Chapter 56: Level 99
After moving away from the previous area and delving deeper into the Land of Fire, Tanaka stopped for them to rest when it began to get dark.
Soon, a camp was set up.
As for the ninjas he had killed earlier, they were all stored in his inventory, even that guy named Gin. He planned to cremate them later.
Hearing their stomachs growl, yet not complain or demand anything from him, Tanaka sighed and took out 1 kilogram of Orc meat.
He then grabbed a large metal pot, filling it with water. He started a fire to make a soup with that 1 kilogram of meat.
Even though it was only 1 kilogram, the meat itself contained a lot of protein, and if diluted into a soup, it should be enough to feed all of them.
"Can we help with anything?" One of the women approached and asked, followed by other women.
"Actually, not right now, but you can help distribute the soup to everyone later." Tanaka replied.
"Leave it to us!" Placing her closed fist between her breasts, the woman with black hair and brown eyes said firmly.
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A few minutes later, the smell of the Orc meat stew with potatoes began to make their already hungry stomachs churn.
Among them, besides the twenty women who were between 15 to 30 years old, those who had been used as fuel ranged from 5 to 50 years old.
However, even the children were sensible enough; they might have been hungry, but they had learned early on what fear was. Fear enough to not even dare to say they were hungry.
"It's ready; you can start distributing." Tanaka said, turning around, "Form a line without pushing."
As they got up from the ground, they obediently went to form a line.
Soon, the 23 women with clay bowls began filling the bowls with two ladles of soup and started distributing them.
"This won't be enough…" When a man said this, Tanaka looked in his direction, making him laugh awkwardly as he walked away with his bowl and a wooden spoon.
"Tsk." Clicking his tongue, Tanaka closed his eyes as he thought about the gains he had made by killing the Konoha ninjas.
Even though that bird-masked man was a scoundrel, he was level 77, which in itself yielded some EXP points and a skill book: Temple of Nirvana Technique.
He silently took the book and learned it.
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[[Temple of Nirvana Technique] (Active) Lv1 EXP: 0.00%]
[The user releases a moderate amount of chakra (MP) into the air, creating a shower of illusory feathers that covers a small area.]
[Enemies within range are affected by the genjutsu and may fall into a deep sleep.]
[The genjutsu's effectiveness is moderate, primarily affecting targets with low mental resistance.]
[The mental resistance of affected targets is reduced by 5% for 2 minutes after awakening.]
Area of effect: 50-meter diameter.
Sleep duration: 1 minute (may vary depending on the targets' resistance).
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'This could prove to be very useful,' Tanaka thought.
For now, he had learned all the available skills and kept the ones he already possessed.
"Delicious, the best thing I've ever eaten in my life!"
One of them exclaimed, catching Tanaka's attention as he opened his eyes and looked towards the elderly woman who was eating. Her voice was full of the extreme joy one experiences after surviving a calamity and tasting something good and warm while being very hungry.
Similar exclamations echoed as soon as they began to eat.
However, instead of speeding up their eating, they slowed down considerably, considering that this was all they would have to eat and they didn't want it to end too soon.
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The next morning, it began to snow. What started as light snow soon became more intense.
Unbeknownst to them, Tanaka created a shadow clone and left it behind while he himself made a trip to the Leaf Village.
He wanted to know the current situation in Konoha.
Flying with a spiritual barrier around him, preventing the snow from falling on him, Tanaka stopped flying when a notification appeared in his field of vision.
Right after one notification, another followed, most of them about EXP and skill books.
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[You leveled up! You have now reached level 99!]
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'Most of these skills seem to be from Konoha...' Tanaka thought for a moment, then sent a note asking for the situation from his clone via the inventory.
It didn't take long for him to receive a response.
[Ninjas disguised as Amegakure ninjas. Real identity: Konohagakure ninjas.]
'So I was right,' Tanaka thought. 'Danzo must be behind this. Because of me, the war has significantly decreased since whenever he appeared, the three sides would flee.'
Whether they were ninjas from Amegakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, or Konohagakure... The moment Yami or Zoldyck appeared, the ninjas from these four factions wouldn't dare challenge them.
Not for lack of trying, but because they tried and realized it was futile. In the face of overwhelming power, it was even worse than challenging Hanzo, because although Hanzo himself was strong, he wasn't as fast and versatile. However, whether in close-range or long-range attacks, 'Yami' and 'Zoldyck' dominated.
Not to mention, poison and genjutsu didn't work on them, leaving the opposition with no choice.
Even traps didn't work, being discovered before they could be set.
Well, they couldn't possibly understand the sheer amount of skills Tanaka possessed. Whether it was Fuinjutsu that he had been learning from Akane or even his heightened sense of danger, being warned even before the worst could happen.
For the ninjas, this type of enemy was the worst possible. After all, ambush and assassination are a ninja's most powerful weapons, not a direct attack. Facing him head-on was basically impossible, no matter how many ninjas were sent.
Even the genjutsu of the Uchiha didn't work. A living proof was the Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan and still was dominated by the one who uses wind and blown to pieces.
The very existence of the weapon used; a giant fan, was a cheat in his hands. After all, a simple swing could hit hundreds of them, and even if not fatal, it would leave them severely injured.
Meanwhile, the other one, using water, was capable of flooding an entire area and using endless water jutsu, defeating an army of over 300 of them.
Knowing all this, how could they go against 'them' so lightly?
Now, after seeing that the EXP points stopped coming in, he understood that his side must have won. Proof? Well, the fact that his clones hadn't disappeared was the biggest proof of that.
And, minutes later, his clone 'Yami' gave a brief explanation via a note about the situation.
The result was that he, along with Zoldyck and the two sisters, managed to defeat several of them, forcing the rest to retreat to where they came from.
'This time they didn't send any Uchiha or Hyuga...'
He could understand why. Even if they recovered the body, they must have noticed that the ocular powers had vanished.
If they still sent a group with such a lineage to attack them, it would be nothing less than pure stupidity.
||- Note -||
- Chapter 80 is already released on Patreon!
- patreon.com/Tozoku