No Risk, No Reward

At the border where the Land of Fire met the Land of Hot Water, a Konoha detachment was stationed.

Because the camp was by the sea, the rain here was far heavier than the drizzle within the Land of Fire.

The falling rain battered the ground into countless splashes, making it seem as though it was raining both in heaven and on earth.

Gusts of wind carrying the downpour blew ceaselessly, snapping the Konoha flags in the camp taut and making the tents flap violently in the wind and rain.

Whew!

Inside one of the tents, the stove burned warmly, not only dispelling the darkness of the night but also driving away the chill in the air, bringing a hint of comforting warmth.

Two figures lay on beds beside the stove, their eyes closed as they rested peacefully in their dreams, while two others sat by the window keeping watch.

Danzo had originally brought four squads of Root ninjas to the border camp. When he returned to Konoha, he took two squads with him, leaving only two behind.

The two night-watch ninjas lifted the sake warming atop the stove and poured it into bowls, the liquid splashing with a soft slosh.

As the steam rose and the mellow fragrance of the liquor reached them, both of them narrowed their eyes slightly.

"Fine sake." After taking a sip, the female Root ninja sighed appreciatively.

"This is a specialty bought from the Land of Hot Water. If Lord Danzo hadn't sent word that we could return to the village tomorrow morning, I wouldn't have brought it out to share with you," the other, more easygoing male Root ninja joked.

In truth, Konoha ninjas had three prohibitions. The first was against extravagance, the second against women, and the third against alcohol.

But ninjas were human too, and they needed ways to relieve stress. They would inevitably brush against one of those three prohibitions now and then. Otherwise, FUNFUN Street, a place of pleasure, would never have been built so close to Konoha, and even Sarutobi Hiruzen had been quite the man about town in his youth.

This was even more true for Root ninjas. If they did not vent the negative emotions festering within them, their mental states would gradually collapse.

Of course, even while secretly drinking, neither of them let down their guard.

After all, relations between Kumogakure and Konoha were tense now. They would not joke around with their own lives.

"Drink less," the female Root ninja said.

"It's fine. The Perception Barrier has been active the whole time."

The male ninja seemed thoroughly sick of the harsh life at the border. Knowing that he could return to the village tomorrow, he could not help but get a little carried away.

Hearing that, the female ninja did not try to persuade him further, though she did set down her bowl.

Drip... drip...

A sound like raindrops sliding from the eaves and shattering against the ground reached her ears.

There was nothing unusual about that sound.

Yet the female ninja inexplicably felt a surge of unease. She frowned instinctively and scrutinized the area outside the tent.

All she could see was the raging wind and rain. The hazy Rain Mist obscured everything, but the Perception Barrier had not issued any warning.

What was going on? Where was this unsettling feeling coming from?

Was something missing?

Or was there something extra?

"..."

After a moment of silence, the female ninja swept her gaze across the outside of the tent, reached out, and nudged the companion beside her. "Hoshi, something feels wrong."

But the moment she exerted a little force, she suddenly found her hand pushing against nothing.

Thud... thud, thud...

The female ninja turned her head instinctively, only to see her companion's body topple sideways. His head, still wearing a trace of joy, rolled away with a series of crisp sounds like a soccer ball hitting the ground, leaving a trail of blood across the floor.

In that brief instant, the female ninja suddenly realized what was wrong.

The breathing was gone. The breathing was too faint. There had been four people in the tent, but now only she remained.

There was an extra trace of blood in the air, growing stronger with the wind.

It was not coming from outside the tent.

It was coming from inside.

But by the time she realized it, it was already too late.

Splat.

A glinting streak of cold light flashed past. Within the tent, lit through its fabric, several drops of blood splattered across the canvas.

Hyuga Yunchuan, dressed in a black robe, hung upside down above the two of them. He withdrew his joined index and middle fingers from the female ninja's skull, a thin layer of Chakra Blade condensed around them.

"Root ninjas really are less sharp than Anbu ninjas."

Hyuga Yunchuan's gaze flicked toward the two beds behind him, where the two people whose heads he had similarly pierced had already fallen silent.

The raindrop-like sound the female ninja had heard earlier was actually the sound of their blood dripping.

If they had not trusted the Perception Barrier so completely, perhaps they would have noticed the anomaly sooner.

But who would have imagined that Hyuga Yunchuan could block perception? Even Pain had needed to take a detour around Konoha's Barrier.

On the way here, Hyuga Yunchuan had spent another thousand points to enhance the Shadow Robe's ability to block perception.

When it came to infiltration, probably only a very few people could rival him.

"What a pity. I wasted a Human Puppet."

Hyuga Yunchuan cast a regretful glance at the headless corpse, stored it in a Scroll, then used the Heart Chakra Binding Seal to control the other three bodies.

This ability could not stop corpses from decaying, so if he could not turn them into Human Puppets, these three corpses would rot before long.

Moreover, without Otsutsuki Toneri's Giant Tenseigan, he could not yet control nearly a hundred Puppets like Otsutsuki Toneri. His current limit was ten Puppets.

And Hyuga Hiashi was still alive. Controlling a living person took up five "slots."

"Still, it's enough."

Hyuga Yunchuan glanced at the three Human Puppets kneeling before him on one knee and ordered them to imitate their actions from when they were alive and wait for further instructions.

Then, he silently recited in his heart again, "Manifest—Ōtsutsuki Ruins."

[Please enter coordinates]

"Coordinates—one thousand meters underground, 119°17'13.202" east longitude, 54°12'12.115" north latitude..." Hyuga Yunchuan silently recited the coordinates agreed upon by Kumogakure and Konoha.

[Please enter layout]

"Layout—a five-level Underground Palace structure, impossible to observe through sensory abilities. Each level requires absorbing Chakra to open, with greater amounts required the deeper one goes. Leave a Ten-Tails Stone Statue at the entrance, with a base engraved with a monument left by 'Ōtsutsuki Yunshi.' The contents of the inscription..."

Hyuga Yunchuan pondered as he roughly sketched the Underground Palace ruins he envisioned in his mind. After several more additions, the system finally stopped asking about every detail.

[Spend 13,000 Reality Points. Manifest?]

Hyuga Yunchuan's eye twitched. "How much did you say?"

This was the first time he had manifested such a large-scale "project."

[Spend 13,000 Reality Points. Manifest?]

"You've got your eye on draining me dry, haven't you?" Hyuga Yunchuan drew a breath. After a moment of silence, he asked inwardly, "What if I only manifest the overall Underground Palace and its entrance, along with the entrance details I mentioned, and make it require an enormous amount of Chakra to open?"

[Spend 3,000 Reality Points. Manifest?]

Hearing that, Hyuga Yunchuan's eyes flickered slightly.

After pondering for a long time, he thought of the Shadow Robe he wore. Though the system was exorbitant every time, it always seemed worth the price, perfectly matching what he needed and even adding a few details...

"No risk, no reward."

With that thought, Hyuga Yunchuan's pupils narrowed slightly as he said in a deep voice, "Manifest!"

[3,000 Reality Points deducted. Remaining Reality Points: 10,651]

The instant the notification sounded in his mind, Hyuga Yunchuan felt the ground beneath his feet tremble.