Hyuga Arin still had 1,236 experience points left in his experience pool.
At this point, he wasn't in a hurry to level up. After all, each level now required 5,000 EXP, and that was no small number.
At minimum, he'd have to kill four chūnin to scrape together five thousand experience points—and opportunities like that didn't come often.
Right now, what he really needed was to upgrade his skills. The boost from skill upgrades was far greater than what leveling alone could give him.
He mainly relied on two skills: Fire Release · Shiranui and Xiongbo Hand.
Whether throwing shuriken or engaging in close combat, these two were core to his fighting style.
After some thought, he chose Xiongbo Hand.
Its amplification was far stronger than Shiranui's. Shiranui only added fire-attribute damage; the real backbone of his offense was still the raw power from Xiongbo Hand.
[Xiongbo Hand (Lv4) EXP (0/800) Traits (None)]
[Xiongbo Hand (Lv5) EXP (0/1600) Traits (None)]
At level five, Xiongbo Hand granted the strength of five bears.
Hyuga Arin tested it briefly. Chakra consumption increased by about one-third.
He had 436 EXP left.
The remaining experience could only be used on Clone Technique or Niko Style · Fire Heaven Form, but neither skill had particularly good cost-performance. He'd deliberately avoided upgrading them.
He planned to find time later and see if Brainphin could help push them forward instead.
"Right now… among chūnin, I shouldn't be considered weak anymore."
Hyuga Arin clenched his fist.
All of this strength came from skills. Based on level alone, he was still just a genin.
And more importantly—reality wasn't a game.
In the real world, a single kunai could kill someone. Given the right opportunity, he could even kill a jōnin.
But in a game, that was a different story.
In-game monsters had HP bars and stats. As long as the HP wasn't emptied, even ripping a monster's head off wouldn't kill it—it'd just regrow a new one for you.
The game made damn sure you couldn't kill anything easily.
In terms of level brackets:
Levels 10–20: Genin21–30: Chūnin31–40: Special Jōnin41–50: Jōnin51–60: Elite Jōnin
In-game, these levels came with HP and stat bonuses.
But in the real world, these distinctions meant far less.
For example, the gap between a chūnin and a special jōnin wasn't necessarily large—sometimes they were evenly matched. A special jōnin was simply someone who excelled in a particular area, but still fell short of a full jōnin's overall balance.
Hyuga Arin could already kill chūnin. In theory, he could also kill a special jōnin.
But jōnin were different.
They were fully developed across ninTechnique, taiTechnique, and GenJutsu. Against someone like that, his current self stood no chance.
"Once this mission is done, and I've farmed the exorcist skills, going back to take the chūnin exam shouldn't be a problem. I might even be able to aim for jōnin."
He quietly planned things out.
In the original story, there were people who clearly hadn't reached true jōnin-level combat ability yet still became jōnin.
Take that certain fifty-fifty for example.
It wasn't that he didn't meet the requirements—twelve-year-old Kakashi was unquestionably qualified in ninTechnique, taiTechnique, and GenJutsu.
But in terms of combat experience, he was nowhere near ready to be a jōnin.
Hyuga Arin had no idea what Konoha's higher-ups were thinking back then, promoting him so exceptionally.
Judging by Kakashi's "fifty-fifty" experience level, Hyuga Arin felt he could probably fight for a jōnin title as well.
…
The next day.
"What? You want me to intercept and kill Konoha ninja?!"
Hyuga Arin's voice cracked as he stared at Murakami Hana in disbelief.
Just yesterday he'd been thinking about returning to Konoha to become a jōnin. Today, he was being told to kill Konoha ninja for fun.
What kind of hellish joke was this?
"Do you have a problem with that?" Murakami Hana asked, his fox-like smile returning.
It seemed he'd adjusted his mindset overnight.
"Can we even win?" Hyuga Arin really didn't want to kill Konoha ninja. This kind of thing would turn into a permanent stain on his record.
If it ever got exposed, forget becoming a jōnin—he could very well end up locked away.
Konoha was absolutely capable of doing that.
Don't talk about circumstances or necessity. They wouldn't care unless you had someone powerful backing you. Otherwise, you'd just rot in a cell.
On the surface, Konoha looked democratic. In reality, it was full of twists and traps.
Murakami Hana stroked his chin.
"According to our intelligence, Konoha has dispatched one jōnin and three chūnin."
Hyuga Arin looked at Murakami Hana suspiciously.
It wasn't that he looked down on him—it was just that Konoha jōnin carried too much weight.
This guy might not be able to handle one.
Murakami Hana noticed the doubt. His smile stiffened slightly.
"I'm very strong, you know. Even against Konoha ninja—"
His voice trailed off noticeably toward the end.
So you're not that confident either, are you?!
"For Lord Hanzo!!"
"Don't just force a slogan to change the subject!! Hey!!"
Even their own team's jōnin lacked confidence. Were they really intercepting Konoha ninja?
This wasn't an ambush—this was a suicide mission!
"In any case, this mission allows no failure," Murakami Hana concluded firmly.
Hyuga Arin slapped a hand over his face.
This was it. Completely screwed.
Worst case, he could drop his transformation and defect straight back to the Konoha team.
Honestly… that was still an option.
"Besides you and me, who else is coming?" Hyuga Arin asked.
There was no way just the two of them were expected to take on four Konoha ninja.
"Of course there are others."
Murakami Hana led Hyuga Arin out into the central plaza.
Two people were already waiting.
Looking at the familiar faces—weren't these his neighbors?
"Chūnin Yushu. Chūnin Yuka."
Yushu was a tall young ninja, blue bangs covering one eye, giving him a mysterious air.
Yuka looked gentle and elegant, with a pretty face and a graceful figure. Her flaxen hair draped over her shoulders.
"Hello, I'm Mu Yu," Hyuga Arin said, taking the initiative to greet her.
Completely ignoring Yushu beside her.
Yuka covered her mouth and laughed softly, placing her hand on his.
"Another lecher."
Yushu snorted coldly.
"Hmph."
Shing!
A bronze longsword appeared out of nowhere.
Yushu barely managed to block with a kunai, but the sheer force sent him staggering back over ten steps before he stopped.
Hyuga Arin didn't even look at him. He smiled warmly at Yuka instead.
"If we have time, we can discuss life together."
Who would bother with a rough guy when there was a pretty lady around?
Yuka laughed softly.
"Little brother, wait until you grow up."
Hyuga Arin's smile stiffened.
Yuka looked to be in her twenties, while Mu Yu's disguise made him look fifteen or sixteen.
This identity was absolutely useless.
Completely ignoring the fact that his real body was only twelve.
"Alright, that's enough infighting," Murakami Hana said with a smile as he looked at Hyuga Arin.
Mu Yu's strength was clearly greater than the last time he'd acted.
Murakami Hana had judged it instantly when Hyuga Arin struck.
"Now, it's time to depart."
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