Kusagakure's reaction

Jonin were hard to deal with.

Chunin, however, were nowhere near as difficult.

Although the rewards for taking down Chunin were lower than those for Jonin, who would turn down more rewards?

After all, eliminating an invading Chunin from Kusagakure still earned 1,500 contribution points.

For a moment, all the players hurled every last talisman they had at the Grass Ninja squad.

In an instant.

A rapid barrage of explosions rang out.

In the blink of an eye, several unlucky Chunin were blasted into bloody messes.

They collapsed straight to the ground.

As a veteran sneak, Dai Xiaomei would never let such a golden opportunity to steal a kill slip away.

Taking advantage of the chaotic melee, she conjured a Wind Blade Technique in her hand.

She blasted it straight into a half-dead ninja lying on the ground.

[Ding! Player Dai Xiaomei has eliminated an invading Chunin from Kusagakure and earned 1,500 contribution points...]

The reward notification instantly flashed across everyone's screens.

Every player turned to stare at her.

Even Dai Xiaomei, thick-skinned as she was, felt embarrassed at that moment.

She scratched her head and laughed. "Hehe, just lucky, just lucky..."

"Lucky, my ass! We worked our asses off dealing damage, and you stole the kill without a second thought!"

"Kill-stealing menace. So annoying..."

Quite a few players laid into Dai Xiaomei.

But even more players seized the opening after the talisman bombardment.

They charged forward.

There were only so many invading Grass Ninja, and the kill rewards were obviously first come, first served.

So the others no longer had time to criticize Dai Xiaomei.

They followed the main group and charged straight into the Grass Ninja squad.

Poor He Mu, the Jonin.

He had just used Ninjutsu to blast away two players who had closed in on him.

Then another four or five players sprang out behind them.

They attacked without the slightest fear of death.

"You're insane! Insane! All of you are insane..."

"This whole village is full of lunatics!"

He Mu was utterly dumbfounded. He had never faced this kind of fearless fighting before.

Or rather, this kind of suicidal assault.

But the players couldn't care less about him right now.

Taking down a Jonin from Kusagakure earned them 2,000 contribution points.

No one could resist such a generous reward.

Every one of them charged with all their might, afraid that arriving a moment too late would leave them without a share.

Finally, He Mu drained the last of his chakra.

After unleashing one Fireball Technique.

He was reduced to a human punching bag.

More than a dozen players following close behind ganged up on him.

[Ding! Player Heaven-Piercing Sword has eliminated a Jonin from Kusagakure. Reward: 2,000 contribution points.]

Poor He Mu, a full-fledged Jonin, had ultimately been beaten to death by a mob.

If word of this got out.

It would leave the entire Shinobi World stunned.

With He Mu dead, the already routed Grass Ninja squad.

Lost all will to resist.

Every one of them wished their parents had given them another pair of legs.

They fled madly toward the rear.

The players used their Taijutsu and followed right on their heels.

"This game is way too realistic. Even the mobs know how to run away."

"Yeah, whatever. The rewards are what matter."

"First come, first served!"

The players chatted excitedly.

Then chased after them.

A few minutes later, they cleaned up the battlefield.

The first invading Grass Ninja squad had been wiped out, without a single survivor.

The players had suffered considerable losses too.

Practically everyone had died once, and some of the unlucky ones.

Had even died three or four times.

But dying only meant respawning again.

Besides, getting from the village to the battlefield didn't take long.

In short, the Grass Ninja squad had been worn down to death by relentless waves of attackers.

Meanwhile, after this great battle.

No one was happier than Daoist Arts Master, the inventor of the talismans.

Through this battle.

Almost everyone had realized how important talismans were.

Ninjutsu required hand seals and consumed chakra, and its ultimate power depended on the user's own strength.

Talismans, however, needed none of that.

To use a talisman, all you had to do was throw it.

Some talismans could even rival B-rank Ninjutsu in sheer power.

He Mu's Fire Dragon Technique had been blasted apart by talismans.

Without a doubt, what followed.

Was a frenzy among the players to buy and redeem talismans.

And the one who benefited.

Was naturally none other than Daoist Arts Master.

He was earning so many contribution points without lifting a finger that he was practically numb to it.

In this game, he could craft talismans and sell them on consignment through the village's Talisman Shop.

The only expense he had to pay was a listing fee.

Compared with that, the contribution points pouring into his pockets were a fortune.

And so, Daoist Arts Master had never been more passionate about Daoist culture.

He was either developing new talismans or on his way to developing new talismans.

These were all glittering piles of contribution points!

Meanwhile.

At Kusagakure's Anbu headquarters.

A flying ninja beast flew straight into the room and landed on Bibiye's hand.

"Captain Bibiye, have we still not heard from He Mu and the others?"

"What on earth happened? Dealing with a newly established little village shouldn't take this much effort."

"Exactly. He Mu is a seasoned ninja. Nothing should have gone wrong."

Inside the room, the Grass Ninja Anbu members talked over one another.

Bibiye said nothing as he received the intelligence brought back by the flying ninja beast.

His face visibly darkened.

It grew so grim that he looked ready to thunder.

"He Mu and his squad have been wiped out," Bibiye said coldly.

Boom...

The moment those words left his mouth.

The entire room erupted.

"Impossible! There must be some mistake..."

"Exactly, Captain Bibiye. Surely there's been a mistake."

"He Mu has never failed a mission. How could he possibly lose to a little shinobi village..."

Everyone voiced their doubts.

Bibiye's expression was ugly as his gaze swept over them. "Do you think I have any reason to lie?"

Whoosh...

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

At that moment, everyone fell silent.

A deathly stillness settled over the room.

It wasn't just Bibiye. Everyone was now frantically weighing whether the report was true.

Whether or not He Mu's squad had been completely wiped out.

One thing was certain: He Mu's squad had now lost all contact with the village.

That alone was enough to tell them something was wrong.

He Mu's squad was probably beyond any hope of survival now.

"We really did underestimate Junying Village's strength..."

After a long while, Bibiye sighed and spoke.

Deep down, Bibiye even felt a faint stir of regret.

They were already struggling this much just to deal with Junying Village's novice ninja.

And that was without accounting for Junying, whose strength rivaled Kage level, still inside the village.

But now, the war had already begun.

It couldn't be stopped simply because either side called for a halt.

Besides, as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, was Kusagakure supposed to sue for peace with a newly established shinobi village?

Nothing like that had ever happened in the history of the Shinobi World, and Kusagakure certainly couldn't be the first.

If word of this got out, it wouldn't just be Bibiye's reputation that suffered.

It would be the reputation of all Kusagakure.