To survive, Hattori went all out in pleasing the Grim Reapers, pulling out every trick he had, even performing his favorite songs.
He switched into rap mode:
"I'm the king of nobodies, no car, no house, no watch. Riding all the subways and buses, swiping WA wherever I go.
Always hoping to find a goddess to chat with me at night, to discuss life and dreams together... ah ah..."
As he sang, he also danced, putting his whole heart into it, his moves as seductive as they were desperate.
"Shake your hair, everyone, let's run! First on the subway, first to get a seat, scrolling through IG on our phones—
And you think having an iPhone 10 on the subway makes you fancy? And you there, taking pictures in someone else's car to look rich? Zero points! Get out of my sight!"
"..."
Seeing Hattori singing and dancing, all 27 Grim Reapers stopped what they were doing. Even the one licking his blade earlier was frozen, staring.
Hattori noticed the effect he was having and sang even more energetically.
"I like to joke around, spreading the spirit of fun. Now and then, seeing young couples kissing in the subway station, I aim my camera their way—
Now I'm a Japanese director, Konnichiwa, it's a adult documentary... ah ah… oh my god…"
Before he could finish, one of the Grim Reapers behind him lunged, and Hattori quickly dodged, his singing even going off-key.
By chance, as he dodged, a shimmering blue gem fell from his pocket onto the wooden floor.
[Water Gem (Epic): Used to create Level 60-79 water attribute puppets.]
Hattori recognized this gem right away; it was one he'd picked up after defeating the Three-Tails Jinchūriki and the Third Mizukage in Mist Village.
As the gem hit the floor, the attention of all 27 Grim Reapers instantly focused on it, their red eyes fixed hungrily.
Hattori's eyes showed a flash of surprise.
"They can see the nin-jewels?"
He'd thought he was the only one who could see the nin-jewels, but these Grim Reapers were breaking all his assumptions.
In that moment, an idea popped into his mind.
"Could the 'scent' in the task hint actually refer to the scent of nin-jewels?"
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made, so he bravely walked over and picked up the fallen gem.
As he did, all 27 Grim Reapers' eyes focused on him again.
He had a chance!
Seeing this, Hattori suppressed his excitement and raised the nin-jewel with both hands.
"Respected Grim Reapers, you want this, don't you? Take it! It's my gift; no need to be polite!"
As he finished speaking, one of the Grim Reapers in front of him opened a huge, fanged mouth and extended a long tongue.
With a strange "slurp" sound, Hattori felt something wet and slimy brush across his palm.
He looked up just in time to see a Grim Reaper's tongue wrapping around the nin-jewel, pulling it into its mouth and beginning to chew.
Crunch... crunch... crunch…
"…"
Hearing the sound, Hattori felt a shiver in his bones.
Fortunately, at that moment, his task prompt updated again.
[Assessment Task – Mastery of Sealing Techniques: Dance with the Divine.]
[Third Ring: Please Him (Progress: 1/27)]
[Time remaining for the Third Ring: 3,649 days, 17 hours, 45 minutes, and 23 seconds]
[Task Hint: Crunchy, chicken-flavored, quantity matters if quality doesn't.]
Hattori: "(ω`)"
This ridiculous task hint was as unreliable as ever! Still, with this first experience, Hattori understood what to do.
"Pleasing the Grim Reapers requires nin-jewels, and high-quality, epic-level nin-jewels at that. If I don't have those, I'll need a lot more of the lower-grade ones!"
Thinking this, he immediately retrieved his item-sealing scroll and unlocked the box where he kept his lower-grade nin-jewels.
When he opened it, the box was packed full of nin-jewels, instantly capturing the Grim Reapers' attention.
Seeing this, Hattori finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whew… at least these work too. Otherwise, I'd be in real trouble. Now, let's hope I have enough nin-jewels!"
With this in mind, he chose the lowest-grade nin-jewel he had: [Earth Jewel (Common): Used to create Level 1-19 earth attribute puppets.]
This was the most common nin-jewel in his collection. He'd used some to make reincarnated puppets before, but he still had about a thousand left.
To be safe, he counted out ten and offered them to the Grim Reaper in front of him. "Honorable Grim Reaper, please enjoy!"
"Slurp!"
Just like the previous Grim Reaper, this one extended its tongue, rolled the nin-jewels into its mouth, and began to crunch on them.
But despite consuming the nin-jewels, Hattori's task progress didn't increase.
"Ten isn't enough? Then let's keep going!"
He handed over another ten low-grade nin-jewels.
"Please enjoy!"
Slurp… crunch… crunch…
"Please enjoy!"
Slurp… crunch… crunch…
...
After ten rounds, offering a total of 100 low-grade nin-jewels, the task progress finally changed from [1/27] to [2/27].
The Grim Reaper, now satiated, stepped back, making way for the next one to take its place.
By now, Hattori had the process down. Without a word, he offered up another 100 low-grade nin-jewels.
"Please enjoy!"
Slurp… crunch crunch crunch…
The Grim Reaper quickly finished the nin-jewels, and Hattori's task progress increased by another point.
From there, the pattern continued. One by one, the Grim Reapers approached, and Hattori offered handfuls of nin-jewels.
When he exhausted the lowest-grade ones, his progress reached [11/27].
"About halfway there. Let's keep going!"
Next, he took out the next grade up: [Earth Jewel (Fine): Used to create Level 20-39 earth attribute puppets.]
These he'd obtained during a battle on the northern front of the Land of Wind, looted from Iwa-nin. He had around 300 of these.
Like before, Hattori offered ten at a time to test how many satisfied each Grim Reaper.
The result was clear: for [Fine]-grade nin-jewels, each Grim Reaper needed only 50—half the amount of the [Common]-grade.
It wasn't as efficient as Hattori had hoped, but still manageable.
By the time he used up all the [Fine]-grade nin-jewels, his task progress was [17/27].
With only high-grade nin-jewels left, Hattori had no choice but to pull out his precious stash.
[Earth Jewel (Superior): Used to create Level 40-59 earth attribute puppets.]
These valuable nin-jewels were hard-won trophies from high-ranking Iwa-nin he'd defeated using water iron cannon puppets on the northern front of the Land of Wind.
Originally, he'd intended to save these for making high-level reincarnated puppets. But survival took priority.
"My life's worth more than any nin-jewel. Here you go!"
He carefully selected ten and offered them to the Grim Reaper in front of him. "Honorable Grim Reaper, please enjoy!"
Slurp… crunch… crunch…
The Grim Reaper began munching on the jewels, and to Hattori's delight, the Grim Reaper stepped back after eating just ten, increasing the task progress by another point!
[18/27]
Seeing this, Hattori couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
"Only ten of the [Superior] grade? This is going smoothly!"
He had over a hundred of the [Superior]-grade nin-jewels left, meaning he could complete the task without running out.
And just as he hoped, with only a few [Superior] nin-jewels remaining, he saw the task completion notification pop up:
[Third Ring: Please Him (Complete)]
[EXP +2700]
[Level +3]
[Unlocked Sealing Forbidden Technique: Reaper Death Seal]
[Unlocked Puppet Forbidden Technique: Yellow Spring Reincarnation Puppet]
Hattori: "()"
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