Chapter 3 — Fierce Battle
"I've been exposed."
The moment he heard the voice, Namikaze Yami's heart tightened. Without hesitation, he disengaged and retreated, eyes locked warily on the newcomer.
The figure before him was dressed in standard Kirigakure ANBU attire—clearly someone who had followed behind the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to clean up the battlefield.
There was no room for wishful thinking.
Yami struck first.
He raised his hands, formed seals, and unleashed the only Fire Release technique he currently knew.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Scorching flames burst from his mouth, surging straight toward the enemy's silhouette.
The Mist ninja didn't dodge.
The fire swallowed him whole—only for his body to instantly collapse into a puddle of water, rapidly evaporating under the intense heat.
A thin mist rose.
Yami's expression darkened.
A Water Clone… and he used it to set up the Mist Technique.
The fog thickened, flooding the area and instantly transforming it into the enemy's domain. In a blink, the opponent had seized complete control of the battlefield.
Senbon needles and shuriken flew out from the mist without warning. Yami twisted and dodged, all while guarding against a sudden ambush that could come from any direction.
Fortunately, after the system's enhancements, his chakra reserves were no longer what they used to be. He could continuously form seals, firing Flame Bullets at every suspicious spot.
In the past, two or three jutsu would have drained him dry.
The Mist ninja, meanwhile, was secretly shaken.
At first glance, Yami looked like nothing more than a young genin—easy prey. The Mist ninja had even entertained the thought of toying with him.
Yet the boy's chakra was astonishing, seemingly bottomless, wasted with reckless abandon.
Still, within the Hidden Mist Technique, as long as he didn't reveal himself—and since the enemy lacked countering dōjutsu like the Byakugan—the fight would inevitably tilt in his favor.
A battle of attrition.
And in that, the Mist ninja was confident he couldn't lose.
Yami, however, was growing anxious.
They were on the outer edge of the core battlefield. If enemy reinforcements arrived, escape would become impossible.
As he strained his senses to locate the enemy's position, he suddenly felt something strange.
A mysterious sensation bloomed within him.
Like a radar locking on.
The Mist ninja's exact location appeared in his perception with uncanny clarity.
Yami didn't reveal his discovery. Instead, he subtly slowed the rate at which he released ninjutsu, deliberately putting on an act—breathing heavily, feigning chakra exhaustion.
Seeing this, the opponent didn't relax his guard in the slightest. Instead, he summoned another Water Clone to press the attack, while his true body silently circled around to the rear, preparing a fatal strike.
Every move, however, was laid bare within Namikaze Yami's perception.
Feigning ignorance, he calmly set his trap.
Kunai in hand, he clashed once with the Water Clone. Using the recoil, he leapt backward—and just as expected, he sensed the Mist ninja's true body lunging in from behind, seizing the moment when Yami seemed off balance.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
The instant the water sphere closed in, the Mist ninja was about to feel triumph—
Only to realize, in shock, that the target trapped inside was nothing more than a substitution log.
At the same moment, the explosive tag beneath his feet detonated with a thunderous blast.
Having already escaped with the Substitution Technique, Yami didn't dare relax. He immediately poured chakra into another attack.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Under the double assault, the Mist ninja's figure was completely engulfed. Flames and explosions intertwined, accompanied by a shrill scream of agony.
The mist that had blanketed the area began to dissipate.
There, in the open, lay the Mist ninja in a miserable state—one leg blown off, his upper body covered in burns and blistered flesh, barely clinging to life.
Through his perception, Yami confirmed that the enemy was no longer a threat.
Only then did he truly relax and focus on the newly awakened ability.
Kagura's Mind's Eye.
As a Naruto fan, Yami knew all too well the value of this sensory secret art—one that even among the Uzumaki clan, only a rare few could awaken.
In his previous life, he'd debated it countless times on forums: low screen time, yet arguably the strongest reconnaissance technique in the ninja world.
Increasing the chakra output of Kagura's Mind's Eye, the mental perception that had once only covered his surroundings suddenly expanded outward—
Ten kilometers. Then more.
After confirming that no other enemies were approaching, Yami strode quickly toward the dying Mist ninja.
---
[Scan complete. Pawnable items detected:]
Dying elite chūnin ×1
Valuation: 0
Unrecorded ninjutsu (extractable) ×1
Valuation: 20 points
---
"Pawn."
The Mist ninja's head dissolved into wisps of light, dispersing into nothingness as the system panel refreshed.
---
[Redeemable Items:]
Water Release: Water Clone — 10 points
Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique — 10 points
Water Release: Water Prison Technique — 10 points
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet — 10 points
Uzumaki Clan Sealing Secret Art — 4000 points
(Can be broken down and redeemed separately)
---
"Damn it… you black-hearted merchant!"
Yami couldn't help cursing under his breath.
Techniques pawned for particular points, then immediately resold to him at double the price.
After some experimentation, he'd already grasped the system's nature. Nothing it offered was conjured from thin air—it behaved far more like a second-hand dealer, flipping goods for profit.
Without hesitation, he redeemed all four Water Release techniques.
In an instant, vast amounts of training memories flooded his mind, as if he'd already honed them through countless repetitions.
[Current Pawn Points: 870]
Even more surprising—
Where he had once only possessed Wind and Fire chakra natures, he now inexplicably gained Water Release chakra as well.
"Expensive… but worth it."
Leaving aside the fact that the techniques required no practice and could be used immediately, the sheer acquisition of an additional chakra nature alone saved him untold years of grueling training.
The only slight disappointment was the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
No wonder that Mist ninja never used it.
Turns out it was the "honest" version—forty-four hand seals.
After swiftly looting the battlefield and replenishing himself, and seeing that Jōnin Itō Makoto still hadn't returned, Yami decided to leave a fallback plan and withdraw first.
With Kagura's Mind's Eye assisting him, Yami moved through the battlefield like a fish in water, slipping past the clashes between ninja.
Like a battlefield scavenger, wherever he passed—
Uzumaki corpses vanished without a trace.
…
"Jōnin Itō still hasn't returned. We're past the rendezvous time. Let's retreat."
Shimizu Kenma said to Kato Taka, who had stopped shaking but was still wound tight with tension.
Both had long been terrified out of their wits by the carnage. They quickly reached an agreement and retreated along the path they'd come.
Just as they thought they were about to escape hell itself and finally breathed a sigh of relief—
A cold voice suddenly rang out:
"Longsword Ninja Art: Earth Spider Bind."
Countless steel wires burst up from the ground, instantly shattering their escape plan. The resilient wires wrapped around them in an instant.
The moment they struggled, the blade-sharp wires sliced into their flesh, skin splitting open as blood soaked their clothes.
From within the mist, a slender yet power-filled figure slowly emerged.
Behind a pale mask, his gaze could not be seen. In his hand was a ninja blade like a steel spike.
The signature steel wires paired with a long, slender sword—
At a glance, one knew he was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
The wires in his hand tightened as he spoke in a chilling tone:
"So… two Konoha rats?"
"Tell me where your companions are."
"How about it?"