[Spend 1,500 Gold to unlock Phantom Lancer: Yes/No?]
Staring at the prompt floating on his system interface, Hatani suppressed a mix of excitement and trepidation as he tapped "Yes."
Through his previous salary, killing two Rain Genin, one Rain Chunin, and a Suna Jonin, he had already amassed over 600 gold. On the journey back, he had been ambushed by the Hidden Stone and killed an Iwa Jonin, netting 328 gold. Then, he had faced Aburame Shikuro—the Root lapdog who tried to capture him—and earned another 354 gold.
Combining those amounts wouldn't have been enough, even with the discount he'd earned by practicing related jutsu to lower the unlocking cost to 1,500.
He was only able to gather the full amount so quickly thanks to his bug-user opponent.
As it turned out, killing insects granted gold too.
The venomous insects Aburame Shikuro had painstakingly bred were worth a staggering 10 gold each. That was why Hatani's eyes had lit up with joy when he first sliced that one bug out of the air with a Wind Blade.
The only pity was that there weren't more of them. Even after scouring the area for every bug he could find, he only managed to kill about a hundred.
Even more disappointing—whether it was a limitation imposed by the system or simply because they were too worthless to notice—was that killing ordinary Kikaichu yielded no reward at all. Otherwise, even if a regular bug was only worth a tenth of the venomous ones, he could have farmed tens of thousands of gold in a single go.
With that kind of money, he could have bought a full set of "God-tier" items or even unlocked a powerhouse hero like Enigma, who possesses the power of the Void and can manipulate black holes.
"Forget it. Walk the path one step at a time; eat the meal one bite at a time. Focus on the present."
Pushing aside the lingering regret, Hatani threw all his focus onto the newly unlocked hero.
Every hero possessed a unique essence and talent. For the Windranger, it was the mastery of wind. It had taken Hatani nearly five years of training to truly grasp her essence and fully manifest her talent.
As the Phantom Lancer icon merged into his status, Hatani followed his previous experience and attempted to stimulate the hero's essence. This time, the realization came much faster.
The essence of the Phantom Lancer was Fracture and Division.
In most contexts, "fracture" is a sign of decay. The fracturing of a nation or a group leads to chaos and cruelty; the fracturing of an object represents a loss of value or total collapse.
But the Phantom Lancer's fracture was different.
It was the ability to sense the "aura of breaking." At the exact moment he reached the brink of fracturing, he would split off an illusion. The original body would then instantly return to its initial state, completely unaffected.
This made Hatani understand why his proficiency in the Shadow Clone Jutsu had lowered the unlocking cost. Beyond the requirement of splitting one's chakra in half, both techniques shared a fundamental similarity: the original body senses a "break" in its singular existence, but ultimately allows a clone to finalize the process of separation or destruction in its stead.
Yet, they were merely similar. Controlling this ability—creating physical illusions without consuming chakra or any of the body's resources—was anything but easy.
First, he had to experience that "shattering" state—the feeling that his body could be torn apart at any second. Then, he had to halt that state just before the break became permanent and manifest an illusion to end the process.
Thus, for the next few days, Hatani spent his mornings learning his three new techniques—Multi-Shadow Clone, Shuriken Shadow Clone, and Wind Style: Gale Net. For the rest of the day, he transformed into a human Husky and began a path of domestic destruction.
It started with small things: chopsticks, mirrors, towels. It gradually escalated to tables, cabinets, and eventually even the front door.
This behavior left Minato—who was still basking in post-mission bliss with Kushina—extremely worried. He feared his "stupid little brother" had suffered some catastrophic mental trauma in the Land of Rain and was showing early symptoms of a dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia.
Fortunately, just as Hatani finished dismantling the front door and Minato was about to beg Tsunade for an emergency psychiatric consult, Hatani finally returned to normal.
Though he still vanished from the house at sunrise and didn't return until dark, and no one knew exactly what he was busy with all day, his spirits seemed high. He no longer looked like he was possessed by a demon, and he had stopped muttering to himself in front of piles of broken furniture.
Minato was initially worried that Hatani's "condition" might worsen outdoors. However, after secretly tailing him for two days and confirming that Hatani was simply going to the river to train with a recovering Nawaki, Minato finally relaxed. He went back to his life of intense study on Jiraiya's scrolls while simultaneously "abusing the single dog" with his "absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder" PDA with Kushina.
While the younger generation—Hatani, Nawaki, and Minato—were focused on growth, the older generation in the Land of Rain was proving their might.
Determined to take the initiative, Orochimaru and Jiraiya made a joint decision. Before the orders from Konoha high command could even reach them, the two led their forces directly to the border of the Land of Earth.
Taking advantage of the gap left by Ohnoki moving his border troops into the Land of Grass, they struck directly into the territory of the Land of Earth. This bold move sent shockwaves of disbelief throughout the Great Nations.
Since the start of the Second Great Ninja War, not even the Hidden Sand—who had arguably suffered the most crushing defeats—had seen their actual homeland invaded. The Hidden Stone had just set a humiliating precedent.
With his homeland under fire, Ohnoki could no longer afford to prepare his war supplies in peace. He immediately split his forces in two, heading for the border. He took personal command of a team, vowing to completely surround and bury Orochimaru and Jiraiya within the Land of Earth forever.
Seeing that the old man Ohnoki was "breaking the rules" by taking the field himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer sit still. Though he was frustrated with Orochimaru and Jiraiya's unauthorized advance, he couldn't leave them to face the Tsuchikage alone. He led the newly assembled main force to the front lines.
The war, already fierce, turned lethal.
During the long conflict between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, both the Kazekage and the Hokage had remained behind the scenes, letting their subordinates fight for territory. While those battles were intense, they lacked the bloody, high-stakes atmosphere of the First Great Ninja War, where the Kage of each village personally led charges and clashed on the front lines.
Now, with Ohnoki entering the fray and Hiruzen rising to meet him, it felt as if the world had returned to the carnage of the first war—the era where Five Kage fell one after another in battle.