Overall Evaluation Rises Again, Official Jonin!

One mission, three rewards, three-way win-win—no, I won three times!

Looking at the two A-rank and one B-rank [Ninja Scroll] gleaming on the panel, Nara Kaikei was filled with delight.

Old man Kakuzu is actually such a nice guy!

Through this mission, Nara Kaikei felt as though he had triggered a bug in the [Lazy Ghost System].

Had he killed Kakuzu?

Twice.

Was Kakuzu still alive?

Of course he was.

Had the battle mission been completed?

Not at all. Instead, just before his defeat, Kaikei had chosen to speedrun it and claim another guaranteed reward.

As long as the enemy is still alive, ending one of their lives counts as completing a battle mission, and the battle mission cooldown can be ignored...

Wonderful!

Nara Kaikei was gradually coming to understand everything.

Whether this was Kakuzu's bug or the [Lazy Ghost System]'s bug.

Nara Kaikei only knew one thing... he could take even more!

In theory, I can farm up to five A-rank rewards from Kakuzu's A-rank battle mission!

Of course, if I want to make this a sustainable cycle, I should destroy four of his hearts before choosing to speedrun it...

All sorts of wicked thoughts bubbled up within Nara Kaikei's pure heart.

Besides, although there are very few people in the ninja world as hard to kill as Kakuzu, he isn't the only one.

This flexible method of getting multiple meals from one fish can be replicated again and again... That's great!

Just as Nara Kaikei was considering which other ninjas in the ninja world possessed multiple lives.

Nara Shikano, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka were still vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

The Cross-Generation Pig Deer Butterfly team had no virtual panel to relay information, so they had no idea that Kakuzu had already fled the battlefield.

All they could do now was remain alert and work together.

However, the Pig Deer Butterfly trio was indeed in poor condition.

After clashing head-on with "Lightning Style: False Darkness," Choza Akimichi looked especially miserable.

His entire body was charred black, his armor was damaged, and large patches of his skin steamed as if he had nearly been roasted by that high-voltage current.

Nara Shikano beside him was also pale, having consumed too much Chakra.

Only Inoichi Yamanaka remained completely unharmed.

"Choza, get the Three-Colored Pills ready."

Nara Shikano knew that Choza Akimichi was in bad shape, but he had no other choice.

"Inoichi, spread out your senses and locate the enemy!"

The three great ninja clans of Pig Deer Butterfly had worked together for many years, and the coordination between their clan secret techniques was practically flawless.

But no matter how well the Pig Deer Butterfly team worked together, challenging an opponent above their level was still extremely difficult for them.

Especially against a "small hexagonal monster" like Kakuzu.

Even ninjas of the same rank, even if they possessed intelligence on Kakuzu, would have found him very difficult to deal with.

Not to mention that Pig Deer Butterfly's raw strength was already inferior to Kakuzu's, and they had known nothing about him!

Had that "invisible ninja" not suddenly intervened and attacked, the Pig Deer Butterfly team would likely have lost a member by now.

With Kakuzu having vanished and their visual contact lost, the trio could only huddle together, standing back-to-back as they scanned the battlefield.

With a resolute expression, Choza Akimichi took out a set of transparent little boxes from his ninja tool pouch. Inside were pills in three different colors: red, yellow, and green.

This was the Akimichi Clan's final trump card...

"Uncle Shikano, I can't sense Kakuzu's presence."

Inoichi Yamanaka focused his gaze on a patch of "air" some distance away and quietly reported.

"But the other ninja is still here. He has remained in the same spot and hasn't taken any action."

"A transparency ability?"

Nara Shikano deliberately turned his head to look in another direction.

"It really isn't friendly to ordinary ninjas like us...

"Friend!"

At the end, Nara Shikano suddenly raised his voice.

"Kakuzu has already left. We'll be taking our leave!"

Leaving aside the fact that they could not yet tell whether that "invisible ninja" was friend or foe.

After their battle with Kakuzu, none of the Pig Deer Butterfly team members were at full strength.

They had no desire to continue fighting at a time like this.

"Uncle Shikano, that invisible ninja has burrowed underground and left. It seems he went after Kakuzu."

Inoichi Yamanaka caught something else at that moment and hurriedly reported it.

"Earth Style ninjutsu, combined with that transparency ability... It resembles Iwagakure's secret techniques. Lady Tsunade only updated that intelligence a few days ago.

"Perhaps this invisible ninja is from Iwagakure..."

Nara Shikano nodded slightly but made no judgment.

He was the first to rule out the possibility that the "invisible ninja" was from Konoha.

One reason alone was enough.

If the other party were a Konoha ninja, they should have joined up with them by now.

An Iwagakure ninja? Hunting Kakuzu? Gathering intelligence on the Land of Fire? Or perhaps a spy from another hidden village?

Thoughts surged through Nara Shikano's mind, but he could reach no conclusion for the moment.

Forget it. This isn't something I need to worry about. Once I return to the village, I'll toss this matter in front of the Third and retire home to raise deer...

"Inoichi, go call the children back—forget it, we'll head over ourselves."

Nara Shikano issued his final instructions.

"Choza, hold on a little longer."

The Cross-Generation Pig Deer Butterfly team began moving to rendezvous with the other group.

Meanwhile, Asuma Sarutobi's team had already reached an open area and silently waited for news.

Nara Kaikei's expression shifted slightly. He pretended to bend down, but actually picked up the [Chakra Crystal] ring from the ground and put it back on.

During the battle with Kakuzu just now, the [Shadow Clone] had used [Camouflage Concealment] through the [Chakra Crystal] on the ring.

After all, the [Shadow Clone] could only use the Yin Release Secret Techniques mastered by the original body, and [Camouflage Concealment] was not among them.

Come to think of it, this battle showed that my previous line of thinking was completely wrong!

Nara Kaikei gently rubbed the ring on his finger and sank into thought.

At its core, [Camouflage Concealment] is a molecular-level Chakra manipulation technique. It does not involve the substance itself.

So-called [Camouflage Concealment] is simply wrapping the human body or an object in a thin film of Water Molecules, achieving optical camouflage and invisibility.

The key to merging [Shadow Secret Technique] and [Camouflage Concealment] is not creating invisible shadows, but coating the shadows with a layer of Water Molecules to conceal their movements!

More specifically, I need to convert the Chakra used for [Camouflage Concealment] from ordinary Chakra into Yin Release Chakra! Turn it into a ninjutsu driven by Yin Release Chakra.

Nara Kaikei gradually sorted through his thoughts, then summoned the panel again.

While I have the time, let's see what those three [Ninja Scrolls] contain!

The virtual panel unfolded.

Nara Kaikei fixed his gaze on the [Ninja Scrolls].

After some deliberation, he opened the B-rank scroll first.

I'll use the B-rank scroll to warm up first...

[Opening...]

[Content recorded in this B-Rank Ninja Scroll: Jutsu]

[B-Rank Jutsu: Earth Style: Earth Spear]

[Jutsu Description: The body can defend against all things, as hard as diamond]

[Jutsu Effect: Uses Earth Style Chakra flowing throughout the body to harden the skin and raise defensive power to its limit, while also enhancing the user's [Strength] attribute and attack power. Highly versatile.]

[Jutsu Evaluation: Drink! Iron Block!]

[Earth Style: Earth Spear]! This is old man Kakuzu's Defensive Jutsu!

Nara Kaikei's eyes immediately lit up at the information displayed on the panel.

He had been deeply impressed by the Defensive Jutsu Kakuzu had used to withstand the Rolling Bomb Needles Tank head-on.

But that was not all the panel displayed.

[You have learned the B-Rank Jutsu [Earth Style: Earth Spear]. Your [Ninjutsu] and [Sage Wisdom] attributes have increased to a certain extent! Overall Evaluation increased!]

[Overall Evaluation: B- (Special Jonin) → B (Jonin)]

A B-rank body-defense skill directly increased my survivability and raised my Overall Evaluation!

Nara Kaikei exhaled softly, calming his emotions.

Still, I can't ignore the speed reduction while using [Earth Style: Earth Spear], nor its weakness against Lightning Style!

While the iron was hot, Nara Kaikei continued by opening the next A-rank scroll.

[Opening...]

[Content recorded in this A-Rank Ninja Scroll: Jutsu]

[A-Rank Jutsu: Flame Wind Barrage]

[Jutsu Description: Composite ninja art, a Wind and Fire Combination Jutsu]

[Jutsu Effect: Simultaneously gathers Fire-nature and Wind-nature Chakra, then releases the B-Rank Jutsu [Fire Style: Headhunter] and the B-Rank Jutsu [Wind Style: Great Breakthrough]. The wind feeds the fire, and the fire borrows the wind's force, creating a vast sea of flames.]

[Jutsu Evaluation: Ah! This wind! Ah! This fire!]

Looking at the [A-Rank Jutsu: Flame Wind Barrage] displayed on the panel, Nara Kaikei frowned slightly.

Compared to [Earth Style: Earth Spear], the power of [Flame Wind Barrage] had certainly increased tremendously.

But when all's said and done, isn't this just a combination move of two B-rank ninjutsu? At most, it lets them be used simultaneously, but its power hasn't improved all that much...

Nara Kaikei was not particularly satisfied with what the second scroll had yielded.

He deliberately waited a moment before opening the final A-rank [Ninja Scroll].

[Opening...]

[Content recorded in this A-Rank Ninja Scroll: Miscellaneous Item]

[A-Rank Miscellaneous Item: Nature Mask Forging Method]

[Item Description: Knowledge and technique]

[Item Effect: Chakra-rich material can be polished into a [Nature Mask] of the corresponding attribute. Once worn, the Chakra energy contained within the [Nature Mask] can be freely used.

[The grade of the [Nature Mask] depends on the amount of Chakra invested. Masks of up to A-rank quality can be crafted.]

[Item Evaluation: Cow Warrior (X)—Ninjas (√) never take off their masks.]

Kakuzu was truly very strong.

Just his five Nature Transformations were already beyond the reach of ordinary people...

For conventional ninjas, there was basically no way to counter Kakuzu's five great Nature Transformations.

Non-Lightning Style attacks could barely break through the defense of [Earth Style: Earth Spear].

Genjutsu was also ineffective against the freely mobile [Earth Grudge Fear].

Kakuzu himself possessed exceptionally abundant combat experience as well.

Calling him a "small hexagonal warrior," A Xin felt, was no problem at all.

The inspiration for [Nature Mask] came from Kakuzu's five-element masks.