The two of them carried the bodies back to the base.
At the entrance, two Rain ninja were already waiting.
"Hand the bodies over to them," Murakami Hana said quietly.
He placed the corpse down and reached out, intending to close Yuki's eyes.
But the moment his fingers pressed down on Yuki's eyelids, they sprang open again—staring straight ahead, coincidentally meeting Hyūga Akira's gaze.
Akira guiltily lowered his head and set Yuka's body down beside him.
Both corpses had their eyes wide open, filled with resentment that lingered even after death.
"They are heroes of the Hidden Rain," Murakami said in a low, heavy voice. "Their achievements will be engraved in our hearts."
Mm-hmm.
Sure, sure—you're absolutely right.
But what does that have to do with me, a Konoha ninja?
Akira put on a suitably solemn expression, though inwardly he couldn't help missing the old version of Brain Stimulation. The current one drained chakra so violently that it could no longer be used casually to regulate his emotions.
Murakami seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to him.
"Your contributions will be reported to Lord Hanzō. Lord Hanzō will not forget what you've done."
So… your system doesn't even count shared merits?
In this heavy atmosphere, Akira really just wanted to complain.
The two Rain ninja silently hoisted the bodies and left through the same entrance they'd come from.
If Akira wasn't mistaken, they were taking the corpses back to Amegakure.
Curious, he asked, "Aren't you worried those two might expose this place?"
After all, Shōzō was actively searching for Hanzō. Wouldn't sending people back to the village reveal that Hanzō was hiding here?
Murakami looked at him in surprise. Seeing that Akira genuinely didn't know, he explained:
"This place already is one of Amegakure's bases. The village knows it exists."
He glanced around and lowered his voice.
"As for where Lord Hanzō actually is—no one truly knows. The person we meet is just a stand-in. The real Lord Hanzō could be in any base."
The Hidden Rain had many such bases, a necessity born of circumstance.
The Three Great Nations frequently turned this land into a battlefield. Amegakure had been attacked countless times, on top of constant internal strife.
Because of the Rain Country's situation, the village had come close to splitting apart more than once.
The one who resolved the last major internal division was the current ruler of Amegakure—Shōzō.
A dragon-slaying youth becoming the dragon itself.
At least, that's how Murakami saw it.
From Shōzō's perspective, Hanzō and his supporters were rebels attempting to fracture the village.
Akira listened thoughtfully.
Hanzō might be hiding, but he clearly had no intention of founding a new village. He was using Amegakure's existing infrastructure.
And yet, despite constantly moving between bases, Shōzō had never managed to locate him.
That alone showed just how overwhelming Hanzō's prestige within the Hidden Rain truly was.
In such circumstances, Hanzō replacing Shōzō lacked only one thing—
a legitimate, justifiable pretext.
Why Shōzō still dared to oppose Hanzō was beyond Akira.
He couldn't win. Not even close.
Shaking his head, Akira dropped the thought.
With the bodies dealt with, Murakami went off to report in.
Akira returned to his cramped little room. Without missions, this place was where he'd be spending his time.
It was a shame—his former neighbors were gone.
But they hadn't been close to begin with, so it wasn't a big loss.
He sat down and opened his status panel.
After removing the spent experience, he still had over 14,000 EXP left.
"That's enough to gain two levels."
He glanced over his skill list, falling into brief contemplation.
Fourteen thousand experience could push a skill into the high tiers, causing a massive leap in combat strength—possibly even more impactful than leveling up.
Akira rubbed his chin.
"If I could max out a skill outright, that might be worth it. A max-level skill is a qualitative transformation for me."
Unfortunately, chakra limitations made some skills impractical.
For example, max-level Clone Technique or Brain Stimulation—used properly, both were god-tier.
But their chakra consumption was simply beyond what he could sustain.
"…Better to level up," Akira decided.
If he could reach level 36 quickly, he wouldn't even need to go back to the Hunter world to find a way to develop Nen abilities.
He invested experience.
[Name: I'm Hyūga Akira]
[Class: Hunter]
[Level: lv19 (0/5500)]
[Chakra/Nen: 240 / 610 +50 +20]
Ever since changing classes, each level now increased his chakra cap by 100, no longer the measly +10 from before.
What was ten points even good for?
Give me ten times that!
He dumped in 5,500 EXP.
[Name: I'm Hyūga Akira]
[Class: Hunter]
[Level: lv20 (0/6500)]
[Chakra/Nen: 240 / 710 +50 +20]
The required experience jumped by another thousand.
"As expected—each level now costs an extra 1,000 EXP."
Akira had been prepared for this. At higher levels, experience would always be the bottleneck.
This time, he'd only managed it because he'd picked up an enormous bargain. Opportunities like that wouldn't come often.
With nearly 8,900 EXP still remaining, he continued.
[Name: I'm Hyūga Akira]
[Class: Hunter]
[Level: lv21 (0/7500)]
[Chakra/Nen: 240 / 810 +50 +20]
"So much chakra…" Akira took a deep breath. For the first time, he truly felt what it meant to have an abundance of chakra.
He extended his hand, chakra wrapping around his palm.
This was Nen-style application—Ten.
In this state, both his strength and defense were enhanced. As long as an opponent couldn't break through the chakra coating, they couldn't harm him.
But maintaining it constantly drained chakra during combat.
The chakra on his hand slowly faded, followed by the flow within his body.
Next—Zetsu.
All chakra vanished from perception. Even the Byakugan couldn't see energy within his body. His presence dropped dramatically.
All chakra returned to his cells, dramatically boosting his recovery.
The price was simple—
right now, he was just an ordinary person.
A physically fit ordinary person.
Then—
Ren.
Chakra erupted violently from within him.
Blue energy engulfed his entire body—his peak combat state, where every ounce of power was forced out.
"Like this… I might actually be able to trade blows with a jōnin," Akira said excitedly.
But the aura quickly faded.
His chakra was draining too fast.
"…Yeah, I was dreaming," he sighed helplessly.
Strong as it was, this state simply wasn't sustainable.
Which brought him back to the same old problem.
"Still not enough chakra…"
But regardless—
" I've finally reached the realm of chūnin."
Though he'd reached chūnin in level, his actual combat strength was another matter.
By Akira's own estimate, his true fighting power was closer to that of a special jōnin.
He looked at the remaining two thousand-plus experience points.
"This time… they're going into skills."
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