Chapter 13: Contact Platform
The smell of blood spread through the cabin, waking Bubu Wang from his deep sleep.
Seeing Su Xiao lying in a pool of blood, Bubu Wang immediately jumped off the bed, stood in front of Su Xiao, and sniffed around, searching for the enemy's location.
After more than ten seconds, Bubu Wang didn't detect any suspicious scent. Glancing at the knife in Su Xiao's hand and the surrounding wood shavings, he vaguely guessed what had happened. His dog face showed helplessness as he licked Su Xiao's wound. This wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last.
His health gradually recovered, and Su Xiao's wounds stopped bleeding. He slowly woke up.
"Almost... died, cough~"
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Su Xiao still had a smile on his face.
After eating a restorative food, wiping off the bloodstains, and bandaging his wounds, Su Xiao's condition stabilized somewhat.
Although it had been dangerous, he had accidentally developed an extremely powerful technique. If perfected, any enemy struck by Dragon-Slaying Flash would be either dead or crippled.
Ring Break was clearly not fully developed, but he had created another technique: the spikes generated when Cyan Steel Shadow energy enveloped the blade aura. These spikes had incredible penetrating power, which Su Xiao had personally experienced.
Imagine this: Su Xiao thrusts Dragon-Slaying Flash into an enemy's body, then wraps Cyan Steel Shadow around the blade aura. Those spikes would burst outward from inside the enemy's body. The sheer agony...
No need to think—the enemy would instantly turn into a pincushion, with a high chance of immediate death.
A one-hit kill blade? Su Xiao shook his head. It wasn't exactly a one-hit kill blade, but the damage it dealt to enemies would be far from negligible.
Su Xiao held Dragon-Slaying Flash and wrapped Cyan Steel Shadow around it.
Closing his eyes, Su Xiao attempted to gather blade aura onto Dragon-Slaying Flash without making a slash.
Swoosh.
Several pale blue spikes formed on the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash, thrusting outward. These spikes were half a meter long and as thick as a finger.
After using it several times in succession, Su Xiao became more familiar with this ability.
After some thought, since this was a derivative ability of Cyan Steel Shadow, calling it "Shadow Spike" seemed fitting—simple and easy to understand.
Su Xiao was casual about naming his techniques. For example, Ring Break was short for "Ring-shaped blade aura that cuts surrounding objects." Although Ring Break could have been called something like "Heavenly Horse Ring Star Slash" or some other "domineering" name, he preferred practicality. Even if it were called "Heavenly Horse Ring Star Slash," it wouldn't boost Ring Break's attack power, so keeping it simple was better.
Currently, Su Xiao had developed two practical techniques: "Ring Break" and "Shadow Spike." These self-developed abilities had a unique feature: no cooldown time and no fixed values. Their power depended entirely on the user's control.
The development direction for "Ring Break" was to increase slashing power and range, while "Shadow Spike" had diverse applications that required gradual exploration.
An idea crossed Su Xiao's mind: could he stab Dragon-Slaying Flash into the ground and have "Shadow Spike" erupt from near the enemy?
This idea was unreliable for now. Although Shadow Spike had strong penetrating power, even surpassing blade aura, it was too short—only half a meter. Increasing its length would require a massive amount of Cyan Steel Shadow energy.
A new technique had been successfully developed, but its effectiveness would need to be proven in actual combat. Su Xiao wiped the bloodstains off the floor, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep immediately.
...
Day four of entering the Naruto world, morning.
The sea was a vast expanse of blue, with a few seagulls gliding by.
The large sailing ship had been at sea for two days. The main mission's time limit was just over a day away; if Su Xiao hadn't joined a faction by then, he would be forcibly executed.
In a cabin, strange sounds were coming from inside.
"Ugh~, it hurts so much."
"Wait... hold on, ugh~"
Sobbing sounds came from the cabin. After a long while, the singer Nao, her face slightly flushed, walked out of the cabin, her clothes somewhat disheveled.
Please don't misunderstand—Su Xiao was just helping Nao remove a bomb. This singer had no grudge against him, so he helped her extract it.
After sailing for two full days, land finally appeared on the horizon: the Land of Fire.
The Land of Fire was the most prosperous region in the Naruto world, with a year-round spring-like climate—neither too cold nor too hot.
Here, fertile land for farming was everywhere, herbivorous animals were abundant, and several large rivers ran through the territory. Whether farming, hunting, or fishing, as long as one worked, there was food. Even during wartime, the Land of Fire rarely saw starvation—it was simply too bountiful.
Such prosperity attracted envy from other countries and ninja villages. This wealth came at a cost: the Land of Fire's geographical position was terrible for warfare.
To the west bordered the Land of Wind, to the north the Land of Earth, to the east the Land of Lightning, and to the south was the sea. Don't think the sea was safe—the Land of Water was in that direction.
Surrounded by the four great nations, if Konoha Village weren't strong enough, the Land of Fire would have been devoured by the other four long ago.
To the left, the Land of Wind was covered in sand, coveting the Land of Fire for ages. To the right, the Land of Lightning was full of warmongers, raiding the Land of Fire even during peacetime. Above, the Land of Earth was ambitious, repeatedly extending its claws toward the Land of Fire. Only the Land of Water was the most docile, busy with its own civil war; otherwise, it would have been the most eager to invade the Land of Fire, as it was too poor.
Even so, the Land of Fire still stood at the center of the map, a testament to its wealth and military strength.
...
The large sailing ship slowly docked. Su Xiao jumped off the ship, his feet landing on the soil of the Land of Fire.
As soon as Su Xiao disembarked, the sailing ship immediately set sail, fleeing into the distance as if escaping.
Breathing in the fresh air, Su Xiao was in a good mood. Now he just needed to find a faction to join, and he already had a target.
Joining Konoha was unlikely. Large ninja villages like Konoha rarely accepted outside ninjas unless for special reasons, especially someone with Su Xiao's demeanor. The only place Konoha would welcome him was prison.
There were other factions around the Land of Fire. With Su Xiao's strength, joining a medium-sized faction was entirely feasible.
Walking across the sandy beach, Su Xiao arrived at a lush green grassland. Low shrubs dotted the landscape, wild animals were everywhere, and birds chirped incessantly.
Before he had taken a few steps, Su Xiao stopped.
[Prompt: Detected a contractor's transmission within the derivative world. Open 'Derivative World Contact Platform'?]
Su Xiao was taken aback. When he had advanced to the second rank, there had been a prompt: "Derivative World Contact Platform has been opened." He had never known what this was.
In the Fullmetal Alchemist world, a second-rank contractor he had defeated mentioned the "Derivative World Contact Platform" once. It was because of this ability that all second-rank contractors in the final scene of that world knew he was clearing the underground area.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao chose to open it.
[Derivative World Contact Platform has been opened. This function is free. Remaining posts: 5/5.]
A virtual chat window appeared before him, filled with lines of text.
Divine Emperor (Divine Emperor Adventure Group Leader): "Blood Gate scum, I'm waiting for you in the outermost forest of Konoha Village."
Stan (Blood Gate Adventurers Leader): "Wait, we'll be there in three hours at most. Whoever wins gets the Demon Hunter Ring."
Gulu (Traveling Group Sixth Seat): "Divine Emperor, you'll be seeing your sister soon."
Jin Shisi (Mantian Adventure Group Leader): "Forest outside Konoha? Count my Mantian Adventure Group in."
Kaluo (Rogue): "Watching the big shots fight."
Ma Lao'er (Aoba Adventure Group Member): "Are you kidding me? The Naruto world is going to be a free-for-all? How are we supposed to survive?"
Mianxue (Aoba Adventure Group Member): "Ma Lao'er, you're so embarrassing. Just leave the group."