Chapter 510: Chapter One: Familiar and Terrible Start

All preparations complete, Su Xiao waited for the new derivative world to open.

Each return to the Paradise of Reincarnation grants one hour of preparation time; the higher the rank, the earlier the information about the next world is revealed.

Su Xiao's current rank is Lv. 10, allowing him to learn details of the next derivative world fifty minutes in advance; he speculated that upon reaching Lv. 12, he would receive the next world's information the moment he returned from the real world, granting even more preparation time.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the Paradise of Reincarnation's prompt appeared.

【The Hunter will enter the derivative world: Daiken in fifty minutes.】

Su Xiao paid no attention to this prompt—he had no intention of entering the Daiken world; he planned to use the item he had purchased for fifty thousand Paradise Coins.

The Daiken world's power level is high and extremely dangerous; seemingly weak characters often undergo sudden power surges.

Some derivative worlds within the Paradise of Reincarnation are more popular—those with a complete power system and grand scale.

Su Xiao feared most entering worlds with inexplicable power systems, such as the derivative world "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," which was wildly unpopular; many powerful Contractees died miserably there.

That beautiful girl who ignored rules and power was the Contractees' nightmare.

Fifty minutes later.

【The derivative world is about to open.】

【Ding, detected that the Hunter carries a "World Key" item. Use it?】

"Use it."

Su Xiao intended to enter a high-power world, where he planned to pursue a certain "thing"; if successful, his strength would increase dramatically.

He pulled out a broken greatsword, its blade the size of a door panel; in his hand was the tip portion.

【Decapitating Greatsword (Incomplete)】

Quality: Purple

Type: Consumable

Effect: After use, alters the upcoming derivative world.

Rating: 150

Description: 17,000 Paradise Coins

……

The sword tip shattered in Su Xiao's hand; the surrounding space rippled.

【Time's up. Derivative world: Naruto Shippuden opened. No anomalies detected. Open world.】

【Spatial coordinates stabilized. Consumed 0.022 ounces of spacetime energy.】

【Based on spacetime energy consumed, the Contractee's minimum composite rating in this world must reach C-.】

【Open world: The Hunter may encounter extremely powerful enemies within this world. Proceed with caution.】

Su Xiao intended to enter the Naruto world; he had pondered long whether to enter it.

He suspected that chakra in the Naruto world was a form of energy, and Qinggangyin had over a 90% chance of burning it—meaning he could resist even stronger ninja in combat.

Ninja were strong, true, but most had low physical durability; even late-stage ninja who reached demi-god levels still lacked monstrous physical strength.

Thus, with Qinggangyin capable of burning energy, Su Xiao's odds of defeating ninja were high.

As for genjutsu, he wasn't worried—his high intelligence and spiritual resistance allowed him to resist moderately strong illusions, though illusions like Tsukuyomi were beyond his capability.

Moreover, entering the Naruto world had another crucial reason: Su Xiao's newly acquired ability, the Core of Consumption.

Skill Eight

Core of Consumption: Lv. MAX (Active Skill)

Effect: Can absorb high-level biological energy to nourish Qinggangyin energy; increases Qinggangyin's level and quality based on the level and quality of absorbed energy.

……

Upon gaining this skill, the first creature Su Xiao thought of was the Tailed Beasts; if he could absorb the chakra of one Tailed Beast, his Qinggangyin level could surge from Lv. 10 to over Lv. 20, possibly higher.

If he could absorb two Tailed Beasts…

As the core energy of the Shadow of Annihilation, Qinggangyin would undergo a qualitative transformation upon reaching Lv. 20—at least according to the Sword Master.

Pursuing Tailed Beasts was difficult, but not impossible, especially with Dream Xiao.

Su Xiao's greatest concern now was the timing of his entry into the Naruto world; if he arrived during the Warring States era, the joke would be on him.

That was the most dangerous period in the Naruto world—Jonin were as common as dogs, Kage-levels walked the streets, only "Super-Kage" could dare to stir, and even then, death was likely—such as encountering Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiwa.

The Warring States era was bad, and the Fourth Shinobi World War era was no better; by then, seizing a Tailed Beast would be unlikely; Su Xiao didn't believe he could wrest one from Obito or Madara Uchiwa.

He didn't know the exact era—he could only leave it to fate.

【Preparing for open world transmission…】

Su Xiao's lip twitched; the memory of entering the Pirate world was still vivid.

"Aow～"

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang let out a pitiful wail, gazing at Su Xiao with mournful eyes.

"Get used to it…"

Thud!

As if struck in the back of the head by a spinning sledgehammer, Su Xiao's vision turned black.

Spacetime energy surged—the Paradise of Reincarnation's teleportation completed.

……

After an unknown length of time, Su Xiao slowly awoke.

Darkness, dampness, the faint stench of decaying corpses mixed with mud filled his nostrils.

Su Xiao opened his eyes; a familiar scene appeared—a row of iron bars, prison bars.

He stood, rubbed his occiput, and surveyed his surroundings.

He had entered another prison, similar to his treatment in the Fullmetal Alchemist world, but this time it was worse—he was only three meters from a corpse.

The corpse had died recently, bearing obvious external wounds; its chest and abdomen were wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, likely killed by bacterial infection.

He walked to the iron bars; outside was dark, with a single oil lamp on the wall, its flame flickering, casting a dim yellow glow.

The prison consisted of a dozen adjacent cells; Su Xiao was in the innermost one.

The prison air was damp, and the pitch-black environment led Su Xiao to guess this was an underground prison—commonly called a dungeon.

"Hey, neighbor."

A voice came from the adjacent cell; blocked by stone walls, Su Xiao couldn't see what lay beyond.

"Did you hear me?"

The voice was weak but hostile—clearly not a good person.

Su Xiao said nothing, then turned his head and saw Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang; as his servant, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was naturally in the same cell.

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang looked despondent, his furry paw pressed against the back of his head, his mournful gaze silently asking: "Master, did you spend fifty thousand Paradise Coins just to get beaten?"

Landing in this situation upon arrival was unavoidable; using the World Key to enter a derivative world had this drawback—the starting location was random, the assigned identity required slow exploration, and such identities were always terrible.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

The hoarse voice from the next cell spoke again.

"Is Kawaki dead? If he is, give me an arm—I'm starving."

From this sentence alone, one could tell how dire the dungeon's conditions were—cannibalizing corpses was routine.

【Entered world: Naruto Shippuden】

Location: Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist)

World Difficulty: Lv. 3～?? (Open world; difficulty varies by region)

World Source: 0%

World Overview: This is a ninja world, where war never ends, hatred breeds more hatred, the Five Great Ninja Villages constantly clash, and ninja are the ultimate weapons of war.

Chakra: A form of energy created by the perfect fusion of spiritual and physical energy, used primarily to perform jutsu—in short, the essential energy required to cast ninjutsu.

Main Quest: Choice.

Hunter Quest: Eliminate Violator No. 10001.

Hint: Violator No. 10001 is strong. Hunter, proceed with caution.

Hint: When the Hunter enters within one kilometer of the Violator, the Hunt function activates automatically.

Warning: Do not mention anything about the "Paradise" in this world. Failure to comply will result in forced execution!

Hint: Detected that the Hunter does not know the world's language. Automatically acquiring the language at a cost of 100 Paradise Coins.

World, begin!