[Ding! The village chief has issued a mission: accelerate the clearing of Ninja Beasts around the village and locate Kusagakure. Mission reward: 2,000 contribution points.]
After Ye Chen issued the mission, Emperor of Sinking and all the other players froze.
"What... 2,000 contribution points???? Am I seeing this right!!!!"
"Two thousand! Holy crap, why is the reward so high this time?"
"It's just finding Kusagakure on the map, isn't it? What's so hard about that? These points are practically free! Let's go, guys!"
"We'd be fools not to earn those 2,000 contribution points!"
At the sight of that massive reward, every player grew wildly excited, as if pumped full of adrenaline.
Two thousand contribution points.
A full two thousand!
How many daily quests would they have to complete to earn that much?
A month?
Two months?
Or three months?
Completing this one mission would make them rich!
Ignoring the danger entirely, all the players immediately rushed out, clamoring to find Kusagakure's exact location.
Seeing this, Ye Chen shook his head with a wry smile.
That was the advantage of players. They weren't afraid of dying at all.
For ordinary ninja, locating a powerful ninja village was an extremely dangerous mission-one they might not survive at all. Who would dare go?
But for his players, none of that was a problem!
They could respawn after dying anyway.
Sure enough, a donkey's purpose was to turn the millstone.
All he had to do was work his players as hard as he could.
Once they located Kusagakure, it would be time for Ye Chen to make his next move.
Meanwhile.
Deep within a vast forest.
As far as the eye could see, dense woods covered every hill and valley.
Towering trees spread like enormous umbrellas, blocking out the sun entirely.
Though it was daytime, beneath the trees it was as dark as night.
Not a single ray of sunlight could get through!
Clusters of closely packed buildings stood within the forest.
This was Kusagakure!
At that moment, inside Kusagakure's Anbu headquarters.
Anbu Captain Bibiye was listening to his subordinates' daily reports.
Although Kusagakure was small compared to the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Its Anbu... was no less impressive than that of any ninja village in the Five Great Nations.
Of course, that applied only to intelligence gathering and the number of ninja.
Not their combat strength.
After all, a large part of why Kusagakure could survive and thrive between the Five Great Nations was its location, which allowed it to gather more intelligence and sell it.
As a result, Kusagakure's Anbu was unusually large, with a tremendous number of members.
"Captain Bibiye, we've received an invitation to Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams. Konoha will hold the exams in twenty days."
"Should we send anyone to participate? If so, we'll need to submit a roster to Konoha soon."
Bibiye nodded at the report and asked, "Oh, it is Konoha's turn this year. How have the other nations responded?"
"Captain, the other four nations have all responded favorably. Sunagakure in particular."
"According to reliable intelligence, the Kazekage has decided to send his son, Gaara, the Jinchūriki of Shukaku the One-Tail, to take the Chunin Ninja Exams."
"Oh, a Jinchūriki? The Land of Wind really is itching to make a move..."
Bibiye slowly tapped the desk.
Although the Chunin Ninja Exams sounded like ordinary exams, their nature went far beyond that.
If they were ordinary exams, each nation could hold them at home. There would be no need to make such a spectacle of them.
The purpose of the Chunin Ninja Exams was to flex their muscles!
To showcase their youngest, most promising talents to the other nations of the shinobi world.
To build their reputations!
To demonstrate their military strength.
That was the true significance of the Chunin Ninja Exams.
Small nations like the Land of Grass usually participated only to make the Five Great Nations look good.
Seriously, with ninjutsu so tightly monopolized in the shinobi world, who could compete with the Five Great Nations when it came to young ninja?
But refusing to participate wasn't an option either. They still had to show the Five Great Nations some respect.
There was no helping it. That was the lot of a small nation.
"All right, understood. Is there anything else?" Bibiye asked again.
"Captain, there is another rather strange matter. One of our Genin has gone missing."
"Missing? A Genin?"
Bibiye showed no reaction to the news.
Of course, that wasn't because he didn't care about his subordinates' lives.
Rather, the Land of Grass frequently came under attack from other nations' ninja because of its unusual location.
A few ninja disappearing was perfectly normal.
Especially when the missing ninja was only a Genin.
So Bibiye wasn't moved in the slightest.
However, his subordinate continued, "Captain, this missing Genin was a little different. He was investigating a secret mission. According to his intelligence notes, he found residual traces of chakra in a village and was investigating them."
"Chakra?"
Bibiye's tapping finger stopped.
What did that mean?
Unknown chakra had appeared within the Land of Grass. That meant this was serious.
Either ninja from another nation had invaded.
Or something had happened without their knowledge.
"Where was this unknown chakra discovered?" Bibiye asked.
"I'm sorry, Captain. That Genin was handling this on his own, so we don't know the exact location. We only discovered this matter in his diary and can infer a general area," his subordinate said anxiously.
"Starting today, send more intelligence ninja to gather information."
"Teams of two. Send a report every half hour."
Bibiye quickly made his arrangements.
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone nodded and left.
"Who could it be?"
Once everyone had gone, a strange look appeared in Bibiye's eyes.
With the Chunin Ninja Exams approaching, some organizations were bound to be itching to make a move.
But no matter what, the Land of Grass could never become a pawn in the great nations' games!
Hidden Jun Village.
After Ye Chen issued the mission to locate Kusagakure, Dai Xiaomei and the other players all headed out.
They began searching in every direction.
In fact, Hidden Jun Ninja's game design was much like that of most games.
At the start, everything on the map outside Hidden Jun Village was blacked out. None of the surrounding terrain was visible.
Once a player entered an unfamiliar area, they could reveal it, and all the villagers could share that visibility.
The feeling of exploration made every player incredibly excited.
"Exploring uncharted territory! Do you guys know what that means?"
Dai Xiaomei excitedly explained, "As an intelligence operative of Hidden Jun Village, I'll definitely find Kusagakure's exact location. Those 2,000 contribution points are as good as mine!"
Dai Xiaomei was brimming with confidence.
The viewers in her livestream all rolled their eyes.
"Old lady, if you're so confident, why did you bring Emperor of Sinking?"
"Exactly. Aren't you just trying to mooch off Emperor of Sinking's luck? Skill? What skill?? Your skill at mooching off his luck?"
The viewers turned their attention to Emperor of Sinking, who stood in front of Dai Xiaomei.
That was right. Dai Xiaomei had specifically brought Emperor of Sinking along to borrow some of his incredible luck.
Of course, Emperor of Sinking couldn't see the livestream chat. He believed his exceptional combat intelligence and near-perfect fighting skills must have attracted Dai Xiaomei.
With that thought, Emperor of Sinking proudly patted Dai Xiaomei on the shoulder and said, "Choosing me as your teammate was the best decision of your life!"
Dai Xiaomei nodded in agreement. "It's all up to you, boss!"
Still basking in his own exceptional intelligence, Emperor of Sinking led Dai Xiaomei swiftly through the forest.
He explained things as he scouted the way.
"I once saw the Wolf King appear along this path up ahead. A boss like Kusagakure must have incredibly powerful Ninja Beasts around it. I think this path gives us a very good chance of finding Kusagakure!"
Emperor of Sinking delivered his analysis with perfect confidence.
But neither Dai Xiaomei nor any of her viewers had the slightest interest in listening.
Seriously, if we wanted explanations, wouldn't we just team up with One Sword Opens Heaven?
Wouldn't his combat explanations and analysis be more thorough than yours?
We're only following you to soak up your luck! Do you really think you're some expert player?
Know your role!
Finding Kusagakure just because the Wolf King appeared somewhere? That's a bit ridiculous!
Of course, Dai Xiaomei didn't expose Emperor of Sinking. She simply kept nodding in agreement, making him feel even better. Snap!
Suddenly, as Emperor of Sinking raced through the treetops, a sharp pain shot through his ankle.
His body fell with a thud.
An agonizing stab of pain surged through him.
Emperor of Sinking looked down. A massive trap clamped his ankle, and his ankle bone had already been snapped!
"Oh no, an ambush!"
Emperor of Sinking shouted.
Dai Xiaomei immediately scanned her surroundings warily.
But before Dai Xiaomei could react.
Five Grass Ninja wearing forehead protectors appeared before Dai Xiaomei and Emperor of Sinking.
Before you continue