A Late-Arriving Cheat, Tech Template

"Tech Template System loading successful!"

"Detecting large amounts of thermal energy in the vicinity. Absorption possible. Automatically activating Energy Collection Template. Activation progress: 50%... 100%."

"Loading Terminator T800 robot template. Loading failed. Detecting cause... Host body partially missing. Modifying loading plan... Changing loading item... Loading Bloodshot nanorobot template... Loading successful. Bloodshot nanorobot template calculating... Calculation successful. Host body repairing... Host body repair complete."

"Reloading T800 robot template... Loading successful. Calculation successful. Loading T800 auxiliary weapon templates... SPAS-12 shotgun template loading successful. Minimi LMG template loading successful."

His vision turned dark, and his consciousness began to dissipate. Amidst his fading awareness, a cold, electronic voice began to echo incessantly within the now-darkened sea of consciousness of Yueguang Han.

In the dark forest, under the detonation of countless Explosive Tags plastered across the wooden boards all around, Yueguang Han's body was instantly torn into pieces and blasted into smithereens. The flames seemed endless, devouring everything in the vicinity and illuminating the night sky.

"No...!"

His shrill scream and desperate roar were drowned out by the deafening roar of successive explosions. The defensive ninjutsu the Sand Shinobi had just deployed was ruthlessly shredded by the intense blasts. The twenty-some Sand Shinobi who had been pursuing Yueguang Han were instantly swallowed and torn apart by the flames of the exploding tags. Splintered wood flew everywhere, carrying flames that mercilessly pierced every corner of the area.

Amidst the continuous explosions, Yueguang Han's shattered, burning flesh suddenly underwent a change. It turned a dark gray, and the flames upon it were instantly extinguished, transforming into the purest thermal energy that was absorbed by the shredded flesh.

Following this, the flesh drifted up like dust, absorbing the flames it came into contact with, gathering together to return to the spot where Yueguang Han had previously fallen, and condensing back into his form.

The flames erupted from the Explosive Tags continued to devour everything around, but... when these explosive flames touched Yueguang Han's body, they all turned into the purest thermal energy and were absorbed by his body, failing to cause him even the slightest bit of harm.

Yueguang Han's fingers twitched unconsciously.

"Rumble..."

Violent explosions echoed incessantly through the forest, shaking the earth. The flames and hurricane-force winds generated by the blasts tore through everything in the forest, igniting large swaths of trees and painting the night sky a deep red. The firelight was like an inferno.

"What happened over there?"

"Could a large-scale battle have broken out? Why didn't we receive any intelligence beforehand?"

"Could it be an unknown secret operation that ran into enemies?"

In the Konoha Forward Base sixty miles away and the Sunagakure Forward Base one hundred miles away, the sentry ninjas watched in shock as the western sky was dyed red by the firelight. Neither side had received any word of large-scale operations tonight; this was at least a thousand Explosive Tags, an encounter involving dozens of people at the very least.

Hurriedly waking their companions, dozens of ninjas from both forward bases rushed out, sprinting toward the direction where the firelight had erupted.

"Loading complete. Detecting that the host lacks autonomous consciousness. Initiating awakening sequence. Waking up... Awakening successful."

In the pitch-black sea of consciousness, the cold electronic voice continued to ring out. As the voice faded, a point of light appeared in the dim sea of consciousness, growing brighter and brighter.

Amidst the ongoing explosions, Yueguang Han silently pushed himself up into a sitting position. He looked blankly at the explosions that had yet to cease, watching the flames that continued to sweep toward him. He watched as these flames washed over his body without causing him any harm, instead making him feel warm and full of strength.

"..." Silence.

Yueguang Han knew that everything before his death was not a hallucination, because he had truly done it. The voice remaining in his sea of consciousness explained why he had been resurrected: his golden finger had finally arrived.

It was just that this golden finger had come far too late. If it had arrived a few years earlier, he could have gone to the battlefield with his parents. Perhaps he could have used this golden finger to prevent the tragedy and still have his happy family.

Yueguang Han slowly stood up, looking at the shattered corpses of the Sand Shinobi. He fell silent for a moment longer before turning and walking away into the flames.

Since he hadn't died, his revenge was not yet over. However, before he could seek revenge again, he needed to prepare and understand his golden finger.

Yueguang Han did not know which Sand Shinobi had killed his parents, nor did he know what mission they had been executing before their deaths. But Yueguang Han knew that it was this war that had killed them.

"Has the battle ended?"

"Which side won?"

Half an hour later, more than forty Konoha Ninja were the first to arrive at the still-burning forest. Unfortunately, aside from the sound of crackling flames, there was no movement inside.

"Captain, I didn't find anyone inside! It looks like the battle is over," a ninja with the Byakugan said, the veins around his eyes bulging as he carefully observed the burning forest and spoke to the lead Elite Jonin.

"Quickly scout the situation inside, everyone be careful! This is the center line of the conflict. The Sand Shinobi must have noticed the commotion here as well; I fear it won't be long before they arrive." The lead Konoha Elite Jonin nodded and gave the order, charging into the still-burning forest first. Fortunately, it was the rainy season, and the forest was damp; with a light drizzle falling from the sky, the fire had already died down significantly and was no longer as raging as it had been at the start.

Another thirty minutes passed, and a group of over fifty ninja from the Sand Shinobi forward camp, located more than a hundred kilometers away, also arrived at the scene. They likewise began to investigate, but by then, the Konoha Ninja had already finished their search and departed.

However, the expressions on the faces of this group were extremely grim. On their way here, they had discovered a large number of triggered traps, signs of a Sand Shinobi squad of about thirty people in pursuit, and traces of blood, as if they had been chasing someone. Recalling the massive explosion from earlier, everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

"Captain, it was an explosion caused by a large number of Explosive Tags. The blast ignited this forest. We also found a large amount of Steel Wire, rope, and kunai inside," a Sand Shinobi said sorrowfully to the lead Elite Jonin ten minutes later. "The area was rigged with even more dense traps. That squad of about thirty comrades entered, and we found no survivors—only some shattered corpses and clothing. Their Headbands were taken as well. Additionally, we found a large number of traces left by Konoha Ninja after the explosion."

"Damn Konoha Ninja!"

Hearing this, the lead Sand Shinobi Elite Jonin could not contain his rage. He punched a charred tree trunk beside him, snapping the trunk, which was as thick as a man's embrace, in two.

"Return to camp! Report the situation here." Despite his fury, he could not lose his reason and could only order a retreat. This was the center line where the Konoha and Sand Shinobi armies clashed. Although it was near the edge of the combat zone, it was still a very dangerous and important location; otherwise, there would be a simple outpost here instead of a large forward camp.