Yagami stared carefully at the lottery options before him.
[1 – Reflex Breakthrough (one-time boost)
2 – Chūnin-level Chakra Capacity (stackable)
3 – Wire-Control Shuriken Technique (beginner)]
The Wire-Control Shuriken Technique must be a skill for manipulating steel wire attached to ninja tools.
After all, the Longsword: Nuibari was connected to steel wires. It could pierce through enemies, and those wires could slice through legs just as easily—quite a deadly combo.
As for Chūnin-level Chakra?
The one who killed him had been Kurisame Kushimaru. He had expected a Jōnin-level chakra reward at least, but apparently not.
Maybe his current body simply couldn't handle or refine chakra of that level, so the system downgraded it to Chūnin-level.
He'd been on mission for months, living mostly on ration pills. It kept him alive, sure, but he'd lost weight.
Since chakra was a mix of physical and spiritual energy, a weaker body meant less chakra.
The first option, though—that one truly caught his eye.
Reflex Breakthrough (one-time boost).
A special ability that enhanced reaction speed.
A normal human's reaction time ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 seconds. Yagami had tested his own before—it was about 0.2 seconds.
Kurisame Kushimaru was a speed-type shinobi. His movements, his manipulation of the long needle and steel wires, were insanely fast.
If Yagami could draw this reward multiple times, maybe he could become a speed-type ninja himself.
He made a Shadow Clone and handed it a small stone.
The clone suddenly released the stone, and Yagami tried to catch it.
After several tries, he recorded the average height at which he caught the falling stone.
Then he selected Reflex Breakthrough (one-time boost).
A sharp tension pricked the back of his head. His skin tightened all over as a jolt like electricity surged through his nerves.
Something inside him changed—his reflex pathways were rewired.
He had his clone throw the stone again, this time without warning.
In his perception, the stone's fall seemed slower now…
At the same time, his muscles reacted faster.
He caught the stone noticeably higher than before.
After repeated tests, Yagami estimated that his reaction time had improved by about 0.05 seconds—down to roughly 0.15 seconds.
It was said that certain Olympic athletes could reach that level.
Not bad. Not bad at all. This was a huge improvement.
Ninjutsu could be learned. Taijutsu could be trained. But natural reflexes? Those were almost impossible to enhance this much.
It was said that Namikaze Minato had the fastest reflexes in the ninja world.
Even if ordinary ninja mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting right in front of an opponent would still be suicide if they couldn't react fast enough—they'd just get smacked away.
Minato could chase across a thousand miles, others would only be delivering themselves a thousand miles to their deaths.
The story unfolded the same as before.
Two Leaf Anbu divisions arrived at the desert, linking up with Hippo Squad.
The Uzumaki guard captain once again charged straight into the Leaf Anbu ranks.
This time, Yagami was smarter. He moved early, avoiding both the guard captain's direction and Kushimaru's line of attack.
The battlefield ignited instantly.
The Mist-nin charged in like madmen, desperate to recover the guard captain's body.
Yagami spotted Kushimaru among them.
Just like last time, he used his Longsword: Nuibari to tear a gap in the Anbu formation, letting the Mist-nin rush through.
But Kushimaru himself didn't move forward. He stayed in place, throwing and retracting his blade again and again—almost like he was dancing.
With his new reflexes, Yagami could finally see it clearly—thin steel wires looping and weaving through the air.
Nuibari flew toward a nearby rock, wrapped around it once, then whipped back into Kushimaru's hand.
Between several rocks, a wire framework formed. Nuibari darted through those threads, weaving a deadly steel web in seconds.
Some Leaf ninjas noticed the wires—but even through their Anbu armor, Nuibari still pierced clean through them.
Kushimaru suddenly yanked the wire tight.
A shrill, slicing screech filled the air.
The rocks anchoring the steel web were sheared in half—and the wires snapped taut.
Yagami's eyes tracked the ground carefully.
The steel web sliced through two Anbu's lower legs right beside him.
He leapt away instantly.
His speed outstripped the others', letting him narrowly avoid the same fate.
In just one wave of attack, over twenty Leaf Anbu lost both legs.
They collapsed, screaming in agony, their severed stumps spraying blood as their detached feet still stood upright in the sand.
Kushimaru threw Nuibari again—this time using the maimed Anbu as stakes to anchor his next web.
One by one, the legless Leaf ninjas were impaled, their bodies strung together by wires as the steel web spread once more.
It was horrifying.
Kurisame Kushimaru was undoubtedly a high-level Jōnin—and utterly merciless.
Nuibari's puncture wounds were tiny, leaving its victims alive just long enough to wail in torment.
Each cut from the wires was surgically clean, turning the fallen into grotesque puppets.
Captain Hound moved around the flank, trying to stop Kushimaru's setup.
But the Mist swordsman easily evaded every attack.
Captain Hound unleashed one Fire Release after another, yet every time, his rhythm was disrupted by Nuibari, which darted back from his blind spots.
Yagami weaved between rocks and fallen comrades, keeping to the outer edge of the fight.
In the center, the Uzumaki guard captain was overwhelmed—his fists couldn't stand against so many blades. He was already covered in wounds.
With his dying breath, he pulled a scroll from his pouch.
"You'll never get the sealing arts of the Uzumaki Clan!"
There was a tag on the scroll—an explosive tag.
He bit down on it, along with the scroll, clearly intending to blow himself—and it—into pieces.
But another Anbu division leader, Captain Black Ant, struck first.
A member of the Nara Clan, his shadow had already stretched beneath the captain's feet, binding him instantly.
The guard captain raised his own hand, tore off the explosive tag, and flung the scroll away.
The tag exploded by his head, blasting the scroll into the air.
Yagami, anticipating the move, had already positioned himself along the explosion's trajectory.
The blast sent the scroll flying straight toward him.
He leapt up, snatching it midair.
Jackpot. Even a single sealing technique would be worth its weight in gold.
He glanced at the scroll—then quickly wrapped it up again and tossed it toward Captain Black Ant.
The captain caught it, opened it, and froze in disbelief. Then he looked up at Yagami.
The fox-masked Anbu nodded, signaling it was real.
Inside the scroll—was blank paper.
Empty. A decoy scroll!
Eight Uzumaki guards—four Jōnin, four Special Jōnin—and they'd been carrying a fake the entire time.
No one could've guessed that such a powerful escort team was nothing more than a diversion.
The real scroll must have been smuggled out of the Land of Waves long ago.
The Uzumaki remnants had played both the Leaf and the Mist like fools.
Black Ant blinked in disbelief, then barked at one of his subordinates, "There might be hidden writing—use every method you know to decode it, now!"
Yagami watched as Captain Hound and the squad leaders launched their massive Fire Releases, the battlefield erupting in flames.
A sudden urgency rose in his chest.
His next priority—was clear.
He needed to draw a Water-natured Chakra reward.
Because not all his enemies came from other villages. In the Leaf, backstabbing was an art—and no one inside the village could ever be trusted completely.
***
I'll post 2 bonuses for 100 stones. Pls vote if you enjoy 🙏
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