Thousands of children stood around Number Two and Number Three.
It was fortunate that a violent battle had just occurred, effectively leveling the nearby buildings and creating enough open space for so many people to stand.
"Number Four, what were you up to?" Number Two asked one of the children casually.
The child being questioned took his finger out of his mouth. The innocence in his clear eyes vanished, and his expression shifted, no longer resembling a pure child but instead appearing very much like an adult.
"Everyone at the Chunin Exams location within the mission has been swallowed by me," a deep, masculine voice emerged from the child's mouth.
"All of them?" Number Two was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, all of them." Number Four patted his small belly and continued, "I've almost finished digesting them."
"Then you're going to get a lot fatter again," Number Three interjected.
"If not for the limits on his absorption, he'd love to be as fat as a mountain," Number Two remarked.
"This is the result of my strength increasing. Being fat doesn't matter," Number Four replied, seemingly indifferent to his appearance.
After all, strength was the only capital for survival within the Main God Space. If one wasn't strong, they would even be despised by their own teammates.
As he spoke, his body suddenly blurred and separated, producing another child's body.
Watching this, Number Two couldn't help but sigh in admiration. "Still, I'm a bit envious of your method of growing stronger. After strengthening yourself in the Main God Space using the Reincarnation Points earned from the story worlds, you can come back in and eat NPCs to get even stronger. It's quite convenient."
"There's nothing to be envious of. All our abilities have their own conveniences," Number Three said.
"True." Number Four voiced his agreement with Number Three's statement.
His ability allowed him to devour creatures with biological energy and transform them into his own body fat. Ultimately, he could separate that fat and mold it into individual 'children,' moving his consciousness between them.
It was very powerful.
However, the abilities of Number Two and Number Three were also formidable.
Number Two could open and close zippers at will, traveling through them and using the zippers to slice objects or store attacks.
Number Three could influence the thoughts of others, forcibly searching their memories, and could even exist within the memories of others. As long as a single person remembered her, she was difficult to kill.
Each had their own strengths.
"Where is Number One?" Number Two changed the subject, asking his teammates.
"He said he was searching for the reincarnators of the enemy camp. He's already roughly located them," Number Four answered, holding up a mobile phone.
"Tell him to be careful not to kill all the enemy reincarnators. If they all die, we'll be forced to return early," Number Three reminded them.
"He knows. That's why he plans to capture them alive and only kill them after our business is finished," Number Four responded.
"That's good then."
"So, what do we do next? Just wait for Number One to arrive?" Number Two asked.
Number Three turned her head in a certain direction and said, "Let's subdue that group over there first. Entering their memories might yield some unexpected gains."
She was pointing toward Orochimaru and the others who were observing from a distance. Clearly, they had already been discovered by the reincarnators.
"Alright," Number Two responded. "I happened to leave a zipper opening on one of them earlier."
He swiped his finger.
In mid-air, a zipper suddenly pulled open.
"Wait, someone's above us!" The moment Number Two opened the zipper, he suddenly frowned and looked toward the sky. Immediately, his finger hooked, and he tossed the opened zipper upward.
Number Three and Number Four also looked toward the sky.
Sure enough, a figure was falling.
As the figure descended, they twisted their body in mid-air, miraculously evading the zipper opening that Number Two had violently thrown.
The figure landed.
It was a fellow wearing a cat-faced mask.
Number Three stared at the newcomer with a deep frown, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"Who are you?" Number Two questioned.
"I'm a master at catching pigs. Would you 'pigs' please come back with me?" The voice from behind the cat mask held not a shred of respect; the words were entirely meant to provoke.
Hearing Li Xuan's voice, Number Three recognized him instantly.
She immediately warned her two teammates, "It's the 'Uchiha Lexon' I told you about. Be careful."
"Uchiha Lexon?" Number Four had arrived later and wasn't clear on the significance of that name.
"A background character of this world, a guy who can wipe me out with a single strike within a memory," Number Three said with a heavy expression.
As her voice fell, Number Four instantly became vigilant as well. A guy who could insta-kill Number Three in a memory was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
"If you surrender without a fight, I'll be very happy," Li Xuan told the reincarnators opposite him.
However, the enemy reincarnators clearly ignored Li Xuan and continued their own conversation.
"Has Number One not arrived yet..." Number Three muttered, her eyes fixed on Li Xuan.
"He's rushing over... He has already captured those reincarnators alive. Even if we can't beat this guy, he can kill all those reincarnators to trigger an early return," Number Four said.
"Ah... that remaining team of reincarnators..."
Hearing their conversation, Li Xuan remembered that there was indeed another team of reincarnators on his side.
He recalled their leader was named 'Wu Hongxin'...
How tragic... getting captured alive is quite something.
Ah, right... there was also Youmei and Rara, weren't there? Were they caught too?
Whatever, it's none of my business anyway. I'm just a lowly Wood Clone. Li Xuan thought to himself.
While he didn't care, Number Two was starting to feel a bit unsettled.
"What did he just say? Reincarnators?" Number Two thought his ears were playing tricks on him and looked to his teammates for confirmation.
"That's right... he heard our conversation," Number Three's face became even more solemn and grim.
"In other words, he is an enemy reincarnator, not a story character, and not some background figure of this world," Number Four said calmly.
"Is this why the Main God classified us as the 'weak side' in the mission category?" Number Two asked.
"Is this the result of using our authority to force our way into this stage of the story world..." Number Three whispered.
"There's no need to be pessimistic. A reincarnator is actually better. Killing him won't cause instability in this world, and we don't have to worry about provoking some mastermind behind the scenes. After all, he's just an outsider," Number Four continued.
Whoosh...
Suddenly, the sound of whistling sand and wind echoed from outside the Hidden Rain Village.
Everyone looked over and saw a violent sandstorm tornado sweeping toward them. It was like a natural disaster, connecting the heavens and the earth.
"Number One is here." A hint of joy appeared on Number Two's face.
The same was true for Number Three and Number Four.
Throughout dozens or even hundreds of story missions, the four of them together had always been the most stable lineup. They had no idea how many world bosses they had killed by relying on this combination...
Therefore, they had long held the belief in their hearts:
'When the four of us are all here, we are invincible!'
"Are you that happy just because your teammates arrived?" A smile curled on the lips of Li Xuan's Wood Clone.
In the next moment, his body suddenly levitated.
His skin abruptly turned pale, and a white haori replaced the clothing on his body.
Four pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs emerged around him.
A black tin staff was held firmly in his hand.
An ethereal, transcendent aura surged forth.
Indeed, while the Wood Clone couldn't use Demon Transformation or the Eight Inner Gates...
It could still use the Six Paths Mode.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]