"Something's not right!"
"I broke all five seals—so why did the barrier still activate?"
Electric arcs crawled over the entire bookcase, wrapping Kazuyama Gekkō in a blinding white glare. The heat was so intense that the wood was already turning black and charred.
"Could it be the Five-Seal Barrier isn't meant to be destroyed—only removed?"
"Maybe you need five people to take the talismans off at the same time?"
"Shouldn't you be breaking them? But if you destroyed them, maybe that's exactly what triggered it?"
Chōmei's words made Kazuyama Gekkō stare, eyes wide with disbelief.
What kind of world was this where barriers weren't meant to be broken? In his mind, you always broke a barrier. That was just common sense!
"Kazuyama… are you an idiot?"
"This is to protect a cabinet full of Kinjutsu."
"If you had to go through a whole removal ritual every time you wanted to open it, wouldn't that be a huge hassle?"
…Now that he thought about it, yeah, that would be troublesome.
So he'd just overcomplicated things?
The arcs were multiplying fast, and a tingling numbness crept over him.
"Too late now! We've got to salvage what we can!"
"Chōmei, wrap me in chakra!"
Crystals coated Kazuyama's hands, his own chakra reinforcing them. Chōmei added his chakra too, flooding it into Kazuyama's body.
With triple protection in place, Kazuyama lunged in and yanked open the bookcase, arcs crackling against his defenses.
"Argh—who the hell designed this? That hurts!"
"Even through crystal, I can feel it! This is just cruel!"
The lightning spread like wildfire. In just a few breaths, the entire cabinet had gone pitch black. Another few seconds and every scroll would be ash.
He didn't hesitate—Crystal Release surged out, encasing every scroll in shimmering protection.
The arcs flared into blinding white light before dying away, leaving nothing but a heap of burnt wood where the bookcase had been.
Kazuyama's teeth clenched against the leftover current still running through him, but when he looked at the rescued scrolls in his hands, he grinned.
Without caring about the soot, he sat cross-legged on the floor and started flipping through them.
"Hmm… nope… what the hell? Why's there a map in here?"
"Huh? Black Lightning? Wasn't this Lightning Style developed by the Third? Nice. I'll take it."
"Lightning Release Armor? They count this as a Kinjutsu? Please. Only the Raikage lineage can use it, and the physical demands are ridiculous. Still… I'll take it."
"Ah! Here it is—the Heavenly Transfer Technique! Jackpot!"
His eyes lit up as soon as he saw the name. The scroll went straight into his robes.
In the end, he kept three ninjutsu scrolls and two kenjutsu scrolls. The rest were either worthless to him or simply not worth the trouble.
Iron Sealing? Pointless—if he needed sealing techniques, he could just go to Minato or Kushina. The Uzumaki clan's methods were far superior.
Genjutsu? Forget it—he didn't understand it and didn't plan to learn. No amount of study could compete with a pair of Sharingan anyway.
The kenjutsu—Cloud Flow and Lightning Style swordplay—he hadn't planned on taking either. He wasn't a swordsman and didn't have the lightning element.
But thinking of his younger brother, Hayate Gekkō, that sword-obsessed brat, he grabbed them anyway. No lightning affinity or not, maybe the kid could still get something out of them.
With his picks secured, Kazuyama tossed the rest of the scrolls into the pile of ashes where the cabinet had been. A snap of his fingers sent a spark of chakra into them, and they went up in flames.
Then he looked over at the Fourth Raikage, a sly smile curling his lips.
The next moment, he dragged the big oaf into the ashes. The recently burned scrolls were still warm, and the faint scorch marks they left on his skin made the scene perfectly convincing.
"Tsk, tsk. You really are a piece of work," Chōmei muttered.
"This poor fool—once again framed by you. Breaking the seal, destroying the entire archive… you really have it in for him, don't you?"
Even Chōmei was starting to feel sorry for the guy. Still in debt, and now the village's store of scrolls gone? He'd be branded a criminal in his own home.
Kazuyama couldn't care less. But since the job was done, he decided to let the Raikage live.
"Fine, fine. Since even you can't watch, I'll be merciful. As long as he doesn't show up in my way again, I won't target him anymore."
Right on cue, the system chimed.
[Ding! The host has infiltrated Kumogakure, stolen Kinjutsu, destroyed a large quantity of documents, and framed the Fourth Raikage. The system is greatly pleased by your actions!
Special Reward: Strength +5, Speed +5!]
Now that was a true haul—Kinjutsu in hand and a bonus to boot.
With the mission done, Kazuyama released all his clones.
The flood of their memories into his mind made him freeze.
…What the hell was that?
Some of those idiot clones had gone to the bathhouse to "look for things"?
Those flashes of smooth skin, that warm, wheat-gold tan… damn, the women here were something else.
But which clone did that? This was disgraceful—starting strong and ending sloppy. Totally off-brand for him.
Leaving the Raikage Building, he didn't even think—he headed straight for the bathhouse.
And he had to admit, Kumogakure's women really were something—plenty of beauty, all with flawless figures. Probably came from living on a mountainside; their physical control and strength were on another level.
Still, once he'd gotten what he came for and enjoyed the view, he didn't linger.
Outside the village, another thought crossed his mind—the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, where Killer Bee trained.
The Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki would be a great addition to his side.
But then he remembered—Killer Bee was the Fourth's brother, part of the infamous A–B combo. Not exactly recruitable.
"That Eight-Tails is arrogant as hell. Aside from the Nine-Tails, he calls everyone else his little brother."
"Better not push your luck," Chōmei said. "And that guy's ink is a pain. You don't want to end up covered in it."
From the bitterness in Chōmei's tone, it wasn't hard to imagine the "non-insect" treatment he'd suffered from the other Tailed Beasts—except Two-Tails, of course.
Kazuyama decided to drop the idea and warped away with the Flying Thunder God.
For now, Yahiko and the others could handle the early intel work. He was free to pick a new target.
The ninja world was big, but there were still places he hadn't been—like the Land of Iron.
A country of samurai… definitely worth a visit.