The Eerie Old Jailer, a Battle Without a Physical Form

"Detected that the host has encountered battle. The Heartsteel Chest has begun accumulating."

The sudden system notification interrupted Uchiha Gin's thoughts. Before he could think any further, his eyes swiftly shifted into Sharingan as he warily watched the eerie Old Jailer before him.

"Hehehehe, I mean no harm. I merely wish to—"

The Old Jailer opened his mouth, his chilling smile stretching all the way to his ears. "—see how much you've grown."

With that, the Old Jailer's figure vanished from before his eyes like smoke.

Uchiha Gin immediately used the Sharingan's extraordinary dynamic vision to search above, below, left, and right for the vanished Old Jailer. Yet the cramped cell had no blind spots. It was as though the man had vanished from the face of the earth, leaving behind no trace whatsoever.

"Where are you looking?"

The Old Jailer's hoarse voice sounded beside the tense Uchiha Gin's ear, a freezing aura creeping up his spine from behind.

The Old Jailer's words felt like the Death God's gaze, leaving his limbs as stiff and heavy as lead.

Gritting his teeth, he channeled Strength of a Hundred into his elbow. His powerful elbow strike crashed toward the old man behind him with thunderous force, but Uchiha Gin only felt the pressure on his back vanish. Just as expected, his strike hit nothing.

The Old Jailer had disappeared again. The candlelight on the wall flickered faintly, and under its glow, Uchiha Gin could see only his own reflection on the wall. The Old Jailer's appearance felt like nothing more than a dream.

Some special concealment technique? Or genjutsu?

One theory after another sprang into Uchiha Gin's mind. He took a deep breath and reached for the Flying Thunder God Kunai hanging at his waist. The instant his fingers touched it, something strange happened.

The Old Jailer was standing rigidly atop his shadow. His milky-white pupils stared straight at him, while that faintly crazed smile still curled at his lips.

The sudden sight made Uchiha Gin's heart jolt. His hand holding the kunai loosened instinctively, and the instant he released it, the eerie Old Jailer disappeared from his sight as though erased by a rubber.

Startled, he tried gripping the kunai again. The Old Jailer's figure reappeared. Then he released it, and the Old Jailer vanished.

He recalled the description of this Flying Thunder God Kunai.

Flying Thunder God Kunai, a weapon used by Namikaze Minato. It contains a trace amount of Space-Time Power. Note: Wearing it accelerates comprehension of Space Ninjutsu.

Space-Time Power! Could this Old Jailer's methods be related to Space-Time Power?

As one of the most mysterious power systems in the Ninja World, Space-Time Power had received only a few brief mentions in the original work. Yet the abilities connected to it were each more absurdly overpowered than the last.

The Flying Thunder God Technique of the Second and Fourth Hokage, Uchiha Obito's Kamui, Sasuke's Amenotejikara after awakening the Six Paths of Reincarnation eyes, and Kaguya Otsutsuki's Amenominaka—every one of them was a heavyweight technique.

Speculation was just speculation. Uchiha Gin pretended to panic, his eyes darting wildly around while the hand gripping the Flying Thunder God Kunai secretly gathered strength.

While the Old Jailer still stood motionless in place, he struck with lightning speed and drove the kunai toward the man's head.

For the first time, surprise appeared on the Old Jailer's eerie facial expression as the kunai was about to pierce his face.

Yet, before Uchiha Gin's disbelieving eyes, the Old Jailer suddenly sank downward and slipped into his shadow.

Damn, this is some haunted crap.

For the first time, Uchiha Gin doubted whether he had truly transmigrated into a proper Ninja World. He had never even heard of the Old Jailer's bizarre methods.

"You can actually see me? When did you gain such a talent?"

The Old Jailer's head extended from Uchiha Gin's shadow. His gray-white eyes stared hollowly at him as he slowly asked the question.

"You seem to know me quite well?"

Rather than answering, Uchiha Gin turned and questioned him instead.

"Hehehehe."

The Old Jailer did not answer, merely letting out that signature strange laugh again.

"You deliberately leaked the information to Uchiha Lucha to pique my interest and lure me here?"

Uchiha Gin changed the question. "Then the information you told him—"

"Was true."

Upon hearing Uchiha Gin's question, the Old Jailer stopped laughing and answered in a hoarse voice.

"Then what was your purpose in luring me here?"

Uchiha Gin frowned and changed his question again.

Before he could receive the answer he wanted, the Old Jailer suddenly grabbed Uchiha Gin's legs. A tremendous pulling force dragged him uncontrollably toward his own shadow.

Greatly alarmed as his legs were restrained, Uchiha Gin stabbed the Flying Thunder God Kunai toward the other man's hands.

But an eerie scene unfolded. The sharp kunai passed straight through those withered hands without meeting any resistance.

It missed? The lack of any sensation of striking a physical body made Uchiha Gin's heart sink. This guy could actually ignore physical attacks?

"Hehehehe."

Seeing Uchiha Gin's attack miss, the Old Jailer laughed again. "If this is all you're capable of—"

"Then drown in your own shadow!"

Feeling the pull on his legs intensify, a hint of despair inevitably rose within Uchiha Gin. Was he really going to die here?

At that moment, a faint breeze drifted through the empty Dungeon from who knew where.

It was so slight that it was almost impossible to notice, yet the candlelight on the wall was blown to the brink of going out. The swaying flame instantly distorted Uchiha Gin's shadow into a crooked mess.

Seeing his shadow flicker between light and darkness, Uchiha Gin suddenly realized that the pull on his legs had disappeared for an instant.

Could it be?! He abruptly turned toward the candle on the wall, and a bold guess appeared in his mind.

One hand suddenly gathered strength, then he swung it and sent a gust of wind crashing toward the candle on the wall.

The powerful blast instantly extinguished the cell's only source of light, plunging the room into darkness. At the same time, Uchiha Gin felt the grip on his legs loosen, and the pulling force vanished without a trace.

"Hehehehe, you actually saw through my technique."

The Old Jailer's figure emerged from a dark corner. With the candlelight gone, only the faint light spilling through the cell's narrow window allowed them to see each other.

"I have Senior to thank for showing mercy."

Uchiha Gin stared at the Old Jailer, and his furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

"?" The Old Jailer was somewhat taken aback by those words.

"Senior, you aren't a physical entity, are you?"

Uchiha Gin spoke. The Old Jailer fell silent. After a long while, confusion was impossible to hide within his gray-white pupils. "How did you know?"

That was practically an admission. Uchiha Gin did not beat around the bush, pointing toward the ground in front of the Old Jailer. Faint light from outside the window shone down, yet the spot where a shadow should have been was completely empty.

The Old Jailer had no shadow! "From the very beginning, you never launched any actual attack against me. Even when you reached out and grabbed my legs, all I felt was a pulling force, not the sensation of being dragged by someone."

Uchiha Gin stated his analysis.

"Not bad. As expected of my—"

The Old Jailer stopped halfway through his sentence. He looked at Uchiha Gin with an odd gaze before continuing.

"Since you've seen through it, ask whatever questions you have next. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Host has won. Obtained Heart Power Points ×1. The Heartsteel Chest reward can be unlocked after one more battle. (Current accumulated Heart Energy: 23)"

His losing streak had been broken. Uchiha Gin cried out in regret inwardly. He had not even gotten the chance to put on an act before the other party surrendered first, breaking the losing streak he had painstakingly built up.

Though it was a pity, it would not be a wasted effort if he could obtain useful clues from the Old Jailer.

"May I ask, Senior, what was your purpose in luring me here?"

After organizing his thoughts, Uchiha Gin first wanted to know why the other party had released information to draw him in.

"Didn't you want to know who that person imprisoned here six years ago was?"

The Old Jailer asked strangely.

"That's the next question."

Uchiha Gin shook his head, making it clear that he only wanted to know the other party's purpose right now. Why him, of all people?

"..."

The Old Jailer's eyes darkened as he lowered his head and fell silent.

Seeing that the Old Jailer would not speak, Uchiha Gin raised his foot to leave.

Then the Old Jailer's familiar hoarse voice rang out. A strange ripple surfaced in a tone that had once been as still as an ancient well.

"I merely wanted to see you."