One-Tailed Shukaku Goes Berserk

The rumors Qian Yun had spread had already circulated throughout Hidden Sand.

Some even said that Granny Chiyo often went out to meet Onoki and Hanzō on dates.

Otherwise, why did she return exhausted every time, sometimes even shedding tears of grief?

It was because Onoki had dumped her, and Hanzō had rejected her too.

Good news never traveled far, but bad news spread for a thousand miles.

It was not just Hidden Sand spreading these rumors. Hidden Rain and Hidden Rock Village were talking about it too, and the rumors only seemed to grow more outrageous.

At first, Granny Chiyo did not care, but now it seemed she had no choice but to put a stop to them.

"Listen up, you brats!

Anyone who dares spread rumors about Konoha's evil physician again, I will personally tear out his tongue!"

Everyone lowered their heads and shut their mouths, though many were clearly holding back laughter.

Granny Chiyo could only sigh helplessly and first give orders to arrange the ambush. This matter would have to be discussed after returning to the village.

As for Qian Yun, he sprinted all the way twenty li away. Only after sensing that Granny Chiyo had led people to ambush Hidden Rock Village did he release the little lizard to find a place to rest.

That chase had been far too thrilling. Although Qian Yun's chakra had not run dry, very little remained.

And the Scorpion King had not returned. He had no idea whether it would still acknowledge him as its master.

The place the little lizard found was an ancient city ruin. Though most of its buildings had collapsed, the wells remained.

Qian Yun was also lucky enough to find a basement where he could rest.

After eating and drinking, he had the sand snake stand guard and sent the little lizard to search the ruins for useful supplies.

He slept until noon the next day, then got up and ate another meal.

His appetite seemed to be growing lately, and his clothes were shrinking again.

Before Qian Yun had even finished breakfast, the little lizard suddenly came to report that it had found a treasure chest.

Qian Yun was overjoyed. The little lizard was theoretically highly intelligent, so it could not possibly mistake treasure.

He quickly finished his food and used Sand Release to burrow over.

It was a half-collapsed underground palace, and the treasure chest was buried beneath sand and dirt.

Qian Yun dug it out and found half a chest of gold, along with several exquisitely crafted gemstone necklaces.

After thinking it over, Qian Yun felt that Kado's supplies might be discovered. He might as well seal them away in batches now.

It was not that Qian Yun was being overly cautious. He felt that Hidden Sand's previous attack on Hidden Rain Village had very likely been for that batch of supplies.

Once the matter came to light, even Kado's gold and banknotes might be recovered. Then he would become a complete fool.

Making money was too hard. He absolutely could not put all his eggs in one basket.

After some fussing around, Qian Yun divided Kado's supplies into twenty portions and the treasure from the chest into three portions.

Just as Qian Yun was about to leave, the little lizard, which had been burrowing about everywhere, came to report again. It said there was a stone box in a corner, and something terrifying was emanating from within.

Qian Yun quickly fished it out. What he feared least now were so-called demons and ghosts.

It was a stone box as large as a millstone. Inside it was an icy jade box, and Qian Yun thought it must contain some peerless treasure.

Yet when Qian Yun opened it, he nearly threw the jade box away.

Inside was a head, already desiccated. Skin and flesh clung tightly to the skull, making it look incomparably sinister and terrifying.

After a moment, Qian Yun calmed himself down.

On closer inspection, the mummified head was covered with sealing runes, as if whoever had placed them feared some devil might escape from within.

Since he had never seen these seals before, Qian Yun immediately recorded them.

He then used the Memory Reading Technique, intending to investigate the inside of the head.

Although he had prepared himself mentally, Qian Yun was still greatly shocked when his consciousness was dragged into a spiritual world.

Standing opposite him was an old man with a complete human form, looking sinister and terrifying.

His smile in particular gave off the same feeling as the god of death in the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

He was casting a technique on Qian Yun while muttering an incantation.

Qian Yun walked over, but the old man continued muttering to himself.

Bang!

Qian Yun walked up and slapped him across the face. The old man was somewhat stunned, not knowing what was happening.

Had he not already used the Soul-Fixing Curse?

Why could this unlucky brat still move?

Could it be that too much time had passed, and his Soul-Fixing Curse no longer worked on any soul?

While the old man was still dazed, Qian Yun grabbed his soul and began kneading it furiously.

"Wait... wait... young man, listen to me... I can give you... treasure... lots of it..."

How could Qian Yun listen? He only kneaded harder.

If he gave the other side a chance to catch his breath at a time like this, the situation might be turned around.

That was exactly how Hunt, the Hidden Rock Explosion Release ninja, had been tricked yesterday.

Yet what surprised Qian Yun immensely was that the old man's soul was even more resilient than the sword spirit's had been. It felt like a silicone doll.

Refusing to believe it!

He erupted with all his soul power and kneaded with every ounce of strength he had, determined to squeeze every last trait out of the other party.

This was an experience Qian Yun had summarized: directly tearing a soul apart could only make one trait drop.

"You little bastard... you... you... stop this at once..."

[ Ding: Defeated Black Sand City Lord Ye Feng. Obtained trait: Sand Affinity! ]

Before the old man's soul had even collapsed, the system notification sounded.

And it was actually a blue trait.

Up to now, not a single Hidden Sand jonin had dropped a trait of this grade.

Qian Yun continued tormenting him. Anyone who could be sealed inside a jade box was definitely no good person.

And the moment he appeared, he had tried to harm Qian Yun. Even if he had been a good man in life, Qian Yun could not let him go.

[ Ding: Defeated Black Sand City Lord Ye Feng. Obtained trait: Wind Affinity! ]

[ Ding: Defeated Black Sand City Lord Ye Feng. Obtained trait: Life Absorption! ]

The third trait shocked Qian Yun beyond measure. Though it was only green, this meant he might very well obtain immortality.

Poof!

The old man's soul suddenly collapsed like a deflated balloon, soul fragments scattering all over the ground.

Qian Yun saw some memory fragments. They were ninjutsu the old man had used in life.

The most powerful was called Wind Release: Black Sandstorm. At first glance, this ninjutsu seemed utterly useless, but it could slowly absorb life force.

So that was what the Life Absorption trait meant.

Qian Yun pondered whether he could absorb life force as well if he changed a sand-type ninjutsu into a water-type one, such as the Hidden Mist Technique.

How terrifying.

He would definitely need to keep a low profile in the future.

Otherwise, he might end up like the old man, whose secret had been discovered by the city's residents before they besieged and killed him.

Back on the surface, Qian Yun tried casting Wind Release: Black Sandstorm. He even deliberately removed the hand seals used to absorb life force.

He thought that absorbing only chakra should be fine.

Whoosh!

A small whirlwind began drifting across the desert, and Qian Yun felt that it had no destructive power at all.

Yet the little whirlwind was like a living creature, drifting straight toward a nearby sand rat.

Three seconds later, the sand rat was on its last breath. At the same time, the small whirlwind instantly tripled in size and rapidly drifted into the distance.

Qian Yun scratched his head, pondering how to improve this terrifying ninjutsu.

This was bad!

Qian Yun suddenly realized that if the little whirlwind swept about so freely, it would eventually cause a huge disaster.

Yet when Qian Yun tried to stop it, he suddenly discovered that the city lord's ninjutsu was incomplete. There were no hand seals to stop it at all.

He sensed the whirlwind's eye and discovered that his chakra was at the top of the vortex. To end it now, he could only destroy that clump of chakra.

Qian Yun broke into a wild sprint, because the core of the little whirlwind was rising higher and higher.

In barely five minutes, the little whirlwind had become a tornado, looking ready to devour every living thing in its path.