"Rumble!"
Several bolts of lightning as thick as bowls flashed down from the sky, instantly lighting up the entire forest.
Raijin raised the hammer in his left hand and circulated the Chakra Energy in his body, gathering the bolts of lightning together.
"Lightning Release!"
After that shout, he pointed at a towering tree ahead. Countless intertwined bolts of lightning seemed to come alive, crashing down in the direction of Raijin's finger.
"Boom!"
The deafening blast echoed through the valley. Another flash of white light left the players stunned and speechless.
The towering tree ahead, so thick that even ten people could not encircle it, had been charred black by the lightning. Its once-dense branches had vaporized, turning into specks of dust that vanished into the sky.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
After three seconds of stunned silence, thunderous applause broke out.
"Awesome! How did you do that, expert?"
"With this skill, dealing with those beasts will be a piece of cake!"
"This skill is quite good!"
Ye Chen offered a rare word of praise. "But you still have too little Chakra Energy. Otherwise, you could unleash ten times that power!"
"Really?"
Having received the NPC's approval, Raijin was thrilled.
"Yes!"
Ye Chen nodded, then turned to the others. "The destructive power of Raijin's skill is undeniable, but you have far too little Chakra Energy.
If you want to fight monsters, I suggest buying enough chakra first. That way, you'll get twice the results with half the effort!"
As he spoke, he rapidly circulated the chakra within his body and performed the skill Raijin had just demonstrated.
Several bolts of lightning flashed across the sky, intertwined once more, and swiftly crashed down.
This time, the blast was even louder. The players nearly lost their footing. By the time they recovered, a deep crater had appeared ten meters ahead, and all the surrounding vegetation had been destroyed.
The sight left everyone dumbfounded.
"That's... terrifying!"
"There were about as many lightning bolts as before, but the destructive power was several times greater. It's unimaginable."
"Did you notice? Not only was it much stronger, but the range more than doubled!"
"Is that the power of chakra?"
As soon as Dai Xiaomei said that, everyone turned to look at Ye Chen.
"Yes. The more Chakra Energy you have in your body, the more damage you can unleash. You can try it yourselves!"
With that, a light flashed, and Ye Chen vanished from the forest.
The other players finally understood.
"I get it. We were focusing on the wrong thing from the start. Chakra Energy is what matters most in this game. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and everything else come second."
"Without Chakra Energy, learning a hundred kinds of Ninjutsu won't do us any good!"
"I have an idea!"
One Sword Opens Heaven suddenly spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him.
"For now, I'll only learn this Ninjutsu Raijin created and spend all my remaining contribution points on chakra. Once we've fully mastered Lightning Release: Thunder Strike,
we'll stick to our old strategy and take the Giant Wolves down one by one. That should give us a better chance of winning!"
The players unanimously agreed with the idea. These days, whenever they were not grinding Daily Missions, they were learning Ninjutsu.
Of course, aside from grinding Daily Missions with the other players, Raijin spent most of his time researching new Ninjutsu. His love for it bordered on obsession.
The other exception was that blockhead, Emperor of Sinking. After completing a large number of Daily Missions, he had bought plenty of chakra and learned quite a few Ninjutsu.
Brimming with confidence once again, he headed into the forest, ready for another battle with the Giant Wolves.
"Ha ha! Come on, you morons! Come meet your deaths!"
"Awooo!"
The scrawny little wolf at the edge of the Giant Wolf pack seemed to recognize Emperor of Sinking as the person who had ambushed it last time. It raised its forepaw and lunged at him.
"Holy shit! You fucking fight dirty!"
Before Emperor of Sinking could perform any Ninjutsu, the wolf cub slapped him straight back to the Respawn Point.
"I refuse to believe I can't kill you today, you beast!"
Back in the Respawn Hall yet again, Emperor of Sinking flew into another rage and stormed out.
In the forest.
"Come on! Get over here!"
Holding a chicken drumstick he had acquired from somewhere, Emperor of Sinking kept testing the limits at the edge of the forest, provoking the wolf that had just slapped him to death.
"I knew you couldn't get over here! I'll wear you down today, even if it takes forever!"
"Awooo!"
Enraged, the little wolf threw back its head and howled, then lowered its head and blasted air at Emperor of Sinking.
Violent winds instantly swept through the area. The small tree in front of Emperor of Sinking was blown away, leaving him without cover. The wind swept him off the cliff, and he smashed to pieces below...
Watching this unfold from in front of the Energy Ball, Ye Chen was speechless. He wondered how the system had let such an idiot in.
What an eyesore. I don't want to watch!
With nothing else to do, he began studying the Ninjutsu Raijin had created again.
As Ye Chen pondered it, he muttered to himself, "This Ninjutsu seems a little familiar."
He performed Lightning Release: Thunder Strike again. A familiar image flashed through his mind, and he suddenly remembered.
"Isn't this just a modified Falling Thunder Technique?"
"No wonder it felt so familiar. That kid really is talented, coming up with something like this!"
But he soon noticed something amiss. Although Ninjutsu: Lightning Release: Thunder Strike was very similar to the Falling Thunder Technique, its movements were completely different.
Compared with the normal Falling Thunder Technique, the Ninjutsu Raijin had created took far too long to launch, and its execution was overly complicated.
It required a hammer as well as circulating chakra, and the two steps could not be performed simultaneously. In short, there were too many moves. It looked cool, but it was impractical.
Against a real ninja, he would probably be killed in a single blow before he could even launch it.
Still, for a complete novice who knew nothing about Ninjutsu, creating a reasonably powerful technique just from watching anime was already remarkable.
Watching Raijin still working hard to develop new skills inside the Energy Ball, Ye Chen's gaze softened with approval.
"This kid's good. He might even become a pillar of my village someday. I'll have to keep a close eye on him!"
Raijin, who was in the forest, knew nothing of this. But after several days of practice and testing, he had also discovered the weakness of his Ninjutsu.
"How can I shorten the time? Or rather, how can I launch lightning without relying on something external?"
He looked down at his palm, then up at the sky, going over the process of performing Lightning Release: Thunder Strike again and again in his mind.
Suddenly, he rolled over and sat up, as though something had occurred to him.
"Chakra Energy is so powerful. Could I use it to draw down lightning and control it?"
He acted immediately, tossing aside his hammer and gathering chakra in his right hand as he pointed it at the sky.
"Lightning Release!"
Before you continue