Chapter 83: Remember This Face
Su Xiao slowly drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. A great opportunity lay before him; not taking advantage of it would be foolish.
"You want to snatch the Demon Hunting Ring too?"
A simple black ring appeared. Gulu used her dagger to flip the Demon Hunting Ring up, directing it toward her mouth.
A bizarre thing happened. After the Demon Hunting Ring entered Gulu's mouth, she actually looped it onto her tongue.
Seeing this, Su Xiao was puzzled. Why didn't Gulu just wear the ring? Could its individual attributes be weak? Or perhaps the ring Gulu already wore had stronger stats.
"Although the chance isn't high, it's worth a try."
"Chance isn't high?"
Gulu held the Demon Hunting Ring in her mouth and, for some reason, smiled. When she smiled, her big, watery eyes curved like crescent moons. Gulu, who killed without mercy, actually looked a bit adorably clueless when she laughed.
"I understand. So you're not like those idiots who threaten me to hand over the Demon Hunting Ring. You plan to kill me and get it from my Scarlet Card. That kind of thinking..."
Gulu laughed a few times, her shoulders shaking.
"You'd better not run into our Tuanzhang, that freak. With your style, he'd beat you half to death and then force you to join us."
Saying this, Gulu seemed to recall a bad memory. That was how she joined the group—after being beaten half to death by the Traveling Group's Tuanzhang, she was given two choices.
One was to join the Traveling Group. The other was to be stripped naked and thrown into a group of starving lesser demons.
Gulu didn't want to star in a scene from some adult film, so she very decisively joined the Traveling Group.
But after joining, an unexpected situation arose. To this day, she hadn't seen the Traveling Group's Tuanzhang again. She also discovered that the Traveling Group wasn't an organization like an adventure group, but a nominal one.
Aside from having a Traveling Group number, she had no other responsibilities. She didn't need to gather in a derivative world, and causing trouble under the Traveling Group's name was fine.
Gulu was still laughing, but Su Xiao was already preparing for battle.
"Wait."
Gulu held her dagger in front of her, her expression turning serious.
She first put away the dagger, then spat out the Demon Hunting Ring and stored it, taking a piece of candy from her storage space.
Su Xiao thought Gulu was about to unleash some big move, but instead, she pulled out a piece of candy.
"Staring at me won't help. I won't share the candy, not even if I die."
Unwrapping the candy, Gulu happily tossed it into her mouth.
"What to do? I'm in terrible shape. Fighting you would mean death, and I don't want to die."
Gulu's cheek bulged from the candy. Her big eyes darted around, and her peripheral vision caught sight of the distant battle between the Nine-Tails and Pain.
"I've got an idea."
Letting out a long breath, Gulu started muttering again.
"You bastard, bitch, bitch, bitch. Ugh, I can't stand it. What terrible luck."
Gulu seemed to make a big decision. The Demon Hunting Ring appeared in her hand.
Her petite body arched, and she gripped the ring tightly.
"Here you go!"
Gulu threw the Demon Hunting Ring with all her might. It flew toward the battlefield between Pain and the Nine-Tails.
"Hope the Nine-Tails bites you to death."
Leaving that remark, Gulu sprinted at full speed out of Konoha Village, her expression gloomy. With her personality, even under torture, she wouldn't hand over the Demon Hunting Ring.
Though extreme in nature, that didn't mean Gulu wanted to die. Her strength was hard-earned, and she wanted to keep living freely.
Using the Demon Hunting Ring to kill an enemy was different. That battlefield was extremely dangerous; anyone getting close would be caught in the crossfire.
The Demon Hunting Ring floated through the air, and Gulu laughed with satisfaction.
Su Xiao looked at the ring flying away, then silently raised his left arm.
Zzzz~
The Realm Severing Thread shot out, racing toward the Demon Hunting Ring.
Just as the ring reached the area near the Nine-Tails and Pain's battle, the Realm Severing Thread arrived.
With a clink, the hook at the tip of the Realm Severing Thread passed through the ring. The thread coiled around it—this was nearly the maximum distance the thread could reach.
Retracting the Realm Severing Thread, the Demon Hunting Ring appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
Gulu, still running, froze in shock, nearly crashing into a tree at the edge of Konoha.
"What kind of move is that! I let my guard down."
Gulu stopped in place. This result was deeply unsatisfying.
"No, I can't take this humiliation. Is this guy Spider-Man?"
If Su Xiao had risked death to get the Demon Hunting Ring, it would have been one thing. But this outcome was infuriating.
"Hey!"
Gulu shouted, her eyes fixed on Su Xiao.
"Remember this face."
Gulu pointed at herself.
"Remember it well."
With that, Gulu, who had already run far away, disappeared into the forest near Konoha. As soon as she entered the forest, the anger on her face vanished.
"I've found another interesting toy. And this toy looks sturdy—not like Xila, who cried and handed over the Demon Hunting Ring without even putting up a fight. Cold and violent man, I hope you stay violent when you fall into my hands. Don't disappoint me, Bai Ye."
Muttering to herself, Gulu resolutely crashed into a tree.
Bang. Gulu embedded herself into a large tree, seemingly stuck and impossible to pry out.
People from the Traveling Group weren't exactly normal, and Gulu was no exception.
...
Su Xiao held the Demon Hunting Ring in his hand, weighing the gains and losses.
First, he had offended Gulu. As for whether he had offended the Traveling Group, the answer was no. He had killed members of the Traveling Group before, but they never sent anyone after him. That incident had no follow-up.
Not only had he offended Gulu, but if she spread the news that he had the Demon Hunting Ring, large adventure groups might come after him.
Considering the fake ID Reincarnation Paradise had given him, unless by chance encounter, those large groups wouldn't be able to find him.
Overall, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. Getting the Demon Hunting Ring was partly due to luck. Gulu had been hunted to near death and had also taken the Heavenly Dao's Almighty Push; otherwise, she wouldn't have given up the ring.
Or maybe it wasn't luck. Su Xiao's starting point in the Naruto world was the Land of Water. If Gulu had been there, the chance of meeting was high.
Then Su Xiao attacked the Sand Village, wandered around the world, and finally attacked Konoha. The Naruto world didn't have many major powers. These seemingly random actions greatly increased the likelihood of encountering Gulu.
Su Xiao chose to return to Reincarnation Paradise.
[Detected that the Hunter has obtained the qualification to return. Not currently in combat. You will return to Reincarnation Paradise in 2 minutes.]
Su Xiao waited to return while checking the Demon Hunting Ring's attributes.
[Demon Hunting Ring (Set 1/3)]
Origin: Any derivative world above Lv.20.
Quality: Dark Purple (Set)
Category: Ring
Durability: 59/59
Requirements: Strength 40, Agility 40.
Effect 1: Resistance (Passive), reduces duration of all abnormal statuses by 30% (such as dizziness, curses, and other negative effects).
Rating: 260
Description: Part of the Demon Hunter set. Collecting all three pieces will activate the set effect.
Set Effect 1: Demon Hunter (Passive), Strength +15, Agility +10, Stamina +10.
Set Effect 2: Melee Expert (Passive), melee damage increased by 40%, max health +20%.
Set Effect 3: (Not visible)
Price: 73,000 Paradise Coins.