Ninja Fragments

Hearing the system's prompt, Zhang Miao squinted his eyes in delight, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"It worked!"

Acquiring Kakashi's Ninja Fragments was one of Zhang Miao's goals for this trip!

According to the system's instructions, to obtain Ninja Fragments, he had to either defeat the target or earn their recognition. But for Zhang Miao right now, defeating a ninja was completely impossible—let alone Kakashi, even an ordinary Genin was beyond his ability to beat.

That left only the second option: earning the other person's recognition!

But this method wasn't easy either, especially in a world like Naruto where strength reigned supreme. Earning someone's recognition was hardly any simpler than defeating them.

Zhang Miao knew this, so he could only gamble!

He bet that Kakashi would recognize him because of Minato Namikaze!

Luckily, Zhang Miao succeeded. When he subtly revealed his identity through indirect hints, the sentimental Kakashi truly acknowledged him for Minato's sake.

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

He had to admit, Zhang Miao was very fortunate. In the ninja world, it was all too common for people to forget you once you were gone. Sentimental ninjas like Kakashi were truly rare.

And Zhang Miao, knowing this, dared to so openly expose his identity to Kakashi.

Because he knew that even if Kakashi didn't recognize him for Minato's sake, he wouldn't harm him, nor would he leak the secret of his identity.

Zhang Miao was sure of that.

All in all, Zhang Miao's "operation" this time was a great success. Not only did he get to enjoy delicious grilled fish and satisfy his appetite, but he also obtained precious Kakashi Ninja Fragments—a rare and auspicious start!

Walking along the road, Zhang Miao excitedly questioned the system.

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

"Unfortunately, no!" Facing Zhang Miao's inquiry, the system immediately denied him, while also giving an explanation. "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 expression full of shock. "Why so many? And I've only heard of Five-Star Generals—what's a Five-Star Jonin supposed to be?"

"This is the level classification this system uses for recruiting ninjas!"

Facing Zhang Miao's confusion, the system explained again.

"The recruitment targets range from zero to ten stars. Zero stars are ordinary people, requiring only five Ninja Fragments to recruit. One star is a Ninja Academy Student, needing twenty-five Ninja Fragments. Two stars are Genin, requiring fifty Ninja Fragments. Three stars are Chunin..."

Before the system could finish, Zhang Miao slapped his palm again with a "smack."

"I get it! Three stars need a hundred fragments, four stars need two hundred, five stars need four hundred, and so on. So recruiting a ten-star ninja would need twelve thousand eight hundred fragments, right?"

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

Hearing the system's confirmation, Zhang Miao grinned, but the system's next sentence immediately made his face fall.

"Ten-star ninjas are too far off for the host. The host obtaining a Five-Star ninja's fragments this time is already a blind cat catching a dead mouse. But the possibility of collecting enough Five-Star ninja fragments to recruit them is basically zero. Please don't aim too high—start from zero and proceed step by step!"

The system's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhang Miao's head, snapping him back to reality.

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

Recruiting Kakashi required four hundred corresponding Ninja Fragments. That meant Zhang Miao needed to defeat Kakashi or earn his recognition eighty times. Besides this time, there were seventy-nine more.

That number nearly made Zhang Miao collapse.

"Damn it, what method do I use to get him to recognize me next time? My unparalleled appetite?"

Just as Zhang Miao was pondering how to earn Kakashi's recognition next time, he suddenly felt his body lighten, and his feet left the ground.

By the time he reacted, he was already being carried by someone, and he saw the surrounding scenery whizzing past him.

Zhang Miao wasn't experiencing this for the first time, so he remained very calm.

"The Anbu sure are efficient!"

Zhang Miao wasn't surprised that the Anbu found him so quickly. He even suspected that when he was eating fish at Kakashi's place, the Anbu had already located him, but for some reason, they hadn't barged in and taken him away.

But none of that mattered anymore. A few minutes later, Zhang Miao was brought 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 his shoulders, then slowly walked over to a small bed nearby. Looking at Naruto sleeping soundly inside, a smile crept onto his face.

"My foolish little brother, your big brother is back with a full stomach!"

With that, Zhang Miao yawned, rolled onto a slightly larger bed beside it, and pulled up the covers.

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

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

While Zhang Miao was fast asleep, Kakashi was still deep in thought.

"That Flying Thunder God Kunai—how did he pull it out? Was it hidden on him from the start?"

Kakashi would never have guessed that Zhang Miao possessed a mysterious System Space, and that Flying Thunder God Kunai was something he had taken out from it at that moment.

And besides that, two people were lying in Zhang Miao's System Space. Though their bodies were covered in blood and they had no breath, their faces bore a faint rosy hue. They lay there as if asleep.

If Kakashi had seen these two, he would 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!

Six months ago, when Zhang Miao first activated the Recruitment System, it had collected the corpses of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki into the System Space. Once Zhang Miao came to his senses, he asked the system a question.

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

The system answered at the time.

"Theoretically forever, provided the host is alive. If the host dies, the System Space will automatically collapse."

Hearing this answer, Zhang Miao's eyes immediately lit up.

"So that means, as long as I'm alive, even if decades pass, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's corpses will remain exactly as they are now."

"Correct!"

Getting this precise confirmation, Zhang Miao nearly jumped for joy.

"Perfect!"

Zhang Miao was this excited for a reason—after all, this was the Naruto World, a realm known for being full of bugs, where Forbidden Techniques were endless.

And the Forbidden Technique Zhang Miao had in mind was one that cost a life as its price—Living Corpse Reincarnation!