A Strategy to Break the Deadlock

In [Low Performance Mode], Hiroki's consciousness seemed to sink into the deep sea, and everything in the outside world became sluggish and distant.

The only thing that allowed him to perceive the passage of time was that slowly climbing progress bar. It was the only rope he had hanging over the edge of the cliff; every pixel it advanced meant he was one step closer to the hope of survival.

The fear did not disappear.

Task Manager could force-close the "Panic.exe" process, blocking out the physiological reactions of a racing heart and cold limbs, but it could not erase the soul's deep-seated recognition of the ultimate concept of "death."

It was a cold, rational threat, as constant as the underlying code of a system.

Every ten or twenty minutes, the process named |Panic.exe| could be seen popping up in Task Manager again, occupying a massive amount of CPU and memory.

All Hiroki could do was manually terminate it over and over again, preventing this threat from causing a system crash. He forced himself to become a machine without emotion, existing only to execute the single highest-level command: survive.

[Ding-dong.]

A pleasant notification sound rang out, and the progress bar for [Rope Escape Technique.dat] finally reached 100%.

[File "Rope Escape Technique.zip" has finished downloading. Do you wish to extract it immediately?]

"Install!" Hiroki did not hesitate.

In an instant, a complex and exquisite stream of data flooded into his consciousness.

It was as if he had personally experienced the entire life of a man imprisoned by a binding expert for decades. Every material of rope, every tying method, and the principles behind every knot were dismantled, analyzed, and reconstructed in his mind.

His nervous system began to simulate the optimal muscle force angles for when he was bound, and his brain could now clearly "see" the weak points of the knots on his body.

It was a strange feeling; his body was clearly unable to move, but his soul had already mastered the method of freedom. He could untie the ropes and break free at any moment now.

But it wasn't time yet—Hiroki told himself. Even if he broke free now, he couldn't kill these Cloud Ninja; he still needed to wait.

As for how long he had to wait... he didn't know.

At the very least, he had to wait until he finished copying the three ninjutsu, and until either the Anbu or Minato caught up.

"Stop!"

The voice of the Cloud Ninja captain, like a death warrant, entered his consciousness through "External Audio."

"We've reached the border. This place is remote; it's the best spot to dispose of him. Sakuchi, do it."

So fast!?

Hiroki frowned instantly!

The "stay of execution" he had just obtained was about to be forcibly carried out so soon.

He could "feel" an undisguised killing intent enveloping him.

What should he do?!

His brain was spinning wildly.

The cache file regarding "the captain wanting to hog the credit" seemed to have already been cleared by the other party; using it a second time in such a short period would definitely yield unsatisfactory results, and it might even provoke suspicion!

He had to find a new vulnerability, a more underlying, more irresistible command rooted in biological instinct!

Physiological instinct...

Wait, he had it!

Hiroki's consciousness, like a bolt of lightning, invaded Sakuchi's "system" once again, his target clear—physiological control!

He rapidly browsed the other party's "system folders," skipping all areas related to thought and memory, until finally, he found a core directory locked by the system: |BIOS_Physiological Sensation|.

He rushed inside and, in a subfolder named |Bladder Control|, found exactly what he wanted. There were no complex programs here, only countless temporary cache files recording bodily sensations.

Hiroki's gaze locked onto a file named |Urge to Urinate_Critical.tmp|.

This thing, it seemed, would be very useful!

And now, all Hiroki had to do was manually copy this signal and see if it could save him in a pinch!

His intent transformed into the most precise command; he selected the file and pressed [Ctrl+C]. Immediately after, he used every ounce of his mental energy to frantically press [Ctrl+V] inside that folder!

In an instant, hundreds of "Critical Urge to Urinate" signal caches were forcibly copied and pasted, flooding Sakuchi's sensory processing center like a spam storm. The only information his brain received at this moment was—I'm going to explode!

Sakuchi, who had been raising his kunai to strike, suddenly stiffened, as if struck by lightning.

A sudden, surging, virtual urge to urinate swept through every one of his nerves. The feeling was so real, so intense, that he couldn't help but clench his legs together, a painful and twisted expression appearing on his face.

"Uh... Cap... Captain..." Sakuchi's voice trembled, squeezed out from between his teeth, "I... I can't hold it... I... I have to go!"

The captain, who was maintaining a perimeter, and the other team member turned around simultaneously. Seeing Sakuchi looking like he was about to burst, they both showed expressions of disdain. The captain's brow furrowed, a flash of suspicion crossing his eyes.

"Trash! At a time like this!" he cursed under his breath, but waved his hand impatiently: "Go! You have thirty seconds!"

In those precious few dozen seconds while Sakuchi, as if granted amnesty, scrambled toward the nearby bushes, the captain, who had been maintaining high vigilance, suddenly changed his expression! He looked up instantly, gazing in the direction they had come from, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

"No! There are pursuers! They're fast—it's the Konoha Anbu!"

"How could they catch up so quickly?"

"Don't worry about that!" the captain decided instantly, his voice filled with resolve, "No time to deal with this brat; take him with us! Full speed ahead, get out of the Land of Fire!!"

Before the words had even faded, Sakuchi, who had just finished dealing with his business, rushed out in a panic. He scooped Hiroki up from the ground and hoisted him onto his shoulder once again. But the very moment he lifted him, the captain's voice rang out again: "Wait!"

His sharp gaze locked onto Hiroki, who was still draped over Sakuchi's shoulder.

"Don't you think this is too much of a coincidence?" the captain said coldly. "Outside the village, you suddenly decided this brat had value. Now, just as I was about to order his execution, you suddenly had to urinate so badly you were about to burst. Sakuchi, coincidences are luck the first time, but twice... that's a problem."

Hiroki's vigilance spiked to its absolute limit.

The thing he feared most had happened; this captain was far more shrewd and suspicious than he had let on!

Hiroki immediately checked his own status.

Well, good, still in low-performance mode!—Then he could only pray he wouldn't be exposed! After all, he had no other way to disguise or hide himself.

The captain walked up to Hiroki, bringing with him a scent mixed with blood and sweat. He extended two cold fingers and placed them precisely against Hiroki's carotid artery.

Hiroki's body faithfully maintained the minimal heart rate of a deep coma; no normal person could keep their heartbeat so steady when sensing a threat of death.

The captain felt that weak, steady pulse, his brow furrowed, seemingly unable to shake his doubts. His other hand suddenly pried open Hiroki's eyelid.

The rays of the setting sun filtered through the dappled shadows of the forest and shone into Hiroki's eye, but his pupil showed no sign of contraction; it was dead silent, like an inorganic glass bead.

After a long while, the captain finally let go.

"It seems I was overthinking it," he muttered to himself, though the suspicion in his voice had not entirely faded. "Perhaps he really is just a lucky brat."

He turned to Sakuchi, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, and ordered: "Regardless, full speed ahead!"

The three of them turned into blurs once more, rushing toward the border of the Land of Fire without looking back.

Hiroki let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

There was still a chance.

Once the Lightning Style: False Darkness finished copying, once the Anbu or Minato caught up... once the timing was just right...

Hiroki thought silently.

Night fell, and the continuous, extreme flight had left the three Cloud Ninja feeling exhausted. They finally stopped in an extremely hidden cave, preparing for a brief rest.

Perhaps feeling they were already deep within the territory of the Land of Lightning, they relaxed their vigilance. For the sake of easier supervision, Sakuchi used a rope to tie Hiroki and Uzumaki Kushina back-to-back while they remained in their comatose state, placing them beside him, even resting one of his feet on Hiroki's body.

The rough rope dug into his skin, causing him pain, but Hiroki didn't care. Because, the very moment his arm made contact with Uzumaki Kushina's back, a brand-new pop-up window, glowing with a soft blue light, quietly appeared in the center of his consciousness desktop.

[Ding-dong.]

[New computer "Uzumaki Kushina" detected. Connect?]