Wood Release and Renown

Within the dense forest grown by Wood Release, Yota watched a group of Rogue Ninja who had already lost the ability to resist. Black mist spread out and instantly absorbed them completely.

Sara scratched her arm somewhat uncomfortably. Although after several months of carrying out missions, she was no longer a complete novice, she still found Yota’s casual way of taking lives deeply unsettling.

At first, she had been fiercely opposed to killing. It was only after seeing how those Rogue Ninja treated civilians that she changed her attitude.

Rogue Ninja were different from ninja of the ninja villages. After all, village ninja had to consider their village’s reputation, and the education they received did not allow them to attack civilians. Departments like Root were, after all, only a minority and generally did not deal with civilians.

Therefore, although wars inevitably involved some collateral damage and a few black sheep, ninja village ninja were generally rather kind toward civilians.

Even when two countries were at war, ninja from the major villages would generally not attack enemy civilians unless they had a necessary reason.

But Rogue Ninja were different. They did not hesitate in the slightest when attacking civilians.

To make a comparison, ninja village ninja were like local gangsters who collected protection money, valuing reputation and sustainable development. Rogue Ninja, meanwhile, were more like roaming criminals looking to make a quick score. Which side was more vicious was obvious at a glance.

After repeatedly seeing villages slaughtered and plundered clean by Rogue Ninja, Sara’s behavior changed immediately. Although she still rarely killed personally, she no longer feared taking the lives of those Rogue Ninja.

Generally, battles between small countries involved hiring Rogue Ninja. After all, not many countries could afford to maintain a ninja village themselves, and they also had to consider the possibility of the ninja village turning on them.

Take the Land of Rain, for example. It simply had no so-called Daimyo; everything was ruled by the Rain Ninja Village. Small countries were already weak in their ability to resist, and if a ninja village truly had any ill intentions, it could almost achieve its goals with ease.

The Land of Snow from the original movie was an obvious example. The Daimyo’s younger brother had succeeded in rebellion largely because he himself was also a powerful ninja.

Without a ninja village, Rogue Ninja naturally became the best choice for these small countries.

Since the Sage of Six Paths dispersed Chakra, more than a thousand years had passed. Almost everyone in the Naruto World had more or less Chakra within their bodies; the only difference was whether they had refined it.

Even ordinary people in the ninja world could refine Chakra within themselves after spending a year or two, provided they had a method to do so.

Even if they knew no ninjutsu and could only instinctively use Chakra to strengthen their bodies, someone with Chakra could still fight ten people alone. Under such circumstances, they could call themselves a Rogue Ninja.

It was precisely because the power of Chakra was so easy to obtain that even the major ninja villages could never completely prohibit it. In fact, the number of Rogue Ninja throughout the Naruto World was likely several times greater than that of regular ninja. They simply could not be killed off completely. This also made them the most useful tool in wars between small countries.

Of course, these unruly Rogue Ninja were also the source of chaos in those small countries. And Akatsuki was currently taking advantage of that chaos to seek profit.

Many times, that chaos had been stirred up by Akatsuki in the first place. Of course, White Zetsu, with its powerful transformation ability, was likely responsible for that. Even though Yota had now taken Nagato’s place, he still knew little about such matters.

After devouring all their Chakra, Yota tossed out the shriveled corpses of the Rogue Ninja and hung them back on the trees—this was why Sara, despite being a Wood Release ninja who did not kill, still terrified those Rogue Ninja to the core. They all thought those shriveled corpses were people whose Chakra had been drained dry by Wood Release.

"Alright, looks like this mission is complete again. All the Rogue Ninja attacking the Land of Salt have been dealt with. Let’s go find the Land of Salt’s Daimyo for the remaining payment. After that, we’ll make a trip to the Land of Bears. There’s something there I happen to want," Yota said, clapping his hands.

"What have you set your sights on this time? Is it some treasure like our Loulan Dragon Vein?" Sara blinked and asked directly.

"It’s the Star of the Star Ninja Village in the Land of Bears!" Yota did not hide it. "It’s said to be a meteorite that fell from the sky. It possesses strange radiation that can alter the quality of a person’s Chakra. It can make Chakra go from intangible to tangible, allowing one to cultivate a ninjutsu called the Peacock Method."

"Now I finally understand what you meant when you said ninja were all bad people," Sara remarked. "It feels like you’re always thinking about how to steal other people’s things."

"Don’t talk nonsense. Even if the Star is left in the Star Ninja Village, they can’t use it properly. Who knows how many people have died in the Star Ninja Village trying to cultivate the Peacock Method."

"What? People can die from cultivating ninjutsu?" Sara asked in disbelief.

"Heh, what did you think? I already told you that meteorite is radioactive. The biggest problem with using it to cultivate the Peacock Method is that it causes enormous harm to the human body. That’s why those in the Star Ninja Village who cultivate the Peacock Method generally have short lifespans."

The dangers of radioactive materials went without saying. Using something so dangerous for cultivation and not having a shortened lifespan would be the strange thing.

Seeing Sara’s shocked expression, Yota continued, "In fact, powerful ninjutsu have always come with danger. Setting aside everything else, take your Wood Release ninjutsu. Back then, in order to recreate Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release, Konoha performed who knew how many experiments. The death toll was definitely over three digits. Even then, they only obtained a Wood Release ninja whose power was weakened by seventy or eighty percent."

Hearing that, Sara trembled slightly. "Wood Release… is that dangerous?"

"What else did you expect? Look at the ninja you killed. Which one of them had not trained longer than you, or shed less sweat, blood, and tears than you? Gaining such powerful strength so easily naturally comes with enormous danger."

"Now you understand how rare my ability to modify human bodies is, right? And how lucky you were to obtain Wood Release?"

Yota spoke to Sara with faint pride in his voice.

Sara truly did admire Yota a little. After all, she was no longer as ignorant about ninja strength as she had been before. The more she understood the abilities of these ninja, the more she realized just how terrifying Yota’s modification ability truly was.

Of course, she would never admit it aloud. "That only proves I’m talented. Didn’t you say so yourself? Ordinary people can’t withstand so many Hashirama Cells!"