All done.
At the gates of the Hidden Leaf, Tsunade waited to welcome Jiraiya home in one piece. Seeing her, Jiraiya chuckled and sighed. I lost my bet again.
Tsunade could only shake her head. There was no anger in her face, only relief. Jiraiya felt it too. He had thought this trip would be the end of him, yet here he was.
Meanwhile, Vincent was bone tired.
He stood once more in that familiar pure white void, waiting on the rewards from Forbidden Zone Five.
"Calculating rewards for Forbidden Zone Five…"
"Congratulations. Your performance in this run was exceptional. Time to clear: 412 minutes. Ultimate objective completed. Highest evaluation achieved."
"You have received 251 free attribute points."
"You have received a special reward: Byakugan, evolvable to Tenseigan."
As the last chime faded, light flooded Vincent's eyes. A pale glow also bloomed at his brow. When it ebbed, he felt it immediately. A razor thread of focus flashed through his vision. His pupils seemed to drink in the world, bright and lucid.
He stilled. His sight ran impossibly far. At the same time, a bundle of knowledge unfurled in his mind.
Byakugan: one of the Three Great Dōjutsu of the Naruto world, a kekkei genkai of the Hyuga, descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki.
Then the details came in layers. Telescopic vision. Through-vision. Keen insight into chakra flow. And the note that made his pulse quicken: the Byakugan he had obtained could evolve on its own into the highest form, the Tenseigan. Evolution speed scaled directly with the user's Spirit. The stronger the mind, the faster the eye would grow.
Vincent skimmed the data, then dumped all 251 free points into Spirit.
The change was instant. The world sharpened further. The tiniest sway of grass could not escape him. He could even trace the path of the wind.
He raised a hand. A thought. Flame wrapped his arm to the shoulder. He lifted the other hand and brought it up beside the first. A second thought. Both hands ignited at once.
He punched.
A gout of fire swallowed the air in front of him. The heat was savage, enough that he felt it bite even through his own resilience. He drove both fists forward in a quick cadence and watched a string of firebolts scream away and burst one after another.
Boom.
I did not expect the blaze to scale this much.
Excitement pricked through him. For the first time, he let himself imagine the end of this road, a flame hot as the sun.
He exhaled and called up his panel.
Name: Vincent
Race: Human
Constitution: 3,402
Spirit: 1,421
Strength: 3,298
Agility: 3,126
Bloodline: Saitama Physique, awakened
Talents: Flame
Skills: Demonic Advent (Upgradeable), Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Byakugan
His Spirit was approaching fifteen hundred, an elite figure by any human measure. With both fists able to ignite simultaneously, he realized that, back in the shinobi world, he might have shattered Pain's Shinra Tensei with brute force alone.
Satisfied, Vincent chose to exit the extradimensional space and stepped through the left portal.
The exit of Forbidden Zone Five was packed. Thanks to Nagato's Rinne Rebirth, nearly everyone had been restored. Aside from those whose bodies were lost entirely, most participants had made it out. Survival this time might have topped ninety percent.
Even the squad that had tried to recruit Vincent had returned. They had opened their eyes in the white space, stunned and empty-handed, having finished no objectives despite forming a party.
Damn it.
Their leader smashed a fist into a lounge chair, then hissed with pain. The racket drew a soldier's stare.
I was kidding. My bad. Won't happen again.
He bowed his head quickly and avoided an arrest for disorderly conduct.
Others paced by the gate. They remembered choosing Amegakure, remembered a wall of killing wind, and then darkness. Resurrection in the white space had shocked them, but they were grateful to breathe. What gnawed at them now were the teammates who had not reappeared.
Did they die.
There was nothing to do but wait and pray that a familiar face would walk out.
A shout tore through the crowd.
Someone's coming. What is that.
Another. Gold legend. Are you kidding me.
Gold. Isn't red the top tier.
You don't know. Gold is above that. Whoever this is, they're a monster. I'm going to latch onto that thigh.
Even the soldiers wavered. Their attention bled from crowd control to the gate. Everyone wanted to see which demigod had earned a gold-grade Legendary evaluation.
A silhouette formed in the threshold.
The crowd surged, pressing for a glimpse.
Clear the way. Back it up.
Soldiers moved to hold the line, then quietly took the front row themselves.
Vincent stepped out of the gate and did not break stride. He exploded into motion, a blur, and vanished past the perimeter.
What was that. He just zipped by.
Did anyone see his face.
No. Just a streak and gone.
Outside. Go.
The mass broke and pounded after him.
The soldiers traded helpless looks. Once the people left the staging grounds, they were out of jurisdiction. And yet.
I really want to see what that gold-tier looks like.
Same. We should report this upstairs. Gold evaluations are rare.
Good call. File it now.
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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