chakra.

"Since I can't become a Genin anytime soon, I'll put these two available Attribute Points into the Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique."

At a thought from Su Bai, he added a point to each technique. The panel immediately changed.

The experience values for the Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique went from 12/100 and 8/100 to 112/200 and 108/200.

Their levels also rose from LV0 to LV1, showing that he had mastered both techniques.

Feeling that mysterious sensation within his body, Su Bai began to form Hand Seals.

"Poof!"

A cloud of white smoke appeared, and he transformed into Wang Hai. After looking himself over to make sure everything was right, he began testing the Substitution Technique.

The Substitution Technique was a disruption technique in which a ninja, at the instant of an attack, quickly replaced their body with a plank or wooden post. It made the opponent think their attack had landed.

The user could then take the opportunity to counterattack or escape. It was a basic ninjutsu taught even at the Ninja Academy, and it was useful in all kinds of situations.

There were no wooden planks in the infirmary, so Su Bai left some of his chakra in a wooden chair. He walked five meters away and began forming Hand Seals.

His hands awkwardly formed the five seals in sequence: Boar, Dog, Ox, Dog, and Tiger. The chakra in his body immediately flowed along its designated path.

"Poof!"

Su Bai disappeared from where he stood and reappeared where the chair had been.

The chair, meanwhile, appeared where he had been standing. He had performed the Substitution Technique perfectly.

By now, he had mastered all of the Three Body Technique. In other words, he had already met the standard for getting into an ordinary university.

Although magical beasts had invaded, going to university was still important for ordinary people. In the past, people went to learn academic subjects; now, they went to learn ninjutsu.

High school was part of compulsory education. Aside from the Three Body Technique, students weren't taught any other advanced ninjutsu. Anyone who wanted to learn advanced ninjutsu had to go to university.

And by the time most people reached adulthood, they were usually in their final year of high school. It was difficult to extract chakra and master the Three Body Technique in just one year.

It wasn't because the students lacked talent. They lost a lot of time extracting chakra.

Unlike in the original series, the chakra in this world was violent and highly active. People had to be extremely careful when extracting it, or they could get hurt!

It had taken the original Su Bai more than half a year to develop chakra in his body. That made him a poor student in class, near the bottom of the rankings.

If he hadn't transmigrated and received the system, his greatest achievement in life might have been becoming a Genin. University would have been out of reach.

But now, Su Bai had completely transformed, mastering the Three Body Technique with ease. He ranked near the top of his class and even of the entire senior year. There weren't many people who could surpass him.

Just as Su Bai was practicing forming Hand Seals quickly, the infirmary door opened, and Wang Hai walked in with a stern expression.

But when he saw Su Bai practicing Hand Seals, his expression softened, and he swallowed the words he had been about to use to scold him.

"Not bad. At least you know to work hard at your training."

"Mr. Wang, you're here?"

Su Bai stopped forming seals and greeted him politely.

While forming Hand Seals just now, he had noticed that he was extremely slow. A Substitution Technique requiring only five seals had taken him four seconds to complete... That would be fatal in battle, so he had instinctively started practicing Hand Seals in the infirmary.

It wasn't that Su Bai was simply slow at forming Hand Seals. Their purpose was to guide the flow of chakra and create ninjutsu.

How quickly someone could form Hand Seals had little to do with their hand speed. The key was how fast their chakra flowed through their body!

The chakra on Blue Star was astonishingly powerful, but it was also extremely violent. As a result, all ninjas were relatively slow when gathering it to form ninjutsu.

Wang Hai looked him over and saw that Su Bai seemed to be in good spirits. He nodded. "Looks like you're fine. If so, come back to class with me. Don't waste time here."

"All right, Mr. Wang."

Su Bai replied and followed Wang Hai out of the school infirmary, heading toward their classroom.

On the way, he thought of Xia Xueqing and awkwardly asked, "Mr. Wang, do you know how Xueqing is?"

When he had first transmigrated, he had really thought he was dreaming. That was why he had done something so inappropriate.

But he had kissed her, and Su Bai couldn't say he regretted it. After all, in his previous life, they had been boyfriend and girlfriend, and they had often been close. He was already used to it.

Wang Hai glanced at him and smiled. "You've got a good eye, kid. But aren't you afraid Xia Xueqing will beat you to death for teasing her like that?"

"She's not only the little princess of the Xia Family; she's also a Genin!"

"Th-that... Xueqing probably wouldn't do that, right?" Su Bai said, lacking confidence.

He knew Xia Xueqing's personality. She usually seemed quiet and treated everyone kindly, but when she got angry, she could be frightening. She just didn't lose her temper easily.

But after what he had done this time, Xueqing must be angry, right?

Seeing how worried he was, Wang Hai casually reassured him. "Don't worry. Xia Xueqing went home after you left. She isn't at school now."

"She went home? That's probably for the best." Su Bai nodded. It was probably better if they didn't see each other yet. That would spare them the awkwardness.