Chapter 142: Something's Wrong in the Qin's Moon World?
Watching Guy and Kakashi disappear down the road, Ryū concluded he'd made a tactical error. He should have just said no outright. Soft rejections were wasted on bowl-cut teenagers who apparently processed "you cannot physically do this" as "secret test."
Anyway.
In terms of raw human physical potential in the Naruto world — lifting two metric tons with both hands, without any technique or chakra enhancement, holding it for a sustained duration without particular strain — that was the absolute minimum baseline for even attempting the Six Powers. The most basic possible prerequisite.
Even meeting that floor only made the techniques barely learnable.
Guy was a taijutsu specialist, yes. The best in his age group, probably. But ask him to demonstrate pure muscular strength with no jutsu, no chakra, no Eight Gates — at fourteen years old — and he'd fall short of the requirement by a significant margin. If the Naruto world produced people who casually hit that threshold, it would be a civilization of terrifying muscle-bound giants rather than a lot of fragile chakra-users.
"Whatever he's convinced himself of, whether he understood what I was saying or not — that line I gave him should buy at least a few months of peace."
Ryū let out a small breath and turned back inside.
If a pretty girl had come asking to be his disciple, he would have had fewer objections to letting her stay. Not for any urgent reason — he wasn't particularly moved one way or the other at the moment — but live-in apprentice, built-in housekeeping arrangement, never needs to fold laundry again. The practical case was solid.
Sadly, the applicant had been a bowl-cut. The gap between ideal and reality had rarely been so stark.
He was looking around for something to patch the wall cracks with when the Chat Group chimed in his head.
He tuned in and found someone had tagged him. Specifically — Ying Zheng?
Ying Zheng was one of the quiet ones. A lurker by nature — ancient-dynasty mindset, conservative instincts, still finding his footing in the Group's general chaos. Compared to where he'd need to be to match the average member's energy, he had a considerable distance to travel.
Though if he ever did get there — if someone managed to turn the First Emperor of China into a full-on Group clown — that was either a tremendous achievement or a crime against history. Possibly both.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: @RawrSoFierce — Admin present? We seem to have had a small incident on Our end. Difficult to explain precisely.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: One moment... We will record a video and upload it.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara — something happening in the Emperor's world? Don't tell me it's another transmigrator? Or a reincarnator?
Terrible Tornado: If it is, there might be a Group Quest — I've never participated in one.
Crazy Diamond: Same, never done one.
Wandering Little Planet: Never done one either, I'm first to say it, +1!
Admiral Kizaru: +1~
Kaguya-sama: Breaking the chain! Admin can probably see whether a Quest has appeared, right? @RawrSoFierce
Edward Newgate: Even if there is a transmigrator or reincarnator involved, it doesn't automatically mean a Quest. This old man's son is a transmigrator and he never triggered anything. There are legitimate ones too, you know.
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: Not a transmigrator, not a reincarnator... actually, possibly a transmigrator... it's hard to explain. We'll upload the video and let the Admin assess.
"..."
Something had gone wrong in Ying Zheng's world? That was the Qin's Moon world, if he remembered correctly.
Ryū had done a brief one-on-one with every Group member at some point — part of verifying whether they were canonical versions or fan-fiction variants of their settings. With Ying Zheng, he'd only needed to hear the name "Gai Nie" before it clicked. Oh, that's the Chinese animated series. That was how he'd confirmed the franchise.
What kind of trouble does Qin's Moon run into? Transmigrator? Reincarnator? Another Lord God Space contractor?
His eyes sharpened slightly at the last thought.
Reincarnators were valuable. In terms of what they carried — Points, Watch devices, useful intelligence — a transmigrator with no system was barely worth the trip. A reincarnator from a Lord God Space was something else entirely.
Unless it turned out to be a legitimate contractor, not a rogue one. That would change the calculus.
Kaguya-sama: Tagging Admin again just in case he stepped away — @RawrSoFierce
RawrSoFierce: ...I'm here. I just wasn't talking.
Kaguya-sama: Oh? Ahem. Awkward. |ω`)
Crazy Diamond: Admin, Admin — is there a Quest trigger showing?
RawrSoFierce: Nothing yet. Might be a delay — the previous Quests all went live a little while after the triggering event, not immediately.
Wandering Little Planet: Pushing to the front to cling to the Admin's leg~
Kaguya-sama: Leg-clinging +1!
Admiral Kizaru: This Group really never has a quiet moment, does it~
RawrSoFierce: That's what you get when everyone's a compulsive chatter.
[Group member "Ying Zheng The Sovereign" has uploaded a video — runtime 05:06]
Five minutes.
Ryū tapped play.
The Group went unusually quiet. Everyone watching.
Ying Zheng's half-explanation had done its job — vague enough to be intriguing, specific enough to suggest it mattered. And the Quest angle kept everyone's attention locked.
The video began.
Ryū watched the first few seconds.
"...Huh. Is that— how does something like that even work? What category does this fall under?"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you