Chapter 71: Fortune Comes from Taking Risks
Boom!
A deafening crash rang out, and the ground trembled slightly. The Long-Eared Rabbit's enormous corpse kicked up clouds of dust as it fell to the ground. It thrashed wildly a few times, then went still.
A calm-looking young man of about twenty stepped forward, sealed the Long-Eared Rabbit's corpse inside a Storage Scroll, and wiped the blood from his clothes.
He wore a black vest-like conduction suit, which was covered in claw marks and bloodstains. Several white marks were visible on his bare arms, apparently left by wounds that had healed.
The young man was Su Bai. This was the ninth Long-Eared Rabbit he had killed during his three days in the Wasteland Zone. One more, and he would complete his mission.
He glanced up at the sky. The sun was already beginning to set, so Su Bai quickened his pace and continued searching for a Long-Eared Rabbit.
"Just one more. I'll try to finish the mission today!"
Even Su Bai was amazed by how much he had changed over the past three days.
He was getting more and more adept at hunting Long-Eared Rabbits. He could now kill them even without controlling them with Sharingan Genjutsu. The scars covering his body were the best proof of that.
To temper his courage, Su Bai forced himself to fight the Long-Eared Rabbits in close combat using Taijutsu!
Although his Sharingan gave him incredible dynamic vision, the rabbits had still managed to hit him several times, leaving plenty of scars.
But that didn't matter. With the Yang Attribute and the Mystical Palm Technique, Su Bai wasn't worried about getting hurt. He could always recover in the shortest possible time!
He had also discovered that his Genjutsu was getting faster and faster.
Once, while fighting a Long-Eared Rabbit with Taijutsu, he had nearly gotten into trouble. In the heat of the moment, he raised his sword with one hand to block an attack and, with the other, actually managed to form hand seals one-handed and cast the "Hell Viewing Technique!"
One-handed hand seals! That was something Su Bai had never even dared to imagine before!
Chakra on Blue Star was extremely volatile. Even shinobi who formed hand seals with both hands had to be incredibly careful. One wrong move, and they might fail to cast the jutsu and instead injure themselves as their volatile chakra ran wild inside them. That was why very few shinobi could perform one-handed hand seals!
After the fight, Su Bai tried again, only to discover that he couldn't cast ninjutsu with one hand. He could manage Genjutsu about two or three times out of ten, though the cost of failure was considerable...
That was because the volatile chakra inside him would go out of control, rushing through his body and wreaking havoc!
If he hadn't been able to rely on the Yang Attribute for fast recovery and the Mystical Palm Technique to heal himself whenever he needed... he wouldn't have dared to try it.
"Being able to cast Genjutsu one-handed is probably because of my strong spiritual power and the Sharingan's boost to Genjutsu. To cast ninjutsu with one hand, I'll probably have to raise my Yang Attribute further. Once my body gets stronger, I'll be able to better restrain the volatile chakra inside me."
"But I can't give up the Mystical Palm Technique, either. This jutsu is practically a combat trump card. It's incredibly effective at healing injuries!"
Su Bai glanced at his right elbow. A white scar still remained there, left by the Long-Eared Rabbit's claws.
At the time, the rabbit had swiped its claws at him and broken his right arm as he raised it to block with his sword, forcing him to end the fight by casting Genjutsu one-handed with his left hand.
Afterward, when Su Bai used the Mystical Palm Technique to heal himself, it took only ten minutes to mend his broken arm. That speed was simply unbelievable!
He figured that, with such frightening regenerative abilities, he could go all out in future battles against shinobi. Even if they traded injuries with him, they wouldn't be able to outlast him. In the end, he would definitely win!
He thought that if he ran into shinobi like Camo Man and Monkey again, he could defeat them by relying on Taijutsu alone, trading injuries and fighting as if his life depended on it!
And he could do it faster than if he attacked with ninjutsu!
After all, very few shinobi knew Medical Ninjutsu. And those who did had spent decades specializing in it, yet were often lacking in combat strength and experience. There were very few combat-oriented shinobi like him, who used Medical Ninjutsu only to keep themselves going.
As he thought about it, a smile appeared at the corner of Su Bai's mouth. He had spotted his target.
In the distance, beside a gas station from before the apocalypse, a Long-Eared Rabbit was dozing. It hadn't noticed Su Bai approaching.
Su Bai used his Sharingan to survey the area within two kilometers. About 1.5 kilometers away, he spotted an Iron-Horned Sheep fighting four shinobi. After a moment's thought, he made up his mind.
"One Chunin weaker than Brother Lei, leading three Genin about as strong as me..."
"I'll take out the Long-Eared Rabbit as quickly as possible and get out of here, before they move the fight and drag me into it."
Once he had decided, Su Bai slid his long sword into the sheath on his back. Watching the Long-Eared Rabbit more than four hundred meters away, he quickly formed hand seals!
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Whoosh!
Su Bai vanished in an instant. The Long-Eared Rabbit sensed nothing at that distance. It didn't realize anything was wrong until Su Bai dragged it underground, but by then it was too late!
Su Bai burst out of the ground and cast Genjutsu on the giant rabbit struggling in the earth.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
"Shing!"
Once the Genjutsu hit, Su Bai drew the long sword from his back and ran it through the rabbit. The poor thing never even saw who had ambushed it before it died...
"Mission complete. Reward distributed..."
"Hm?"
"The Iron-Horned Sheep actually won? Those people are being chased?"
After cleaning up the battlefield, Su Bai curiously used his Sharingan to observe the distance. The situation was not what he expected!
The four shinobi hadn't managed to kill the Magic Beast. Instead, the Iron-Horned Sheep had killed two of them. The strongest one, a Chunin, and one Genin were already dead, while the two remaining Genin were running for their lives!
"This... the Iron-Horned Sheep looks like it's on its last legs, too. Then I can..." Su Bai's eyes lit up. He immediately ran toward the two shinobi fleeing for their lives.
Of course, he wasn't going to save them. He wanted to pick up the spoils.
In the Wasteland Zone, it was common for shinobi who failed to hunt Magic Beasts to get killed by them instead. Su Bai wasn't going to play the hero and risk his life saving strangers. He had his eye on the Iron-Horned Sheep, worth around 500 million!
A gravely wounded Iron-Horned Sheep! It was worth 500 million Federal Coins!
That was worth taking a chance!
As he ran, Su Bai put all the Attribute Points he had just received from the mission into his Yang Attribute.
Chapter 72: Making a Move
Su Bai hurried along, struggling to contain his excitement!
"That's an Iron-Horned Sheep, worth as much as more than two hundred Long-Eared Rabbits! If I can kill it... I'll easily be able to buy a house in the safe area of the City Center!"
In these three days, Su Bai had only killed ten Long-Eared Rabbits, worth no more than twenty million. That was nothing compared with an Iron-Horned Sheep worth five hundred million.
"But I can't let my guard down. The Iron-Horned Sheep has four or five hundred cards of chakra. Even if it's badly wounded, it's still terrifying!"
"Hmm... I should use all my Attribute Points first and boost my strength!"
Su Bai immediately put all fifteen available Attribute Points he had received for completing the mission into his Yang Attribute. Over the past three days, he had put all his Attribute Points into the Mystical Palm Technique.
As soon as he finished allocating the points, a tremendous surge of power suddenly welled up inside him. Su Bai glanced at his status panel.
" Mystical Palm Technique: LV3 (600/800)"
"Chakra Level: 54.3 (cards)"
"Yin Attribute: LV5 (2706/3200)"
"Yang Attribute: LV5 (2203/3200)"
"What a huge improvement!"
"This gravely wounded Iron-Horned Sheep is mine!"
In the Wasteland Zone, more than thirty kilometers outside the Base City, a man and a woman, both Genin, were running for their lives!
A wounded but furious Iron-Horned Sheep, fifteen or sixteen meters long and seven or eight meters tall, was right behind them!
"Baa!" The Iron-Horned Sheep roared, spraying a massive stream of water about a hundred meters wide from its mouth and attacking the two Genin ahead!
It was the C-Rank Water Release ninjutsu, Water Wave!
But after casting the jutsu, the Iron-Horned Sheep's injuries worsened. Its lantern-sized eyes immediately grew dim, and it slowed down.
The two Genin heard the commotion behind them and looked back. Their faces changed dramatically. They tried to dodge, but it was already too late!
Boom!
The enormous stream of water slammed into them with tremendous force, sending them flying hundreds of meters. They felt as if their bodies had been smashed to pieces and couldn't get back up. All they could do was watch as the Iron-Horned Sheep slowly drew closer.
Driven by a desperate will to survive, they gritted their teeth and forced themselves to their feet, hoping to escape.
"Qu Yan, let's split up and run. If we stay together, we'll die!" the male shinobi said.
He looked to be around thirty, with a tuft of goatee on his chin, sunken eyes, and a pale complexion.
Qu Yan was somewhat younger, around twenty-five or twenty-six. She was above average in appearance, though she looked quite ordinary at first glance.
But her voluptuous figure drew the eye, especially the ample "scenery" on her chest!
"Okay, that's our only option. Let's get away from this Magic Beast first. After that, it's up to fate!" Qu Yan said as she watched the Iron-Horned Sheep limping toward her in the distance. She didn't notice the vicious look that flashed in her teammate's eyes!
"The Iron-Horned Sheep is enraged now. It won't stop until it kills the people who hurt it, and with my injuries, I can't escape!"
"Maybe..."
A ruthless look flashed across Qian Hang's eyes. While Qu Yan's attention was fixed on the Iron-Horned Sheep, he punched her hard in the stomach!
"Ah!" Qu Yan cried out in pain. Her already battered body collapsed to the ground, and now she didn't even have the strength to get back up. She sat slumped there, staring at Qian Hang in disbelief!
"Qian Hang, what are you doing?!"
"Qu Yan, don't blame me. The Iron-Horned Sheep has already set its sights on us. One of us has to stay behind and draw it away for the other to have any chance of surviving." Qian Hang backed away as he spoke. The Iron-Horned Sheep's attention had shifted to Qu Yan, who could no longer move.
"But we're teammates! How could you do this to me?" Qu Yan demanded angrily, trying to struggle to her feet.
"Teammates?" Qian Hang sneered. "Qu Yan, this isn't your first day in the Wasteland Zone. When your life is on the line, who doesn't think of themselves first? If I survive this, I'll visit your grave—and the captain's—every year!"
With that, Qian Hang immediately retreated at full speed and disappeared into the distance within moments!
"Bastard! Scum!" Qu Yan cursed, a look of unwillingness on her pretty face as she struggled to get up.
"Baa!" The Iron-Horned Sheep roared. It forced itself to summon the last of its strength and gathered all its chakra to cast Water Wave!
Boom!
A stream of water, two or three times smaller than usual, surged toward Qu Yan. This was all the chakra the Iron-Horned Sheep had left. It was too badly injured!
"No, I can't die!" Qu Yan endured the pain wracking her body and formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
Boom!
Then something Qu Yan hadn't expected happened.
She saw two earthen walls rise from the ground before her. One was only three or four meters tall—the one she had cast herself.
The other was a full twenty meters tall, even more powerful than the Earth Style Wall she could produce at her best. It blocked the Iron-Horned Sheep's Water Wave completely.
"Earth Style Wall? Who's there?" Qu Yan turned her head and saw a handsome young man of about twenty standing beside her. She hadn't noticed him arrive.
"Who are you?"
"Let's deal with the Iron-Horned Sheep first." The handsome young man flashed her a smile. It was Su Bai!
In fact, Su Bai had arrived long ago. He had simply been hiding nearby, observing the Iron-Horned Sheep's condition and judging his chances of success.
When he saw that the Iron-Horned Sheep's ninjutsu had become much weaker, he knew it was almost finished.
When Qu Yan cast a jutsu in one final attempt to survive... he felt sorry for the woman her teammate had abandoned. He also wanted to copy her jutsu, so he decided to step in.
Fortunately, her ninjutsu didn't disappoint him.
Earth Style Wall was famous for its powerful defense. It could perfectly block attacks from the front, making it a practical jutsu in battle.
More importantly, Earth Style Wall was a B-Rank Ninjutsu!
Su Bai figured that a Genin with access to a B-Rank Ninjutsu... must come from an extraordinary background!
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