The boss and the third child stood up, their faces a mask of forced smiles, more pathetic than tears. "Friend, we were just passing by, saw the Tukatooth, and feared you might be in danger, so we wanted to offer some help."
The third child nodded vigorously, putting on his most sincere expression. "Yes, we were just passing by, wanting to lend a hand."
Li Xi gave a cold smile. His scimitar had somehow transformed into a steel needle, which he unleashed in an instant, embedding itself in a spot in the farmland.
The ranger awkwardly stood up, his bow and arrow now relaxed. His ploy had been seen through, and he could only manage a dry chuckle. "I was just passing by too. Believe it or not, I really was. I just wasn't feeling well, so I squatted here to relieve myself."
Li Xi didn't want to make enemies without reason, but letting them off so easily was out of the question. He smiled and said, "Since it's a misunderstanding, there's nothing I can do to you. Coincidentally, I have a small favor to ask of you. I wonder if you..."
The boss was perceptive and quickly nodded, bowing with a sheepish grin. "It is our honor to be of service to you. Please, tell us."
His two brothers mirrored his expression. They could do anything but fight.
"Tell us, as long as it's within our capabilities, we'll do anything."
Li Xi pointed his scimitar at the pile of corpses. "I have too much prey here, and I can't carry it all back alone. Since you're so kind, and I can't refuse your offer, you can help me carry the prey back."
The three exchanged bitter smiles. However, to be able to save their lives was a great fortune. Forget this five to six thousand pounds of prey; they would move ten thousand pounds if they had to.
"We are, of course, willing."
With that, the three began to lift. Fortunately, the wooden cabin wasn't too far away. Li Xi, with his hands empty, watched the three, showing no intention of helping.
It took the three of them over an hour, panting and wheezing, before they finished moving everything.
Without Li Xi's command, the three dared not leave and sat to the side, watching the tenant settle accounts with Li Xi.
"Sir, you have hunted a total of 5600 pounds of prey, one Level 2 Magic Beast, the Tukatooth, with a total value of 30 gold coins. The commission is 10 gold coins."
Li Xi had expected the commission to be a quarter, like for F-rank monsters. He hadn't anticipated it to be a third.
For the same ten gold coins, this mission was much easier than the last. This was also due to his enhanced strength, with the Shunshin no Jutsu allowing Li Xi to appear and disappear at will.
"Then thank you." Li Xi took the mission completion certificate and expressed his gratitude to the boss and his two brothers.
"Not at all. To be able to hunt so much prey in one go, we couldn't achieve this in a month. You are powerful, and you will surely become a prominent figure in the future. It is our honor to have crossed paths with someone as insignificant as us."
The boss looked at Li Xi, a tremor in his heart, fearing retribution. He lavingly showered Li Xi with praise, desperate to allay any lingering resentment.
Li Xi naturally understood their unspoken meaning and had no intention of acting against them. "You may leave. Next time you have wicked thoughts, consider the strength of both parties. Not everyone is as easy to talk to as I am."
"Yes, yes, yes, we will remember this," the three fled, running as if their behinds were on fire, not stopping until they were several kilometers away.
The second brother, the ranger, gasped for breath and said to the boss and the third child, "I think the scimitar he used belongs to Frank of the Brave Mercenary Group. I've seen Frank use one before, it's exactly the same."
Upon hearing Frank's name, the third child collapsed onto the ground, his face ashen. "Didn't Frank fall into demonic transformation and get dealt with?"
The boss glared at the third child, who was being unreliable. "Don't you understand? With the scimitar in his hand, Frank must have been dealt with by him."
The third child still couldn't believe it. "Frank in his demonic form had the strength of a high-level warrior. Then he..."
"He is naturally a high-level warrior, and even stronger. From now on, stay far away from him. We can't afford to offend him."
"Today has been too unlucky. We must never do such things again. You never know who the hidden powerful figures are."
Their voices faded into the distance. Meanwhile, Li Xi was contemplating whether to set more traps for a while longer. However, from his conversation with the trio, he learned that normal mercenaries took many days to find monsters for this E-rank mission, and success largely depended on luck. Li Xi's luck had been excellent, encountering a Level 2 Magic Beast in less than a day.
Hunting further would mostly yield ordinary beasts, which held little interest. He decided to head back to the city, aiming to reach the Mercenary Hall before dark to submit his mission.
He collected his 10 gold coins and two mission completion progress marks, bringing Li Xi's total mission completions to 5. With five more completions, he would be promoted to E-rank.
"Xiao Fan, initiate the lottery."
"Okay, Master."
A large roulette wheel with a pointer appeared before Li Xi.
Among the ninja tools, the Double Rising Dragon still occupied about ten percent of the space.
The ninjutsu, in addition to Bunshin no Jutsu, Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, and Doton: Dōryūheki, now included Kage Bunshin. Each occupied about ten percent.
Kage Bunshin was different from Bunshin no Jutsu. The clones created by Bunshin no Jutsu had no combat power. Kage Bunshin, however, created clones that could divide the user's strength. For example, if three Kage Bunshin were created, the three clones and the original user would each have a quarter of the strength. The original user, mixed among them, would have significantly increased survivability in both combat and escape, making it a good technique for deception.
However, compared to Kage Bunshin, Li Xi preferred its upgraded version, Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the technique most loved and frequently used by the protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. But that move consumed a lot of chakra. Even if it were given to Li Xi now, he wouldn't be able to use it; his chakra was perpetually insufficient. Returning to the city early today was largely due to his dwindling chakra.
Besides Kage Bunshin, the new ninjutsu added to the roulette wheel included Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu, which allowed the user to spit out dozens of small fireballs from their mouth. Its power was even greater than Gōkakyū, and its area of effect was larger.
Li Xi continued to look down, and upon seeing the next item, his expression returned to one of disbelief, excitement, and doubt, similar to when he had first seen Hashirama's cells.
"Sharingan Bloodline Limit!!!"
The Bloodline Limit was a unique inheritance in Naruto, passed down within clans, with outsiders having almost no chance of obtaining it. In the entire anime, only a few people successfully acquired Bloodline Limits postnatally, all of whom achieved great renown. Among them, the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake was the most famous.
White Eye, Sharingan, Scorch Release, Lava Release, Ice Release, Wood Release—these were all Bloodline Limits, their power several to tens of times greater than ordinary ninjutsu.
Li Xi looked at it several times, almost embedding his eyes into the Sharingan. If he could obtain the Sharingan today, his strength would increase dozens of times over.
After staring at the Sharingan for a long time, he reluctantly looked at the next item, which was also quite good: Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique). It occupied twenty percent of the space, larger than any other ninjutsu.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu allowed one to summon ninja beasts at any time after signing a contract with them, to help in combat.
However, the prerequisite was to find a suitable ninja beast and sign a contract. Otherwise, Kuchiyose no Jutsu would be useless.
After Kuchiyose no Jutsu, only the last item remained: the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama. For Li Xi, it was a dispensable item, for the same reason as before: he wouldn't dare use it even if he drew it.
This lottery, with the Sharingan that made Li Xi's blood boil, required careful consideration.
He washed his hands and face, clasped his hands together, and prayed, "May all the Buddhas in heaven bless me, may the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Grandfather Sun, bless me, may the True Lord Erlang Shen bless me, may Prince Nezha bless me, may the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King bless me..."
Li Xi seemed to have invoked every deity he could name before giving the order to Xiao Fan.
"Spin it."
Li Xi closed his eyes, unable to watch, counting thirty-six numbers.
"Stop."
He counted another thirty-six numbers before daring to secretly open a tiny crack.
"Congratulations, Master, for obtaining Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."
Although it wasn't the Sharingan he desired most, Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu was also good, something he had wanted for a long time.
Perhaps feeling that his heart wasn't sincere enough, Li Xi prayed to the deities again and then instructed Xiao Fan.
"Spin it."
He still didn't dare to open his eyes, his palms sweating. He counted thirty-six numbers.
"Stop."
After counting another thirty-six numbers, he finally dared to open his eyes.
"Congratulations, Master, for obtaining Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
"Huh? How could it be Kuchiyose no Jutsu?"
"All these gods and Buddhas are useless. I won't pray anymore. Thirty-six is no longer my lucky number." Li Xi was somewhat exasperated.
If he were to rank the items he didn't want, Kuchiyose no Jutsu and Hashirama's cells would be tied for last. However, since he had drawn them, he couldn't return them for another draw.
"I'll keep what I've drawn for now. Once my strength is great enough, I'll go catch a dragon to be my summoning beast."
After two draws, he obtained Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu and Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Two sets of memories merged into his mind, and Li Xi instantly mastered the two ninjutsu. Along with the mastery of the ninjutsu, the amount of chakra within his body also significantly increased.
The room was too small to test the power of the ninjutsu, but Li Xi already knew its effects. By forming hand seals and channeling chakra into the Fire Release, he could project a fireball three meters in diameter, six meters in front of him, with power equivalent to that of a high-level warrior.
"Finally, I have my first offensive ninjutsu."
Li Xi let out a sigh of relief. With Gōkakyū no Jutsu, he no longer had to engage in close-quarters combat, and the risk factor could be reduced to zero. It had been too dangerous for him, a fragile ninja, to be doing the work of a warrior.
His strength had once again increased. If he was an ordinary Genin before, he was now a seasoned Genin, full of confidence. Holding ten gold coins in his hand, he thought, "It's time to reclaim my house deed."
He spent one silver coin on a hearty dinner. As the moon began to rise, Li Xi put on his leather armor, his scimitar at his waist, and quietly headed towards Jiaduo's gang's hideout.
What was called a gang hideout was actually just a house they had occupied to run an underground casino, and where they also ate, drank, and engaged in kidnapping.
After Li Xi put on a ferocious ghost mask, which he had bought casually from a street vendor, he soon appeared in the back courtyard of the casino.
Observing the brightly lit front yard and the loud shouts from the gambling tables, Li Xi smiled slightly, his attention fixed on the quiet back courtyard. He could sense four people inside.
One of them was Jiaduo, who had handled the mortgage for Li Xi.
Li Xi listened for a moment, hearing them discuss matters of deceit and swindling.
He slowly drew his scimitar, and a flash of steel sliced through the air. The thick wooden door was cleaved open. Li Xi did not enter, but waited outside.
Such a commotion naturally alerted the four people inside.
"Who's there?"
A tall figure wearing monstrous gauntlets leaped out of the room, warily eyeing Li Xi, who was clad in red leather armor and a ghastly mask.
The other three emerged a couple of breaths later, holding swords and sabers. Jiaduo hid behind them, clutching a dagger, his expression a mixture of bravado and fear.
The tall figure in gauntlets was Jiaduo's boss, Delabangt, a figure akin to an underworld emperor in their slum area. No one dared to provoke or offend him; people would avoid him even on the street. He had kicked to death and eaten more dogs than anyone knew, possessing the strength of a high-level warrior.