Sorry for posting repeated chapter xD
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The Konoha camp was filled with laughter that night.
In this battle, a total of 460 Kumo shinobi were killed, nearly half of them by Yami alone. The remaining Kumo casualties were also directly or indirectly affected by him.
It could be said that this was a victory brought about by one person, and completed by the whole team.
However, after learning that Yami had expended too much chakra and had gone straight to sleep after returning, everyone passing by his tent subconsciously lowered their voices and walked more slowly.
"Yami-kun is truly incredible."
Inside a small tent, Uchiha Shisui was applying ointment to his burns. Thinking back to the events of the day, he couldn't help but sigh with admiration.
"This is the true power of the Flying Thunder God Technique—able to affect the course of the entire battle. If the Fourth Hokage were still alive, and both speedsters existed at the same time, Konoha might have truly achieved lasting peace."
Uchiha Itachi remained silent.
He was happy about the victory, but seeing the widening gap between himself and Yami once again stirred complicated emotions.
"Itachi, you have to believe in yourself."
Shisui reached out, gently poked Itachi's forehead, and smiled. "Yami-kun is a genius, and so are you. But everyone's opportunities and circumstances are different. The moment when our strength blooms varies too."
"Just stay on your path, and one day you'll reap the rewards."
"I'm far inferior to Yami…"
In front of his closest friend, Itachi finally revealed the emotions appropriate for someone his age. "He's too strong—so strong it makes me feel despair. Even if I awaken the Three Tomoe Sharingan, there's no way I can catch up."
"Itachi."
Shisui's expression grew serious. "Did you work so hard to get stronger just to compare yourself to Yami?"
"Of course not." Itachi quickly shook his head.
"Then why are you so fixated on Yami-kun's strength?" Shisui looked at him helplessly. "I know there are some grudges and past friction between you two, but those things are trivial when compared to the interests of the village."
"Don't let narrow thinking limit your vision."
"Just like this war—everyone is fighting for Konoha. Yami-kun is fighting for Konoha. And so are you. In that regard, you two are equals. Understand?"
"…Yeah." Itachi nodded. "I'll think it through, Shisui. Please give me some time."
Shisui smiled, then thought for a moment and decided to give Itachi a bit of motivation.
"Actually, the Three Tomoe Sharingan isn't the limit of the Sharingan. There's an even higher realm beyond it."
Itachi was gradually drawn in by Shisui's words.
Meanwhile, in the Kumo camp…
After the defeat, the Fourth Raikage led the forces to retreat nearly 100 kilometers back into the Land of Lightning.
Bang!—Crack!
Inside the command tent, the Fourth Raikage smashed the table in front of him in a fit of rage.
"Why?!"
"Why can that brat Shimura Yami learn Flying Thunder God?!"
"Is he more talented than Namikaze Minato?! Why are there so many monstrous geniuses in Konoha?!"
In the room, several members of the Yotsuki clan and jōnin like Dodai all kept their heads lowered and said nothing.
Everyone here knew well that the Fourth Raikage had a habit—when angry, he'd smash tables. With every slam, the table would break.
But after that… his fury would start to fade.
Sure enough, after a short moment, the Fourth Raikage calmed down.
"Dodai."
He turned to one of Kumo's top strategists. "What now? Give me a plan. I want that brat dead!"
Dodai had already been thinking about countermeasures on the retreat. Hearing the Raikage's question, he immediately stepped forward.
"My lord, in your final exchange with Shimura, who won?"
The Fourth Raikage frowned. As a proud man, he disdained lying and answered bluntly, "It was a draw. That brat's Scorch Release is terrifying. It could burn through my Lightning Release armor and injure me."
"Of course, he can't withstand my attacks either—but he has Flying Thunder God. He's as slippery as an eel."
"You can't match his speed?" Dodai asked, nervous.
"No."
The Fourth Raikage shook his head grimly. "His reaction speed is no worse than Namikaze Minato's. He can definitely dodge before I hit him."
"Unless… I can predict his teleportation point and land a preemptive strike."
"That's… troublesome." Dodai frowned deeply. "Either we set up a barrier in advance to block his technique, or… we'll need Killer Bee-sama to intervene."
"If the two of you work together, we can win."
Originally, he had hoped to copy Konoha's strategy—he and Darui would contain Jiraiya while the Raikage dealt with Yami and broke Konoha's momentum.
But now the balance had shifted. The Fourth Raikage had admitted he couldn't defeat Yami. The scale had tipped heavily in Konoha's favor.
"Bring Bee?"
The Fourth Raikage frowned. "It's possible… but what if that old man Ōnoki takes advantage of the village being undefended to launch a sneak attack?"
"We'd have to go all in and finish things fast."
Dodai shrugged helplessly. "Kill either Jiraiya or Yami quickly, then occupy more territory in the Land of Fire to gain leverage during negotiations."
"If we move fast enough, the Land of Earth won't react in time. Then we can shift to defense."
"I get it."
The Fourth Raikage took a deep breath and stood. Now was the time for a Kage to decide, whether to risk calling Killer Bee and take a chance at a decisive victory against Konoha.
"Pass my order. Mobilize 1,000 Kumo shinobi and send a large batch of supplies to the front line."
"Have Killer Bee leave a tentacle clone behind in the village. His real body will follow the main force in secret and stay hidden."
If he was going to play dirty, he'd go all the way. He wanted Bee to remain hidden and strike at the most critical moment.
"Yes!"
A Kumo shinobi responded immediately. Before long, an intelligence ninja relayed the order back to Kumo.
The next day.
Yami, who had slept for more than ten hours straight, woke up feeling completely refreshed.
Seeing Kurenai and Yugao still sleeping at his sides, he quietly slipped away, teleporting to the sentry tower outside the camp using a Flying Thunder God marker.
Chakra could be replenished, but mental exhaustion could only be recovered with time.
Now that his mind and body were fully recovered, Yami finally had time to check his gains from yesterday.
He opened the system panel. The notification bar was filled with reward messages.
There were contributions from both Kumo shinobi and Konoha allies.
Anyone who had witnessed Yami's performance yesterday couldn't help but admire him.
And since only chūnin or higher were deployed on this battlefield, the rewards were especially generous.
Accumulated and added to the [Status Panel] all at once, the changes were substantial.
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[Name: Shimura Yami]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 8.5 years old]
[Date of Birth: April 1, Year 46 (Konoha Calendar)]
[Chakra Attributes: Fire, Wind (Limit Break), Earth, Water, Lightning, Yin, Yang (Ultimate)]
[Total Chakra: 73 cards (1 card ≈ 5 standard jōnin's chakra)]
[Chakra Control Talent: Ultimate]
[Mastered Ninjutsu: Numerous C and B-rank techniques, Scorch Release, Flying Thunder God, and other forbidden techniques]
[Nature Transformation: Wind, Fire, Water (Ultimate), Earth, Lightning (Mastery)]
[Special Talents: Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Weak), Senju Bloodline (Excellent, Developing), Uchiha Bloodline (Currently Three Tomoe), Uzumaki Bloodline , Byakugan (Normal, Not Fused), Swordsmanship Genius, Ninja World Darkness, Mother-in-Law's Expectation, Space Talent]
[Bond Points: 15,654]
[Evaluation: Pillar of a Great Nation. A top-tier warrior who can shift the tide of battle.]
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Looking at the panel, Yami grinned from ear to ear.
As expected, the Forest of Death and the raid on Kusagakure were just warmups.
Only war can make you rich—really rich!
Feeling the power surging through his body and his increasingly active chakra, Yami suddenly had the urge to fight the Raikage again.
After all, the Fourth Raikage still wasn't in his peak form like in the Fourth Great Ninja War. He was a little weaker now, just right for target practice.
His eyes moved to the bond points.
15,000 points... His biggest haul ever.
His hands were already starting to twitch.
What should he upgrade?
What he wanted to improve most was his chakra control, but when he clicked on it, he saw it would cost over 8,000 points to go from Ultimate to Limit Break.
That was because he had already integrated multiple chakra control-related talents, and he was very close to the top.
Yami hesitated.
Was this upgrade really worth that much?
The system's pricing had always been consistent. The more precious the upgrade, the higher the cost. There had to be a reason.
After some thought, Yami decided to save that one and instead spent 5,000 points to upgrade the Senju bloodline.
[Senju Bloodline: Excellent → Ultimate]
A familiar warmth surged through his body. His chakra and physical abilities rose again. Although the bloodline still needed time to develop, the increase wasn't small—his chakra rose by about 20 cards.
His strength and stamina also improved noticeably.
He then spent another 5,000 points—half on the Uzumaki bloodline, and half on…
The Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
Until now, Yami hadn't really felt any benefits from the Ōtsutsuki lineage.
This time, he couldn't help it. He invested 5,000 points—not expecting much, just hoping for some feedback.
To distinguish the effects, he waited for the Uzumaki bloodline changes to finish before enhancing Ōtsutsuki.
Sure enough, after promoting the Ōtsutsuki bloodline from "Weak" to "Thin," he finally noticed something different.
It was an unusual change. His chakra amount didn't increase, but his physical strength did, and his compatibility with chakra significantly improved.
The biggest change… Yami looked at his arm, now pale like polished, flawless and smooth.
If he were a girl, he'd probably be called a "jade beauty" capable of toppling nations in ancient times.
But were these changes worth 5,000 points?
For a moment, Yami felt like he'd been scammed. His expression twisted like he was constipated.
But since all his points were gone, he looked at the Ōtsutsuki bloodline's next level requirement—10,000 points—and sighed in defeat.
"Trouble, all of it!"
Yami stood up, shouted into the wind, and instantly teleported back to the camp. Under a chorus of warm greetings, he walked straight into the command tent.
Seeing him arrive, Nara Shikaku, who had been discussing strategy with Yamanaka Inoichi and Jiraiya, smiled and said, "Our great hero is finally awake?"
"Uncle Shikaku, can I be promoted to jōnin when we return this time?"
"Of course." Shikaku didn't hesitate. "If you don't get promoted to jōnin, then no one in Konoha deserves it."
"Congratulations in advance, Yami. You've officially surpassed Kakashi and become the youngest jōnin in Konoha's history."
Yami raised his brows at Kakashi, who was standing nearby. Kakashi lowered his head and avoided his gaze.
"Uncle Shikaku, I want to take a mission."
Shikaku blinked. "Kumo just retreated, and their camp is dozens of kilometers away now. There shouldn't be any fighting in the short term."
"What mission do you want to take?"
Though there were routine tasks like patrol and intel gathering, Shikaku thought it was a waste of talent to send Yami on those.
It would be better to let him rest and prepare for the next battle.
Jiraiya agreed. "Kid, you already did more than enough yesterday. You don't have to push yourself. What's with this obsession with promotion at such a young age?"
Yami shook his head. "I just want revenge on Kumo. They're the ones who came after my Kekkei Genkai."
Everyone in the room sweat a little.
This kid really holds grudges…
"Uncle Shikaku, listen to my analysis."
"Oh?" Shikaku perked up. "Alright, Yami, go ahead."
"Kumo only retreated a few dozen kilometers. They didn't even leave the Land of Hot Springs. That means they're planning to fight again. But with their current strength, they can't win. So they'll definitely send reinforcements from their village."
Shikaku nodded. "You're right. We came to the same conclusion and have already sent sensor teams to scout for information. Once reinforcements appear, we'll know immediately."
Clap!
Yami clapped his hands. "Why wait for them to come? Can't we strike first?"
"You want to attack Kumo's forward base?"
Shikaku frowned. "They'll just keep retreating until they reach the Land of Lightning. At that point, we'd become the invaders. Our supply lines would be overextended. It'd be too risky."
"It's best to hold the line here."
This time, Yami shook his head. "I'm not talking about chasing them."
"Then… you want to ambush their reinforcements?"
As expected of Konoha's sharpest mind, Shikaku immediately followed Yami's train of thought.
"Close," Yami nodded. "I want to attack the Kumo Village itself."
Shikaku: "???"
(To be continued.)
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