As the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique finished speaking,
Yuu's mind buzzed, and it was as if he truly saw a dark, deep maze appear before him. The black-clad girl let out a string of ethereal laughter, her figure drifting like a ghost into the depths of the maze.
Boundless darkness spread in all directions, swallowing every bit of light.
The galgame system's text box immediately flashed:
[Encounter Hint: The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique likes teasing others, especially the fun of making people "unable to see." Play an interesting game of hide-and-seek with her. Only by proving that you have the ability to control darkness can you earn her favor! Of course, be careful not to actually play yourself blind~ (｡ŏ_ŏ)]
[Game time limit: 120 minutes]
"…Tsk, there's this kind of gameplay too?"
Yuu was a little surprised.
It seemed the galgame system had more functions than he had originally known. After Monster Strength's text-based chess and card minigames, now there was the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique's maze minigame, and it was even a brand-new 3D version. It looked rather interesting.
Since that was the case…
"Then let's try playing."
Yuu closed his eyes slightly and focused his mind. The illusion in his mind became clearer.
At this moment, it was as if he were truly standing inside a maze. Front, back, left, and right were all darkness. There was almost no light to be seen.
This darkness was not darkness in the physical sense, but the result of his "vision" being forcibly stripped away on the level of perception. In theory, this was the scene seen by someone under the normal effect of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
Sense of direction, sense of distance… all these conventional concepts fell into confusion here. Even his sense of his own existence became extremely vague. Trying to find the hidden black-clad girl under these conditions was probably only slightly easier than searching for a needle in the ocean.
"This is a bit troublesome."
Yuu scratched his head.
Searching for the caster of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique through ordinary means in this maze definitely would not work. After all, he could not even "see" beyond one meter in front of him. If he walked even a couple of extra steps, he would hit the "wall" opposite him.
As for the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, she had obtained perfect camouflage here. Her entire being had completely merged into the darkness, making it impossible to tell where she was.
So…
he could only find another path.
At once,
Yuu first tried activating All-Spirit Perception.
To his slight surprise, this trait could be used, but its perception range was greatly obstructed.
As for the reason…
it was because the maze before him was not a scene that truly existed in reality. It was an illusion constructed in Yuu's mind by the galgame system, similar in nature to Uchiha Itachi's Tsukuyomi space. Its internal rules differed greatly from the real world.
The All-Spirit Perception he was using now was essentially a projection constructed from spiritual energy, or Yin Release chakra. It could only be used inside this illusion space and could only display a small portion of the original's performance. It was not a one-to-one reproduction and could not capture the location of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique at all.
Taking ten thousand steps back, All-Spirit Perception was an ability that sensed living beings. Whether the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, as the personification of a ninjutsu, counted as something "alive" was another matter.
So,
Yuu formed seals with both hands and released Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
Several fireballs flew out of his mouth one after another and landed deep inside the maze. After illuminating a small surrounding area, they disappeared.
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Huh, little Mikami, what are you doing?]
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Mm… what is this place? Why does it feel so pitch-black? I can't see anything clearly.]
"…Hm? Little Phoenix, you can see this maze too?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow and asked.
[Phoenix Sage Fire Technique: Huh? So this is what they call a maze? This is my first time seeing a place like this! But it feels blurry, like it's across another space. Little Mikami, did you run off somewhere outside the ninja world again?]
"?"
What did that mean?
Yuu asked a few more questions in confusion and gradually understood the situation.
Just now, he had almost thought that the personified image of Phoenix Sage Fire Technique could also appear inside this maze. But judging from the current situation, she had only "seen" the appearance of the maze through his eyes. She could not directly appear here.
After all, this was a game field aimed specifically at the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
However,
since Fire Release could be simulated here and even had the effect of burning and illuminating, then there was one trait that should also be usable…
"…Heavenly Fire Judgment, open!"
Yuu took a deep breath and chose to activate the Heavenly Fire Judgment bond.
At that moment, a warm and lively Fire-nature chakra rose from within Yuu's body. It did not release outward, but instead surrounded him like a warm campfire, forming the image of flowing cloud-like flames.
Then Yuu stepped forward.
Chakra continuously consumed itself, transforming into light and illuminating the area several meters around Yuu. From an observer's perspective, he now looked like a burning humanoid torch.
Rustling footsteps moved forward.
While watching the path beneath his feet, Yuu kept alert in all directions, continuously going deeper and searching along the maze's passages.
The countdown hand continued to advance. Before he knew it, about half the time had already passed.
After a somewhat dull search, Yuu had nearly walked through every corner of the "maze." When passing one particular corner, his heart suddenly jumped. He caught sight of an extremely blurry figure flashing past the front-right side of his vision, light as a night breeze.
So Yuu chased forward without hesitation. The flames surrounding him instantly flared up and illuminated the other party.
"Caught you!"
"Ah!"
Along with a slightly cold, solid sensation, a surprised cry came from within the darkness.
Then,
the darkness rapidly receded like the tide. The figure of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique appeared once more, emerging right in front of Yuu, only a short distance away. She tilted her head, her pure-black eyes curiously examining Yuu, while a playful smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
[Bringer-of-Darkness Technique: Interesting… although it wasn't the method I expected, you actually found me this quickly. What an unpredictable guy. Hey, white-haired one, what's your name?]
"…Mikami Yuu."
[Bringer-of-Darkness Technique: Yuu… understood. Well, you found a loophole this time, so it really wasn't satisfying enough. But a bet is a bet, so I'll accept it for now. Next time, let's play something harder. I hope I'll see a different solution from this time.]
[Bringer-of-Darkness Technique affection +1. Added to攻略 list!]
"…Hoo."
Seeing that the other party had finally been successfully subdued, Yuu let out a long breath.
To be honest, among all the ninjutsu he had encountered so far, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was the most difficult one. Even with Heavenly Fire Judgment providing illumination, he had spent more than half an hour before finding her location, consuming more than half the chakra in his body.
And even then, she still said he had "found a loophole."
If he had used normal methods, he probably would not have completed the task even when the two-hour countdown ended.
So did this thing really have a "normal" wooing route…
Yuu was doubtful about that.
But no matter what,
learning ninjutsu through encounters was still much faster than normal learning. After all, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was an A-rank ninjutsu. Ordinary people were not even qualified to learn it. Even those with decent talent would need at least most of a day.
In reality,
Yuu opened his eyes again and glanced at the wall clock.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen said the time limit is four hours. There are still three hours left… Let's look at some other techniques."
"Since I'm already here, I should try to learn a few more while I have the chance."
"Mm… I also need to reserve about an hour to memorize Reanimation Jutsu and Multiple Shadow Clone."
He could forget about Dead Demon Consuming Seal. There was no need to learn it. Yuu had no intention of using his own life to trade with anyone, not even the Ōtsutsuki family.
Speaking of which, whether a technique like Dead Demon Consuming Seal would even work against the Ōtsutsuki family was another question…
Soon,
following the table of contents, Yuu turned the pages to the section corresponding to the Spirit Transformation Technique.
[As you walk toward the deeper prison cells, the figure of a girl appears in your sight.]
[She wears a semi-transparent white dress like thin mist. Her skin is almost translucent pale, and one can faintly see the blood vessels beneath. Most striking are her eyes: empty, lost, gray eyes that seem to have lost all focus. They are filled with unmelting melancholy and loneliness, as if she might drift away with the wind at any moment.]
[Ding! Overspec potential target detected: Spirit Transformation Technique! Would you like to begin an encounter?]
"Mm…"
This time it was a gloomy problem girl? Judging from her appearance, she was probably a little depressed…
But compared to things like Reanimation Jutsu, the Spirit Transformation Technique was already pretty good. The technique itself had no obvious flaws, so its personified image probably would not be too hard to deal with.
At once, Yuu took a deep breath and began his second encounter of the day.
…
…
Several hours passed in the blink of an eye.
The sun began to sink westward.
After finishing a day of official work, Sarutobi Hiruzen, pipe in mouth, once again arrived before the archive room's door. When the two ANBU saw him, they immediately bowed in greeting. One of them wanted to enter the room and call Yuu out, but Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a hand and stopped him.
"Has this child been standing there the whole time?"
"Yes."
The Anbu nodded and replied, "After you left, he remained in front of the Scroll of Seals, reading. He turned the pages several times in between. Because the time had not yet arrived, we did not dare disturb him rashly, so we do not know exactly what contents he read…"
"Oh."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and stood outside the door for a while, taking a few puffs from his pipe. Only when the clock hand slid past a certain mark did he step inside and clear his throat.
"Cough, cough… Little Yuu, it has already been four hours. How was it? Did you learn the ninjutsu you wanted?"
"…It's Lord Hokage."
Yuu turned around and smiled at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Would you like to personally see the result?"
"Oh?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe paused at his lips, and curiosity flashed in his eyes.
"From what you're saying, you can already use the ninjutsu you learned?"
"I was lucky and gained some understanding. Please take a look."
As Yuu spoke, his hands had already risen, his ten fingers forming seals at a dazzling speed. His movements were smooth and swift. Almost the instant his words fell, the final seal had already been completed.
"Ninja Art: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"
At that moment,
it was as if a bucket of thick, pure ink had been poured outward from Yuu's body, spreading in all directions and swallowing the entire archive room in an instant. The originally bright lamplight, the reflections on the walls, and even the faint spark on Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe were completely erased in a flash.
Seeing this, the smile on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face froze. He almost instinctively raised both arms to take a defensive posture, but at the last moment, his eyelid twitched. He looked at Yuu in surprise, and an indescribable astonishment appeared in his eyes, which had seen so much of the world.
"This is…"
"You've already learned the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique?!"
That fast?!
To be precise, as an A-rank ninjutsu, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was considered relatively low in learning difficulty among the techniques in the Scroll of Seals. Learning it within four hours was not strange.
But…
Usually, "learning" a technique only meant barely being able to use it. Using it with relative proficiency was another concept entirely. Yuu's Darkness Space still had some flaws if examined closely, but in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, it was already quite good.
One had to know, even he himself had taken one or two days to master this ninjutsu when he first encountered it. And that was already enough to be called a "genius."
Across from him,
Yuu smiled and nodded.
"Yes, Lord Third. I was fortunate enough to learn this technique.
"However, I only have a preliminary understanding of its principles right now and can barely cast it. I'm still far from mastering it."
As he spoke,
Yuu released the technique. The thick darkness around them rapidly dispersed like a receding tide, and the light inside the archive room reappeared, illuminating the astonishment that had not yet fully faded from Sarutobi Hiruzen's face.
"…Heh. With an effect like this, how is that 'barely'? It seems you have quite a bit of talent in genjutsu as well. I failed to discover that before."
Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled deeply and took the pipe in his hand. The way he looked at Yuu had quietly changed, carrying a bit of scrutiny and amazement.
"You probably didn't only look at this one technique, did you? Tell me, aside from the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, what else did you learn? Was the Spirit Transformation Technique among them?"
~~~
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