Harvest

After Uchiha Feiyu arrived near Kōko Town, Konoha quickly gained an absolute upper hand in this small-scale territorial conflict.

Within three days, the two of them wiped out seven Sunagakure squads in succession, dealing the Sand Shinobi devastating losses and ultimately forcing them to withdraw from River Valley Town.

Yamanaka Seiichi located them, while Uchiha Feiyu killed them. The whole affair was as easy as taking something from his pocket.

When some of the Konoha Ninja in River Valley Town saw Uchiha Feiyu in action, they nearly suspected that the White Fang of Konoha had come back to life. They revered him like a god, allowing Uchiha Feiyu to understand just how imposing Hatake Sakumo had been in his day.

On a small hill near Kōko Town, Uchiha Feiyu looked at his subordinate.

"How is it, Seiichi? Are there any Chakra signatures nearby?"

Yamanaka Seiichi shook his head.

"Other than the Chakra signatures of a few Konoha Ninja, there are no unfamiliar Chakra signatures left nearby. The Sunagakure ninja should have completely withdrawn."

"Fine... Looks like all the prey here has been slaughtered."

Uchiha Feiyu sighed softly. The faintly unsatisfied look on his face made Yamanaka Seiichi's expression stiffen slightly.

(Lord Orochimaru said this Uchiha was naturally timid and afraid of death, but he clearly looks like a Killing Star!)

Of course, Uchiha Feiyu was no Killing Star descended from the heavens. He enjoyed killing partly to accumulate souls, and partly because the black energy obtained from killing could be used for sacrifices.

He had never felt much of a sense of belonging in this world to begin with. Now that he had acquired this cheat that made enemies drop loot when killed, he naturally viewed these hostile ninja as experience points and felt not the slightest pity for them.

"Since that's the case, let's return to camp first. We'll rest and regroup a little, then continue carrying out our mission."

Uchiha Feiyu's gaze drifted as he looked at the Soul Orbs circling around him. These souls naturally belonged to the Sand Shinobi he had killed. Unlike Hatake Sakumo, the Sand Shinobi were unwilling to teach Uchiha Feiyu their personal secret techniques.

Still, that did not matter. Uchiha Feiyu could use these souls to perform their skills, then work backward from the jutsu they cast to deduce their principles and methods. It was somewhat harder than having the other party's soul possess him and teach him personally, but far faster than learning bit by bit.

Moreover, while traveling about and killing could indeed make plenty of "gold coins" drop, it also delayed the growth of Uchiha Feiyu's Chakra. He had not had much time to devour and refine the souls of Ryūchi Cave's giant snakes.

Hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, Yamanaka Seiichi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Over the past three days, Uchiha Feiyu had swept through all of River Valley Town, but Yamanaka Seiichi, the unsung hero behind him, had contributed no small amount as well. In particular, unlike Uchiha Feiyu, he lacked overwhelming strength, so the psychological pressure on him had been immense.

Now that they could return and rest, he was naturally quite pleased.

At the Command Post of the Konoha camp, Orochimaru looked at the pile of bloodstained Sand Shinobi forehead protectors before him and could not help smiling.

"Though I knew Feiyu-kun was quite capable, I'm still somewhat surprised that he managed to achieve this much."

"The might of the White Fang of Konoha back then can now be seen seven or eight parts out of ten in Feiyu-kun!"

During wartime, ninja who operated as squads on the front lines in guerrilla warfare were mostly elites among ninja. Of these more than twenty ninja, at least half were Chunin.

After Yamanaka Seiichi searched through their minds, he even found three Special Jonin among them. Losses of this level were enough to make the Sand Shinobi ache.

Most importantly, this was merely the harvest from Uchiha Feiyu's three days of killing. If he maintained this efficiency, then through steady attrition, in less than two or three months, the entire Sand Shinobi force would likely be unable to sit still from all the killing.

"Orochimaru-senpai, don't just talk without acting. I completed the mission, so are there any rewards?"

Uchiha Feiyu paid no attention to Orochimaru's pep talk and directly held out his hand for benefits.

Orochimaru's mouth twitched. This guy... his skin was so thick. No, it would be more accurate to say he had absolutely no shame!

"Of course there are rewards. First, congratulations, Feiyu. You are now a Special Jonin. As the commander of this front, this is the highest I can promote you. To become an official Jonin, you must be personally promoted by the Hokage."

"Additionally, based on the number of kills you achieved, you will receive two A-Rank permissions to learn two A-Rank Jutsu. Although I do not have the Book of Seals here, I do have a jutsu learning catalog. You can take it and look through it first."

"If there is nothing you like, you can return to Konoha later and learn the jutsu recorded in the Book of Seals. The jutsu there are more comprehensive."

"Also, you killed over twenty ninja. The mission payment comes to two million ryo in total. This is your monetary reward."

Special Jonin sounded fairly close to Jonin, but as had been mentioned before, their authority was far inferior to that of Jonin. They were not much different from Chunin.

Two A-Rank Jutsu sounded quite good, but Uchiha Feiyu's current foundation was shallow. Aside from the jutsu that complemented Hatake Sakumo's White Fang Sword Style, the rest of his skills were only ordinary C-rank jutsu. For the time being, he had no interest in learning more, so he could only put them on his tab for now.

The two million ryo, on the other hand, was equivalent to roughly one million RMB, considering one ryo equaled ten yen. It was the largest sum Uchiha Feiyu had ever seen. But when he thought carefully about it, this amount was at most one-tenth or so of Asuma, and his excitement immediately calmed down.

After receiving his rewards, Uchiha Feiyu first gave part of the mission bonus to Yamanaka Seiichi, then plunged headfirst into the Training Ground.

He had cut down quite a few people lately and gained many souls. Uchiha Feiyu intended to squeeze every last drop from the jutsu those souls knew, further improving his own tangible strength.

Due to environmental influences, most Sunagakure ninja cultivated Wind Release, Earth Release, and Fire Release. Some also cultivated the Puppet Secret Technique. Puppet techniques trained Chakra control and also had considerable ties to Yin Release.

After a month of rest and training, Uchiha Feiyu's Chakra Nature Transformation for Wind Release had caught up to his Chakra Nature Transformation for Lightning Release. The skill experience of more than twenty Sand Shinobi had enabled him to progress rapidly, and the shortcomings regarding Wind Release in Hatake Sakumo's White Fang swordsmanship had been completely remedied.

In addition, he learned some Sand Shinobi skills, including the two worthwhile Wind Release jutsu, Wind Cutter and Blade of Wind, several B-rank and C-rank Genjutsu, and a close-range sensory jutsu unique to puppet masters that released Chakra threads like a spiderweb.