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[Stand Name: Killer Queen]
[Five Stars]
[Owner: Yoshikage Kira (Diamond is Unbreakable)]
[Ability: First Bomb,: Can turn an object touched by its hand into a bomb. When the right thumb presses down, it will detonate and make it explode]
[There are two forms of detonation]
[One is that the person who touches the bomb will be blown up, while the object turned into a bomb remains unharmed; the other is that the object turned into a bomb itself explodes]
[The thing blown up will be completely erased in the physical sense, and the explosion is silent]
[It can only create one bomb at a time, and the object turned into a bomb can only explode once]
[Second Bomb: Sheer Heart Attack]
[Automatic tracking type. It bounces out from the back of Killer Queen's left hand, a single-shot bomb tank that automatically tracks according to heat sources. It will explode when close to the target, and the explosive power is proportional to the target's heat]
[Since the explosion does not damage the tank itself, it can repeatedly explode and attack the target]
[The tank has extremely high defense]
[Current Level: Level 1]
[Note 1: Meow]
[Note 2: "Third Bomb, Bites the Dust" not yet unlocked]
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Killer Queen's two kinds of bombs, combined with the Golden Spin, provided Ryosuke with many new tactical ideas.
'I've spent a total of 4100 fragments, now remaining 2377… let's level up a bit more.'
The scattered exp gained from 410 draws, Ryosuke threw all of it to White Snake, then spent 540 fragments to raise White Snake from level 2 to level 3.
Afterwards he spent 1400 fragments in succession to raise Killer Queen two levels as well, also to level 3.
'... After leveling up, current remaining soul fragments, 437 pieces.'
Ryosuke slowly let out a breath.
'Almost done.'
'Only 43 draws left, no way anything good will come out, better to save it for next time.'
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Ryosuke's current strategic reserves:
Star Platinum: The World (Six Stars: Max Level)
White Snake (Five Stars: Level 3)
Killer Queen (Five Stars: Level 3)
Aerosmith (Five Stars: Level 2)
Hermit Purple (Four Stars: Level 2)
Burning Down the House (Four Stars: Level 1)
Rainbow Catcher (Four Stars: Level 1)
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Plus Ryosuke's own practice of Ripple Technique and Golden Spin.
It covered mid-to-long range combat, illusions, assassination, tracking, evasion.
If one day he really encountered an enemy he couldn't handle, Star Platinum · The World's time stop could still forcibly break through or let him retreat.
"I wonder when I'll obtain another Ascension Star Core."
Ryosuke thought to himself, closed the system interface, and when he looked up, he locked eyes with the clear yet stupid big eyes of Aoda.
"Master, I've finished moving it all. Do you need me to do anything else?"
Ryosuke glanced around, and realized that in just this short while, other than the chair he was sitting on, all the gold and silver treasures had already been carried out.
He looked at Aoda. "I thought you'd take the chance to run away while I rested."
"Master, please don't test me. I wouldn't dare run."
Aoda was a stubborn-minded snake. In the past, whether it was Hebihime or Manda, they could treat it like a dog and play with it. In the eyes of the White Snake Sage, it was nothing more than a dog.
And Ryosuke, who killed the White Snake Sage as if kicking aside a stray mutt by the roadside, what kind of strength was that?
Run?
Aoda didn't even dare entertain that thought.
If it didn't run, maybe it could live.
If it ran, it was death.
Ryosuke smiled.
"Let's go up."
"Yes."
———
About two hundred survivors were waiting outside. The glaring sunlight made Ryosuke's eyes a little dizzy.
Hermit Purple activated, dragging over the corpses of Manda and Garaga. Ripple light flashed, and the two giant snakes' skins were instantly torn into fragments.
"You all wrap your bodies with this first. When we reach a nearby city, you can buy proper clothes."
They used the snake skins like bath towels, wrapping themselves, looking slightly less conspicuous.
Sasuke came up and asked, "Brother Ryosuke, where to now? If we take them along to fight the Raikage… seems kinda inconvenient."
"Not fight, talk."
Ryosuke rubbed Sasuke's little head.
Sasuke nodded.
Yes, talk.
Just like with Ryuchi Cave.
Talking and talking… until the new spokesperson of Ryuchi Cave, Mr. Aoda, became very cooperative in conversation.
Ryosuke scanned the group, over two hundred survivors, the treasures on the ground, then finally his gaze fell on the bowed head of Aoda, peeking carefully like a husky.
"Sasuke, do you mind another summoning beast?"
Sasuke quickly caught on, "Brother Ryosuke, you mean to have Aoda swallow these treasures, then protect these survivors to Kirigakure?"
Ryosuke nodded.
Aoda in the past had the heart to betray but not the guts. Now that its superior was dead, it wouldn't be long before it started to act freely.
Rather than that, better to bind it as a summoning beast.
On one hand, it could help transport goods and people.
On the other, it would let them supervise whether it would later eat humans to cultivate.
That way, maybe it wasn't about being kind to Aoda, perhaps it was only about being kind to humanity.
Although Sasuke found Aoda a bit distasteful, considering its usefulness, he still signed the summoning contract with it.
Aoda swallowed all the treasures, carried the two hundred survivors on its back, and said to Ryosuke and Sasuke, "Master, young master, I'll set off now."
Seeing Ryosuke wave his hand, Aoda slithered away toward the southeast, swaying.
At its speed, it could reach the coast in two days. Ryosuke sent a messenger pigeon to Kirigakure, Terumi Mei would send ships to pick them up in advance.
Once at Kirigakure, the survivors could choose to stay or return home.
If they chose to return home, it would depend on which ninja were taking nearby missions and could escort them along the way.
Otherwise, with their looks and figures, if they left alone, they wouldn't even make it fifty miles before being captured by bandits and forced into wives/husbands of the mountain stronghold.
———
With Aoda gone, Ryuchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sannin Lands, became empty and desolate.
Only the massive head of the White Snake Sage by Ryosuke's side, releasing endless vitality outward, still proved the place's past glory.
The White Snake Sage's head was huge, like the size of a train engine. It exceeded the capacity of the Ghost Room, and the life-force it released carried a strange attraction.
This thing could withstand his sword and Star Platinum's fists without breaking, clearly it was special. Just that, for now, he hadn't figured out how.
Ryosuke was unwilling to throw it away. After some thought, he used Hermit Purple to wrap it, dragging it behind him with one hand.
"Let's go," Ryosuke said.
The signboard inscribed with the three characters "Ryuchi Cave" was mostly buried under sand, leaving only the word "Dragon" faintly visible.
Ryosuke gave it one last look, lifted the enormous snake head, and turned to leave.
He and Sasuke's figures gradually grew distant, their voices faintly drifting back, "Brother Ryosuke, what if the people of Hidden Cloud Village see you coming and kneel down begging forgiveness?"
"If the main culprit, the Raikage, steps down, severs an arm, and the Cloud gives up its arms race, then we'll call it even."
"What if they don't agree?"
Ryosuke's chuckle carried on the wind. The breeze stirred the gravel, dust fell bit by bit onto the signboard until… it was completely buried.
"Then they won't be forgiven."
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