142: The correct way to open the blood pool hell

At the main gate of Hidden Sand Village, the sandstorm persisted.

Rasa personally saw off “Zero Squad.” The send-off was modest, yet the atmosphere was even more solemn than a Kage Summit.

He handed Tang Yan a special order scroll engraved with the Kazekage’s seal. The scroll was made from the hide of some exotic beast, cold and tough to the touch. Rasa’s knuckles were slightly white, and his movements were a half-beat slow.

“During the mission, you possess the highest operational authority,” Rasa’s voice was dry, as if abraded by the sandstorm, “Act first, report later.”

Tang Yan casually took it, tossing it in his hand, feeling it weighed less than a bowl of tonkotsu ramen. “Got it.” He grinned, “Meaning, as long as we don’t kill the Land of Fire’s Daimyo, we can do whatever we want with the rest, right?”

Rasa’s eye twitched violently, and he forcibly swallowed the unspoken phrase, “Proceed with utmost caution.”

Talk about caution with this guy?

He’d probably set the Land of Hot Water on fire the next second.

He could only nod with a grim face, taking one last look at this bizarrely configured three-person squad, then turned and merged into the distant rolling yellow sand. His retreating figure even carried a hint of hurriedness.

…

In the boundless desert, heat haze distorted the vision.

Qian and Zi Luo followed behind Tang Yan, one on each side, maintaining a standard enemy-scouting formation.

“Yan, I still don’t understand.” Qian finally couldn’t help but speak. The iron fan in her hand gleamed with a cold light under the scorching sun. “That ‘Jinchuriki Perfectization Plan’ is enough to change the entire Ninja World. Did we just… give it to the Village for free?”

In her opinion, this was akin to throwing away a trump card capable of turning the tide, treating it like waste paper. This was completely unlike Tang Yan’s style; he was no philanthropist.

“For free?” Tang Yan didn’t stop walking, his voice unusually clear in the wind, “Your scope is too small, Qian.”

He turned his face, a faint smile flashing across his lips.

“Remember, if technology is locked in a scroll, it’s just dead weight. It only gains value when others use it, can’t live without it, and even fear it.”

“My healing Gaara seems like a loss for me. But in reality, I completed a perfect ‘angel round investment.’ I invested not in technology, but in myself.”

Tang Yan’s voice carried a power that pierced through people’s hearts.

“From today onwards, Hidden Sand Village’s strongest strategic weapon, Gaara, his ‘after-sales service’ is exclusively provided by me. The source of his power, the Sand Gourd, is my exclusive product. This creaking, dilapidated war chariot that is Hidden Sand Village is now welded to my ship.”

“In the future, when I want to overturn the table and need allies, do you think begging for help will be more effective, or me simply lifting a finger and silencing Hidden Sand Village’s ‘nuclear weapon’?”

“They will become my most obedient, and sharpest, blades. Because the Village’s future is in my hands.”

Zi Luo stumbled, almost falling in the sand. His brain, incredibly sensitive to money, spun rapidly, countless zeros dancing before his eyes, finally converging into a conclusion that made his scalp tingle.

“Oh my god…” He clutched his head, his expression as if his worldview had been washed away and reshaped, looking at Tang Yan as if he were a monster in human skin. “Yan, you’re not being a Ninja; you’re waging financial warfare! We’re not going to the Land of Hot Water for a mission; we’ve just completed a… hostile takeover of the Sunagakure Group?!”

Qian also fell completely silent.

She finally understood that Tang Yan’s chessboard was never just about gains and losses in one place. His gaze had long since passed over this yellow sand, landing on the entire power landscape of the Ninja World.

Just as the trio was about to step out of the Land of Wind’s border and enter the Land of Hot Water, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

The air seemed to solidify instantly; the wind stopped, the sand ceased, and a faint smell of blood and rust permeated their nostrils.

It was a chill from the depths of the soul, as if countless eyes were lurking in the darkness.

Tang Yan abruptly stopped, his gaze sharpening.

[Forward coordinates, Land of Hot Water, ‘Hell Valley.’]

[Detecting ultra-high concentration of resentment collective, energy level… overflowing conventional definition range.]

The cold system prompt exploded in his mind.

[Risk assessment: Extremely dangerous.]

[Based on host’s current strength, suggested mission path correction: Immediately bypass.]

[Mission target: Soul of ‘Hatred.’]

[Analysis conclusion: The Blood Pond Clan’s Bloodline Limit, ‘Blood Dragon Eye,’ is not essentially a visual jutsu, but an emotional energy contract based on ‘hatred.’ The stronger the user’s hatred, the greater the power. Side effect: The user will be consumed by hatred, eventually becoming digitized, formatted, and transforming into a ‘Blood Beast’ without self-awareness. This process is irreversible, unsolvable.]

The cold spiritual thought of the Myriad Forms Ingenuity Box poured over him like a bucket of ice water.

A series of information exploded in Tang Yan’s mind, every word like a poisoned steel needle.

[Special warning: In the underlying data of related intelligence, a repeatedly and forcibly erased encrypted file name has been found — ‘Oyakata En.’]

[Character portrait constructing… Lightning Release Ninja, once attempted to use the Blood Pond Clan’s power to clash with Konoha, officially recorded as ‘deceased.’]

[Comprehensive deduction conclusion: This person’s ‘death’ probability is less than 0.1 percent. Highly likely to be lurking in Hell Valley, utilizing the characteristics of the Blood Pond Clan for some unspeakable large-scale project.]

[Danger level has automatically escalated from ‘High Risk’ to ‘Hell’ level.]

Tang Yan’s steps abruptly halted.

Almost at the same instant, Qian and Zi Luo behind him also stopped, their muscles tensed, instantly entering a combat-ready state.

“Situation has changed.” Tang Yan’s voice was flat. He concisely shared the analysis results just provided by the Myriad Forms Ingenuity Box with the two behind him.

Qian’s face darkened, her fingers tightening on her iron fan.

Zi Luo’s reaction was much more pronounced.

He first dug at his ears, suspecting he was hallucinating due to the desert heat, then his face, extremely sensitive to money, began to turn pale, then green, at a visible rate, finally settling into a sickly green.

“Wait… wait a minute? Yan, let me straighten this out first.” Zi Luo’s voice was trembling. “You mean, this mission of ours, not only do we have to go to a terrifying place whose name alone makes one want to have diarrhea, and snatch something from a group of red-eyed lunatics who play the ‘suicide bomber’ style…”

He counted on his fingers, trembling as he continued: “…we also have to constantly guard against an ultimate schemer hiding behind the scenes, who’s been feigning death for who knows how many years, specifically brewing evil schemes?”

“Gulp.”

He swallowed with difficulty, his face growing uglier with each calculation. Finally, he slapped his thigh hard, looking ready to quit.

“Yan! This deal isn’t right! The risks and rewards are completely disproportionate! I strongly suspect you’re tricking us into signing a predatory contract! I want to apply for workers’ compensation! Emotional distress compensation, hazardous environment work allowance, and psychological trauma relief funds—not a single cent less!”

“The original A-plan, frontal contact primarily through diplomatic means, is scrapped.” Tang Yan seemed to completely ignore Zi Luo’s wailing. His gaze swept over the silent area ahead, his calmness chilling to the bone. “Initiate B-plan.”

He raised his hand and slapped the scroll behind him.

Buzz—!

After a slight spatial fluctuation, a pitch-black puppet, shaped like a mechanical raptor, appeared out of thin air. It had no feathers, replaced by matte metal plates, seamlessly fitted together. Its eyes were two crimson crystals, reflecting an ominous light under the dim sky.

It was precisely the reconnaissance puppet, Xiao Yin.

“Zi Luo.” Tang Yan pointed at the puppet. “Control it for 360-degree, no-dead-angle high-altitude reconnaissance. I want a real-time 3D map of Hell Valley’s interior, precise down to every stone, every withered tree.”

“Huh? Oh… okay!” Although Zi Luo was still grumbling, his movements were not slow at all; he immediately began connecting Chakra threads for control.

Tang Yan’s gaze turned to Qian.

“You are responsible for perimeter alert and long-range support. Once I give the signal, you know what to do.”

Qian nodded heavily, without a single wasted word.

Finally, Tang Yan’s gaze fell back on himself.

“I’ll go in myself and see how deep this ‘hell’ truly is.”

“You, alone?” Qian’s brows furrowed. This was the first time she had explicitly objected. “It’s too risky.”

“Don’t worry.” Tang Yan flexed his wrists, and an invisible ripple spread from his body.

His figure in the air began to blur, become transparent, its edges like ink bleeding into water, finally dissipating completely, along with his breathing, heartbeat, and Chakra fluctuations, as if he had never existed.

Phantom Body Barrier.

Only a voice, as if coming from all directions, carried a cold smile.

“For a true hunter…”

“A dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair is actually no different from their own backyard.”

Zi Luo stared blankly at the spot where Tang Yan had vanished, then looked up at the Xiao Yin, which had already ascended and become a small black dot. His mouth hung open for a long time before he finally turned to Qian with difficulty and said:

“Qian… I suddenly feel like we don’t need to worry too much about Yan.”

“Hmm?”

“I just feel… that the poor souls in Hell Valley might have to experience what true ‘hell’ mode is like, ahead of schedule.”

Qian said nothing, only silently tightened her grip on her iron fan, her gaze sharply scanning every inch of the surrounding land.