Crazy Enemies

First, the Puppet Master, who specialized in controlling puppets, created the illusion of an ordinary scouting team to draw the enemy’s attention.

Underground, the pockmarked dwarf with the Magic Lamp Vessel, who could move freely beneath the sand, would launch the first sneak attack. Success would be ideal, but even failure would create enough of a disturbance to draw the enemy’s attention. Then, the final team member, who possessed invisibility, would strike!

Against an ordinary Chunin squad, they could almost effortlessly wipe out the entire group without paying any price.

Yet with such seamless coordination, they had somehow lost one of their own first?!

Though their ambushing teammate’s main abilities were concealment and invisibility, since he dared to launch a close-range sneak attack, his close-combat ability had to be at the elite Chunin level.

If the ambush succeeded, even a Jonin might meet a bitter end. Even if it failed, he should have been able to contend with the enemy for a while.

Yet now, he had practically been instantly killed in return!

"Sharingan?"

"Three Tomoe?"

The two hostile Reincarnators knew their stuff. They quickly noticed the difference in Xu Yue’s eyes, and their hearts jolted violently.

An enemy with the Three Tomoe Sharingan was practically the last thing they wanted to encounter in the Ninja War Mission Space!

Even if they won, the loot’s price would reach the Space’s minimum limit, and there was no telling when they would find a chance to sell it. Yet every enemy possessing those eyes was undoubtedly incredibly troublesome. The cost-effectiveness was completely backwards.

"Are you natives? You two really are lucky."

Facing their companion’s death, the two Sand Ninja Reincarnators appeared utterly indifferent, as though they did not care in the least.

To sacrifice oneself for Allah—only after death could one enjoy bliss and liberation.

Only after the fact did Tan Gong and Chen Yang realize that the enemy had somehow gotten behind them. Having felt as if they had walked through death’s door, their backs were soaked in cold sweat.

Thankfully!

Thankfully, this Uchiha Clan member was reliable. He actually possessed the Three Tomoe Sharingan and had directly turned their disadvantage into an advantage!

But now that they had also killed one of the enemy, there was no way to simply stop, especially when dealing with a pack of madmen like these.

"You two can leave now. Leave that murderer behind, and we’ll let this matter go."

But just as Tan Gong and Chen Yang prepared themselves, the pockmarked dwarf sitting atop the Sand Beast spoke.

After leaving the two stunned for a moment, they decisively retorted,

"Don’t try to sow discord. We’ve both been around long enough, so use your brains."

They had already made it to Chunin. Though they were considerably weaker than the two elites remaining on the other side, they were still highly experienced. They knew that they absolutely could not waver now. Otherwise, even if the enemy agreed to sign some kind of contract, they might seize upon that moment of inner hesitation and crush them in a single blow!

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. You brought this upon yourselves!"

The pockmarked dwarf, who had seemed ready to take a step back, suddenly twisted his face viciously and raised a hand in a grabbing motion.

The ape-like Sand Beast beneath him immediately made the same motion.

Not only that, a patch of quicksand abruptly appeared beneath Xu Yue and the other two.

His earlier words had not been meant to sow discord at all. They had merely been intended to distract them!

The Quicksand Technique had appeared too suddenly and covered too wide an area, leaving the three with no chance to evade it.

At the same time, the other Puppet Master controlled two puppets and sent them lunging toward the trio.

Chen Yang and Tan Gong, who had been prepared, did not panic. Wings of illusion spread from one man’s back, carrying him free of the quicksand and into the air.

The other roared, his entire body turning golden. At some point, a metal scepter had appeared in his hand, and he swung it wildly like a mad demon.

That sudden burst actually smashed the sandy arm apart completely!

In midair, Chen Yang took the opportunity to scatter great swathes of sticky threads from his wings, binding the two puppets like a spiderweb.

For a moment, they completely neutralized the enemy’s offensive.

But in the next instant, the two men who had looked so imposing just moments ago simultaneously began retreating.

One frantically beat his wings, while Tan Gong, transformed into a golden man, used his greatly increased strength to break free from the quicksand and turn tail.

In the very first exchange, the two of them had already exposed their trump cards merely to barely block the attack. The gap between them really was too great. If they did not run now, then when would they?!

Their mouths claimed that the enemy’s attempt at sowing discord was useless, but in truth, as Reincarnators, they put profit above all else even without the enemy’s provocation.

They would first weather a round of attacks and see. If there was a chance to take them down, they would naturally fight for it. But even after using their trump cards, they had only barely protected themselves and had not even touched a hair on the enemy’s true body. What was left to fight with?!

When it came time to sell someone out, they would do so without hesitation. Better a dead friend than a dead me. Weren’t natives meant to be sold out?

The Three Tomoe Sharingan’s strength should be enough to delay them for a while—long enough for the two of them to escape.

Heh heh~

You’re the one who killed them!

Naturally, you should bear the consequences yourself!

The essence and ultimate principle of a ninja was to never let others see their next move. To put it bluntly, it was deception!

Xu Yue, who had seemed somewhat dazed all this time, finally snapped out of a strange train of thought. The earlier kill notification had made him feel as though he had encountered a fake Space.

Faction mode bonus calculation, both sides' strength bonus calculation, both sides' completed mission count bonus calculation, dropped equipment bonus calculation, random reward selection in progress.

Plot Points obtained: none. Reincarnation Points obtained: 321. Items obtained: Explosive Tag x12. Skills obtained: none.

Although the rewards were sparse and rather useless, this free loot made Xu Yue, who had been oppressed by the Space for far too long, feel a faint touch of emotion.

At the same time, he discovered an enormous benefit of faction mode! Skills could actually be drawn as rewards?

Though the probability appeared very low—he had gotten nothing even with all these bonuses—it was at least another possible avenue.

After digesting all that, the two Sand Ninjas had also recovered from the other two men’s trump-card abilities.

The scattered arm began to reform.

The puppet stuck in the webbing used the blades on its body to cut itself free and prepared to attack Xu Yue again.

Hmph, the Three Tomoe Sharingan might be a bit trashy, but the strength is there. Once we deal with him, we can still…

Boom!

Parts and yellow sand filled the sky as the two puppets and the Sand Beast were almost simultaneously blown apart!

A violent explosion erupted, but the firelight from the puppets’ self-destruction could not even keep up with the figure that shot out of the blast zone!

Didn’t I say he was a Special Jonin proficient in taijutsu? High-level Body Mastery, understand?!

The Body Flicker Technique effect produced by that high-speed taijutsu made Xu Yue appear before the Puppet Master in the span of a breath.

Konoha Whirlwind!

With one kick, he completely shattered both the enemy and the newly summoned puppet, piercing through the storm of parts and striking him directly!

Crack!

The sound of breaking bones rang out. Adi’s muscular, sharply defined body was completely warped by the kick before he was sent flying.

Yet Xu Yue, with his high-level Body Mastery, followed at an even greater speed than his opponent’s backward flight.

But just as he condensed a Rasengan in his hand, intending to finish his opponent with the next blow, the Sharingan locking onto the enemy spun several times faster.

In the next instant, he forcibly halted his momentum. The tearing sensation from stopping so abruptly caused even Xu Yue’s high-level Sage Body to suffer some strain. Then he swiftly retreated at high speed in the opposite direction.

As the madman’s expression twisted and he chanted a "curse," an item resembling a Sealing Scroll on his body burst open, releasing thousands upon thousands of Explosive Tags!

They detonated with a thunderous blast.

Massive flames and shockwaves, mixed with surging grains of sand, chased after the rapidly retreating Xu Yue before finally swallowing him.

A moment later, Xu Yue rushed out of the flames looking slightly bedraggled, the glow of the Mystical Palm Technique flickering in his hand as he healed his wounds.

Fortunately, he had evaded in time and had only been caught by the outer edge of the blast. His high-level Sage Body was also strong enough, and his recovery speed was exceptionally fast.

By the time the pursuing Sand Beast reached him, Xu Yue had already recovered his full combat strength. With another burst of high-speed taijutsu, he left a trail of afterimages and directly circled behind the Sand Beast.

The terrifying speed and howling wind made even his expressionless face seem somewhat grotesque.

The pockmarked dwarf, shocked that the enemy’s strength had not been affected, turned his head and saw that face.

Again came that fanatical expression and chant. Unfortunately, he did not possess Adi’s physique, capable of taking one of Xu Yue’s attacks head-on.

His small, frail body was directly pierced by a fist!

His face filled with disbelief, he vomited fragments in great mouthfuls, choking off every word he might have said.

Xu Yue merely collected the lamp vessel from the other man’s hand, which had not been reduced to a blank item, with an indifferent expression.

This made the dwarf, already on the countdown to death, even more terrified. He had not been so frightened even when facing death itself, yet Xu Yue’s action left him unable to comprehend it and utterly shocked.

He had taken away the special equipment purchased from the Space, and it had not been reduced to a blank item by a story character?

He could still feel the lingering power in his hand!

The other side was a Reincarnator!!

What kind of world was this?! The Space had always been pitifully unfair, but how could it screw him over so badly this time?!

Damn Space…

But by then, realizing it was already too late. When Xu Yue pulled his arm out from the dwarf’s body, the little man lost all signs of life.

Plot Points obtained: C-rank x1. Reincarnation Points obtained: 125. Items obtained: Explosive Tag x20. Skills obtained: none.

The rewards made Xu Yue’s mouth twitch again. Were Explosive Tags the only thing you people carried?!

Did you convert all your spare Reincarnation Points into Explosive Tags?! Then sell the tags whenever you needed something else?

Uh, upon thinking about it carefully, that actually seemed quite possible.

They might even have an Explosive Tag production line. They really were a bunch of madmen…