Chapter 7
Ghost didn't look back.
The town that had cradled his rise from nothing now lay behind him, its alleyways and soot-covered rooftops fading into memory. He'd left with only the clothes on his back, the body of a chūnin rogue shinobi sealed tightly in a scroll, and a head full of shifting plans. His feet followed trade paths and winding roads, his eyes always on the horizon: the Land of Rivers.
He traveled cautiously, avoiding shinobi patrols and major roads where possible. The forest became his training ground, his home, and his crucible. Rain fell often as he moved westward, the season turning the world to slick mud and green overgrowth. But it also gave cover—perfect for a boy with secrets.
He trained with the same rigor as before. Traps, endurance, stamina. Reflex sharpening. Every day, he completed small tasks. The system recognized progress not just in grand battles but in the grit of survival:
> [Daily Task Completed: Travel 10km on foot] [Daily Task Completed: Trap crafted successfully] [Mission Completed: Hunt & cook wild game] [Achievement Unlocked: Sustained Travel – 7 Days Alone in Hostile Terrain]
As he trekked forward, his pool of rewards grew. Slowly, steadily, he built his roulette cache.
---
Roulette Tokens (Before Upgrading):
Common: 34
Uncommon: 11
He paused at a riverside one morning, clouds broken by shafts of sun, and sat cross-legged on a flat rock to manage the system.
> Roll Conversion: 30 Common → 3 Uncommon (4 leftover) 10 Uncommon → 1 Rare (1 leftover)
> Final Totals:
Common: 4
Uncommon: 2
Rare: 1
He decided not to spin yet. He wanted to bank more before rolling again. The system could be cruel—or absurd.
---
It was a week later when he encountered the chakra beast.
It happened in the hills north of a fishing village. He'd been tracking strange gouges in trees and half-eaten corpses along a dry creekbed. The thing was like a malformed leopard—chakra-ridden and mangled, with two eyes too many and teeth that dripped black fluid. It shouldn't have existed.
But it did.
It spotted him before he could finish the perimeter traps. A shriek split the woods. Ghost dove to the side, grabbing a spike of sharpened wood from his belt.
It was his toughest fight yet.
He used terrain. Fell branches. Lured it into his snare lines and baited it across false paths. When it lunged one final time, he jammed the spike into its throat and rolled free as it convulsed, dead weight crashing into the hillside.
Breathing heavily, he approached the corpse.
> [Achievement Unlocked: Kill a Chakra Beast] Reward: +1 Rare Token, +1 Daily Task Boost
More importantly—
> [Dark Wisdom Available: Use on Chakra Beast?]
"Yes," he said immediately.
The system absorbed the flickering chakra from the dead thing. It pulsed around him, shivering in his veins like cold lightning.
> [Dark Wisdom Result: Partial Chakra Acquisition – Chakra System Unlocked]
He gasped.
For the first time, he felt it.
A current under the surface. Faint. Untrained. But real.
Chakra.
Not enough to mold jutsu, not yet—but the beginning. His body itched with dormant potential.
---
That night he looted the beast's remains for parts—claws, sinew, plates of thick hide. Materials for future traps. He also counted his rolls again.
Updated Roulette Tokens:
Common: 4
Uncommon: 2
Rare: 2
---
In the next town, he found a merchant caravan and slipped into the crowd. He bartered some tools and herbs for coin, then approached a bald man under a red canopy.
"Know where I can find a bounty office?" he asked, voice low.
The merchant glanced at him sideways. "One of those types, huh? Try the back quarter. Hidden behind the spice stalls. Big red door."
He followed the directions and came upon a quiet, reinforced structure, guarded by two nondescript men sipping tea. He stepped in, heart pounding.
Inside was dim and smelled of incense. A thin man with glasses looked up.
"Name?"
"Ghost," he said.
"Target?"
He unsealed the scroll.
The man blinked. "Chūnin rogue, classified missing-nin. Well then."
Minutes later, he walked out with a heavy pouch. Enough ryo to last weeks.
---
He didn't spend it frivolously. Instead, he stocked up:
Wire spools
Explosive tags
Ball bearings
Dried meat
Lightweight tents and firestarter
Antidotes and ointments
Handmade ink and scroll paper for sealing practice
By the time he left the town, he was fully outfitted like a wandering hunter-nin.
His chakra remained faint. But he'd begun meditating, trying to draw it out. His body had chakra pathways now—just untrained. The system offered no tutorials. It was all trial and error.
He also began studying the cursed energy techniques from Nanami's template. The base was there—Nanami's stance drills, the mental exercises that balanced focus and restraint.
No ratio technique yet. But the groundwork was forming.
---
And finally—
One dusky morning, with mist clinging to the riverbank, he stepped into the borderlands.
The Land of Rivers.
He stood atop a hill, overlooking the scattered settlements and winding waterways below.
Something in his chest twisted. He wasn't sure if it was anticipation… or fear.
But he was here.
Where the Zero Tails had once appeared, long ago.
A cursed beast that fed on negativity.
A potential cursed spirit, if seen through the eyes of Nanami's system.
If he could find it—
If he could kill it—
He might unlock the full depth of the Nanami Kento template.
And then?
He'd finally have power to call his own.
---
[End of Chapter]
Current Inventory
Chakra: Unlocked (weak reserves)
Dark Wisdom: Used on Chakra Beast – Chakra System Acquired
Nanami Template: Partial (Skills: Analysis, Efficiency Boost, Cursed Energy Base)
Rolls:
Common: 4
Uncommon: 2
Rare: 2