Pawn It! Pawn It All!

Even someone with Namikaze Yoru's temperament felt a surge of nameless anger rising in his heart at this moment, even flashing with the impulse to teleport straight back to Konoha—of course, that was only a fleeting delusion; the chakra consumption of long-distance Flying Thunder God increased geometrically, and if he actually dared to try it, he'd probably be drained into a dried-up corpse halfway there.

"Don't resist."

Yoru's warning was merely spoken aloud for form's sake; at this point, the two could barely maintain their movement, and any violent struggle would only worsen their internal bleeding.

"Pawn!"

[Scan complete. Pawnable items detected as follows:]

[Ding! Extremely rare Senju Bloodline*1. ::. Valuation: 1000]

[Ding! Ordinary ninja*1... Valuation: 0]

"Confirm."

With Yoru's operation, the two before him vanished into thin air, leaving only a pool of scarlet blood on the ground to prove they had ever existed. At the same time, Yoru anxiously glanced at the system panel, only relaxing slightly when he saw the prompt.

[Extremely rare Senju Bloodline (living)*1 — Exchange Points: 2000]

[Ordinary ninja (living)*1... Valuation: 0]

(Note: Living pawns only support redemption within 24 hours)

Even though he had previously experimented with the Kikaichū, this was still the first time Yoru had pawned living people, and he couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy.

With the burden shed, Yoru could finally focus on the Five-Tails before him. The beast had one hind leg and half its body completely torn apart by Dust Release, the wound a gruesome sight.

But as a chakra aggregate, it let out furious roars from its mouth, yet hadn't completely lost its ability to move.

Even under the stimulation of Boil Release, it could still stagger forward, though its movements looked somewhat comical, its body constantly losing balance.

As it charged recklessly, the Five-Tails drew close to Yoru's position. The steam on its body was gradually dissipating; clearly, the beast was already at the end of its rope.

In his perception, Ōnoki hadn't pursued him—seems he was tied up by the two Konoha ninjas. And the few Stone Ninja who had been in this area were now nowhere to be seen. This situation sparked a dangerous idea in Yoru's mind.

Assessing his body's condition, he quickly formed a Shadow Clone holding a Kunai, which fled toward the safe zone outside the battle area.

His main body, meanwhile, erupted with green steam anew, no longer limited to just the Fourth Gate of the Eight Gates.

"Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit—Open!"

Opening the Fifth Gate for the first time, Yoru felt his entire network of meridians impacted by the surging chakra, the burden on his body suddenly intensifying.

He pushed off the ground with force, the earth cracking beneath his feet, and using the recoil, Yoru shot toward the Five-Tails like a cannonball.

"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"

This back-spinning kick, carrying personal grudges, slammed heavily into the Five-Tails' lower jaw.

The sheer force made the Five-Tails feel as if it had been rammed by another giant beast; its body, already unstable from losing a hind leg, crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom.

Though the blow caught the Five-Tails off guard, Yoru knew this level of force was far from enough to subdue it.

"Screw it, I'm going all out!"

With Yoru's roar, as if venting all the frustration accumulated on the battlefield today, his chakra surged once more, and even the steam-like green chakra began to show traces of blue light.

"Sixth Gate: Gate of View—Open!"

His iron fist, carrying immense power, tore through the air. The ultra-high-speed straight punches, friction with the air generating flames, rained down like hailstones on the fallen Five-Tails.

Eager to end the fight quickly, Yoru didn't even have time to call out the name "Morning Peacock," focusing solely on beating the giant beast before him into submission, venting his fury wildly.

The Five-Tails struggled to get up and counterattack, but its body, missing a hind leg, was utterly powerless. Moreover, under Yoru's rapid Morning Peacock hammering, it was continuously driven deeper into the ground.

If anyone had been watching from the sidelines, they would have found it utterly unbelievable—a mere human body, so small, actually managing to shake a massive tailed beast.

But Yoru hadn't yet reached his peak; the straight punches of Morning Peacock gradually slowed, his breathing heavy like a bellows, his entire body drenched in sweat.

Coupled with his clothes already soaked in blood, the mixture of blood and sweat now dripping down formed a shallow puddle at his feet.

Looking at the Five-Tails before him, it had been beaten nearly unconscious by Yoru. Its once pure white fur was now scorched brown, lying motionless in the large crater.

Yoru suppressed the discomfort in his body, leaped in front of it, pressed both hands onto the beast's massive frame, and spoke rapidly:

"Pawn!"

[Scan complete. Pawnable items detected as follows:]

[Ding! Highly concentrated chakra aggregate (Five-Tails Kokuō)... Valuation: 4000]

"Confirm."

It seemed the system was also struggling with such a giant beast; the Five-Tails' body didn't vanish immediately but dissipated slowly.

[Ding! Soul of highly concentrated chakra aggregate (Five-Tails Kokuō) has escaped. Pawn failed. Revaluation: 2000]

Then the Five-Tails' body before him disappeared completely, and the panel information refreshed.

[Current Pawn Points: 4575]

But Yoru had no time to look closely now; the backlash from releasing the Eight Gates nearly overwhelmed him. Having pushed beyond his limits to the Sixth Gate, the pain in his meridians felt as if they were about to snap.

"Flying Thunder God!"

He teleported to near the Shadow Clone, which immediately hoisted the main body onto its back, saving Yoru from a close encounter with the ground.

"Redemption!"

Seizing the moment while his spirit was still clear, Namikaze Yoru hurriedly redeemed Nawaki and Shibi, who had been pawned into the system.

From their perspective, the two only felt their vision go dark, then brighten again, and when they opened their eyes, they found themselves near the Konoha battlefield. They had no idea what had happened; time within the system seemed to have been frozen.

Seeing Namikaze Yoru supported by a shadow clone, barely breathing, they understood that he had saved them once more. Without a word of inquiry, they fell into tacit silence—even the usually lively Nawaki was unusually quiet.

This mission could be summed up as Namikaze Yoru taking the MVP, carrying three others, and achieving a godlike kill streak.

Feeling the meridians in his body tangled like a mess of threads, Namikaze Yoru dared not use the system to heal himself first. If he did, it would cause an uproar once they reached the camp.

Bearing the excruciating pain, the three slowly made their way toward the rear lines of Konoha.

Under normal circumstances, with their original pace, it would have taken only an hour or so to arrive. But this time, they trudged on until late into the night before being discovered by a Konoha sentry ninja.

"Who goes there?!"

The sentry caught sight of several tattered figures, barely recognizable in Konoha uniforms, and initially assumed they were wounded soldiers returning to camp. But as he drew closer and the torchlight illuminated their faces, he was shocked.

"Are you men or ghosts?"