Shangguan Mo looked around and found that he had no impression of this place in his memory.
It was an endless but barren plain, with only sparse, withered foxtail grass growing.
Above, the sky was blue and clear.
"Where is this place...?"
Shangguan Mo murmured to himself, then suddenly felt a sense of bewilderment.
He had inexplicably arrived in the Ninja World, and then inexplicably been chased by fanatic believers of the Evil God Cult.
He had survived, but he didn't know what he should do next, or where he should go...
He definitely couldn't go back to Qinghe Village; if those Evil God Cult members hadn't left yet, going back would be walking straight into a trap, like lighting a lamp in a toilet—looking for trouble!
Just then, the Earth Dragon Beast beside him suddenly became restless.
The bewilderment in Shangguan Mo's heart was still like a deep, impenetrable mist, but the Earth Dragon Beast's state was clearly abnormal at this moment, and this place was the extremely dangerous Ninja World.
"What's wrong?"
Shangguan Mo gently patted the Earth Dragon Beast's body to comfort it, and asked.
Then his expression flickered like a neon light!
He actually understood what the Earth Dragon Beast meant!
Perhaps due to the System, a faint spiritual connection had been established between Shangguan Mo and the Earth Dragon Beast.
So, even though the Earth Dragon Beast couldn't speak, Shangguan Mo could communicate with it simply.
And what the Earth Dragon Beast had just expressed was very concise and clear.
"There's someone below the passage!"
A deep sense of absurdity filled Shangguan Mo's heart; he could actually communicate with an earthworm?
But this emotion was quickly kicked out of his mind, and his expression became incredibly solemn.
"It's that Evil God Cult believer!"
Shangguan Mo cursed through gritted teeth, his face grim.
"Are you stupid! What kind of grudge or hatred is worth crawling through a dark hole for half a day to find me!"
Shangguan Mo quickly spun around the area with a grim face, finding nothing sharp that could cause harm, so he could only pick up a head-sized stone and hold it in his arms, then walked towards the pitch-black hole the Earth Dragon Beast had emerged from earlier.
Shangguan Mo squatted by the hole, holding the stone, a never-before-seen ruthlessness in his eyes.
He had never killed anyone, had even rarely gotten into fights, but this Evil God Cult believer was simply too much!
If he didn't kill him, the hatred in Shangguan Mo's heart would be hard to quell!
...
The Earth Dragon Beast, mimicking him, curled its body up and coiled beside Shangguan Mo.
It looked even uglier!
Rolling his eyes speechlessly, Shangguan Mo felt both speechless and somewhat relieved.
Although the Earth Dragon Beast was astonishingly large, it was very timid, and its evolved intelligence was very immature; its favorite thing to do was to imitate Shangguan Mo, its "dad"!
While waiting, Shangguan Mo diverted a trace of his mind to summon the System panel in his mind; he wanted to try synthesizing some more Summoning Beasts before the battle, as he faced the upcoming life-and-death struggle, even with the Earth Dragon Beast, Shangguan Mo, having no combat experience, felt somewhat uncertain.
His System was very simple, with only one interface, and in the center of the interface was a synthesis box.
Below the synthesis box were the System prompt messages, which Shangguan Mo subconsciously looked at.
Then, his eyebrows raised in surprise, and then furrowed tightly.
What he hadn't expected was that synthesizing Summoning Beasts actually required the consumption of Chakra, and if there was no Chakra, what was consumed was his life force!
"No wonder I feel excessively weak right now, even holding a stone and standing feels tiring; so it wasn't because of drowning..."
Shangguan Mo finally had a realization.
Immediately, a trace of worry rose on his face.
He had no Chakra, so he couldn't even think about synthesizing another Summoning Beast in a short time; his current physical condition was like having entered Sage Mode multiple times in a short period—he was completely drained!
How was he, powerless, supposed to face that relentless, murderous Evil God Cult believer?
"Forget it! I'm not running this time. If I don't kill this idiot, I won't feel at peace!"
Shangguan Mo said fiercely.
...
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
The sound of clothes rubbing against the pit wall came from the hole, and as time passed, the sound became clearer.
Shangguan Mo could even hear faint groans of pain, presumably from the believer being badly scraped by the scattered stones along the way.
Shangguan Mo gave the Earth Dragon Beast a look, and its huge mouth slowly opened, biting towards the hole in a show of force.
Closer!
Shangguan Mo's expression became solemn, adjusting his breathing to be almost imperceptible, and slowly raised the stone in his arms.
The Earth Dragon Beast, lying on the ground, had its back slightly arched, like a startled cobra, gradually rising halfway up, its head swaying, as if doing warm-up exercises.
When a dust-covered head emerged from the hole, the quickest to react was the Earth Dragon Beast, which had already been poised for action; its huge mouth, like a snake's, tore open to twice its size again, directly engulfing the person's head completely.
Caught off guard!
The believer subconsciously slapped the Earth Dragon Beast's sticky body, trying to free his head.
"Die!"
Shangguan Mo looked at the believer, who was half-exposed, his face suddenly becoming incredibly ferocious, and with great effort, he raised the head-sized stone above his head and smashed it towards the believer's chest.
"Ugh!"
A muffled groan sounded from within the Earth Dragon Beast, and then the Evil God Cult believer's limbs suddenly went limp.
The Earth Dragon Beast swung the believer's corpse in the air a few times before spitting it out.
When the world is utterly silent, the feeling it gives is certainly wonderful.
Shangguan Mo looked at the believer's corpse with a complex expression; this person had pursued him relentlessly and almost caused his death.
But after all, it was his first time killing someone, and at this moment, he inevitably felt some fear.
He looked at the surrounding desolation, and Shangguan Mo's mood instantly became desolate; his life was saved, but he had once again lost his direction.
As if sensing Shangguan Mo's confusion, the Earth Dragon Beast brought its head close to his cheek, gently caressing it.
Shangguan Mo smiled faintly; the Earth Dragon Beast beside him made him feel a little more at ease, at least giving him the illusion that he wasn't alone.
The Chakra or life points required for synthesis were for the birth of the Summoning Beast; this special form was like a kind of blood relationship, creating an unbreakable, closely connected intimate relationship between Shangguan Mo and his Summoning Beast.
After a moment of daze, Shangguan Mo finally came back to his senses.
"At least... I need to first figure out what era this is, and then go find the nearest town, hmm...
Then let's set a small goal first—to become a Ninja!"
...
In a small town, Shangguan Mo stopped thoughtfully on the bustling street.
"Is there already a Hidden Hot Water Village? I heard it was established several years ago."
"The hot springs of this Land of This are renowned throughout the Ninja World; Ninja from various villages come to the Land of Hot Water from time to time to bathe in the hot springs. This place is indeed known as the Land of Forgetting War..."
"Currently, the Third Hokage is in power in Konoha Village, and the residents here don't know any more information than that...
But I estimate that, compared to the Ninja villages of the Five Great Nations, Tang Yin Village must have been established very late, which means, according to the timeline of the Hokage anime and the information currently gathered, it should be around the 30th year of Konoha..."
Thinking of Konoha Village, Shangguan Mo shook his head with some regret; joining Konoha was impossible. His identity was that of a person from the Land of Hot Water. Even if he could fortunately make it to Konoha, to prevent him from being a spy from another village, his soul memories would be searched, thus revealing Shangguan Mo's extra lifetime of memories. If those memories from his previous life were discovered, he felt he would surely die a very tragic death.
"Then, I can only try to join Hidden Hot Water Village first to find a way to become a Ninja. Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it. Let's lie low and develop first! Reincarnating and transmigrating with a System seems like the standard setup for a protagonist..."
Shangguan Mo gradually made up his mind. He cherished this second life, which he had obtained with great difficulty, so no matter what, he had to survive in this Ninja World first!