Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 245 Instant Kill
"Damn it. I knew it."

Moriyama felt as if his body was frozen stiff.

Those greedy and malicious gazes were made without any attempt to conceal them, as if they wanted to kill them with those eyes alone.

"My lord, we've arrived."

Moriyama inwardly groaned, but could only console himself that his master was too powerful for these petty scoundrels to handle.

But dealing with people isn't limited to direct attacks; there are also assassinations, poisonings, and traps.
With his mind racing, Moriyama felt like his head was about to explode.

He could only grip the kunai tightly in his hand, standing nervously and anxiously guarding the door.

He tried his best to stare back at those people with his fierce gaze.

This is a small shop that looks quite old.

The faded signboard reads "Grandma Clothing Store".

To make the most of the space, the walls were covered with clothes of all styles.

The shop owner was an elderly woman with gray hair, wearing a slightly faded robe.

This must be the old woman in plain clothes.

The awe-inspiring gaze withdrew from Li Xia's white hair and eyes.

The old woman in plain clothes unconsciously bent down, and spoke with respectful language, saying with trepidation:

"My lord, our shop only has some coarse clothes, which may tarnish your noble appearance."

"fine--"

Li Xia's gaze swept around and lingered on a white robe, even though the fabric was quite ordinary.

The design is very simple; it looks like a simple robe.

But it feels strangely fitting.

"That's it."

The shop owner glanced at it and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The robe wasn't expensive, so I quickly went forward, wrapped it up, and was about to hand it over.

"How many of these styles are left? I want them all."

The gray-haired shop owner paused for a moment, then walked out from the back with a bitter expression. After a while, he came back carrying a few pieces of clothing.

She stammered, "My lord, this is all I have here."

I glanced at them casually and realized that the five robes together would be enough for me to wear for a while.

The main concern is that if a fight breaks out, there won't be any clothes to change into.

"how much is it?"

Li Xia gestured to the Black Steward to settle the bill, as the most loyal follower of the great First Emperor.

Steward Ao is mainly in charge of equipment, while Steward Hei is in charge of finances.

“I dare not accept the money, I dare not accept the money, this is to show my respect to my elders.”

The old woman in plain clothes waved her hands frantically and said in a panic.

Li Xia frowned. Was the environment in the Bird Kingdom really that harsh?
The shop owner's attitude was definitely not due to his 'overbearing aura'; it could only mean that so-called nobles or lords usually have a habit of not paying when buying things.

But he definitely wouldn't do such a thing.

He handed the clothes over to Aowu and Heitan to handle, and then went into the cramped changing room to change into his robes.

Now, the combination with the hair color and pupils no longer looks out of place.

When they came out, Awoo came over and complained:

"Five pieces of clothing cost more than six thousand taels of silver. This thirty thousand taels is far from enough. I thought it would be a lot."

Li Xia smiled and said, "The currency here is roughly 1:10 to the Japanese yen, and the purchasing power is about the same. Six thousand is about 1200 yuan in real money."

Yen? Awoo paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, wouldn't that 30,000 taels only be worth 6000 yuan?
No way, a wandering ninja treasurer only has 6000 yuan?

Is life really that hard?

"That's normal. The reward for a D-rank mission in Konoha Village is only five thousand to fifty thousand taels. A C-rank mission is a bit higher, but it's still limited."

"If you have the money, why not just hire ninjas from the five great ninja villages? It would be safer and more secure."

Li Xia patted the black charcoal's head. The price in Konoha was relatively high, while the price was cheaper for ninjas from small, desperately poor countries.

Looking at the old woman in plain clothes who had already knelt down, tears streaming down her face, to express her gratitude, Li Xia gently shook her head:
"Let's go, we need to start raising money now, at least 500,000 taels."

Moriyama was already on high alert at the door, even though he knew very well that an attack was unlikely to happen immediately.

But this fear only intensified over time.

"Moriyama, how far is it from here to the base?"

The tavern across the street was surprisingly quiet; it was easy to guess where everyone had gone.

Suppressing his unease, Moriyama answered softly:
"Sir, it's still about forty li away."

Li Xia nodded: "Let's go, let's continue."

The small boat moved slowly along the river. Li Xia sat cross-legged at the bow, his Scott combat detector having already marked all the furtive figures on the shore.

Although Moriyama suggested not taking a boat, but instead traveling as fast as possible to shake off the pursuers.

But Li Xia, who was desperate for money, was only eyeing this small amount.

Of course, they wouldn't let it go.

These wandering ninjas who dare to take action may not have much money, but they at least have a few ninja tools.

Even if you collect these ninja tools, you can still make a considerable income by selling them.

"Boss, our presence must have spread by now—"

Awoo was excitedly speculating about the next plan, just as it had always insisted before.

Hoping that he and Heitan wouldn't become a burden, Xiaolong refused Li Xia's offer to reveal all the plans.

Instead, they wanted to deduce it through their own thinking.

"Should we wait for this news to reach Konoha, and then wait for the Byakugan users to come knocking?"

The little paws yelped as it pinched its chin:
"No, no, we only have twenty days. Doing it this way will definitely not be enough time, it will be too slow."

Li Xia was enjoying the gentle breeze on the river; it was May.

The warm sunshine made people feel drowsy.

The ecology of the bird kingdom is well preserved, with clear, cool river water carrying a moist scent.

He listened quietly to the soft mutterings and the black charcoal's meows, feeling an unusual sense of peace.

"But what other options are there?"

"Meow?"

"Money?" Awoo was taken aback: "Hiss—yes, money. Boss said he needs a lot of money."

Little Azure Dragon turned around and said excitedly:

"Boss, I understand! Could it be... hiring? Hiring people from the Hyuga clan?"

Not bad, you think pretty fast.

Li Xia smiled and nodded, saying that neither going directly to Konoha to offer himself up nor passively waiting for the Hyuga clan to come to him was a good idea.

Why not just hire Konoha's genin and let them discover 'their' existence during the mission?

After figuring out the purpose of the money, Aowu quickly discovered a new problem:
"Boss, there are quite a few ninjas in Konoha, right? Won't this saturation hiring tactic be noticed?"

Just as Li Xia was about to answer, Black Charcoal suddenly let out a low growl.

coming!

Several black kunai shot straight at him from behind the rocks by the river.

Suddenly, the black cat leaped up, its little cat paws, clad in gleaming silver arm guards, moving with astonishing speed.

A series of dense and crisp collision sounds rang out, and the kunai spun and flew out.

The charcoal gently landed on the top of the cabin, lying on it and breathing out towards the riverbank.

"Your Majesty"

Moriyama trembled, but still gripped the kunai tightly in his hand; he hadn't expected the attack to come so quickly.

It seems that the nine-figure bounty was far more tempting to others than Moriyama had imagined.

"You stay here."

Li Xia stood up, his hand crackling with electricity, and a long spear, seemingly forged from lightning, slowly materialized in his hand.

Thunder escape?

I've never heard of Byakugan Hyuga being skilled in Lightning Release.
The bow of the small boat suddenly sank sharply, almost being pushed directly into the water.

Senshan gasped as he saw the high-raised stern of the boat and instinctively grabbed the oar in his hand.

Then they saw Li Xia's figure suddenly disappear and reappear on the rocks a dozen meters away.

Li Xia stood atop a giant rock as tall as a person, coldly watching the figures below.

The wind ruffled his hair and billowed his white robe.

The thin white robe fluttered in the wind, its front open wide, occasionally revealing glimpses of a body as if cast in steel.

Below, in the depression, seven or eight figures with sinister smiles were hiding.

"He fell for it! He's been caught!"

A loud roar suddenly rang out from the crowd, and accompanied by the roar, a giant net gleaming with cold light suddenly descended from the sky.

The material of this giant net is unknown, and it is difficult to spot with the naked eye. Even with Li Xia's keen eyesight, he could only barely make it out.

The nearly transparent netting shimmered with a metallic sheen and was covered with tiny barbed fishhooks.

It was clearly an extremely vicious hook and net.

Meanwhile, several wandering ninjas began rapidly forming hand seals.

The leader of the wandering ninjas stared with bloodshot eyes, his nostrils flared, and he was breathing heavily.

The thought of the nine-figure bounty filled him with an explosive surge of joy.

It was so simple! The hook and net were about to land on that glaring kid's head.

His breathing became more rapid; once caught in the hook net, even a 'shadow' would have no chance of escape.

The giant net passed right through Li Xia's figure without any hesitation and landed lightly on the ground.

The water-based attacks that followed were futile, relentlessly washing over the massive rocks.

The ability to create clones? But when did that happen?
A scream suddenly rang out from the crowd. He turned around and was shocked to see his companions' heads flying off in unison.

In an instant, several fountains of blood shot into the sky.

Even the homeless ninja, whose hands were stained with a lot of blood, felt his scalp tingle.

He looked at the figure dressed in white amidst the rain of blood, yet not a single drop of blood touched him.

She watched as he turned around, his indifferent gaze falling upon her.

The wandering man tried desperately to move, but his whole body seemed to be fixed in place, and he could not even move a finger.

Tears mixed with snot suddenly streamed down my face.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to beg for mercy, but a flash of silver light seemed to appear before his eyes.

Immediately following this was a dizzying spin, with the viewpoint rapidly scrolling.

A headless corpse suddenly went limp and fell straight to the ground.

That's his body.

Facing these rogue ninjas who aren't even genin, there wasn't the slightest difficulty whatsoever.

It's too weak; there's no need to even detect it.

Li Xia twirled his spear, shifted his feet again, and was back on the boat ten meters away.

Looking at Moriyama, who stood there dumbfounded with his mouth agape, he said calmly:
"Go clean up the battlefield, collect everything that can be sold, and be quick about it."

"Huh?" Moriyama snapped out of his daze and hurriedly nodded, "Yes, sir!"

He sat cross-legged back down at the bow of the boat, waiting for the next wave of fish to take the bait.

Aowu watched the entire battle from the sidelines and said in disbelief:
"With such limited strength, how dare you attempt to ambush me? I just counted, and I released a water escaping technique with power comparable to a high-pressure water gun, which took more than three seconds to form hand seals."

That's enough to make eighteen holes in your body, right?

Li Xia picked up the thermos teapot that the kitten handed her and blew on the foam on top:
"People cannot imagine things without any basis or reference. Just like them, they have never seen a real strong person. At most, they have only bullied ordinary people."

They didn't know or understand just how strong they truly were.

I just thought I could do it, so I went for it.

Just like when Li Xia watched Naruto as a child, he never imagined that a ninja who could conjure a Great Fireball Jutsu and amaze onlookers would later face a 'beast-shaped Gundam that spews nuclear bombs'.

I never imagined that chakra was actually given to humans by aliens.

Moriyama may not be the best fighter, but he is quite professional when it comes to cleaning up the battlefield and collecting loot.

His looting skills were unparalleled; he even knew exactly where these wandering ninjas would hide valuables.

For example, I would never reach into my loincloth, absolutely never.

"Sir, that's all. These gold coins are sewn into the pants, which is a common technique used by wandering ninjas. I can spot it at a glance."

He held up several gold coins in his hands like a treasure, about to present them to Li Xia.

But then he saw that Li Xia, the black-faced man, unconsciously leaned back.

"Keep this for now, and you can pay for it directly when you need it."

Li Xia made his decision without the slightest hesitation. Although an apostle would dare to jump into a cesspool if necessary.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t be picky when it’s not necessary.

This...this.
Moriyama was stunned, and couldn't help but shudder. A surge of joy rushed up his spine, making him feel dizzy and as if he were about to fly into the sky.

The adults have approved of me!

Only those who are considered confidants will be given the qualification to take money on behalf of the Lord's family!

Under the astonished gazes of the man, the cat, and the dragon, Moriyama once again knelt and crawled on the deck, weeping and shouting:
"Moriyama will not fail your trust, sir!"

Li Xia, Aowu, and Heitan: "?"

Then Moriyama immediately began to introduce the harvest with even greater enthusiasm.

3 marching pills, 2 explosive tags, 8 kunai, several shuriken, 1 ordinary quality katana, and 2 inferior quality machetes.
A harvest like that of a general store.

To Li Xia's surprise, the most expensive items were the hook net and the detonating tag.

The hook net is worth more than 5 taels, and the retail price of the detonating talisman is as high as 2 taels each.

After calculating the spoils, the total exceeded 15 taels of silver. Indeed, murder and arson bring wealth and power; it's much faster than doing arduous tasks.

However, if the shop were to buy back these items, they would only be worth about 60% of the original price, which would amount to around 100,000 taels of silver.

There is still a significant gap between what I need and what I require.

While he was pondering, Moriyama suddenly said hesitantly:
"Sir, are you perhaps short of money?"

He looked at Li Xia's expression and said cautiously:
"Our—no, those bandits' stronghold was also very poor."

But I know one place. It's very rich!

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Unexpected event: I'm taking care of the baby today.

I'll definitely update more tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)