Yako carefully examined the draw options.
"1 – Reflex Boost (One-Time Breakthrough);
2 – Chunin-Level Chakra Capacity (Stackable);
3 – Wire-Controlled Shuriken Technique (Beginner)."
The Wire-Controlled Shuriken Technique seemed to be a skill involving manipulating ninja tools with wire.
A longspear needle trailed by wire could pierce the enemy—and the wire could slice their legs apart. Not bad at all.
Chunin-level chakra capacity?
He'd been killed by Kurisame Tsumaru. Yako thought he'd at least get jonin-level chakra, but it turned out to be much lower.
Maybe his current body just couldn't refine or withstand jonin-level chakra, so the system substituted it with chunin-level instead.
A single mission could last months. Most of that time, he survived on military ration pills—not enough to starve, but definitely enough to shed some weight.
Chakra was a mix of physical and mental energy. If the body deteriorated, the chakra wouldn't improve.
But the first option—Reflex Boost (One-Time Breakthrough)—piqued Yako's interest.
It was a special ability to enhance reaction time.
Normal human reflexes ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 seconds. Yako had tested himself before—his was about 0.2s.
Kurisame Tsumaru was a speed-type ninja with extremely quick movements, especially when using his long needles and wire.
If Yako drew Reflex Boost a few more times, he could become a speed-type ninja too.
He created a shadow clone and had it hold a rock.
The clone suddenly let go, and Yako tried to catch it.
After several trials, he averaged the height at which he could grab the falling rock.
Then he chose Reflex Boost (One-Time Breakthrough).
A tight jolt struck the back of his head. His entire body tensed as if jolted by electricity.
His neural reflexes had changed.
He had the shadow clone throw the rock again, without warning.
To his senses, the rock seemed to fall more slowly.
At the same time, his muscle reaction accelerated.
This time, he caught the rock much higher than before.
After repeating the test a few more times, Yako roughly estimated that his reaction time had improved by 0.05s—now around 0.15s.
It was said some Olympic gold medalists had reaction times around that level.
"Not bad, not bad." This was a huge improvement.
Ninjutsu could be learned. Taijutsu could be trained. But innate reflexes were hard to improve drastically.
It was said Namikaze Minato had the fastest reaction speed in the ninja world.
If an ordinary ninja learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, it wouldn't help—they might teleport right in front of their enemy, but if their reflexes weren't as fast, they'd just get smacked away.
Namikaze Minato chased enemies for a thousand miles. Others just delivered themselves as gifts.
The plot unfolded as in his previous life.
Two Konoha ANBU arrived at the desert, locating Captain Hippo's unit.
The Guardian Squad Captain didn't hesitate—he immediately leapt into the midst of the Konoha ANBU.
Yako played it smarter this time, keeping away from both the Guardian Captain and Kurisame Tsumaru's direction.
Combat exploded instantly into full intensity.
The Mist-nin charged in like madmen, trying to help their captain.
Yako spotted Kurisame Tsumaru.
Just like last time, he used his longspear needle to breach the ANBU formation, allowing the Mist-nin to flood in.
He himself didn't enter, staying in place and constantly throwing and retrieving his blade, like he was performing a dance.
Yako, now faster, could clearly see the wires weaving around.
The longspear needle flew toward a nearby rock, looped around it, and returned to Kurisame Tsumaru's hand.
Between a few rocks, a wireframe formed. The longspear needle darted through the frame, rapidly forming a massive net.
Several Konoha ninja noticed the incoming weapon, but even with their ANBU armor, they couldn't withstand it—pierced clean through.
Kurisame Tsumaru gave the wire a fierce yank.
A shrill slicing sound rang out.
The rocks anchoring the net were severed, and with them, the net tightened in an instant.
Yako's eyes stayed locked on the ground.
The wire net had sliced clean through two nearby ANBU's lower legs!
He leapt up just in time.
His speed was faster than those around him, letting him narrowly avoid disaster.
Just one wave of attacks had already crippled the legs of over twenty ANBU.
They collapsed, wailing in agony. Their feet still stood on the ground, but half of each shin was missing, blood spraying everywhere.
Kurisame Tsumaru threw his needle again—this time using the fallen Konoha nin as new wire anchors.
One by one, the dismembered shinobi were pierced through. The wire net reappeared.
What a terrifying attack.
There was no doubt—Kurisame Tsumaru possessed elite jonin-level skill, with an exceptionally cruel nature.
The wounds from the longspear needle were small. The pierced ANBU didn't die right away and screamed in torment.
The wire cuts were unnaturally clean—turning shinobi into puppet dolls.
Captain Yellow Dog charged in from the flank, trying to interrupt Kurisame's web setup.
But Kurisame was too strong. He dodged the attacks with ease.
Captain Yellow Dog's Fire Release techniques came one after another, but every time his rhythm was broken by the needle returning from a blind spot.
Yako ducked behind rocks and around fallen ANBU, carefully circling the perimeter.
At the center of the battlefield, the Guardian Captain was already covered in stab wounds.
Before dying, he retrieved a scroll from his gear pouch.
"You'll never get the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques!"
The scroll had explosive tags attached!
He bit down on both the scroll and the tags, prepared to blow himself to bits.
That's when Captain Black Ant acted.
Black Ant, a member of the Nara Clan, had already extended his shadow beneath the Guardian Captain—instantly freezing him.
The Captain raised his hand and tore off the tag himself, throwing the scroll.
The explosion blasted near his head, sending the scroll flying.
Yako had already moved the moment the captain reached for the tag—aligning himself with the scroll's trajectory.
The scroll unfurled midair.
Yako leapt up and caught it.
'This is life or death—fast!'
A quick glance was enough. Even memorizing one sealing technique would be a huge gain.
He looked once, then immediately rolled it up and tossed it to Captain Black Ant.
Black Ant caught it, opened it for a glance—and froze in confusion. He even looked back at Yako.
Yako, wearing a fox mask, gave him a slight nod. 'It's real.'
The scroll was blank!
Completely empty!
Eight Uzumaki Guardian Ninja—four jonin and four tokubetsu jonin—all carrying blank scrolls.
Who would've thought such a heavy lineup was just a decoy?
The real scroll had likely already been smuggled out of the Land of Waves.
The Uzumaki remnants had outplayed both Konoha and the Mist.
Black Ant couldn't believe it. He turned to a subordinate and ordered, "Maybe there's hidden ink on the scroll. Use all means to reveal it—hurry!"
Yako glanced toward Captain Yellow Dog and the other squad leaders, who were hurling Fire Release after Fire Release.
He suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
His next top priority—was to draw a Water Chakra nature.
Not all enemies came from other villages.
Konoha was infamous for its internal strife. The real threat might come from within.