Girl's Unease

But what about Su Bai?

His talent was poor—worse than an ordinary person's, even—but he had the System. Unlike other ninjas, he didn't need to master a technique completely before he could use it.

He only had to learn the basics and get the technique to appear on the System Panel. Then he could simply add a point to it. It couldn't be easier!

As long as he had Attribute Points, he could grow stronger without limit, until he surpassed everyone!

Thinking of Attribute Points, Su Bai turned his attention to the mission.

"Current Mission: Hunt ten Long-Eared Rabbits alone (Reward: 15 usable Attribute Points)"

"Hunt them myself? ... I'm still a little short on strength, but the Yang Attribute might give me a pleasant surprise!"

Su Bai thought it over. In a one-on-one fight without any outside interference, he wasn't afraid of a Long-Eared Rabbit.

But fighting Magic Beasts in the Wasteland Zone was nothing like a sparring match. There were too many unknowns, and one careless mistake could put him in mortal danger.

Su Bai had also realized what his weaknesses were: his Ninjutsu proficiency was low, so his techniques lacked power, and his Chakra Level of 10.2 cards wasn't especially high. He'd only gained about half a card in the past seven days, despite absorbing plenty of nutrients by eating Long-Eared Rabbit meat every day.

At this point, Su Bai was already leaning toward becoming a Genjutsu specialist. Even among ninjas of his level, or one level above him, few could match his powerful spiritual energy!

And after his Sharingan advanced to Two-Tomoe, it gained the ability to strengthen Genjutsu, making his illusions absurdly powerful!

A D-rank Hell Viewing Technique had left Yang Liu, whose Chakra Level was twice his, completely helpless. Yang Liu hadn't even managed to break free on his own after two minutes... That was already outrageous.

But those had all been problems before he unlocked the Yang Attribute. Now...

A smile spread across Su Bai's face. With a thought, he added one point to the Yang Attribute.

"Your Yang Attribute has leveled up..."

"Yang Attribute: LV1 (101/200)"

Boom!

As the notification appeared before him, Su Bai felt as though the cells throughout his body had gone wild, producing enormous amounts of energy!

Every cell was cheering, rejoicing. The sensation was so unfamiliar that he froze for a moment.

"W-What? A single level in the Yang Attribute changes me this much?" Su Bai stared at the panel in shock. It had changed dramatically!

"Chakra Level: 12.2 cards"

"Yin Attribute: LV5 (1653/3200)"

"Just one point in the Yang Attribute can give me two extra cards of chakra and half a point in the Yin Attribute?"

"And I feel like my strength, stamina, speed, and reaction time have all improved. Let's test it!"

Su Bai looked at a nearby boulder, two meters wide and weighing at least seven or eight hundred kilograms. He'd left it there during his Taijutsu training.

He walked over, grabbed one corner of the boulder, and let out a low shout.

"Up!"

Whoosh!

He lifted the boulder right off the ground. After holding it for a while, Su Bai confirmed that his strength had increased by at least ten percent.

"Let's test my speed!"

Su Bai ran a lap around the Slaughterhouse and returned to where he'd started. Then he reached a conclusion.

"My speed hasn't changed much, but my stamina is a lot better. Probably thirty percent."

"The Sage Body's traits should be nearly unlimited chakra and strong recovery. Maybe it can even make you immune to Genjutsu? Does that mean I have a Sage Body?" Su Bai rubbed his chin and thought it over for a while before smiling.

"Sharingan ocular power and a strong Yin Attribute can also make you immune to Genjutsu. I don't know about the recovery yet, but the huge change the Yang Attribute has brought to my chakra alone already qualifies as a Sage Body."

"One point in the Yang Attribute is like adding two points to my Chakra Level and half a point to my Yin Attribute... Looks like I'll have to change how I spend my points from now on."

Su Bai had originally planned to pour everything into the Yin Attribute and unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan, no matter what. But now it seemed that the Yang Attribute offered greater returns!

The Yin Attribute only strengthened the Sharingan's ocular power and unlocked the Mangekyō. It did nothing for his chakra or physical abilities, and that had already pushed Su Bai toward becoming a Genjutsu specialist.

That wasn't to say there was anything wrong with being a Genjutsu specialist. But compared with the Yang Attribute, which improved him across the board, the Yin Attribute simply couldn't compete.

Chakra Level, physical ability, and half the benefits of the Yin Attribute—however he looked at it, investing in the Yang Attribute was a better deal!

At that thought, Su Bai's eyes turned crimson. Two tomoe hung silently in his black irises, radiating an air of mystery.

"And... using the Sharingan takes less out of me now."

"Just as I thought. The Yin Attribute isn't the only thing that can erase the Sharingan's drawbacks. The Yang Attribute can do it too. After all, no matter how powerful the Sage Eye is, it's still just a Sage Body."

Feeling the change in his Sharingan, Su Bai thought of a certain dancer from the original story and the best friend and rival he'd praised all his life.

The two of them were the perfect example of the contest between the Sage Body and the Sage Eye.

Madara had fought the First his whole life and lost his whole life. He always came within a hair's breadth of winning. It made Su Bai wonder whether the First had deliberately held back, matching Madara's strength just to spare his feelings...

Madara didn't use the Mangekyō, and the First didn't use Senjutsu. Madara got a giant Susanoo, and the First got one too. Madara obtained the Eternal Mangekyou, and the First gained Senjutsu. Somehow, the First was always just a "little bit" stronger...

"My potential now is like a combination of the two: the Sage Body and the Sage Eye... Does that mean that once my Yin and Yang Attributes are high enough, I can use a Susanoo-clad Buddha?"

"Although the System doesn't seem to have any sign of evolving my Sharingan into the Rinnegan... That doesn't matter. I refuse to believe that a complete Kamui combined with a complete Sage Body would be weaker than the Rinnegan!"

Su Bai shook his head and put all six of his remaining Attribute Points into the Yang Attribute!

Chapter 67: The Girl's Unease

After putting all six Attribute Points into the Yang Attribute, Su Bai's body underwent such an enormous change that his expression shifted at once!

"My chakra and body have gotten way too strong all at once!"

"I have to burn some of it off!"

Su Bai's hands formed Hand Seals rapidly. In less than three seconds, he spat out a huge fireball, which slammed into a willow tree overhead!

Boom!

Roar!

The Great Fireball Technique snapped the willow tree, which would have taken four people linking arms to encircle, clean in half. Flames consumed its broken branches and leaves. Before long, nothing remained but black powder on the ground.

"Huh? Did I get faster at forming Hand Seals?" Su Bai thought back to how long it had taken him just now.

It had been less than three seconds, right?

He hadn't leveled up the Great Fireball Technique at all. He'd only just copied it and learned to use it. Before, forming the Hand Seals had taken him around four seconds.

But now...

Su Bai formed the seals again, this time taking just a little longer because he increased his chakra output.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

Another Great Fireball appeared, forty or fifty meters in diameter. With nothing in its way, it flew more than a hundred meters before gradually fading.

Now Su Bai was sure: his Hand Seal speed had improved!

"I'm definitely faster at forming Hand Seals. When I increase my chakra output, it takes the same amount of time as it used to take to perform the technique normally."

"I feel like the chakra inside me has gotten much more pliable... Could it be the Mystical Palm Technique?"

"Too bad I'm out of Attribute Points. Otherwise, I could test it out." Su Bai thought of the Mystical Palm Technique. Ever since he'd learned it, his chakra had started to feel different.

It was still wild and active, but it was much easier to control than before.

He desperately wanted to level up the Mystical Palm Technique again and see what happened. If it really was the cause of this change... then the Medical Ninjutsu was incredibly important!

Any high schooler who had tried the Three Body Technique knew the benefits of forming Hand Seals faster. Being able to use Ninjutsu more quickly meant greater strength—and a lot more of it!

It was far more useful than having a few extra cards of chakra or learning one more technique.

Imagine a Genin fighting a Chunin, but the Genin could form Hand Seals much faster. Even if there was a huge gap between them in Chakra Level, the Genin could still beat the Chunin!

The Genin could defeat the Chunin before the latter even had time to release a technique!

Su Bai immediately tested all his Ninjutsu and discovered something else.

"No, it's not just the Mystical Palm Technique. Leveling up the Yang Attribute has something to do with it too."

"My body is stronger, so it can withstand more chaotic chakra. And I feel like my body is stronger than those of other ninjas with the same Chakra Level!"

Su Bai thought back to his fight with Yang Liu that morning.

Thanks to the incredible insight of his Sharingan, he'd seen the flow of chakra inside Yang Liu's body with perfect clarity. It was nowhere near as wild and unrestrained as his own!

And yet his body could withstand this turbulent flow of chakra. It reminded him of another creature much like himself: Magic Beasts!

Magic Beasts could use Ninjutsu without forming Hand Seals. They did it by relying on their powerful bodies to directly turn chakra into techniques!

But this method wasn't suitable for ninjas, because their bodies were nowhere near as abnormal as those of Magic Beasts.

"Could it be... that if my Yang Attribute gets high enough, I'll become a... Magic Beast?" Su Bai rubbed his chin and thought it over. He decided it was quite possible.

Not that he would literally turn into a Magic Beast. Rather, he'd gain the same absurdly powerful physique!

At that point, maybe he could be like the First, clapping his hands without forming seals and summoning whatever he wanted!

Su Bai looked at the panel in his mind, an eager smile on his face.

Host: Su Bai

Substitution Technique...

Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique: LV3 (418/800)

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique: LV3 (416/800)

Body Flicker Technique: LV3 (413/800)

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: LV1 (105/200)

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique: LV1 (108/200)

Lightning Release: Lightning Serpent: LV1 (109/200)

Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang: LV1 (106/200)

Mystical Palm Technique: LV1 (101/200)

Kekkei Genkai: Mangekyō Sharingan—Kamui (Two-Tomoe, next stage unlocked when the Yin Attribute reaches level 7.)

Chakra Level: 24.2 (cards)+

Earth Attribute: LV2 (209/400)+

Water Attribute: LV0 (1/100)+

Wind Attribute: LV0 (1/100)+

Fire Attribute: LV0 (15/100)+

Lightning Attribute: LV0 (13/100)+

Yin Attribute: LV5 (1953/3200)+

Yang Attribute: LV3 (701/800)

Usable Attribute Points: 0

Current Mission: Hunt ten Long-Eared Rabbits alone (Reward: 15 usable Attribute Points)

"Good. My Chakra Level is already higher than Yang Liu's. Tomorrow, once I level up the Mystical Palm Technique and confirm my theory, I can start working on the mission!"

Su Bai looked north, where the Base City and the Wasteland Zone met!

He had to complete the mission, and as soon as possible!

He planned to save up two more Attribute Points to level up the Mystical Palm Technique. Over the next couple of days, he also had to figure out exactly how much it could heal.

That way, if he got injured in the Wasteland Zone, he could make the right decision.

And to figure out the Mystical Palm Technique's healing ability, he needed a little helper... his good buddy.

With that thought, Su Bai wore a strange smile as he walked toward a dark hole, about the size of a fist, beneath the wall of the Slaughterhouse...