Trouble / Chapter 69: Conflict Erupts

The Xia Family.

In Xia Xueqing's room, two girls were lying on the bed, chatting out of boredom.

"I'm so mad! How could you not invite me to something so fun? That's just awful!" Chang Rui wore a miniskirt today, her fair, slender legs swinging back and forth, inviting all sorts of thoughts.

Xia Xueqing had a ponytail hanging down the back of her head. She repeatedly tried to soothe Chang Rui's complaints.

"Okay, okay, Sister Xiao Rui, don't be mad. We didn't leave you out on purpose... Teacher Chu suddenly suggested going to the Wasteland Zone, that's all."

"Even so, you should've told me, right? I don't care. Call Su Bai right now. The three of us are going to the Wasteland Zone today to fight Long-Eared Rabbits!" Chang Rui was raring to go, a sense of crisis rising within her.

Her best friend and another friend she could tolerate had secretly gotten stronger... She couldn't let that stand. She wanted to go to the Wasteland Zone and battle Magic Beasts, too, and grow stronger!

She had thought her best friend would agree as soon as she asked. But when Xia Xueqing heard her, her eyes dimmed. She gazed distractedly out the window and murmured,

"Su Bai... I'm afraid he won't agree."

"Hm? Why not?"

"He... said yesterday that he was going to the Wasteland Zone alone. He's probably already set off, right?"

"What? Alone? Has he got a death wish? He's only a Genin!"

Chang Rui's eyes widened, and she looked utterly incredulous.

Xia Xueqing nodded again to confirm it, then asked her best friend with a troubled expression, "Sister Xiao Rui, do you think Su Bai hates me now?"

"Huh? Weren't the two of you getting along just fine? Why are you suddenly asking that?" Chang Rui said in surprise.

Xia Xueqing immediately explained why she'd been uneasy these past few days.

"Ever since we came back from the Hunter Guild last time... I've asked Su Bai out three times, but he wouldn't come."

"It was only yesterday that he told me he was going to the Wasteland Zone today, and that he was going alone. I even offered to go with him, but he refused, so..."

Xia Xueqing's beautiful eyes dimmed as she trailed off. After hearing her out, Chang Rui didn't know how to comfort her.

If things really were as she said... then Su Bai might be deliberately avoiding Xia Xueqing.

Thinking of that, Chang Rui angrily reached for her phone to call Su Bai and demand an explanation, but Xia Xueqing stopped her.

"Sister Xiao Rui, don't call him. He might already be in the Wasteland Zone, where the slightest sound could put him in danger..."

Chapter 68: Trouble

In the Wasteland Zone, about twenty kilometers from Yang City Base City, Su Bai lay motionless behind a boulder, his scarlet Sharingan fixed on a Long-Eared Rabbit grazing in the grass ahead.

Every so often, he glanced to the left, as if checking something.

"Almost. That Iron-Horned Sheep will soon be out of my sight."

"Rabbit, oh rabbit, you'd better eat up while you can. You won't get another chance in a little while."

Su Bai murmured under his breath. Two kilometers away, a huge Iron-Horned Sheep was slowly walking off.

He wasn't a sensory ninja, but after his Sharingan had evolved to Two-Tomoe, his perception had improved. He could see the Chakra inside every object within two kilometers.

The Sharingan could see through the human body and observe the flow of Chakra within it. So as long as something was in Su Bai's field of vision, he could clearly identify it.

Two kilometers was the farthest his dynamic vision could reach. Within that distance, his Sharingan was just as good as the Byakugan at scouting!

That was even better than an ordinary sensory ninja. Cunning Magic Beasts could conceal their Chakra fluctuations and fool a sensory ninja, then launch a sneak attack.

But they couldn't fool Su Bai. Whether it was a Magic Beast or a ninja, if it had Chakra in its body, his Sharingan could see through it!

"Eek, eek, eek!"

The Long-Eared Rabbit seemed to have eaten its fill. It lay down and fell asleep, never noticing Su Bai hiding behind the boulder two hundred meters away.

About ten minutes later, after confirming that there were no other ninjas or Magic Beasts within two kilometers, Su Bai quickly formed hand seals. Looking at the still-sleeping Long-Eared Rabbit, he smiled.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Whoosh!

Su Bai burrowed underground. The sleeping Long-Eared Rabbit seemed to sense something and opened its eyes in confusion.

But the commotion Su Bai made underground was too slight. And since he was deliberately sneaking up on it, the Long-Eared Rabbit had no time to react before he dragged it below the earth!

"Eek, eek, eek!"

Only the Long-Eared Rabbit's head remained aboveground. It shrieked in panic, unable to understand why it had been attacked in the middle of a sound sleep...

With the Long-Eared Rabbit temporarily restrained, Su Bai burst out of the ground. His scarlet Sharingan met the rabbit's frantic gaze!

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Buzz.

The Long-Eared Rabbit went still. Su Bai rushed toward it, and the light-blue long sword in his hand flashed across its neck. Blood sprayed in every direction like a fountain.

Half a minute later, the Long-Eared Rabbit died from blood loss without ever breaking free of Su Bai's Genjutsu. It had died fairly peacefully.

"That's the first one!" Su Bai didn't bother to butcher the corpse. He took out a Storage Scroll and sealed the Long-Eared Rabbit inside.

He had bought this large-capacity Storage Scroll before setting out. It had a hundred cubic meters of space, more than enough for a Long-Eared Rabbit five meters long and two meters tall.

After tidying everything up, Su Bai wiped the blood from his sword and left without even breathing hard.

Once he was gone, the place returned to its quiet, peaceful state. Only a pool of strangely scented blood and a small patch of eaten grass remained, proof that a Long-Eared Rabbit had once been there...

Su Bai walked alone down a ruined street, with collapsed buildings on either side. He picked a five-story building from before the apocalypse and quickly climbed to the roof, where he scanned the surroundings with his scarlet Sharingan.

"This area should be safe. I haven't run into any other ninjas or high-level Magic Beasts along the way."

Su Bai took out a large bundle of grilled meat he had prepared in advance, about fifteen pounds, sat down, and wolfed it down.

He had left early that morning. Now it was almost noon, and after fighting the Long-Eared Rabbit, he was already hungry. In less than twenty minutes, he had finished all the meat in his hands.

Feeling his stomach finally fill up, Su Bai sighed.

"My appetite's getting bigger as my body gets stronger. I wonder how much I'll have to eat to feel full in the future."

His Yang Attribute was only at level three, and his body was already this ridiculously powerful. He had no idea what he would become in the future.

"Let me take a short nap, then I'll keep hunting Long-Eared Rabbits. I'll try to complete the mission within two days!"

Su Bai closed his eyes for a brief rest. Alone in the Wasteland Zone, he had to stay in peak condition at all times to deal with anything unexpected.

Fortunately, after his Yang Attribute leveled up, his overall strength had increased greatly. He wouldn't feel tired even if he fought ten or eight more battles like the one before.

Using Earth Release to launch a sudden attack, controlling the target with Genjutsu, and then slitting the Magic Beast's throat with his newly purchased C-Rank Chakra Conductive Equipment... That was the easiest way he could currently end a battle.

The reason he could hunt Long-Eared Rabbits so easily wasn't that they were weak. It was because his Sharingan played a crucial role!

Spotting his target and setting an ambush in advance, along with the overwhelming power of his Genjutsu—each advantage put him far ahead of ninjas of the same level.

Su Bai thought that even an Ice Release ninja like Yang Liu would have a hard time hunting a Long-Eared Rabbit alone, right?

Other than confronting it head-on and beating it to death, Yang Liu didn't seem to have any other options.

About half an hour later, Su Bai abruptly opened his eyes.

"Someone's coming?"

The commotion below the building put him on alert. Two ninjas seemed to have their eye on the same tall building. They leaped up in a few bounds, and as soon as the three of them saw each other, they grew wary and gripped their weapons.

Su Bai calmly examined the two men before him. From their Chakra, they both seemed to be Genin. The man wearing jungle camouflage had more Chakra than Su Bai, about forty cards' worth.

The other man was small and thin, with about the same amount of Chakra as Su Bai—around twenty cards.

"A Genin? What are you doing here?" the Camo Man asked.

Su Bai looked young, and he didn't have much Chakra in his body. That made the Camo Man less wary and bold enough to question him.

Without drawing attention to it, Su Bai moved the long sword in his hand behind his back and calmly looked at them.

"I'm resting here."

"Resting? By yourself?" The Camo Man looked around suspiciously but didn't see anyone else.

"No, I've used up quite a bit of Chakra, so I stopped here to rest. My teammates are up ahead." Su Bai shook his head and pointed in a direction.

Before the Camo Man could say anything, the small man's eyes fixed on the long sword in Su Bai's hand. A trace of concealed greed flickered in his gaze.

"Trouble," Su Bai thought, his gaze sharpening as he immediately went on alert.

Chapter 69: Conflict Erupts

The small man's gaze was subtle, but how could it escape Su Bai's notice?

He wasn't using his Sharingan right now, but his basic eyesight had also improved imperceptibly because of it.

"Brother Hao, that sword's C-Rank Chakra Conductive Equipment, and it's brand-new. I reckon we could sell it for over two million," the small man whispered into the Camo Man's ear. The Camo Man gave a slight nod, a strange smile appearing on his face.

"Kid, even your lies need to be believable. What teammates would split up so casually in the Wasteland Zone?"

"Quit pretending. Leave the sword and we'll let you go. How about it?" the Camo Man said as he approached Su Bai, gripping his long blade and preparing to land a lethal strike!

He only had forty cards of Chakra and was fairly ordinary. He didn't even have any decent teammates, so the Camo Man often spent a whole week in the Wasteland Zone without finding anything.

To him, Su Bai seemed like a gift from heaven. Killing a weaker Genin would earn him more than a Long-Eared Rabbit... and it was much easier than hunting a Magic Beast.

Besides, he had no intention of letting Su Bai go.

Someone so young, with so much Chakra talent, was bound to be no ordinary person. It was better to kill him and avoid trouble later.

"Kid, I'll take both your sword and your life. You should blame yourself for showing up here alone."

The Camo Man sneered inwardly, but kept an earnest expression on his face, as if he would let Su Bai go as soon as he put down his weapon.

Su Bai watched the Camo Man approach. He knew there was no point trying to reason with him anymore. In the Wasteland Zone, the Federal Government wouldn't care if someone killed him. He could only blame himself for being weaker.

With that thought, Su Bai bent down to place the long sword on the ground and said, "Fine. I'll give it to you. I hope you keep your word and let me go."

"Heh, people who know when to give in are always likable. Don't worry," the Camo Man said with a smile. Su Bai had already given up resisting, as far as he was concerned, so it would be even easier to deal with him now.

Su Bai moved naturally. He placed the sword on the ground and slowly stood up. Just as the Camo Man let his guard down, Su Bai suddenly leaped high off the edge of the rooftop behind him. At the same time, he activated his Sharingan and quickly formed hand seals!

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

"Fuck, you dare trick us?"

Su Bai leaped backward off the rooftop, one hand held to his mouth in a funnel. One half-meter fireball after another shot from his mouth, homing in on the Camo Man and the small man!

Fooled by Su Bai's earlier act, the two men no longer had time to form hand seals. They could only retreat repeatedly to avoid his Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!

"Monkey, find a chance to use Genjutsu on him!"

"Yes, Brother Hao!"

The two men dodged Su Bai's Ninjutsu. The Camo Man immediately charged at him, while the small man formed hand seals, looking for a chance to use his Ninjutsu. He was a Genjutsu ninja.

Su Bai wasn't surprised that the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique had been dodged. He had only used it to force the two men back. His real killing move came next!

The Camo Man and the small man rushed after him, jumping off the building as well!

In midair, Su Bai's hands swiftly formed seals. He had his next Ninjutsu ready and cast it the instant he landed!

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Whoosh!

Su Bai suddenly burrowed underground. The Camo Man immediately shouted a warning to his companion!

"Monkey, that's the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique! Watch your feet!"

"Got it!"

Monkey answered, keeping his hands in the seal position as he waited for a chance to cast Genjutsu on Su Bai!

The Camo Man stayed on high alert, watching his surroundings and the ground. He was also shaken to the core!