Chapter 44: The Fading, Thin Power of the Evil God
Land of Hot Water,
High in the clouds.
A massive eagle flashed through the cloud layer, leaving a ten-thousand-meter-long white contrail in its wake.
Kael still sat on the Wind Eagle's head. Behind him, over a dozen Hidden Hot Water shinobi were packed somewhat tightly. Including the village leader, Jade, a total of thirteen people were riding the Wind Eagle back to the village. Although the eagle's wingspan reached over twenty meters, its back only offered about seven or eight square meters of space. With Jade lying down, it was quite crowded. Besides Rei, whom Kael kept close, only Watanabe Musashi was familiar to him; the others were badly injured shinobi he didn't recognize.
Right now, he had no mind to worry about the situation behind him. All his attention was focused on the system.
[Material: Thinning Power of the Evil God]
Quality: Blue
(Note: This divine power originates from a native nature god of the Shinobi World—the Evil God! This power is extremely thin and is about to dissipate. Estimated dissipation time: 5 days!)
"Blue quality material!"
Kael gritted his teeth, forcing himself not to show the excitement flooding his face. He looked at Jizo's head, wrapped tightly in cloth beside him, feeling a mix of disbelief and frustration.
Isn't this just a head? Why does the system register it as a material? Never mind that! It's a Blue material, but how much chakra will it take to synthesize? Damn it, will this drain me dry when I try to fuse it? Five days is barely enough time for my life force and chakra to fully recover. And where am I supposed to find a creature of the same rank in that time?
He felt incredibly agitated. It was like they say, you always want what you can't have. But in his case, the food was right in front of him, and he was afraid to eat it, worried it might be poisoned.
"Little Wind! Slow down a bit!" Kael commanded.
The next moment, the Wind Eagle, which had been flying like an arrow, began to decelerate. The surrounding scenery stopped blurring.
Half an hour later.
SMACK!
Kael snatched a crow that was frantically trying to escape through the air, seizing it by its fated throat.
"Caw! Caw!"
"Quiet!" Kael squeezed its neck impatiently. He focused his mind, and the virtual synthesis interface appeared.
[Thinning Power of the Evil God]+[Crow]= ???
[Compatibility]: 70%
[Material: Thinning Power of the Evil God, Quality (Blue)]
[Creature: Crow, Rank (E)]
[Synthesis Success Rate]70%
[Chakra Required]300
[Synthesize?]
[No]
"Phew!" Kael let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank god it only needs 300 chakra. If it had doubled from Green quality to 400, or even higher, I'd seriously be worried the system would suck me dry!"
Having gotten the information he needed, Kael was about to release the plain black crow when he hesitated, his hand hovering in mid-air.
The Power of the Evil God... even a thin strand of it... most ordinary creatures probably can't handle it, resulting in low compatibility. The fact that this crow has 70% compatibility must be extremely rare among E-rank creatures. The huge gap between the material quality and the creature rank is probably why the success rate is only 70%. But if I can't find a higher-ranked creature in the next five days, I might have no choice but to use this crow...
Sighing again, Kael tied the crow up with bandages and tossed it into the fertilizer sack carried by the Earth Dragon, which was coiled around the Wind Eagle's neck.
"Don't you dare lose this one, you hear? Or I'll turn you into shit!"
Earth Dragon: "...Right."
Flying in a straight line at high altitude, Kael returned to the Hidden Hot Water Village in just half a day. The moment he arrived, he immediately began searching frantically for a suitable creature for synthesis.
One day later.
Hidden Hot Water Village.
In a forest clearing.
Kael crouched on the ground, drawing circles in the dirt with a small stick. His eyes were bloodshot, and he unconsciously scraped the stick back and forth.
"The Power of the Evil God manifested as extreme vitality in Jizo. So, my synthesis direction should be to find a creature with incredibly strong life force! But what creature fits that description?"
Kael was going crazy. Since returning to the village, he had caught every animal he could think of. Not a single one was ranked higher than E. Not a single one had compatibility with the Evil God's Power above 50%. Not one!
"Earthworms have tenacious life force, right? Cut them in half, and they regenerate! But the compatibility was less than 10%! Cockroaches are tough SOBs, right? They can survive for a month without food or water! They can even live after being decapitated! But the compatibility was less than 20%!"
Kael's head throbbed. If he had more time to think and prepare, he wouldn't be in such a panic. But the Evil God's Power was dissipating. This unprecedented Blue quality material was about to vanish because he couldn't find a suitable creature. It was torture! No, it was worse than torture!
Besides, a synthesis using a Blue quality material had a high chance of creating a C-rank Summoning Beast! A D-rank summon was roughly equivalent to a Chunin, so a C-rank should be on par with a Jonin. A C-rank summon would be his greatest asset in the Shinobi World for a long time to come.
Frustrated, he pressed harder on the stick.
Snap!
The small branch finally broke under the pressure. Frowning, Kael threw the broken piece to the ground in irritation.
Suddenly, a thunderclap went off in his mind.
Branches? Plants! Plants are living creatures too!
BAM!
He slammed his fist onto the ground, a mixture of shock and anger on his face. "Plants are living creatures too! They taught us that in middle school! I'm such an idiot! I forgot everything they taught me!" His face flushed red, then pale. It wasn't entirely his fault; it had been years since he left school.
"Plants... plants!" Kael murmured. Thinking in a new direction, his options suddenly expanded. He reached out and touched a nearby tree trunk, thick as a person.
[Creature: Camphor Tree]
Rank: E
Kael withdrew his gaze from the system panel, his mind racing.
"If we're talking about places with the highest-ranked creatures in the Shinobi World, it has to be the toads of Mount Myoboku! Bathed in natural energy for centuries, even the plants there grow to the size of small mountains! But Mount Myoboku is completely out of my reach.
"Following that line of thought, if I want to find a high-ranking creature, it would have to be one of the famous Ninja Beasts from the original story. Aside from the Tailed Beasts, these chakra-wielding creatures are the strongest and most intelligent. But I'm definitely no match for them right now either! Hiss!"
Kael's headache returned. But after a moment of discouragement, he began pacing again, thinking. He shifted his focus slightly.
"Power of the Evil God..."
"Life force..."
"Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth!"
"Water and Earth both represent life force."
"Water + Earth = Wood!"
"Wood Style!"
Kael's eyes slowly lit up.
"Hashirama Senju's Wood Style!"
"As the reincarnation of Asura, Hashirama Senju's chakra naturally contained extreme Yang Release power! His Wood Style wasn't just a combination of Water and Earth chakra; it was born from the Yang-nature chakra inherent in his bloodline! And Yang represents the ultimate life force in the Shinobi World, which should be highly compatible with the life force aspect of the Evil God's Power!"
His thoughts became clearer.
"Finding a toad from Mount Myoboku is hard, but wood infused with Hashirama Senju's Yang-nature chakra... that's scattered all over the Land of Fire!"
"Looks like it's time for a little trip outside the village."
"Destination: Valley of the End!"
The Land of Hot Water was bordered by the sea to the north and south, the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound (originally Land of Rice Paddies) to the west, and the Land of Frost to the east. Beyond the Land of Frost lay the Land of Lightning. Kael's destination, the Valley of the End, was located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound.
It wasn't far. Riding the Wind Eagle, Kael reached his destination in less than half a day.
The Valley of the End.