Growth

"Sharingan? He's a kekkei genkai user!"

Although his strength was mediocre and his talent was nothing special, he had heard of the Sharingan's fame. Now he no longer dared to underestimate Su Bai.

He even regretted picking a fight with Su Bai over a piece of C-Rank Chakra Conductive Equipment!

But it was too late to take anything back. Now that they'd clashed, one of them had to go down. That was the cruelty of the Wasteland Zone!

"He's coming!" Camo Man suddenly sensed movement in the ground beneath his feet and immediately leaped more than ten meters away!

Just as he left his spot, one of Su Bai's arms suddenly emerged from the ground. Camo Man immediately formed Hand Seals!

Su Bai was forming Hand Seals just as quickly. Since he had to emerge from underground before he could do so, he was a second slower than Camo Man.

Fortunately, Camo Man wasn't very talented, and his Hand Seals were slow. By the time his opponent's jutsu took effect, Su Bai's had too!

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Boom!

Buzz!

Camo Man was instantly caught in Su Bai's Genjutsu. The muscles in his face twitched as he stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Su Bai had barely finished casting his Genjutsu when the Great Fireball was already flying toward Camo Man. Caught off guard, he failed to dodge it completely. The fireball grazed his right arm, leaving it charred black!

Just then, Monkey, who was a step weaker, finally cast his Genjutsu!

Su Bai was about to rush forward and finish off Camo Man when he suddenly felt as if something had lightly tapped his brain. The Sharingan immediately generated a force that repelled the attack, as casually as someone swatting away an annoying mosquito.

"Ugh!" Monkey's eyes flew wide, and his face tensed with alarm. Then he began turning anxiously in circles, as if he couldn't see Su Bai in the distance!

Su Bai had no time to worry about him. He charged at Camo Man, snatched the long sword from his hand, and slashed it across his neck!

"Schhk!"

Camo Man's head separated from his body. Blood sprayed everywhere as he fell dead on the spot!

After killing Camo Man, Su Bai endured the intense pain in his right arm and looked at Monkey, who was spinning like a headless fly. He was puzzled.

"Did my Sharingan just resist his Genjutsu?"

"Is he under the effects of his own Genjutsu?"

"I get it! This is a unique ability of the Sharingan: Genjutsu reflection!"

The situation before him suddenly reminded Su Bai of a certain mature woman in the original story who had tried to show off her Genjutsu in front of Itachi, only to end up trapped in her own illusion...

Chapter 70: Growth

Monkey spent nearly a full minute spinning in place before he finally broke free of his own Genjutsu.

Just then—

"Ah!" Monkey, who had only just come to his senses, let out a shrill scream. Su Bai had cut off his right leg with Camo Man's sword!

Su Bai stared coldly at him and asked, "Did you just use Genjutsu on me?"

"Why... why didn't my Genjutsu work on you?" Monkey wailed on the ground. With only his left leg remaining, he couldn't even stand. Shock filled his heart.

"I'm done for. This guy's too strong. He even killed Brother Hao. I'm next!" Camo Man's headless corpse lay beside him, filling Monkey with despair.

Seeing him like this, Su Bai grew even more certain of his guess. He barked, "What Genjutsu did you use on me? Tell me!"

"It... it was the C-Rank Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Fox Spirit Technique," Monkey cried, clutching his severed right leg.

Fox Spirit Technique?

No wonder he'd been spinning in place after getting hit.

Su Bai knew this jutsu. It made its target wander unconsciously, circling around the same spot and exhausting a great deal of energy.

It could also affect several people within range at once. It was a pretty useful support-type Genjutsu.

At that thought, Su Bai grinned.

"Now use it on me again."

"What? You..." Monkey was dumbfounded. He couldn't understand what Su Bai meant.

When Monkey began to babble, Su Bai said nothing. He simply pressed the long sword against his neck. Blood had already started to well up!

"Hurry up, or I'll kill you right now!"

"Y-yes!"

Terrified, Monkey endured the pain and prepared to form Hand Seals. Su Bai immediately tossed aside the sword and fixed his scarlet Sharingan on the flow of chakra inside Monkey's body.

"Go ahead."

"Yes!"

Monkey didn't dare delay. He didn't know about the Sharingan, but he knew that his life was in Su Bai's hands, so he could only do as he was told. He slowly began forming Hand Seals.

Already prepared, Su Bai endured the pain in his right arm and began copying the jutsu. About three or four seconds later, they both cast their Genjutsu at each other!

"Demonic Illusion: Fox Spirit Technique!"

"Demonic Illusion: Fox Spirit Technique!"

"Ugh!" Monkey fell back into his previous state, crawling around on the ground.

Su Bai, meanwhile, remained unaffected.

The instant Monkey's Genjutsu hit him, he used the Sharingan to reflect it.

This time, he'd controlled the reflection consciously. It was far stronger than when the Sharingan had automatically defended against the attack!

"One more jutsu learned." Pleased, Su Bai picked up the long sword and walked over to Monkey, who was struggling on the ground with one leg severed. He hesitated for more than ten seconds...

In the end, a ruthless look crossed his face. He slashed the sword across Monkey's neck!

"Schhk!"

With the stench of blood filling the air, Su Bai took everything valuable from Camo Man and Monkey. Then he returned to the rooftop, picked up his conductive weapon, and leaped away...

A few hours later.

Inside an abandoned building in the Wasteland Zone, Su Bai leaned against the wall beside a window, pale and staring blankly into space.

Aside from a little charring, the burns on his right arm from the Great Fireball had almost completely healed.

He'd been in the abandoned building for four hours already.

Treating his injuries had taken only half an hour. He'd spent the rest of the time trying to steel himself.

"I knew this day would come... but actually killing someone hit me harder than I expected."

Thinking of Camo Man and Monkey, the two men he'd killed, Su Bai slowly turned his gaze toward a pile of vomit ten meters away... his own handiwork.

During the fight, he'd been so tense and exhilarated that he hadn't felt any discomfort about killing.

He hadn't hesitated when he beheaded Camo Man. He'd only been thinking about killing his opponent and staying alive. But...

When he took Monkey's life, his ordinary person's mindset began to surface...

After he got here, he couldn't hold it in anymore. Just thinking about the two headless corpses and the blood spraying from their necks made his stomach churn with revulsion.

"I overestimated how much I could handle. This won't do. I have to get used to it!" Su Bai snapped out of his daze, his resolve hardening.

He understood that if he wanted to survive in a world overrun by Magic Beasts and ruled by strict hierarchies, killing was a skill he had to master!

Not only did he have to master it, he had to get used to it and become proficient!

He had to be stronger and more ruthless than other ninjas if he wanted to outlive them!

Having made up his mind, Su Bai stood up, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

His whole demeanor had changed. A trace of "innocence" had fallen away, replaced by a hint of "cruelty"!

Today was the true first step toward becoming a ninja—and the most important one: killing.

Once he'd made up his mind, he didn't hesitate. He leaped through a window of the abandoned building and landed in the street, continuing his search for a Long-Eared Rabbit.

His injuries had healed in half an hour thanks to both his Mystical Palm Technique and his Yang Attribute.

With his Level 2 Mystical Palm Technique and Level 3 Yang Attribute, he could fight in the Wasteland Zone without worrying about injuries holding him back!

Su Bai glanced up at the darkening sky and quickened his pace. He wanted to hunt another Long-Eared Rabbit before nightfall!

Half an hour later, Su Bai spotted his target on the sports field of a pre-apocalypse school: a Long-Eared Rabbit playing with a basketball hoop!

"Crunch, crunch!"

The Long-Eared Rabbit's claws easily knocked over the rusty basketball hoop, which stood four or five meters tall. With a little squeeze, it crushed the metal into a ball. Its strength was plain to see!

Su Bai watched from a distant wall for a while, then made a decision.

"I could easily kill this rabbit with Double Suicide Decapitation Technique and a surprise attack using the Sharingan... but that wouldn't help me improve. My mindset when facing Magic Beasts is miles apart from Brother Chu and the others..."

"It's almost dark anyway, so there's no time to look for another one. I might as well use this Long-Eared Rabbit to work on my courage and mindset."

Su Bai held a pale blue longsword. With a light leap, he dropped down from the wall and calmly walked toward the Long-Eared Rabbit in the middle of the field.

The Long-Eared Rabbit noticed him too. Its rabbit eyes, as big as headlights and glowing ruby red, were full of confusion. It seemed unable to understand why a weak human would dare approach it.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" The Long-Eared Rabbit abandoned its "toy" and called out to Su Bai a few times, looking intrigued.

"Stop making noise. What's so fun about a lousy iron frame? I'll play with you instead." Su Bai gestured with his longsword and smiled at the Long-Eared Rabbit, which was about the size of a Hummer.

He planned to defeat it with Taijutsu and his reflexes!

Su Bai's taunting seemed to enrage the Long-Eared Rabbit. Its sharp claws dug several deep furrows into the ground as it charged at him, honking. It was incredibly fast!

Su Bai took a deep breath and activated his Sharingan. He easily dodged the Long-Eared Rabbit's charge and slashed its belly with a counterattack!

The skin and flesh on the Long-Eared Rabbit's belly split open, and blood poured out, staining its snowy white fur!

"Hiss!" The Long-Eared Rabbit roared in pain and fury, swinging a massive claw at Su Bai's head!

Clang!

Su Bai raised his sword to block, but he was far too weak. The force of the Long-Eared Rabbit's claw drove him half a meter into the ground!

Just as the Long-Eared Rabbit's claw came down a second time, Su Bai pushed off hard with both feet and leaped out of its range!

"Haah... haah..." Ten meters away, Su Bai panted heavily!

He wasn't tired. Not at all!

He was panting because of the adrenaline surging through him as he fought the Long-Eared Rabbit at close range, with death only an instant away.

"This is it. What I'm missing is the calm to put life and death aside!"

Even though this was dangerous, an inexplicable excitement rose in Su Bai's heart... as if this was the feeling he'd been waiting for all along...

"Come on, rabbit!"

"Hiss!"

Boom!

On the silent, deserted sports field, a giant Magic Beast and a human attacked each other, every move aimed at killing!

As time passed, Su Bai grew increasingly calm in the face of the Long-Eared Rabbit's attacks. By the time night was approaching, he could face them without a hint of panic.

"That's enough for today. I'll continue tomorrow."

Su Bai glanced at the sky and casually dodged the Long-Eared Rabbit's claw. He planted his longsword in the ground, quickly formed Hand Seals, and cast a jutsu at the Long-Eared Rabbit charging toward him.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Buzz!

The Long-Eared Rabbit seemed to lose its soul in an instant. Its massive body kept charging forward on momentum for another dozen meters before crashing heavily to the ground. Its short front legs twitched weakly a few times, then went still...

"Schhk!"

Su Bai went over and finished off the "sleeping" rabbit with a single sword thrust. He sealed its corpse inside a Storage Scroll, then turned toward Base City...