Before long, all the bodies in the outpost had been gathered by the team led by Jonin Gekko Naoki and laid out before Qifeng.
Looking at the corpses of the Konoha Ninja, not only Qifeng but everyone in the room felt terrible.
There were ten in total, each having died differently. Some had even been so badly mutilated that they were unrecognizable.
Gekko Naoki's face darkened as he said to Orochimaru, "Lord Orochimaru, the numbers don't add up."
A little thought made it clear. Konoha Ninja squads were always made up of four people, and ten bodies were clearly not the number three squads should have had.
A vicious glint appeared in Orochimaru's eyes as he licked his lips.
"Iwa-nin."
There would be no bodies left behind in the outpost. With Hyuga Tokuha's Byakugan, even the smallest detail could hardly escape its scrutiny.
As for the remaining two bodies, either they were still alive and had fled the outpost to recover somewhere unknown, or they had been taken by the Iwa-nin, who wanted to learn about Konoha's border defenses from their minds.
The latter was far more likely.
If they were still alive, they would not have gone so long without making contact.
At Orochimaru's signal, Qifeng began handling the bodies.
Their miserable state weighed heavily on him.
So this was what being a ninja meant? This was war?
The war had not even broken out yet, and things were already this brutal. It was hard to imagine what kind of hell this world would become once war truly erupted.
Qifeng felt an intense sense of crisis.
As a corpse collector, he might be relatively less exposed to danger.
But that did not mean he would not be caught up in it at all.
When an avalanche came, no snowflake was innocent, and no snowflake could avoid being swept away. The only difference was whether it was inside the avalanche or outside it.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Qifeng used his "professional" methods and abilities to restore each Konoha Ninja's body bit by bit, as completely as possible.
As the bodies gradually took shape, everyone's expressions softened slightly, and there was a trace more approval in the way they looked at Qifeng.
No one wanted to be buried in their homeland in an undignified state.
Having experienced the cruelty of this world, these ninjas had long since lived with their heads on the line.
And once they died in battle, what state they would be buried in and whether they could return to their homeland all rested on the thoughts of corpse collectors like Qifeng.
Although corpse collectors were a deeply unpopular profession in Konoha, when war arrived, they became people others secretly sought after.
No one knew when they might die.
Just like now, no one knew when the Iwa-nin would launch another attack.
While Qifeng was handling the bodies, the two scouting teams led by Nakamura Kenta and Mitsui Hiyori returned.
"Lord Orochimaru."
They briefly reported the information they had gathered.
After hearing it, Orochimaru thought for a moment and said, "Mount Nagao to the Northwest?"
Comparing it against the map, they confirmed that Mount Nagao was a small hill densely covered in rocks, an extremely inconspicuous location nearby.
His fingers lightly tapped the table as his eyes flashed. "Rest for fifteen minutes. We move out in fifteen minutes!"
"Yes!"
Rather than waiting here for the Iwa-nin to attack, it was better to take the initiative. Sitting around and waiting to die was not Orochimaru's style.
Qifeng opened his mouth and pointed at himself.
Noticing the gesture, Orochimaru pondered briefly. "Leave behind two Chunin to protect Maruyama Qifeng. If you think something is wrong, don't try to act tough. Leave immediately."
Qifeng only wanted to say, Lord Orochimaru, what if you come up empty-handed? I'll be the one suffering then.
But after making those arrangements, Orochimaru ignored Qifeng's pleading look and began planning their battle tactics.
Though Orochimaru was arrogant, he was still one of the Sannin. Having risen to fame during the Second Great Ninja War, he possessed abundant battlefield experience and tremendous personal charisma. No one objected to his arrangements.
Qifeng and the other two were left behind.
Watching the group gradually disappear into the distance, Qifeng could only hope that Orochimaru's judgment was correct and that they would wipe out the Iwa-nin.
Of the two remaining Chunin, one specialized in sensory abilities while the other specialized in setting traps. Neither knew Qifeng, so there was little to say. After a few instructions, they went off to do their own work.
He was left alone in the command room to handle the bodies.
Looking at the corpses flickering with yellow and green light, Qifeng felt rather conflicted.
There was only one Jonin corpse left, and it was also in the most miserable state. Both arms and legs had been completely severed, and Qifeng had spent considerable effort just barely restoring it to a complete form.
But its face looked as if it had been crushed by boulders, and no matter what he did, he could not restore it.
There should have been three Jonin in the outpost, so the two missing people were very likely Jonin as well.
The other nine corpses were all Chunin.
Three Jonin and nine Chunin—such a force would never have suffered such a devastating blow in peacetime.
The death of any Jonin was an enormous loss to a village.
Orochimaru had been here earlier, so Qifeng had not dared do anything out of line. Now that everyone had left, he could finally loot the bodies.
"Don't blame me. We're all from the same village, after all. You want to contribute one last bit of strength to the village too, don't you?"
As usual, he said a few nice words before looting the bodies.
He would start with the Jonin's Yellow Corpse!
Yellow Corpse, success rate 30%. Loot the body? (This time 3/3, today 9/9)
There was nothing to hesitate over at a time like this.
The Iwa-nin might launch a surprise attack at any moment. He needed to improve his strength however he could, ensuring that even if he could not win, he would still be able to escape.
"Give me an Experience Card! Give me an Experience Card!"
If he could get a Jonin Experience Card, Qifeng would feel much more at ease.
He did not believe the Iwa-nin would be like Konoha and send someone as powerful as Orochimaru for nothing more than a test.
So if he obtained a Jonin Experience Card, escaping an Iwa-nin attack would not be a problem.
He chose yes!
Failed!
Failed!
Success! Obtained a random single-attribute +3 Boost Card!
Something had dropped, but it was not quite what he had hoped for.
Still, something was better than nothing.
He used the remaining attempts on the Green Corpses.
Success! Obtained Water Release: Water Prison Wall Ninjutsu Card!
Failed!
Success! Obtained a random single-attribute +2 Boost Card!
Failed!
Failed!
Success! Obtained Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Ninjutsu Card!
The drop rate had not exceeded Qifeng's expectations, and what he obtained was far better than what he had gained in the Morgue before.
After all, most of the corpses in the Morgue had been Genin. Coming across a Chunin corpse was already considered lucky, while Jonin corpses were even rarer.
The rewards from the battlefield were indeed greater each day, but so was the danger.
These items were all good for steadily improving his strength, but compared with Experience Cards that could provide an immediate burst of power, they were indeed somewhat disappointing at this point in time.
There was nothing he could do about it.
Qifeng used the cards one by one.
Successfully learned Water Release: Water Prison Wall!
Successfully learned Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Within the virtual hexagonal roulette wheel, the attributes boosted by the cards were determined as the needle spun.
Taijutsu +3!
Taijutsu +2!
Hmm?
Surprisingly, both attribute cards had landed on taijutsu.
After awakening the Shikotsumyaku, his attributes had already become more inclined toward taijutsu, though their growth had been relatively balanced over the past week.
But with five points suddenly added to taijutsu, he had completely gone off course.
"Am I going to become a taijutsu type ninja like Might Guy?"
That was completely contrary to his planned path of hiding in the back and casting ninjutsu.
Then the system displayed another message.
Overall evaluation increased—Veteran Chunin! Character: Maruyama Qifeng Age: 13 Attributes: Fire, Earth Strength: Veteran Chunin Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku (Intermediate), Sharingan (Single Tomoe) Taijutsu: 45 Spirit: 28 Ninjutsu: 25 Genjutsu: 20 Control: 28 Seals: 25 Taijutsu: Flowing Water Sword Technique Ninjutsu: Three Basic Jutsu, Fire Release: Great Fireball, Earth Release: Rock Concealment Technique, Earth Release: Earth Shore Return, Fire Release: Flame Bullet, Water Release: Water Prison Wall, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Items: Kaseki's Obsession, ..
He really had gone off course.
Before you continue