Chapter 157: System Upgrade
The prerequisite for upgrading the system was simple—yet devastating:
> Destroy one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Uchiha Fugaku stared at the glowing text before him, silent.
That condition… it brought back memories of the day he first transmigrated into this world.
If he had chosen to destroy Konoha back then, perhaps the system would have already completed its upgrade by now.
But he hadn't.
Instead, he had chosen a different path — to overthrow the so-called "Konoha F4," led by the Third Hokage, and seize the Hokage's seat for himself.
Looking at it now, that act clearly hadn't counted as "destroying" a Hidden Village.
Still, even if he could go back and choose again, Fugaku knew he wouldn't have taken that path.
Konoha was filled with people he knew — people whose faces he couldn't bring himself to erase.
And besides, there was no need to rush.
He already possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
With that power alone, he was untouchable.
He could simply choose to destroy another of the Five Great Villages — the Hidden Sand, perhaps… or Iwagakure.
Without further hesitation, Fugaku selected the option on the left: Upgrade System.
A soft chime echoed in his mind. The translucent, blue system panel shimmered before his eyes, and a circular icon appeared in the center.
> 3% — Upgrading…
Seeing that the upgrade had begun, Fugaku exhaled in relief.
But the progress bar barely moved. Even after several minutes, it hadn't changed at all.
So, he decided to let it run on its own.
Closing the panel, he stretched slightly and lay back on the bed.
The early morning light filtered through the curtains.
If he slept until noon, perhaps the upgrade would be done by then.
There was no rush. He didn't need the system right now anyway.
His Eternal Eyes were more than enough to dominate this world.
A faint yawn escaped him as he slowly drifted into sleep.
Moments later, the gentle hum of chakra in his body softened.
The world around him fell silent.
Before long, not only Fugaku — but nearly everyone in the vicinity — had fallen into a deep slumber.
Only a handful of jōnin remained awake, keeping watch.
---
Meanwhile, at the Cloud Thunder Valley — the natural barrier leading into the Hidden Cloud Village — the stationed Kumogakure shinobi were in turmoil.
Their captain, a seasoned jōnin, had gathered the outpost's forces.
All of them — except for a few genin and a single chūnin left behind to guard the post — abandoned their stations and rushed toward the village.
They knew what they were doing was risky.
If an invasion came while they were gone, the valley would fall instantly.
But none of them cared anymore.
Because for the entire night… there had been no word from the village.
Yesterday evening, they had seen it — that red giant soaring toward the mountains, its presence blotting out the sun.
Even now, they could recall the terror of its shadow passing over them — an enormous armored being wielding a sword, radiating pure destruction.
They had sent messages, flare signals, even dispatched two squads back to the village.
Not a single one returned.
Not even a simple "message received."
Silence.
Complete, suffocating silence.
The jōnin had discussed through the night, and as dawn broke, they made their choice.
They had to go back.
If that red colossus had attacked the Hidden Cloud, then by now the entire village might already be gone.
But the night had been eerily quiet — no aftershocks, no explosions.
That silence was worse than any battle.
They had named the giant in whispers:
The Heavenly Rock War God.
It looked human — yet godlike — and so vast that even the Tailed Beasts seemed small beside it.
Now, with the first rays of morning light cutting through the mist, the Kumogakure shinobi raced down the mountain path toward their home.
The journey from Cloud Thunder Valley to the village was only twenty li — barely twenty minutes at full speed.
When they reached the halfway point, they could already see the towering gates of the Hidden Cloud Village ahead.
The gate was intact.
Relief flooded their faces. Their pace slowed.
Maybe… maybe the red giant hadn't attacked after all.
As they drew closer, one of the chūnin wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh—what's that smell? Did someone dump waste here?"
Another frowned. "Smells… burnt."
"Yeah, like something's rotting."
Their laughter faded when one of the jōnin froze, his expression darkening.
His voice trembled.
"…That's the smell of corpses."
The others looked at each other in confusion — until they saw the fear in his eyes.
Without another word, the jōnin darted forward, leaping past the gate.
The chūnin followed, alarm rising in their throats.
Then, as they crossed into the village, they saw what had stopped their comrades cold.
And their hearts turned to ice.
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To be continued…
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