Chapter 82: What a Coincidence
A strange bird flew over the ruins of Konoha's original site. The central area of Konoha had been leveled into a massive crater, surrounded by a ring of building debris.
Su Xiao looked down at the scene below. At this moment, the situation in Konoha could only be described with one word: tragic.
No amount of watching the anime could convey the reality of Konoha's current state. Over 99% of Konoha's ordinary civilians were dead, almost all the genin had fallen, and the chunin survival rate didn't exceed 50%. This was even with the protection of Tsunade's summon, the slug Katsuyu.
The jonin death rate wasn't high, with only a small number of jonin being buried under the building rubble.
Inside the building debris at the edge of Konoha, a white creature crawled out from the rubble, and inside it was a pink-haired female ninja.
Sakura emerged from the divided Katsuyu's body, gasping for air.
After taking a few greedy breaths, Sakura raised her head. The sight before her left her dazed. When she saw the massive crater where Konoha once stood, her eyes widened, and her pupils contracted.
Tears streamed down her dust-covered cheeks. The home she had lived in for over a decade was destroyed.
"Why is this happening? Why are they doing this to us? What did we do wrong?"
Tears dripped onto the back of Sakura's hand as a strange bird flew overhead.
Sakura instinctively looked up and saw someone sitting on the back of that strange bird—a man, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his expression calm.
"Roar!!"
A roar rang out as a hideous-looking "monster" appeared.
This monster was Naruto. Behind him, eight tails of chakra swayed. His torso and head had drastically changed, as if covered in living tissue, resembling a flesh-and-blood demon fox.
Naruto was in a state between eight tails and nine tails. His own consciousness was gone, and his blood-red vertical pupils were filled with nothing but brutality—that was the gaze of the Nine-Tails, Kurama.
"Just a little more. Once the seal is undone, I'll be free."
The tailed beast-form Naruto actually spoke. His appearance was now indistinguishable from a demon fox.
Seeing Naruto in his eight-tailed state from above, Su Xiao had no interest in fighting such a monster. That would be suicide. Besides, he had already sensed that the body was no longer being controlled by Naruto, but by the Nine-Tails.
A rampaging Naruto and the Nine-Tails about to break free were two completely different concepts. While a rampaging Naruto possessed immense power, it was brute force—charging forward and tearing enemies apart in battle.
The Nine-Tails was different. Tailed beasts were intelligent beings that had lived for who knows how many years, with incredibly rich combat experience.
Su Xiao didn't want to fight the Nine-Tails, but someone else did. Our dear Pain was sprinting at full speed, charging straight toward the Nine-Tails.
A true warrior dares to face the Nine-Tails head-on. Unfortunately, the Nine-Tails was just too strong.
Sensing Pain charging toward him, the Nine-Tails tilted its head back. Without any preparation, its belly began to swell.
Its massive jaws opened wide, and a Tailed Beast Bomb shot toward Pain.
"Shinra Tensei."
Bang.
The Tailed Beast Bomb was deflected, flying off at an angle into the distance.
Boom! The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded in the forest near Konoha. A spherical burst of fire shot into the sky, and the ground began to tremble.
"So this is the power of the Nine-Tails? Not so impressive..."
Before Pain could finish his sentence, another Tailed Beast Bomb came flying at him. Shinra Tensei could only be used once every five seconds, so Pain couldn't deflect this one.
Boom!
Mud and dirt flew everywhere as Pain was blasted far away, his upper body embedded directly into the nose of Hashirama's statue on the Hokage Rock.
Pain's legs twitched once and then stopped moving, as if the signal reception was poor.
Although Pain had been blasted away, the other five Paths of Pain had already arrived, surrounding the Nine-Tails.
Without any further words, the Paths of Pain clashed with the Nine-Tails. Explosions rang out continuously as the ruins of Konoha were ravaged once again.
The strange bird Su Xiao was riding also charged toward the battlefield. Since the main mission was already complete, there was no need for him to continue fighting.
Jumping off the strange bird's back, Pain, who had just freed himself from the Hokage Rock, looked at Su Xiao with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Su Xiao waved at Pain. Though the distance was considerable, Pain could clearly see Su Xiao's mouth movements.
'Good luck. See you.'
Su Xiao prepared to return to Reincarnation Paradise. Although devouring the Nine-Tails would cause a massive surge in his Cyan Steel Shadow Energy level, one must know one's limits. Su Xiao was well aware that he was no match for the Nine-Tails, at least not yet.
Even though Konoha Village had been destroyed, a large number of Konoha's jonin and Anbu had survived. These people wouldn't sit idly by while the Nine-Tails was captured. Even if he could defeat the Nine-Tails, he would then face a siege from Konoha's jonin.
Su Xiao had gained a lot from the Naruto World. There was little point in staying any longer.
Sitting on a pile of rubble, just as Su Xiao was about to return, a large rock in the distance was pushed aside. A disheveled little girl crawled out from the debris. This little girl had only one arm left.
"Cough, cough. What bad luck. That must have been Nagato's Shinra Tensei. Why did he have to use it right above my head? That's very rude."
Gulu used her single arm to brush the dust off her clothes. That arm had been pierced by a steel bar, but she didn't seem to care at all.
Gulu's movements suddenly stopped. She felt someone staring at her. She turned her head stiffly and, upon recognizing the face of the person not far away, her mind went into a whirl.
"Isn't that the guy from the auction... what was his name? Dark? Black Night? Right, Bai Ye!"
Gulu slapped her thigh, sending a small puff of dust into the air.
"Isn't this Bai Ye? What a coincidence. Hi there, hahaha, haha, ha."
Gulu's laugh was very awkward. At this moment, it felt like ten thousand wild donkeys were stampeding through her heart. Her frail fists clenched tightly as she began to mutter under her breath.
"He doesn't know about the Demon Hunter Set, he definitely doesn't know. Please, please don't let him know. My health is only at 19%. How am I supposed to fight?"
Gulu stood there muttering to herself. Not far away, Su Xiao flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"I heard you have a pretty nice ring."
Hearing this, Gulu stared at Su Xiao with one eye wide and the other narrow, her expression slightly distorted.
"Rumor, absolutely a rumor."
"Is that so? Then how did Sheila die?"
Su Xiao had a full smile on his face. Gulu was in a sorry state now, clearly having been hunted for a long time. Moreover, she had old injuries, indicating she had no recovery items left.
Gulu let out a sigh. A long dagger appeared in her hand. The dagger was slender and sharp, its surface flowing with a dark purple light.
Seeing Gulu's dagger, Su Xiao's heart tightened. This was a weapon enhanced to +10 or higher with dark purple quality, and it had gem sockets.
Given Gulu's strength, it was normal for her to have a weapon of this grade. Moreover, this dagger suited her well. She had once obtained a light gold quality dagger, but after weighing the options, she still chose this one.
This long dagger was more than just dark purple. Embedded in the hilt were four light gold gems!
The four light gold gems were: Speed of Nitra (reduces air resistance, increases attack speed by 20%), Sharpness of E (increases weapon attack power by 10%), Bloodthirsty Spirit (attacks restore 11% of damage dealt as health), and Soul Shatter (attacks deal an additional 18 true damage).