Naruto: The Ninja World's Life Buyer

Chapter 41 Explosion Array

The next day. The waste treatment plant.

Genzo threw a pebble.

It moved very fast, heading straight for Sosuke's forehead.

This time, Sousuke did not use the substitution technique.

There wasn't even any major action.

He simply tilted his head slightly.

The amplitude was extremely small, only about two centimeters.

Whoosh.

A pebble flew past his temple, breaking off a few strands of hair.

Genzo's pupils contracted slightly.

"You dodged it?"

In the past, Sousuke would have needed to anticipate the move or use a large-scale dodge maneuver.

But just a moment ago, Genzo saw it very clearly.

Sosuke reacted just as the pebble was about to hit his face.

That was a pure neural reflex.

It's like how you instantly pull your hand back when you touch something hot.

"Your reaction time has improved."

Genzo put down the pebble in his hand and took a sip of wine.

"By sheer luck."

Sosuke touched his temple.

"That's not enough. If you push any harder, my ears will be gone."

Be content.

Yuan Zao sneered.

"You've only been training for a month. Many people train their whole lives and still end up as low-ranking ninjas who are used as targets."

"I'll teach you something new today."

Yuanzao stood up, leaning on his crutch, his expression turning serious.

"Did you bring the explosive tags I asked you to prepare?"

Detonation tag.

This is the greatest invention in the ninja world, and also the most expensive consumable.

A sheet of yellow paper, on which intricate spells are drawn using cinnabar and chakra ink.

By injecting chakra or through physical triggering, it can unleash the power equivalent to a high-explosive grenade.

But its price makes countless people feel the pinch.

Three thousand taels per sheet.

Moreover, there is currently no market for it despite its high price.

Because of the start of the war, these strategic materials were strictly controlled by the village, and ordinary ninja tool shops only had a small amount in stock.

But Sosuke had the means.

Yesterday, Uchiha Sōji sent someone to deliver a sealing scroll.

Inside were one hundred explosive tags.

This item would be worth 300,000 taels on the black market, but on the garrison's "internal losses" bill, it was just a batch of "damp and scrapped" waste paper.

This is the value of power.

Of course, it wasn't free; Sosuke paid a small amount of gold.

"I brought it."

Sousuke picked up the scroll that was placed aside and broke the seal.

One hundred explosive tags.

They were neatly stacked in the box.

He picked up a detonation tag.

A rough texture came from my fingertips; the chakra circuits inside were dormant, cold and dangerous.

"How do I use it?" Sosuke asked.

Yuanzao picked up an explosive tag, pinching the thin yellow paper between his fingertips.

"The principle behind explosive tags is a reverse application of sealing techniques."

"A massive amount of fire-attribute chakra is compressed into the rune, and the balance is broken by 'ignition', releasing it instantly."

There are two ways to ignite it.

"The first method is to detonate it immediately. This is the fastest. Just use chakra or a wire to pull the fuse of the talisman, and it will explode instantly."

"The second type is delayed detonation, which is a combustion fuse."

Yuanzao pointed to a red cinnabar line at the end of the talisman paper.

"Light this up, and you have three seconds to throw it out."

"Three seconds." Zongsuke muttered silently.

"Yes, three seconds. These three seconds determine whether you blow up the enemy or blow yourself up."

Genzo picked up a kunai.

He wrapped a wire around the handle of the kunai and then attached the detonator to it.

"This is the most basic 'exploding kunai'."

"Due to air resistance and the movement of the paper, the range of a kunai with a talisman attached will be reduced by one-third, and its accuracy will be affected."

"Therefore, you need to anticipate."

"You can't aim at the enemy. Aim at the enemy's feet, or the cover behind him."

"Use the shockwave and shrapnel from the explosion to kill him, rather than hoping for a kunai to pierce his forehead."

"However, this is useless against experts."

"If the enemy is agile enough, they might kick the explosive kunai you threw back at you."

"Or simply cut the threads on the talisman."

Then, Genzo put down the kunai.

He picked up the mechanical wind demon's shuriken.

"This is the main event."

"Shadow Windmill - Explosion Array".

Genzo carefully placed the four explosive tags into the gaps on the inside of the blade.

"Place the explosive tag on the inside of the blade, or in the gap of the pivot."

"The Wind Demon's Shuriken is large enough to conceal the presence of the explosive tags."

"Coordination with tools"

"Let the Wind Demon Shuriken fly above the enemy's head, or into their blind spot."

"When the enemy thinks this is just a physical attack..."

"Detonate."

"The four explosive tags detonated simultaneously, along with the steel fragments from the Wind Demon Shuriken itself..."

"Without Earth Release: Earth Wall or Substitution Jutsu, anyone below Chunin level will surely die."

Sosuke listened intently.

This is turning money into firepower.

One Wind Demon Hand Sword costs 10,000 taels, and four Explosive Talismans cost 12,000 taels.

With that one shot, 22,000 taels were gone.

But it was really worth it.

Trading 20,000 taels for a ninja's life is a good deal. At least for Sousuke, it's a good deal.

"There's one more move."

Genzo's voice turned somber.

"It's called the 'dead man pit'."

"Bury the explosive tag in the ground and cover it with a thin layer of soil."

"Connect the fuse with steel wire."

"When you are in close combat with your enemy, you deliberately show weakness and retreat to lure him into that position."

"You don't need to lift a finger."

"The enemy will be blown up."

Next comes the practical exercise.

Sosuke stood in the open space.

He was holding two spools of thread in his hands.

The steel wire is almost invisible in sunlight.

Thirty meters ahead, there were three mannequins.

They are arranged in a "品" shape.

This simulates a standard squad formation.

"Are you ready?"

Genzo sat on a tire in the distance, holding a roast chicken in his hand—this was the breakfast that Sosuke had brought.

"Anytime is fine."

Sosuke's voice was very steady.

Although his hands were covered with a layer of grayish-white calluses, his finger joints were very flexible.

That's the result of spinning glass marbles every day and stimulating nerves with microcurrents.

"Then let them fly."

Yuanzao took a bite of chicken.

Sosuke took a deep breath.

He had calculated the distance in his mind.

The muscles in both hands tensed up instantly.

"rise!"

Sosuke suddenly flung his hands outwards.

call--

Two enormous wind demon shuriken shot through the air.

This time, it's not just about steel.

On the inside of the four blades of each shuriken, there is a pale yellow talisman.

Detonation tag.

Two knives, eight in total.

According to the current black market price, this is 24,000 taels.

In addition, there's the wear and tear on the shuriken itself.

The cost of this attack was 44,000 taels.

It's roughly the reward for a C-level mission.

The steel wire danced between Sosuke's fingertips.

The knife in his left hand drew a strange arc, bypassing the mannequins in the front row and heading straight for the left rear.

The knife in his right hand flew close to the ground, cutting through the weeds and heading straight for his right rear.

Two ghosts knocking on the door.

"receive!"

The moment the two knives flew to the top of the dummy's head.

Sosuke suddenly crossed his hands and pulled hard.

The steel wire transmitted tremendous tension, triggering the mechanism at the center of the shuriken.

Click.

The blade flew out.

The fuse of the detonator was pulled.

boom--!!!

Eight enormous fireballs collided in mid-air and then merged.

This was followed by a shockwave.

The enormous sound wave made Sosuke's eardrums ache.

The red flames engulfed the three dummies.

But it's not over yet.

Those steel blades, propelled by gunpowder, were transformed into countless high-speed shrapnel.

shhhhh--

Debris flew everywhere.

The garbage pile within a ten-meter radius was shredded into a sieve.

Smoke and dust billowed.

The dummy in the front row, though not directly hit by the fireball, had its hands, feet, and head severed by countless steel plates.

Completely crushed.

This is the "Shadow Windmill - Explosion Array".

The smoke dissipated.

The air was filled with a strong smell of sulfur and burnt odor.

A large crater with a diameter of five meters was left on the ground.

The soil was scorched, revealing glassy crystals.

Sosuke stood there, looking at his masterpiece.

Yuanzao threw away the chicken bones and walked over, leaning on his iron crutch.

He stared at the large pit, and his eye twitched slightly.

Even though he was a veteran who had experienced World War II, he was shocked by this wasteful way of playing.

"Even ordinary ninjas, even Chunin, wouldn't dare to do this."

Yuanzao kicked away a piece of red-hot iron.

"That's over forty thousand taels."

"If no one gets killed, you'll be at a huge loss."

"It will blow up."

Sosuke spoke calmly.

"The defensive methods of Chunin are nothing more than Earth Release: Earth Wall, Water Release: Water Wall, or Substitution Jutsu."

"The devastating explosions and shrapnel damage are so widespread that it's very difficult to completely dodge them with a substitution technique."

"As for the earth-flowing wall..."

Sosuke pointed to the depth of the large pit.

"The combined power of eight explosive tags is enough to blast through a Chunin's Earth Release technique."

"Unless he is a Jonin, or a master of Lightning Release: Body Flicker."

Genzo nodded.

"really."

"That's the power of money."

"However," Yuanzao changed the subject, "the placement of your explosive tags is incorrect."

"Is there a problem?" Sosuke asked humbly.

"Too formal."

Genzo picked up a piece of steel.

"You haven't practiced the ricochet mechanism of the Fuma Shuriken enough in your previous training sessions."

"The timing of activating the ejection mechanism is very important."

"This determines the accuracy and the explosive effect."

"The Fuma Shuriken on the left was 0.5 seconds slower than the one on the right in its ricochet."

"For a skilled person, that 0.5 seconds could be the difference between life and death."

"That 0.5-second delay doesn't mean your reaction time is slow."

"It's mechanical inertia."

"When the Fuma Shuriken is spinning at high speed, the centrifugal force locks the internal spring clip. This is to prevent it from disintegrating during flight."

"To trigger it, you need three times the pulling force compared to when it's stationary."

"Your left hand is the weaker hand. Your left arm is weaker than your right arm, so you were a moment slower when pulling the wire."

"How do we solve this?" Sosuke asked.

"Two options."

Yuanzao held up two fingers.

"First, train your left arm strength. Develop it until it's as thick as your right arm."

"Second, reorganize the government agencies."

Genzo looked at Sousuke with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Which path to choose?"

This is not only a choice of technology, but also a choice of personality.

The former is a steady and methodical style of physical combat. The latter is a high-stakes, technical style of walking a tightrope.

Sosuke did not hesitate.

"I choose to change agencies."

Why?

"Because building muscle takes a long time."

"Besides, I have money."

Yuan Zao laughed.

He took a sip of his drink.

"A very reasonable choice."

"For those who lack talent, the smartest approach is to use their brains and money to fill the gap in hardware."

"Since you want to modify the mechanism, then go to the Uchiha clan. They have many unique design blueprints. No one has done a more perfect modification of the mechanical shuriken than them."

Sosuke nodded.

Indeed, when it comes to shuriken fighting, the Uchiha clan is the ancestor.