The Path to Survival

Survival is an instinct etched into the DNA of every intelligent being.

Driven by this instinct, even a shut-in who had never killed a chicken before transmigrating could erupt with terrifying initiative!

Thus, this brand-new Shiba Seika adapted to the post-transmigration shinobi world at an astonishing speed.

He then began planning his own path to survival.

First, according to the system's deductions, he would most likely die in the Land of Rain, and his death would be highly correlated with the Akatsuki Organization.

So, a few months ago, his first thought was naturally to leave the Akatsuki.

However, on the very night he left without saying goodbye, the probability of the outcome "died from the revenge of rogue ninjas in the Land of Rain" on his system interface instantly soared to over 70%!

Subsequently, many new death outcomes appeared, such as dying at the hands of Iwagakure ninja, Konoha ninja, Sunagakure ninja, and so on.

Meanwhile, the entry for dying of old age flickered frequently, making him suspect it might disappear altogether.

Ah, what a painful realization—so the organization was my everything...

From this, he understood that leaving the Akatsuki would only make him die faster.

So, early the next morning, he slunk back to the Akatsuki's base.

In the eyes of outsiders, it was from that night onward that Shiba Seika began to "darken"!

Since he couldn't escape, he had no choice but to change.

Instead of tormenting himself with internal conflict, it was better to go mad and destroy others!

After successfully using verbal provocation for the first time to make an organization member defy Yahiko's will and eliminate a group of rogue ninja who deserved to die, Shiba Seika was pleasantly surprised to find that the probability of his "died from the revenge of rogue ninjas in the Land of Rain" outcome had dropped by 4 percentage points compared to the beginning.

These reduced probabilities were mainly redistributed to several outcomes of dying in Konoha a few years later, and the probability of dying of old age had also successfully increased, reaching 0.2%.

A qualitative breakthrough—the survival rate had doubled!

He also received the first reward from the system.

Including a minor enhancement to physical fitness; a slight increase in total Chakra; Ninja Tool Throwing (Beginner); Three Basic Techniques (Beginner); Taijutsu (Beginner); Kenjutsu (Beginner), he had gained a total of over a dozen enhancements.

Although he hadn't leaped to become a powerhouse like Kizaru or Purple Dog, he had at least shed the trouble of being a fake and become a genuine ninja.

Soon, he even became a squad leader in the Akatsuki, a fledgling organization that had only been around for a few years.

More importantly, this gave Shiba Seika a direction!

Based on his own analysis and deductions, the main reason for the Akatsuki's future downfall lay with its current leader, Yahiko.

This first-generation leader of the Akatsuki was too kind, so kind that it bordered on naivety.

At the same time, he had a strong sense of local attachment.

Yahiko's top dream was undoubtedly peace in the shinobi world and mutual understanding between people.

Closely following in second place was definitely the desire to build up his homeland, the Land of Rain.

The original work had mentioned multiple times that he wanted to help the Land of Rain escape the quagmire of suffering.

This combination of naivety and local attachment often made Yahiko appear too indecisive when dealing with internal affairs in the Land of Rain.

When facing ninja from other countries, the Akatsuki could remain clear-headed, rational, and cold.

But once confronting enemies within the Land of Rain, Yahiko always tended to think too well of people.

His future lack of caution toward Hanzo the Salamander, in Shiba Seika's view, was a direct continuation of this current state!

Yahiko truly lived by the principle that people of the Land of Rain don't harm each other.

Unfortunately, others had no qualms about harming him.

Once he understood the crux of the problem, Shiba Seika naturally had to make his own changes.

Thus, over the past few months, the clash of ideals between him and leader Yahiko had intensified, with the two publicly arguing multiple times.

Yahiko always wanted to give the people of the Land of Rain another chance, hoping to reform them with his ideals.

Shiba Seika, on the other hand, just wanted to kill all the threats that might one day kill him.

Yahiko accused him of being too extreme, but Shiba Seika clearly felt he was still too conservative.

After all, the organization's second-generation leader was a madman who believed in "nuclear deterrence theory," wanting the world to feel pain—wouldn't that require killing at least a few billion people first?

Compared to your esteemed successor, this was nothing.

Unfortunately, Yahiko didn't know any of this.

So when the mission report scroll was delivered to Yahiko, he was predictably angered again.

"Damn it! Not a single prisoner captured, yet conveniently wiping out an entire squad of Iwagakure spies on the way back, leaving no survivors! This Seika, does he take me for a fool?"

Just then, Konan, who had been handling logistics near the base, happened to come over and asked softly.

"What's wrong, Yahiko? Still angry about Seika?"

At this time, Konan was not yet the sorrowful, lilac-like beauty of the original work; she was only fourteen, still like a budding lily.

Her gentleness often served as a balm to mend the cracks within the Akatsuki.

But this time, even in front of Konan, Yahiko could barely contain his temper.

"Yes, it's that Seika again! He found another excuse to kill all the surrendered prisoners! That's already the fourth time this month! Why is he always so extreme? Why can't he understand our ideals? People can understand each other—even if they've made mistakes in the past, as long as they come to grasp our philosophy in the future, they can still become our comrades! Isn't that how all of us gathered together in the beginning?"

After a long silence, Konan could only offer comfort. "Maybe Seika is just going through a rebellious phase for now. Remember? He wasn't like this before. I think with time, he'll come to understand Teacher's ideals again."

Yahiko's ideals, and indeed the ideals of the entire Akatsuki Organization, didn't come from nowhere. They all originated from the three's shared teacher: Jiraiya. But unfortunately, back then Jiraiya only passed his ideals down to these three children, without teaching them at all how to realize those ideals. The things Jiraiya taught in those years were actually quite hollow. Because even he himself didn't know the method to achieve peace, and could only place his hopes in the toads' vague prophecies.

Konan then urged again, "Give Seika a little more time. We still need his wisdom, don't we?"

For the Akatsuki Organization, which currently lacked methodology and guiding principles, they badly needed a clever strategist to help them plan their direction and offer advice. This was also why Shiba Seika could still serve as a captain with peace of mind despite clashing so many times with the leader Yahiko. Regardless of how much "attrition" occurred during missions, at least over these past few months, not a single task handed to Shiba Seika had ever failed. He had even supported other squads' missions multiple times, offering solutions that were harsh on the natural order but practically feasible. So even though Yahiko was grinding his teeth in anger right now, he had to admit Konan was right.

"Him... sigh..."

The room fell silent again for a long while. Until, after some time, Konan tentatively spoke up. "How about... I go on the next mission with Shiba Seika? I'll try to reason with him?"

Yahiko thought it over for a moment, then finally nodded. "Then I'll leave it to you, Konan."