After arriving in Uzushiogakure, in the Uzukage's office.
"Don't worry, I don't blame you for giving up the mission," Masashi said. "After what happened and the risk of being betrayed by our own allies, there was no way I could expect you to continue with a suicide mission. The fact that you managed to return alive despite being ambushed twice pleases me more than completing the mission with almost everyone dead."
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[Quest partially completed!]
Reward: 25,000 EXP.
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This announcement left him speechless. He expected to fail, but he didn't expect that somehow it would still be considered partially completed and that he would receive 25,000 EXP as a reward.
But for now, he didn't pay much attention to it. The Uzukage's words touched him.
It's rare for a village to value its ninjas so much. Most see them merely as tools for war.
It was no different with the others; even Shiori, who didn't seem easily impressed, had a unique sparkle in her eyes. She seemed pleased with what her father had said, even though just a few hours ago, she was frustrated by what had happened and by failing to complete the mission.
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After Tanaka left, the rest stayed.
'They're going to report about me, right?' he thought, but he wasn't too worried.
Although he knew he had shown some strange actions, it wasn't enough to affect him significantly.
For now, he didn't even want to think about the consequences of what he had done and shown. All he wanted now was to return home, have a good night's sleep on a soft futon, and then, the next day, start planning his future better.
After spending a few days on a boat, even now, he felt as if he were still on one. It wasn't a negative effect or anything; it was just that even a player's mind couldn't do anything about it.
The only real difference was the constant sounds of people.
By the way, out of curiosity, he opened the map and tried to find red dots on it.
To his surprise, he didn't see any red dots.
'Either there are no spies from other villages, or because I'm not their target, it doesn't show up red,' he concluded.
Almost bumping into someone who wasn't paying attention, he jumped high enough to land on a roof.
The person who almost bumped into him looked up, seeing him, appearing surprised, but not for long.
Wanting to get home sooner, he returned to his house, taking the opportunity to use 'Wall Running.'
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"I'm back," he announced as he entered.
When he finished changing his ninja sandals for regular house slippers, he walked in.
The house was extremely empty, and on the map, he didn't see either of them, even when he tried to use his sensory perception to find them.
'Where did they go?' he wondered.
After pondering for a moment, he performed hand seals and then murmured in his mind: 'Shadow Clone.'
In the next instant, an identical version of himself appeared.
Without needing to give orders, the clone he created left.
'My clone should let them know that I'm back,' he thought. 'It's still early; I was going to do it tomorrow, but I can't contain my curiosity.'
After changing clothes, Tanaka headed towards the area he always uses for training.
Minutes later, upon arriving at the location, he looked around and, seeing that no one was nearby, murmured: 'Dungeon Creation.'
The moment he attempted to use this skill, the choice options appeared, but only the first option could be selected at that moment.
Clicking on the first option, something happened.
It was like a domain expansion; everything seemed to be filtered through the skill.
In moments, zombies began to sprout from the ground like weeds.
The situation resembled those classic movies where the dead come back to life in a cemetery.
Starting with their hands, the zombies emerged from the ground while groaning.
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Zombie LV22
HP: [2,200/2,200]
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Zombie LV26
HP: [2,600/2,600]
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Two zombies had fully emerged from the ground. They had white eyes, wore torn clothes—one was bald with a lot of drool dripping, and the other had long, dirty black hair wearing a torn skirt, drooling and mumbling.
"Bitchhhhhh!"
"Deathhhh?"
Squinting his eyes, Tanaka took two shuriken and murmured in his mind: 'Precise Throw.'
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"Bang! Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
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[You Earned 2,035 EXP!]
[You Earned 2,387 EXP!]
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'Mm?' He thought. 'So weak! And the EXP I gain from them is quite pathetic...'
'But... don't look a gift horse in the mouth,' he thought. 'As long as I can gain EXP, I'll be grateful.'
Besides, a simple shuriken was enough to kill them. Of course, he understood that he had various damage bonuses from using MP to attack, as he used the 'Precise Throw' skill when throwing the shurikens.
One feature he noticed when the zombies appeared was that they were fixated on saying a single word, like 'bitch,' 'death,' etc., but no long words; the longest word they had said so far was 'cuckold.'
'Where did these zombies come from?' he thought. 'Were they simply created by the system, or were they once living people?'
"..."
'No matter how much I think about it alone, I can't come to a conclusion.'
Taking two shurikens at once, he threw them as soon as he saw two more zombies fully emerge from the ground, activating the 'Precise Throw' skill as he murmured in his mind.
"Bang! Bang! ..."
[Critical Hit!]
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[You Earned 1,987 EXP!]
[You Earned 1,881 EXP!]
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'No drops?' After killing four of them, he thought that at least one would drop something, but it seems he was mistaken.
Not wanting to use the same skill all the time, he made some smaller stones the size of a shuriken levitate using 'Telekinesis.'
With at least ten of them floating, he didn't even wait for a zombie to fully emerge from the ground; aiming for the head, he threw the first stone.
"Whoosh!"
"Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
Due to the critical hit, 73% of the zombie's health was gone without him needing to activate an attack skill like 'Precise Throw.'
On the zombie's head, the hole made by the stone he threw was visible. Disgusted, he simply directed the next stone towards the zombie, and with a 'Pracc!' sound, the zombie's head was further opened. Soon, it began to dissolve into a slime like a slug with salt.
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[You Earned 2,310 EXP!]
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"How disgusting..." he murmured.
Earlier, he hadn't stayed to look, but now seeing this, he thought he didn't need to watch, even though after a few seconds the slime would simply evaporate.
Noticing that he would level up with just a few more kills, even though he had already split his MP in two by creating a clone, he decided to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
[2,122/3,501]
As a zombie emerged from the ground and came towards him, a chain began to rise and, at incredible speed, pierced through the zombie's chest, restraining it in place.
With his left hand, Tanaka made a hand sign and soon two stones floating under his control were fired like bullets towards the zombie's head.
"Bang! Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
The continuous sounds of the two stones hitting and piercing through the zombie's head echoed.
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[You Earned 2,410 EXP!]
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Deactivating the skill, his MP dropped to: [326/3,451]
Converting HP to MP, he continued using 'Telekinesis,' shooting stones at the head of a zombie closer to the river.
"Bang! Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
The first shot took 40% of the zombie's health, but the second, with a critical hit, took down the zombie.
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[You Earned 1,930 EXP!]
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[You gained 1 level in
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'Oh?' That was unexpected. Although what he was doing could be considered as throwing, perhaps because it was a mastery unlocked along with the 'Precise Throw' skill, he ironically thought it would only increase if used in conjunction with that skill.
So, it's no wonder that even now his damage is high when throwing stones using Telekinesis.
"Whoosh!"
"Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
When he threw a stone again, he noticed that even slightly, the speed increased and so did the damage.
Seeing that only 30% of the zombie's health remained, he chose a smaller stone and threw it.
"Bang!"
[Critical Hit!]
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[You Earned 1,850 EXP!]
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[The skill [Critical Hit] was unlocked for continuously landing critical hits!]
[[Critical Hit] (Passive) LV1 0.0%]
Increases the chance of landing a fatal blow by developing your eyes to see the weak points of enemies.
Effects:
Increases critical hit chance by 30%. Increases critical hit damage by 50%. Grants a 10% chance to regenerate 5% HP and MP on a critical hit. Allows ignoring 30% of enemy defense on critical hits. Passively increases DEX by 20%. Passively increases LUK by 25%.
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"Wow!" he exclaimed aloud.
He knew that the reason he was landing so many critical hits must be because of the new skill he obtained earlier, Favorable Odds. And unlocking this skill was a pleasant surprise.
The reality was that he had been testing so many things and thinking so much, with his mind occupied with various things, that he hadn't even considered this possibility.
Now, when he looked closely at the zombies, he saw their weak points as if a specific area on their heads was glowing red.
Other parts of their bodies also had marks, but they were weaker. Clearly, the biggest weak point of the zombies was their heads.