ACSP: Chapter 32: Fierce Battle against the Nine-Tailed, Completing Hiruzen Sarutobi's Request!
"I didn't expect there to be such an impressive young person in the Uchiha Clan. It seems I truly underestimated you before."
"You deserve credit for forcing back that mysterious intruder this time, but next, we have more important things to do..."
After Uchiha Obito left, Minato Namikaze first looked at Jiang Chen and nodded to show his gratitude, then immediately turned his gaze toward the Nine-Tailed, which was rampaging through the Village.
Jiang Chen followed his gaze, and his expression gradually became serious: "Rest assured, Fourth Hokage, I will do my best to assist you."
The one-eyed Uchiha Obito had weaknesses. Jiang Chen only needed to seize those weaknesses and target them; it would be easy to deal him a surprise blow.
But the Nine-Tailed was different.
This beast was full of energy and possessed endless Chakra within its body; it could be said to have no weaknesses at all.
The Sharingan could indeed control it.
But that required immensely powerful ocular power.
And Jiang Chen was only level 20, having not yet fully unlocked the ocular power of Six Paths Sasuke, so he clearly did not meet this condition.
However, he had another method to deal with the Nine-Tailed.
It was just that using that method in Konoha Village might be very dangerous.
...
Konoha Village battlefield.
At this time, Li Yanran and the others had successfully completed the villager evacuation mission and were now joining Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group in ganging up on the Nine-Tailed.
They had originally thought that by acting alongside the Hokage and a group of Konoha Jonin and Anbu, they could easily win this battle.
But very soon, they realized something was wrong.
The Tailed Beast with nine tails before them was too powerful.
The attacks from their group hitting it were practically like scratching an itch.
Even using explosive tags had no major effect.
Watching Konoha Ninja one after another die tragically at the hands of the Nine-Tailed.
They finally realized the severity of the problem.
The Tailed Beast before them was not something they could engage with.
"No, this Nine-Tailed is too powerful. This is no longer a battle we can intervene in."
Lin Ye stopped his offensive, his face looking grim as he spoke.
Yuan Danqing, who was by his side, also nodded with a grim expression: "Indeed, let alone us, even if Jiang Chen came, he would have to give it a wide berth."
Wang Shanshan suggested: "If we really can't do it, shall we give up on this mission? Anyway, we have already completed that escort mission, and the mission rewards will definitely be obtained."
Lin Ye and Yuan Danqing did not speak upon hearing this, clearly tacitly approving Wang Shanshan's proposal.
Only Li Yanran was full of unwillingness: "No, this mission was found for us by Jiang Chen. If we give up, wouldn't that be failing his good intentions?"
Yuan Danqing gritted his teeth and said: "That is true, but this Nine-Tailed is too monstrous. Even if we go up there, we're just throwing our lives away."
Li Yanran frowned and thought for a moment: "How about this, let's hide at a distance and use Shuriken and Kunai for projectile attacks. Try our best not to get close to that Nine-Tailed. At the same time, make sure to keep the Body Replacement Technique ready. As soon as the Nine-Tailed looks our way, don't hesitate, use the Body Replacement Technique immediately."
"The hand-seal-less Body Replacement Technique that Jiang Chen made us practice these past few days can finally come in handy now."
"Our mission is to assist the Third Hokage in repelling the Nine-Tailed. Since it is assistance, I think as long as we participate in this battle, it should count as assisting. As for how to repel the Nine-Tailed, that will have to depend on those Konoha Ninja and the Third Hokage..."
Perhaps influenced by her father, the City Lord, since childhood, Li Yanran viewed everything from a big-picture perspective.
This time was no exception.
Through that simple mission information, she quickly came up with an optimal response plan.
Wang Shanshan and the others felt it was worth a try after hearing her arrangements.
Thus, the group immediately gathered their resolve and joined the battle to surround and suppress the Nine-Tailed again.
In this battle, Konoha Village suffered heavy losses.
Nearly one-third of the entire Village was destroyed by the Nine-Tailed, turning into ruins littered with corpses.
Although Li Yanran and the others kept the Body Replacement Technique ready.
They still had several close calls and nearly lost their lives.
If it weren't for the hand-seal-less Body Replacement Technique that Jiang Chen had them practice saving them a few times at critical moments.
They would likely have already been sent out of the secret realm.
But fortunately.
They managed to hold on until the end, waiting until Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Summoning Jutsu to call forth Enma.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi, wielding the Adamantine Staff, pushed the Nine-Tailed out of the Village.
The mission completion notification sound also rang in their ears simultaneously:
[Mission Notification: Congratulations on completing the mission entrusted by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi!]
[Mission Reward: Escort villagers to the shelter, gain 5000 experience points; assist Hiruzen Sarutobi in repelling the Nine-Tailed, obtain an A-rank Ninjutsu skill "Shuriken Shadow Clone"!]
"Damn, this mission reward is insane—a universal A-rank Ninjutsu and 5000 experience points."
"It's said that only those who have contracted with a Jonin can unlock A-rank Ninjutsu. I didn't expect us to get one in this Novice Secret Realm."
"Hahaha, it seems Yanran's persistence was correct; we didn't work in vain this time."
"Actually, this time we owe it to Jiang Chen. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been able to get such generous rewards."
The four of them, including Li Yanran, were overjoyed.
The rewards for this secret realm mission simply exceeded their imagination.
An A-rank universal Ninjutsu can be learned by anyone, without any attribute requirements, and its value is far higher than attribute-based Ninjutsu of the same rank.
To think such a thing could be farmed in a Novice Secret Realm.
It's absolutely a huge profit.
"The Nine-Tailed has finally been driven out of the Village. Everyone, continue the attack; we absolutely cannot relax..."
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi led a group of Konoha Ninja to attack the Nine-Tailed again.
"Let's follow and see; maybe there will be additional mission rewards."
Seeing that they hadn't been teleported out after completing the mission, Li Yanran and the others thought for a moment and followed as well.
...
Meanwhile.
Inside a secret shelter in Konoha Village.
Chen Chuxi was looking grim, staring at the two high-ranking Konoha officials before her, wishing she could kill these two old geezers herself.
They had been escorting Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado here for some time.
The escort reward had been obtained.
And it had also automatically continued into a follow-up mission.
That was to continue staying here and protect the safety of Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu during the Nine-Tailed's rampage in Konoha Village.
The reward for this mission was 2000 experience points.
Because it was an automatically continued mission, they couldn't refuse.
So now, they could only continue to stay here, listening to the earth-shattering battle outside, yet unable to do anything.
Simply because this secret shelter had been set up with a sealing barrier.
Without the permission of Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, no one could leave.
From another perspective, they were already trapped here at this moment.