Pulling Aggro

A spiraling spatial vortex appeared, ignoring all defenses and every possible countermeasure as it directly shredded over half of Scorpion’s body while he was dodging Xu Yue’s monstrous strength!

The sudden heavy blow left Scorpion completely stunned.

"Space-time ninjutsu?!"

His shrill cry made Xu Yue sigh inwardly instead.

Had Scorpion already begun modifying his entire body into a puppet? Even if he had not yet reached the point he did in the middle of the story, where only the heart supplying Chakra remained, he had probably already completed most of the transformation.

Kamui had indeed unleashed the brutal force it was meant to. If any other Kage-level expert had taken that blow, most of them would have died.

But Scorpion, whose body had already been turned into a puppet, happened to be an exception.

With half his puppet body shattered, Chakra threads twisted continuously.

Wreckage scattered around the area, damaged by Xu Yue’s monstrous strength, swiftly assembled itself. It barely restored the missing half of Scorpion’s body, though he was visibly much more weakened.

Seeing Scorpion’s bloodshot eyes, Xu Yue, who had already recovered from Kamui’s burden thanks to his Sage Body, understood that it would be difficult to keep Scorpion here this time.

A Kage-level big shot was still a Kage-level big shot. Even a tiger fallen onto the plains possessed plenty of ways to save his life.

In the story, Jiraiya could have escaped from Six Paths of Pain if he had not risked himself again for intelligence. That was even after losing an arm in the ambush.

Although Scorpion was still far weaker than Jiraiya had been then, he was not someone a half-baked fighter like Xu Yue could handle.

After completely suppressing his desire and greed, Xu Yue did not attack Scorpion, who looked as though he would die from a single poke. Instead, he stood quietly in place, the Three Tomoe in his eyes spinning as though searching for something.

Scorpion, who looked half-dead after cobbling together a garbage body, merely snorted coldly.

Then, every puppet fragment around them, including those already completely ruined, exploded at once, releasing green smoke that corroded the sand with sizzling sounds.

Even though Xu Yue had played it safe and kept quite a distance from Scorpion, some of the poisonous smoke still reached him.

Wood Style: Wood Golem

His hands rapidly formed seals as Xu Yue used this escape technique for the first time. Its rank was not particularly high, but it was extremely practical and offered comprehensive defense.

It completely enclosed him within.

Even from inside, Xu Yue could clearly feel the corrosion outside and the drain on his Chakra. By the time the consumption stopped and he cautiously released the technique, Sasori of the Red Sands had already vanished.

The entire stretch of sand had been corroded black!

Rather than fleeing immediately, he had deliberately feigned weakness to lure Xu Yue in, still intending to kill him in return.

Scorpion’s pride was plain to see.

After being forced to flee in such a miserable state, he had probably truly become Xu Yue’s enemy.

What a pity. If Xu Yue had encountered Scorpion in his complete form, he would definitely have looked for an opportunity to cooperate. Instead, this Scorpion had appeared, looking so tempting and easy to take down. Xu Yue really could not be blamed for failing to restrain himself…

Mission completed: Mystery of the Third Kazekage. Reward has been added to the final settlement.

The sudden notification left Xu Yue somewhat bewildered.

He had fought Scorpion, but why had he suddenly completed a mission like this?

A thought struck him. Xu Yue’s left eye transformed into a Mangekyo again. After a massive distortion appeared before him, he entered it and arrived in the independent dimensional space that only his eyes could connect to. (It was mentioned earlier that the protagonist’s enhancements in this space were independent and not linked to Obito’s.)

This independent space seemed to be made of countless cubes. Some bits of junk that had been struck during his tests of Kamui had also been sucked in after being shredded, floating in the air.

Xu Yue also clearly spotted the shattered parts of Scorpion’s body.

Kamui’s principle was actually to create a dimensional rift and draw matter inside. When used offensively, however, the opening was minimized as much as possible, using spatial distortion to cut apart and pulverize the target before absorbing it—as though tearing the paper itself to destroy the person painted on it.

But Xu Yue had wanted to finish Scorpion in one go, so the attack’s range had been a little too large. Any living creature caught within it would certainly have been torn to pieces and killed, but because Scorpion’s puppet body had been hit, the portions sucked in had not all been pulverized.

Inside, Xu Yue stared blankly at a Sealing Scroll marked with the character "Wind."

Why did this scroll look strangely familiar…

Combined with the earlier notification from Reincarnation Space, Xu Yue had the urge to cover his face.

Of course Boss Scorpion would carry such an important item with him. But now that Xu Yue had gotten his hands on it, Scorpion’s most beloved toy was gone. This grudge had truly become huge.

A special bond has formed: Deathly Enmity. Scorpion's resentment toward you may be greater than you imagine.

Xu Yue had gone through so many missions and had offended plenty of people in the story, but this was the first time he had formed such a negative bond!

A bond had appeared just from hatred. Couldn’t it at least give me some hatred points to exchange for something…

Still, it did not matter. The gains from this trip were quite substantial!

Fighting a Kage-level expert—even a crippled Kage-level expert—did not erase his status. Those two Reincarnators who had been casually killed were the best proof.

If Xu Yue had not countered him so effectively, he really would have had trouble dealing with him.

And even someone capable of defeating Scorpion would probably have found it difficult to obtain this scroll containing the Third Kazekage.

Though the battle had ended after only a few exchanges, this mission was at least guaranteed to yield multiple A-Rank Plots. If handled well, it might even allow Xu Yue to obtain his first S-Rank Plot earned through completing a mission!

"How should I make use of this? Unsealing this Sealing Scroll should also require some kind of secret technique, right? And would the higher-ups of the Land of Wind truly have no suspicions at all about the Third Kazekage’s death?"

In the original story, the Third Kazekage had disappeared, and such an important figure as Scorpion had fled. How could they possibly not suspect Scorpion?

Most likely, old lady Chiyo, who doted on her grandson, had suppressed the matter. And with the fact that they had already lost their Kazekage, the Land of Wind also had to find an excuse to redirect the conflict.

If Xu Yue brought this out now, it probably would not have any decisive effect. Once they had fought to this extent, it was not as though they could simply stop.

They had to hurt the Land of Wind on the battlefield—hurt them until they wanted to seek peace themselves. Only then could he reveal this item, giving them a reason and excuse to make peace while also making them pay dearly.

That was the only way to maximize both his merits in Konoha and his mission rewards from Reincarnation Space…

Besides, he could not handle this entire matter alone. Having gone this deep into the mission, it was about time to return.

"Kakashi’s Kamui is explosively powerful, but it lacks Obito’s flexibility."

After shaking his head and opening a passage out again, Xu Yue looked over the desert and felt a little greedy for Obito’s pair of eyes.

Unfortunately, Obito had not awakened his eyes yet. Once he did, Zetsu would take him away. Zetsu might not be particularly strong, but his ability to escape was the strongest in Naruto. Combined with Obito’s similarly stubborn survivability, he would be truly difficult to deal with…

Aahhh~ I was exhausted all day, only to realize it’s still Tuesday. I don’t even want to live anymore…