Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 38 A feint to the east while attacking in the west, a clever plan to save lives

The morning sunlight streamed into Taiichi's bedroom through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating Taiichi's sleeping face.

The gradually glaring sunlight finally woke Taiyi up. Still half asleep, he picked up the alarm clock beside him and saw that it was almost 7 o'clock.

This has never happened since I woke up. It shows how serious the aftereffects of yesterday's excessive mental exertion are.

I shook my head and felt that my brain no longer hurt. It seems that sleep really is the best medicine for treating mental fatigue.

Taiyi quickly got up and washed up. He had already missed his daily training last night and this morning, and he couldn't afford to miss the rest of his training time.

Moreover, he needs to quickly familiarize himself with the power and effects of the two newly generated skills. Otherwise, he might lose control of his own state during combat.

After finishing breakfast, Taiichi stepped out of his house and noticed that Konoha was much more "noisy" than usual today.

Walking down the street, you can see Uchiha ninjas from the Konoha Police Department patrolling back and forth from time to time, at a frequency that is two or three times higher than usual.

As Taichi continued walking forward, the masked ninjas that occasionally flashed by on the rooftops on both sides confirmed his suspicions.

Something unexpected must have happened in Konoha today, otherwise even the Anbu wouldn't be making such a big show of traveling on the rooftops.

Thinking back on the few memories I have of this period, it seems nothing major happened. Surely, this little butterfly of mine couldn't have caused a tropical storm in a distant region?

Taiyi chuckled to himself and decided to ignore it. As the panel's evaluation stated, he was still just a small Karami. If the sky fell, the taller ones would hold it up; it wasn't his place to worry about it for now.

Ignoring everything else, Taiyi quickened his pace and hurried towards his training spot by the river.

Unbeknownst to him, his sudden acceleration immediately attracted the attention of several patrolling ninjas. Had he not been just a kid wearing a Konoha headband, ninjas would have already stopped him and questioned him.

……

Taiyi, who was running at full speed, suddenly stopped at the edge of the training area. He looked around and found that the training area was unusually quiet today. The usually noisy chirping of insects and birds seemed to have all gone on strike.

Taiyi walked slowly to the riverbank, drew his short sword, and began to wield it gently, no longer as sharp and fierce as during his usual training. It looked as if he were practicing Tai Chi sword.

Taiyi slowly sensed the movement of the sword, the subtle connections and changes between each move, while simultaneously sensing its potential expansion and experiencing everything around him.

At that very moment, in the nearby grove, a scarred man with a samurai sword at his waist was lurking. Beside him was a tightly tied burlap sack, the contents of which were unknown.

The scarred man carefully concealed his presence, even his breathing was as slow and gentle as possible.

He would occasionally glance at Taiyi by the river, and when he saw Taiyi draw his sword, he was clearly tense for a moment.

But when he saw Taiyi's slow, beginner-like swordsmanship, he looked at him with disdain.

At this moment, Taiyi, whose perception had been pushed to its limit, slowly felt the already quiet environment become even more tranquil. His academic genius was fully activated, and his focus was raised to the highest level.

Gradually, in this tranquil environment, two distinct breathing sounds reached Taiyi's ears.

The sound was flat and weak, not like someone was sleeping, but more like someone was unconscious.

There was another sound that was almost imperceptible, a slow and long breath. If it weren't for the two breaths coming together, Taiyi would have missed it.

Taiichi had a guess in his mind. Without making a sound, he finished the last move, sheathed his sword, and stood still. After calming himself down, he went to the riverbank and began practicing his ninjutsu in front of the water.

He was seen intermittently casting Fire Release: Flame Bullet, pausing after each cast as if he were trying to grasp the essentials of the technique, while his hands were constantly practicing hand seals.

Ten minutes passed, and Taiichi released four fire bullet ninjutsu.

……

The scarred man in the grove watched the brats by the river continuously unleashing ninjutsu, feeling contemptuous. He thought he could take on ten of these kids, but he wondered when they would be able to escape. The genin's chakra was probably almost depleted.

Suddenly, the scarred man seemed to realize something, and before he could even turn his head, he jumped to the side.

Three kunai followed the scarred man's figure, disappearing into the ground one after another with a series of "do-do-do" sounds.

The scarred man glanced back and his pupils contracted. The three kunai were already halfway into the ground, showing how much force had been used.

Only then did the scarred man have a moment to look in the direction from which the kunai had come, and he saw a burly man wearing a Konoha headband rushing towards him. The hand seal in his hand was already complete; it was the "Tiger" seal.

"Is it a fire jutsu?" the scarred man thought to himself, while his subordinates began to prepare hand seals to counterattack.

He had just been forced away from the sack by the kunai, and now he needed to get there as quickly as possible. That was his mission objective, and he couldn't afford to lose it.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!" The burly man unleashed 36 fireballs in one breath, which rained down on the scarred man like a tidal wave. He himself charged forward after them, completely disregarding the threat of the high-temperature fireballs.

The scarred man was initially pleased with himself for guessing the ninjutsu correctly, but when he saw the barrage of fireballs coming, he was terrified and quickly withdrew his hand seals, hastily using the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.

The 36 fireballs relentlessly pursued the scarred man, crashing to the ground with a series of booms along his retreat route.

Just then, the burly man burst out of the flames, swinging his fist and unleashing all his strength to punch the scarred man.

The scarred man crossed his arms and barely managed to block the powerful punch, but he was still sent flying out of the forest.

"Luckily, there's only one low-level ninja brat outside." The scarred man was still feeling relieved in mid-air.

But when he looked up at the burly man, his expression changed drastically, his face filled with terror. It turned out that the man who had just knocked him away had slowly turned into a puddle of water—a "water clone"!

He turned around in a panic, adjusting his posture to prepare for the attack.

Taiichi was now standing in the path where the scarred man had been knocked away, holding a short sword. That "strong man" was the water clone that Taiichi had secretly created while practicing fire bullets by the river.

Taiyi manipulated his water clones to circle around the river and reach the shore, then quietly circled behind the scarred man, used a transformation technique to confuse his opponent, and then launched an attack.

It wasn't until his water clones dissipated due to exhaustion of chakra that the scarred man realized that he had only been attacked by one person from beginning to end.

Seeing the scarred man flying backward, Taiyi instantly moved to meet him. The short sword in his hand hummed softly due to the wind-attribute chakra that Taiyi had poured into it, and thin wind blades appeared on its surface.

The distance was only a few meters, passing in the blink of an eye. The scarred man didn't even have time to draw his sword to block, and could only concentrate all his chakra into his arms in hopes of providing some resistance. He himself tried his best to avoid the trajectory of the blade.

No sooner said than done. A flash of blood appeared, and the scarred man's right arm was severed at the elbow, while the blade slashed a long gash across his chest.

Fresh blood gushed out. He stopped thinking about the sack and fled towards the river without looking back.

Taiyi severely injured the scarred man with a single strike, leaving him no room to escape. He quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a Wind Release: Pressure Blow.

The high-pressure hurricane struck the scarred man rapidly, instantly exploding into a large storm zone that enveloped him entirely. In just a moment, the scarred man was cut to pieces by the wind blades and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

The entire battle, from the initial attack to the final kill, took less than two minutes, demonstrating just how swift ninja combat can be when the initiative is gained.

At this moment, Taiyi didn't dare to rush forward when he saw the scarred man lying on the ground. He threw two kunai from a distance to confirm that the man was dead before he went forward to check on him.

There were no obvious distinguishing features on his body, nor any items that could prove his identity. It seems that we will have to hand him over to the interrogation department to find out anything.

Taiyi left the corpse and headed towards the only trophy he had won this time—the sack.

Upon opening the sack, sure enough, just as Taiichi had guessed, there was a little girl inside, who looked to be only two or three years old. It was unclear whose child she was.

After a brief examination, it was found that he was only in a simple coma and would probably wake up naturally in another two hours.

Taiyi breathed a sigh of relief. At least his efforts weren't in vain. It would have been such a waste if he had just rescued an injured person.

"Kid, you killed Ito~" A cold voice came from behind.

……