Yōkō carefully examined the lottery options.
[1- Stress Reflex (One Breakthrough);
2- Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve (Stackable);
3- Wire-Guided Shuriken Technique (Beginner).]
The Wire-Guided Shuriken Technique was likely some kind of tool manipulation skill using wires.
The Longsword Nuibari had wires attached; the needle could pierce enemies, and the wires could also cut their feet—quite powerful.
Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve?
The one who killed him was Kuriarare Kushimaru. He had thought he might get a Jōnin-level reserve, but it was unexpectedly small.
Perhaps his current body simply couldn't refine or handle a Jōnin-level chakra reserve, which was why the system offered Chūnin-level instead.
Missions often lasted months, mostly surviving on Military Ration Pills. It kept him from starving, but his weight had dropped significantly.
Chakra is a mixture of physical and mental energy. With his physical condition worsening, his chakra reserve couldn't increase much.
It was the first option that really interested Yōkō.
Stress Reflex (One Breakthrough) – a special ability to enhance reaction speed.
Human reaction times range between 0.2s and 0.4s. Yōkō had tested himself; his was about 0.2s.
Kuriarare Kushimaru was a speed-type shinobi. His movements were extremely fast, manipulating the long needle and wires with great swiftness.
If he could draw the Stress Reflex multiple times, he could become a speed-type shinobi too.
He created a Shadow Clone and had it pick up a stone.
The clone suddenly released the stone, and he tried to catch it.
After several attempts, Yōkō determined the average height at which he caught the stone.
Then, Yōkō selected Stress Reflex (One Breakthrough).
The back of his head tightened, his skin and muscles constricted all over, feeling as if an electric current stimulated his entire body.
His reflex nerves had changed.
He had the clone drop the stone again without warning.
In his perception, the stone's fall seemed slower.
Simultaneously, his muscle reaction speed also increased.
This time, he caught the stone at a significantly higher point.
After several tests, Yōkō roughly estimated that his reaction speed had improved by about 0.05s, now around 0.15s.
He'd heard some Olympic champions had reaction speeds around 0.15s.
Not bad, not bad. This was a significant improvement.
Ninjutsu could be learned, taijutsu could be trained, but innate reaction speed was hard to improve drastically.
It was said Namikaze Minato had the fastest reflex nerves in the shinobi world.
An ordinary shinobi learning the Flying Thunder God Technique would be useless. If they teleported in front of an opponent with slower reactions, they might just get slapped away.
For Minato, it was a thousand-mile pursuit; for others, it would be a thousand-mile delivery.
The events unfolded as they had in his previous life.
Two Konoha Anbu battalions arrived in the Gobi and found the Hippo Squad.
The Guardian Ninja Captain, having given up on living, leaped directly into the midst of the Konoha Anbu.
This time, Yōkō was smarter. He moved in advance away from the Guardian Ninja Captain's direction and also avoided Kuriarare Kushimaru's area.
The battle instantly turned white-hot.
The Kiri-nin charged madly into the Konoha Anbu ranks, trying to recapture the Guardian Ninja Captain.
Yōkō saw Kuriarare Kushimaru.
Just like before, Kuriarare Kushimaru used the Longsword Nuibari to tear an opening in the Anbu formation, and the Kiri-nin poured in.
He didn't enter himself but stayed in place, constantly throwing and retrieving his blade, as if dancing on the spot.
Yōkō's faster reactions allowed him to see the wires tangling around them.
The Longsword Nuibari flew to a nearby rock, circled it, and returned to Kuriarare Kushimaru's hand.
A wire frame appeared between several nearby rocks. The Longsword Nuibari darted through these wires, rapidly weaving a large net.
During this, several Konoha shinobi noticed the Longsword Nuibari. Even wearing Anbu iron armor, they were pierced by it.
Kuriarare Kushimaru gave the wires a sharp pull.
A screeching cutting sound filled the air.
The rocks supporting the wire net were severed, and the net itself instantly tightened.
Yōkō watched the ground carefully.
The wire net severed the lower legs of an Anbu member beside him!
Yōkō quickly jumped.
His speed was faster than the surrounding Anbu, saving him from disaster.
Just this one attack severed the legs of over twenty Konoha Anbu.
After falling, they wailed in agony, their severed feet still standing on the ground while their lower legs were halved, blood gushing out.
Kuriarare Kushimaru threw the Longsword Nuibari again, this time using the fallen Konoha shinobi as the framework for his wire net.
One by one, the legless Konoha shinobi were pierced, and the wire net reappeared.
What a terrifying attack.
Kuriarare Kushimaru undoubtedly possessed elite jōnin strength and an extremely cruel disposition.
The wounds from the Longsword Nuibari were small; the pierced Konoha Anbu didn't die immediately, suffering and wailing in pain.
The cuts from the wires were exceptionally clean, turning the shinobi into puppet toys.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog charged to the side of the battlefield, trying to stop Kuriarare Kushimaru from setting up his wires.
Kuriarare Kushimaru was very strong, easily dodging Yellow Dog's attacks.
Yellow Dog unleashed Fire Release techniques one after another, but his rhythm was constantly disrupted by the Longsword Nuibari flying back from his blind spots.
Yōkō avoided rocks and the legless Konoha Anbu, carefully moving along the periphery.
In the center of the battlefield, the Guardian Ninja Captain was overwhelmed, already struck by several blades.
Before dying, he took the scroll from his tool pouch.
"You won't get the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques!"
The scroll had an Explosive Tag attached!
He clenched the scroll, and the tag, in his teeth, intending to blow himself and the scroll to pieces.
The other Anbu Battalion Commander, Black Ant, acted.
Black Ant was from the Nara clan. His shadow had already reached the Guardian Ninja Captain's feet and instantly controlled him.
The Guardian Ninja Captain raised his hand, tore off the Explosive Tag himself, and threw the scroll away.
The Explosive Tag detonated near his head, sending the scroll flying.
When the Guardian Ninja Captain tore the tag, Yōkō had already moved in advance, positioning himself in the line between the tag and the scroll.
The explosion sent the scroll flying, unfurling in the air.
Yōkō quickly jumped, catching the scroll mid-air.
Hurry, quick.
A single glance at the sealing scroll, memorizing just one sealing technique, would be a huge windfall.
Looking down briefly, Yōkō immediately rolled up the scroll and threw it towards Battalion Commander Black Ant.
Black Ant caught the scroll, opened it, looked, and his expression turned stunned. He even looked up at Yōkō again.
Yōkō, wearing the fox mask, nodded, indicating it was genuine.
The scroll contained only blank paper!
It was empty! A blank scroll!
Eight Uzumaki Guardian Ninja, including four jōnin and four special jōnin, were carrying a blank scroll all along.
Who would have thought such a formidable lineup was merely a decoy to draw fire?
The real scroll had probably long since been smuggled out of the Land of Waves.
The Uzumaki remnants had played both Konoha and the Kiri-nin for fools.
Black Ant couldn't believe it. He turned to a subordinate and said, "Perhaps there's ciphertext on the scroll, requiring a special method to reveal the writing! Work on deciphering it immediately!"
Watching Battalion Commander Yellow Dog and several squad leaders unleash their impressive Fire Release techniques, Yōkō felt a sudden urgency.
His next priority was to draw the Water Attribute Chakra.
His enemies might not all come from other villages. Konoha was prone to infighting; he had to be wary of people within his own village.
...
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(End of Chapter)