Ninja Fragments

Upon hearing the system notification, Zhang Miao happily narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth rose.

"Success!"

Obtaining Kakashi's Ninja Fragments had been one of Zhang Miao's goals for this trip!

According to the system's prompt, to obtain Ninja Fragments, he had to either defeat the other person or gain their recognition. But for the current Zhang Miao, defeating a ninja was completely impossible. Forget Kakashi—even an ordinary Genin was more than he could handle.

That left only the second method: gaining the other person's recognition!

But that method was no easy task either, especially in a world like Naruto World, where strength reigned supreme. Gaining someone's recognition was hardly any easier than defeating them.

Zhang Miao knew that too, so all he could do was gamble!

Gamble that Kakashi would recognize him because of Minato Namikaze!

Fortunately, Zhang Miao had succeeded. After he subtly revealed his identity through indirect hints, the sentimental Kakashi had indeed recognized him because of Minato Namikaze.

The fact that he had obtained Kakashi's Ninja Fragments was proof enough!

It had to be said that Zhang Miao was truly lucky. In the ninja world, people forgetting the moment someone was gone was perfectly normal. Ninja like Kakashi, who valued relationships so deeply, were indeed rare.

And it was precisely because Zhang Miao knew this that he had dared to reveal his identity so openly to Kakashi.

Because he knew that even if Kakashi had not recognized him because of Minato Namikaze, Kakashi would never harm him, much less reveal the secret of his identity.

Of that, Zhang Miao was certain.

All in all, Zhang Miao's "operation" had been a great success. Not only had he filled his stomach with delicious fried fish, but he had also obtained precious Kakashi Ninja Fragments. It was truly an excellent start!

As he walked along the road, Zhang Miao excitedly questioned the system.

"System, I have five Kakashi fragments now. Can I recruit Kakashi?"

"Unfortunately, no!" The system immediately rejected Zhang Miao's request and explained, "Kakashi is a Five-Star Jonin. You need four hundred corresponding Ninja Fragments to recruit him!"

"Four hundred?" Hearing the system's answer, Zhang Miao nearly bit his tongue. His face was full of shock. "Why do I need so many? And I've only ever heard of five-star generals. What the heck is a Five-Star Jonin?"

"These are the ranks this system uses to classify recruitable ninja!"

Faced with Zhang Miao's confusion, the system explained again.

"Recruitment targets range from zero to ten stars. Zero-star targets are ordinary people and require only five Ninja Fragments to recruit. One-star targets are Ninja Academy Students and require twenty-five Ninja Fragments. Two-star targets are Genin and require fifty Ninja Fragments. Three-star ninja are Chunin..."

Before the system could finish, Zhang Miao smacked his palm again.

"I get it. Three stars need one hundred fragments, four stars need two hundred, and five stars need four hundred. Following that pattern, recruiting a Ten-Star ninja would require twelve thousand eight hundred fragments, right?"

"Correct. The host's calculation is accurate."

Upon receiving the system's confirmation, Zhang Miao immediately grinned. But the system's next words made his little face fall at once.

"Ten-Star ninja are far too distant a goal for the host. The fact that the host has managed to obtain fragments from a Five-Star ninja is already like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. However, the possibility of collecting enough fragments from a Five-Star ninja to recruit one is basically zero. Please do not aim too high. Proceed step by step from the beginning!"

The system's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhang Miao's head, instantly sobering him up.

"Yeah... This time, I relied on Minato Namikaze's name and a bit of cleverness to gain Kakashi's recognition. But what about next time? And the time after that?"

Recruiting Kakashi required four hundred corresponding Ninja Fragments. In other words, Zhang Miao needed to defeat Kakashi or earn Kakashi's recognition eighty times. Aside from this time, there were still seventy-nine times left.

That number nearly drove Zhang Miao to despair.

"Damn it, what am I supposed to use next time to make him recognize me? My unparalleled appetite?"

Just as Zhang Miao was pondering how to make Kakashi recognize him next time, he suddenly felt his body become lighter, and both his feet left the ground.

By the time he reacted, someone had already picked him up, and the scenery around him began rushing backward with a whoosh.

This was not Zhang Miao's first time experiencing something like this, so he remained very calm.

"The Anbu are certainly efficient!"

Zhang Miao was not surprised that the Anbu had found him so quickly. He even guessed that they had already found him while he was eating fish at Kakashi's house, but for some reason, they had not entered and taken him away directly.

But none of that mattered anymore. A few minutes later, Zhang Miao was brought back to his residence. When the door closed, he even heard the sound of it being locked from outside.

Click!

Hearing that sound, Zhang Miao shrugged, then slowly walked over to a small bed nearby. Looking at Naruto, who was sleeping soundly inside, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"My foolish little brother, your big brother is back after eating his fill!"

After saying that, Zhang Miao yawned, then climbed onto the slightly larger bed beside it and pulled up the blanket.

"I ran around all afternoon. I'm exhausted. Time to sleep!"

The sky gradually darkened, and soon, Zhang Miao's steady breathing echoed through the room.

While Zhang Miao slept soundly, Kakashi was still racking his brains.

"How did he take out that Flying Thunder God Kunai? Had he hidden it on his body from the start?"

Of course, Kakashi would never have imagined that Zhang Miao possessed a miraculous System Space, and that he had taken the Flying Thunder God Kunai out of it at the time.

And besides that, two people were lying inside Zhang Miao's System Space. Although their bodies were covered in blood and they no longer had any breath, there was still a faint flush on their faces. They lay there as though they were merely asleep.

If Kakashi had seen those two, he would surely have been even more shocked.

Because the two people lying in Zhang Miao's System Space were none other than Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki!

Half a year ago, when Zhang Miao had just activated the Recruitment System, it had stored Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's corpses inside the System Space. After Zhang Miao came to his senses, he asked the system a question.

"System, how long can the System Space preserve corpses?"

The system had answered like this at the time.

"Theoretically, forever, provided that the host remains alive. Once the host dies, the System Space will automatically collapse."

Upon hearing that answer, Zhang Miao's eyes immediately lit up.

"In other words, as long as I'm alive, even decades from now, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's bodies will remain exactly as they are now."

"Yes!"

After receiving that definite answer, Zhang Miao had nearly jumped with joy.

"Great!"

There was a reason Zhang Miao was so happy. After all, this was Naruto World, a world said to be full of loopholes, where Forbidden Techniques emerged one after another.

And what Zhang Miao had thought of was a Forbidden Technique that came at the cost of one's life—Living Corpse Reincarnation!