The Third Mizukage's Scheme

Bula broke out in a sweat and looked at Yagura Karatachi, but Yagura Karatachi still stared coldly at the sinking Qian Yun.

Another half minute passed. When no one could sense Qian Yun's position anymore, Yagura Karatachi finally made his move.

Bang!

Qian Yun was hurled onto the shore by a tremendous force. His stomach was swollen like a watermelon, clearly full of seawater.

"Hmph! Trying to be clever. You obviously can't even swim, yet you pretended you could walk on water!"

After saying that, Yagura Karatachi looked at Bula. "You stay here and watch him!"

With that, he led the others running across the distant sea. Bula looked unwilling; he wanted to go fishing too.

Even though he did not like eating fish.

Sensing Yagura Karatachi had gone far away, Qian Yun secretly counted himself lucky. His chances of escaping had risen by another ten percent.

It turned out he had deliberately struggled after falling into the water. While struggling, he discovered that he could control the seawater within half a meter around him.

[Water Affinity] was truly useful.

Bula made Qian Yun throw up and woke him, then loudly scolded him. But afterward, he taught him how to climb trees.

Qian Yun cultivated diligently. Whenever he was tired, he worked around the camp. His textbook-perfect acting was flawless.

The sky was beginning to darken.

Yagura Karatachi and the others still had not returned. Young Bula anxiously gazed out over the sea.

After dinner, the bright moon hung high in the sky, yet there was still no sign of Yagura Karatachi and the others.

Qian Yun suggested, "How about we wait by the shore?"

Bula nodded. His expression was grim, as if he had a bad feeling.

Qian Yun guessed that Yagura Karatachi's group had most likely not gone fishing. At the very least, fishing did not require more than a hundred people to set out together.

At first, young Bula still held out hope. But after a whole night passed and the horizon turned pale with dawn, he was already crying silently.

Qian Yun yawned, then said, "How about we eat breakfast and go look for them? Perhaps Lord Yagura and the others ran into rough seas out there."

Bula had lost all sense of direction and could only follow Qian Yun's suggestion.

An hour later, the two stepped onto the sea and began running.

Three minutes later, Qian Yun awkwardly shouted, "Lord Bula, slow down! I... I really can't keep up with you!

"And with both feet on the water, I feel like my head is spinning!"

Bula said helplessly, "It's like this the first time you walk on water. Try closing your eyes and moving with the waves!

"Don't treat what's under your feet as land. Just imagine there's someone beneath you, and be careful not to step on them to death!"

Qian Yun gave an awkward laugh. "Then it must be a woman beneath my feet. Otherwise, why would it be so soft?"

Hehehehe...

Bula's gloomy mood eased somewhat. The two then used the sun to determine their general direction.

This time, Qian Yun was not acting. He had completely lost his sense of direction.

Around noon, Qian Yun suddenly saw seabirds gathering over the water.

"Look! There seems to be someone over there!"

Qian Yun shouted, and Bula's eyes widened sharply.

"It's Lord Li!"

Bula rushed over at top speed. Qian Yun fed himself a Soldier Ration Pill; his chakra was indeed running a little low.

The Lord Li Bula spoke of was the burly Shark Teeth man, the first person Qian Yun had treated three days ago.

The man was covered in injuries again, and this time, a huge chunk of flesh was missing from his chest.

Qian Yun had no idea whether it had been blown off by an explosive tag or gnawed away by sea fish, but the man still had a faint breath.

Seabirds continued circling overhead, completely unafraid of people.

Qian Yun suddenly reached out and caught one, immediately using the Insect Taming Technique.

Having seabirds search for people was far more convenient and efficient than blindly wandering around on two legs.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing Qian Yun use a technique he could not understand, Bula immediately grew wary.

Qian Yun said with a serious expression, "I'm trying to see whether the Insect Taming Technique works on birds. If the seabirds can help us search, we should find the others quickly!"

Bula said nothing. He hoisted the burly Shark Teeth man onto his back and ran wildly, as though he had decided Qian Yun intended to harm him.

Qian Yun said nothing either. He watched Bula run off without moving.

If I can get Yagura Karatachi's trait tag, my strength might advance by leaps and bounds.

Before long, the seabird returned with a report: eleven people were to the south.

Qian Yun began running. Bula, who had already gone far away, glanced back.

Carrying the burly Shark Teeth man was exhausting him. He had no way to bother with Qian Yun right now.

He continued racing toward the small island, while Qian Yun found those eleven people a quarter of an hour later.

They were all lying sprawled across a rotten tree stump, and every one of them looked like they were on their last breath.

Yagura Karatachi was nowhere to be seen, so Qian Yun immediately had the seabird continue searching.

Eight of the eleven were alive, while three had already gone cold.

Three white [Constitution] trait tags were acquired. Qian Yun then found some rope and secured the group.

Dragging a rotten tree root across the sea was much easier than Bula carrying a person weighing more than two hundred jin.

He had not gone far when the seabird reported again that it had found two people to the east.

Qian Yun hurried over and indeed found Yagura Karatachi. The other person was the big man who had carried him to the island.

Both of them were actually alive.

Fine, they were lucky.

Your ancestors for eighteen generations should all thank Lord Qian Yun!

Mm, once you die, all your trait tags will be mine!

Qian Yun thought happily, and he dragged the rotten tree root with even more vigor.

Three hours later, they returned to the small island. Bula was squatting by the shore, weeping.

When he saw Qian Yun return, Bula's eyes widened, and his entire body trembled with excitement.

He had never expected Qian Yun to truly find his companions and even make it back to the camp.

Qian Yun said with an exhausted face, "Lord Bula, if you still have any strength, give me a hand!

"I really can't stay on my feet anymore!"

Bula came back to his senses and hurriedly took the rope from Qian Yun, then dragged the group ashore.

"Thank you... Thank you, Qian Yun!"

Bula's attitude had changed. Crying, he gave Qian Yun a ninety-degree bow.

Qian Yun collapsed by the shore and waved his hand. "You're too polite, Lord Bula!

"Let me rest for a while first. I'll treat them shortly!"

Hearing this, Bula hurriedly checked Yagura Karatachi and the others for vital signs.

Bula cried and laughed at the same time, tears and snot streaming down his face. Then he kowtowed to Qian Yun again in thanks.

The living were taken into tents, while the dead were placed beneath a canopy by the shore. Bula intended to cremate them.

Qian Yun did not try to stop him.

Not everyone could use sealing techniques. Some people could spend their entire lives unable to learn them.

For Yagura Karatachi and the others' injuries, Qian Yun only provided basic care and did not use any medicine.

At most, he cooked some porridge for them to drink.

As long as they died, their trait tags would be his in minutes.

Sure enough, before dawn even arrived, two more people kicked the bucket.

Wonderful.

Qian Yun collected the [Constitution] trait tags, then pretended to flip through medical books as though he were worried about Yagura Karatachi.

Seeing this, Bula, who was cremating the bodies, ran to his tent and brought over a stack of beast-hide medical books.

"I can't understand them anyway, so I'll give them all to Qian Yun!"

He was smiling, and Qian Yun smiled back.

Qian Yun had not expected Hidden Mist medical books to improve him, but the moment he opened the first page, his eyes widened sharply.

Cell separation, cell cloning, cell enhancement, and cell extraction—these were all methods Qian Yun had imagined before but had no way of carrying out.

Qian Yun immediately took out a culture dish from his scroll, then drew blood for an experiment.

The first person to receive a blood transfusion was the big chunin. It was said that he came from the Hozuki Clan.