When Ling Feng released Fish Reflected in Earth and used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge the final ninjutsu attack,
only the captain remained of the dozens of Kirigakure Elite Jonin.
"This... this is impossible!"
"You're only a five-year-old child! How can you have such a terrifying amount of chakra?"
"And what's with all those ninjutsu? Just how many chakra natures do you have?"
The Kirigakure captain broke down.
To ensure their plan went perfectly, they had not only secretly trained a combat unit but also specially selected ninja with different chakra natures, all to counter Konoha's ANBU members.
Yet they had never imagined that a five-year-old child could be so terrifying, completely overturning every prediction they had made about the battle's outcome.
Ling Feng did not answer. Instead, he silently waited for the system's notification.
Ding! Gained 2 points.
Huh?
Only 2 points now?
Looks like this person has pretty much outlived his usefulness.
After observing for some time, Ling Feng had discovered that the rewards diminished once the same person had been shocked several times.
The final minimum was 2 points.
To Ling Feng, that was no different from being tossed a pittance.
Unless there were plenty of people, in which case it might still be worthwhile. Even with low rewards, he could accumulate some points through sheer numbers.
But now only one person remained.
Ling Feng shook his head and extended his right hand.
With a crackle,
a dazzling mass of lightning burst forth.
"Chidori: Lightning Blade!"
As his enemy let out one last cry of shock, Ling Feng flickered past and killed him.
Ding! Mission complete. Reward: 300 points!
Ling Feng turned, found a rock, and sat down to rest for a while.
Killing more than twenty people in one go had been genuinely exhausting.
Even with his sage body sustaining him, Ling Feng would have struggled to keep going without the Chakra Potion.
After all, he had been unleashing ninjutsu almost nonstop from beginning to end.
While resting, Ling Feng checked his remaining points.
This operation had brought his total up to a full 824 points.
With so many points suddenly in hand, Ling Feng was in a wonderful mood.
He felt a little rich.
But after browsing the shop, that feeling of wealth vanished without a trace.
No matter how he looked at it, after upgrading his Byakugan, his remaining three hundred points still could not buy anything good.
Still, when he needed scrolls or ninja tools, he could spend freely without worrying about running short of points.
After browsing a little more and deciding that his next step would be to upgrade his sage body, Ling Feng stood up and left.
He activated his Byakugan.
Sure enough, his upgraded Byakugan gave him a somewhat wider field of vision, and he located the Land of Fire official and his three ANBU companions hiding in a cave.
Crack!
Someone kicked a stone aside, startling the people inside the cave.
Fox Mask reacted first, gripping a kunai and calling out a wary challenge.
But when they saw who had arrived, all three ANBU members breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is it all over?"
Cat asked.
Ling Feng nodded.
"You're incredible. You actually faced them alone and still managed to escape. No wonder Lord Third thinks so highly of you."
Dog also voiced his admiration.
Fox Mask, however, stared at Ling Feng in a slight daze. He was stronger than both Cat and Dog, so he noticed something unusual about Ling Feng.
He sniffed the air...
The smell of blood!
Although Ling Feng was spotless, the bloody smell still clung to his clothes.
Fox Mask was also skilled at tracking, so he noticed it immediately.
"Ling Feng, are you hurt? Now that the enemy is gone, I know some Medical Ninjutsu."
Ling Feng raised an eyebrow slightly. "I'm fine. Have the target come with us so we can get moving. There's another mission requirement: we have to reach the destination before sunset."
With that, Ling Feng turned and walked to the cave entrance, using his Byakugan to survey their surroundings.
This was his first S-rank mission, and Ling Feng would not allow anything to go wrong.
After confirming that no one was around, the group left the cave.
Soon, they passed the battlefield where Ling Feng had taken on Kirigakure's elite ninja alone.
When they saw the corpses scattered across the ground and the devastated terrain around them, everyone was stunned.
Meanwhile, system notifications kept ringing in Ling Feng's mind.
Ding! Gained 40 points! Ding! Gained 60 points! Ding! Gained 30 points!
Before returning to the carriage, the person they were protecting approached Ling Feng.
"May I ask your name?"
Ling Feng lifted his head slightly. "I'm an ANBU member. That information is classified."
The man fell silent at that. Clearly, this was the first time anyone had spoken to him like that.
Both his attitude and his tone were... far too arrogant!
The three ANBU members beside them could not help drawing sharp breaths at the sight.
They kept shooting Ling Feng meaningful looks.
But Ling Feng remained unmoved.
In the end, the man returned to his carriage, and the group continued on.
"Ling Feng, do you know who that man is?"
"He's one of the cabinet elders!"
"Exactly! So many people want to meet him but never get the chance, yet you threw away a rare opportunity to get acquainted!"
This time, all three agreed that Ling Feng had missed an incredible opportunity.
In their eyes, no matter how high someone's standing in a ninja village was, they were still only soldiers.
Only the nation's senior officials represented true status.
At their words, Ling Feng said calmly, "He only asked for my name. It's not as complicated as you're imagining. Maybe he just wanted to thank me. After all, this is our mission. We're only doing our duty."
With that, Ling Feng walked away.
These people were still far too shortsighted.
Was a senior cabinet official of the Land of Fire really that impressive?
That was only because they were still in a time of peace.
Once turmoil returned to the Shinobi World and a great war began,
no amount of power or status would matter as much as personal strength.
Others might not know, but Ling Feng understood perfectly.
When Infinite Tsukuyomi was unleashed, all the weak would become nourishment for the God Tree.
Only the strong would be able to protect themselves!
Of course, Ling Feng would never let that happen.
As dusk approached, they watched their charge enter the safe zone, marking the completion of their mission.
Fox Mask breathed a sigh of relief and said to the other three, "Thanks to Ling Feng, we completed this mission successfully. Meet in Lord Third's office at one tomorrow afternoon. Dismissed!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
All four vanished from the spot.
At the same time, news of the failure of Kirigakure's top-secret operation began to spread.
Even though Konoha had not deliberately spread the word, the corpses of those dead Kirigakure Elite Jonin were irrefutable evidence.
All the major ninja villages were abuzz with discussion.
It also marked this as the most humiliating battle in Kirigakure's history.
Nearly identical reports were submitted to the leaders of all the major powers.
"A total of 24 Kirigakure Jonin launched a top-secret operation and were wiped out by a four-person Konoha ANBU team..."
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