Naruto: The Ninja World's Life Buyer

Chapter 237 Barren Sand Sea, Blood-Red Carnival

The carriage bumped along the Gobi Desert in the Land of Wind.

There were ice basins in the carriage, but the ice melted very quickly under the scorching heat.

Sosuke fanned himself with a folding fan.

"I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for even a second longer."

Sosuke complained.

His metabolism is too fast.

After merging Kaguya's bone marrow and the life force of the Uzumaki clan, his body was always operating at high speed.

He didn't feel it when he was in Konoha, but when he arrived in this high-temperature desert, the heat emanating from his body combined with the high temperature outside made him feel like he was about to catch fire.

At the other end of the carriage.

Yekura sat quietly.

She was covered in bandages, and wore a loose robe over her body.

"Your body temperature is very abnormal."

As a user of the Scorching Release technique, she had an extremely keen sense of temperature. She could feel that the heat emanating from Sosuke's body was far greater than that of ordinary people.

"I took the wrong medicine, and this is a side effect."

Sosuke gave a perfunctory reply.

At this moment, the carriage stopped.

Sosuke pushed open the door and jumped off the carriage.

My feet sank into the scalding sand.

The wheel bearings were filled with fine sand and completely jammed.

"What bad luck."

The caravan's guards led several camels from the back.

"Boss, the car won't move. We'll have to ride a camel."

Sosuke sighed and climbed onto the camel's back. The camel had an unpleasant, pungent smell, but he had no choice but to endure it.

The team walked for another hour or so in the desert.

A small, nearly dried-up oasis appeared ahead. Under a few date palm trees, there was a thatched hut.

A melon farmer sat in a thatched shed with several watermelons beside him.

Sosuke patted the camel and walked to the front of the thatched hut.

"Boss, how much are the watermelons?"

The melon farmer raised his eyes, glanced at Sosuke's clothes, and then looked at the caravan behind him.

He held up three fingers.

"Three thousand taels. One."

Ye Cang, riding on a camel, frowned.

Three thousand taels?

In Sunagakure, three thousand ryo is enough for a family of three to live on for a month.

Sosuke didn't even have the desire to haggle.

He pulled out a wad of banknotes and threw them on the melon farmer's broken table.

"Here's ten thousand taels. I'll take all of these melons."

The melon farmer excitedly swept the money into his pocket.

Sosuke pulled out a kunai.

With a swift stroke, a watermelon was split in two.

The melon wasn't red; it was somewhat whitish. Water is scarce in the desert, so the melon didn't grow well.

But at least it's cold.

Sosuke cut out the very center of the watermelon.

That's the sweetest and juiciest part of the whole watermelon.

He took a big bite, and the juice flowed down his chin and into his neck.

"call----"

The heat was finally subsided somewhat.

Then, he cut open the second one and, still, only scooped out the very center of the melon to eat.

I cut three of them in a row.

Ye Cang sat on the camel, looking at the three watermelons that were still mostly red.

She frowned slightly.

She was of commoner birth. In the Land of Wind, wasting water and food is an unforgivable sin.

She dismounted from the camel and picked up the watermelon that Sosuke had thrown away.

Sosuke stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"The rest doesn't taste good," Sosuke reminded him.

Ye Cang ignored him and started taking big bites.

She ate it all up. She even left teeth marks on the white part of the melon rind.

After finishing one piece, she picked up another.

She devoured all the melons that Sosuke had rejected.

Sosuke silently watched the woman.

"Do you really like eating watermelon?" Sosuke asked.

"I just don't want to waste food."

Yecang tossed the melon rind aside and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"A big businessman like you wouldn't understand."

Sousuke didn't object.

He took out the kettle, poured some water, and washed his sticky hands.

"I really don't know. But I paid for it, so I can eat however I want."

He mounted the camel.

"Let's go, hopefully we can reach the next town before dark."

The desert climate is so hot during the day that it can bake a person alive, but once the sun sets, the temperature drops to freezing.

They were unable to reach the town and had to camp under the sheltered sand dunes.

The night wind howled.

Sosuke, wrapped in a trench coat, sat on the sand. His constitution made him resistant to the cold, but he disliked this desolate environment.

The guards gathered some dry branches. But starting a fire in the desert was a problem. The wind was too strong, and the matches went out as soon as they were lit.

One of the guards tried for a long time but failed.

"Get out of the way."

Yecang walked over.

She made a simple hand seal, exhaled a small flame, and it landed in the center of the dry grass.

As a user of the Scorching Release technique, Fire Release is her fundamental skill.

The guards brought some dried animal meat and roasted it over the fire.

The meat was very tough.

Sosuke tore off a piece and chewed it laboriously in his mouth. It was hard on his teeth.

He suddenly missed Kaori's cooking.

Once people get used to a good life, it's hard for them to go back to frugality.

What kind of job do you want to do next?

Sosuke chewed on his meat and asked casually.

Ye Cang stared blankly at the flickering flames.

"I'll leave it to you. I'm fine with anything."

Sosuke swallowed the tough piece of meat.

"The Takaya Trading Company doesn't support idlers. You'll be busy once you get to Konoha."

He washed his hands with water and went into the tent.

"But before that—let's get a good night's sleep."

Yekura also returned to the tent.

The desert night was quiet, and she gradually fell asleep listening to the crackling of the campfire.

Noon the next day.

The caravan finally arrived at the next town.

Sandstone Town.

Because of the war, this place is crowded with refugees.

The streets were covered in excrement.

The emaciated child squatted in the corner, staring at everyone who passed by.

Sosuke covered his nose with a handkerchief, his brows furrowed.

"Let's find a place to eat."

They went into a tavern.

The tavern was bustling with noise.

Sosuke and Yokura sat down in a corner by the window. The guards sat at the next table.

The owner brought over the food.

Gerbil meat, brown rice.

Sosuke picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and swallowed it expressionlessly.

Yekura ate quickly. She was used to this kind of food.

Just then, a noise came from the next table.

Several thugs, their faces flushed from drinking, staggered to their feet.

They had their eyes on Sosuke long ago. He was dressed in exquisite fabric, and there was Yokura, whose figure, though wrapped in bandages, couldn't be concealed.

"Hey, stranger."

A thug stepped on Sosuke's stool.

"It's the custom in this town that newcomers have to treat everyone to a drink."

He stared at Yecang's body without any restraint.

"This chick's all covered up, but she looks like she's got a good figure. Want to borrow her for a bit?"

A burst of vulgar laughter erupted from the surrounding area.

The caravan's guards were about to draw their swords.

Sousuke raised his hand and stopped the guards from fighting. The guards were too slow to fight.

It was so hot that he didn't even have the patience to wait.

He looked at Ye Cang. She was eating the last bite of her meal.

"Have you eaten enough?" Sosuke asked.

Ye Cang put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth.

I'm full.

"It's too noisy." Sosuke leaned back in his chair. "This food is awful. I'm not eating."

"These people are now in your hands."

Yecang stood up.

The scarred thug sneered, "What? You little chick want to fight me—"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Bang!"

Yekura's fist slammed into his nose.

Nasal bone fracture.

The thug screamed and fell backward, spraying blood all over the ground.

"Damn it! You're asking for it!"

Upon seeing this, the other four thugs immediately drew their daggers and iron bars and rushed forward.

Yecang's eyes were cold.

She sidestepped the iron bar that was coming at her, grabbed the other person's wrist with her left hand, and twisted it in one smooth motion.

"Click."

Immediately afterwards, she kicked another person in the knee. The man screamed and knelt down, Ye Cang's knee already pressing against his chin.

With each strike, one person is rendered incapacitated.

Ten seconds later.

The five thugs lay on the ground, clutching their severed arms and legs and wailing.

The tavern was deathly silent. The onlookers all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Ye Cang's gaze.

Yekura clapped her hands.

She suddenly felt much lighter.

No need to think about the big picture, just beat up that annoying guy. This long-lost sense of relief made her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's go."

Sosuke stood up and threw a few banknotes on the table as compensation for the damaged furniture.

The two had just stepped out of the tavern.

A huge riot suddenly broke out on the street.

Hundreds of people were running together.

"He's over there! Don't let him get away!"

"He's an Iwa ninja! He's worth 500,000!"

Sosuke and Yokura stopped and stood on the steps watching.

Ahead of the crowd was a man. He was running extremely fast, and there was a faint fluctuation of chakra beneath his feet.

This is a spy from Iwagakure who has concealed his identity.

But he was exposed.

Behind him, a large, dark crowd was chasing after him.

Those were refugees, vagrants, drunkards, and even a few middle-aged women and teenagers from the town.

Their eyes are red.

Five hundred thousand taels!

In this impoverished town, that amount of money would drive anyone crazy.

The Iwagakure spy quickly formed hand seals.

"Earth Release: Great River of Earth!"

The streets turned into a swamp. The dozen or so civilians at the front of the line got stuck in the mud.

But those behind stepped on the bodies of those in front and continued to pounce forward.

Too many people.

If there are enough ants, they really can kill an elephant.

The spy, exhausted, was hit on the back of the head by a rock.

He staggered.

A middle-aged man lunged at him and slashed him on the shoulder with a knife.

"Get out of my way! This is mine!"

An old woman nearby picked up a wooden stick and struck the spy on the back of the knee.

The spy fell.

He was overwhelmed by the crowd.

Hoes, kitchen knives, stones—the most primitive means of violence.

Just a few minutes later, when the crowd dispersed, all that remained on the ground was a pool of indistinct flesh and blood; not even a single intact garment could be found.

Ye Cang felt a chill rise up.

She was a ruthless ninja, but she had never seen anything like this before.

That Iwa ninja, in terms of strength, could kill these civilians with a single finger. But faced with the greed of a nationwide frenzy, the power of a single ninja seemed so insignificant.

She turned her head and looked at Sosuke beside her.

"Is this the effect of your bounty?"

"yes."

Sosuke said calmly.

"A counterattack against Onoki."

He stepped down the stairs.

"Let's go. This town stinks."