The System's Clever Uses!

Looking at the puppets strewn across the ground, the puppet master across from them took a small step back.

For a puppet master, having his Chakra Threads detected and then severed—

Was basically like having both arms and legs cut off.

Only now did he realize that the Uchiha ninja before him had been laying the groundwork from the very beginning.

The Water Release jutsu unleashed by his puppets using a ninjutsu scroll, and the environment it created, had originally been meant to lull Roy and the others into a false sense of security.

But it seemed their opponent had spotted him right away, then laid down a large number of Lightning Release techniques.

Otherwise, how could he have severed all of his Chakra Threads in an instant?

"Ready to die?"

Before the other man could react, Roy had already appeared behind him.

The kunai in Roy's hand slashed down.

When you could just take action, it was better to keep your mouth shut.

"Crack..."

"Hm?"

"Another puppet?"

After Roy's kunai pierced the man's body, he realized it was a puppet after all.

Roy immediately unleashed Lightning Style: Mad Snake.

A torrent of Lightning Release chakra surged into the puppet, snapping its Chakra Threads.

"He got away."

Jo-ni and Aoshi appeared in front of Roy. Both looked somewhat guilty.

Roy had suspected from the start that someone was controlling these people from behind the scenes.

He just hadn't expected puppets to be controlling puppets.

The puppet master behind them had already fled the moment he sensed something was wrong.

Jo-ni and Aoshi, meanwhile, had been stunned by Roy's fighting style and hadn't reacted in time.

As a result, they hadn't managed to find even the slightest trace of their opponent before he escaped.

"It's fine. The most important thing is that you're both uninjured."

"Tell the people in the village to recover all of these things."

"Also, contact Sunagakure and ask if they know where these puppets came from."

"Keep searching the area, and don't fall for such a simple trap again."

After speaking, Roy vanished from the spot.

Although Roy hadn't detected that chakra just now—

There was a limit to how far away someone could be while controlling a puppet with chakra.

So no matter how many puppets he used as secondary controllers, he couldn't have been too far away.

If only someone from the Hyuga Clan were here. Then...

Thinking as he went, Roy quickly surveyed the area.

Before long, the four squads had gathered together.

"Captain Roy, we haven't found any other traces."

"The marks left behind were all made by the puppets."

Jo-ni said helplessly.

Konoha had already arranged for some ninja to retrieve the puppets in the area.

Based on their initial assessment, the puppets hadn't come from Sunagakure.

After all, they had quite a bit of contact with the Land of Wind.

Although Sunagakure had a tradition of puppetry, neither the craftsmanship nor the method of control Roy and the others had seen matched their style.

Of course, Konoha's intelligence could simply be out of date, so they had also arranged for someone to contact Sunagakure.

"Everyone, be extra careful over these last few days."

"Don't let your guard down."

"Keep taking turns resting."

Roy didn't say much more and continued with their previous rest schedule.

The night of the fifteenth day.

"We'll be back in the village tomorrow. I'm already feeling a little reluctant to leave!"

"But it'll be nice to finally go back and take a bath. I'm starting to stink."

Jo-ni said with a laugh.

Now that the final day was here, Jo-ni's tense nerves had finally relaxed.

He wasn't the only one. Most of the others felt the same way.

They'd run into a few low-level ninja over the past few days, but overall, things had been fairly easy.

"New Year's is in half a month."

"I bet Shisui and the others will be back in a week at most."

"We should head back and get ready, too."

Roy chimed in.

"I want to go back and eat hot pot and barbecue."

"Just thinking about those guys probably eating hot pot right now while we're stuck chewing Military Ration Pills makes me feel a little miserable."

Aoshi joked.

Things were completely different from when they'd first arrived.

Before long, it was the middle of the night.

Roy gazed at Konoha in the distance, quiet and peaceful.

It was hard to believe that a village like this had already become so rotten on the inside.

The higher-ups held all the power and did whatever they pleased.

"Roy, we can say we've completed our mission this time, right?"

Jo-ni asked suddenly.

"Jo-ni, there are some things we can't draw conclusions about until we're back."

Roy turned his gaze toward the distance again.

The movement of his Sharingan showed that although the three of them appeared to be chatting, they hadn't let their guard down at all.

"Ding. Congratulations, host. Mera Mera no Mi proficiency has reached 100%."

"Gained one use of an ability without consuming chakra. Resets daily and does not accumulate."

Just as Roy was thinking about what to do next, the familiar electronic voice rang in his ears.

Even at times like this, whenever his chakra had fully recovered, Roy would use Elementalization once.

Then he would test how long he could maintain it with a fixed amount of chakra.

With each use of Elementalization, Roy had become able to maintain it while consuming less chakra.

He'd known he was close, but hadn't expected to reach it so soon.

"Wait!"

Despite his excitement, a look of concern crossed Roy's face.

"Jo-ni, Aoshi, just keep chatting."

"Someone's got their eyes on us."

"Be ready to fight at any moment. Don't react to anything I say."

Roy lowered his head and spoke quietly.

The two men paused for a moment when they heard him, then continued chatting.

They had to be commended—their acting was excellent.

"Whoosh..."

At that moment, a short blade shot toward them.

The three leapt up at once, dodging the attack.

Three masked ninja appeared where they had been standing.

"Root?"

Roy looked at the ninja before him with curiosity.

As expected, Danzo would never let an opportunity like this pass him by.

The old dog was even more patient than Roy had imagined. He'd waited until the very last day to make his move.

By giving them a false sense of security, he could carry out his mission more effectively.

But he hadn't counted on running into someone like Roy, who had a cheat at his disposal.

That's right. Roy hadn't spotted them because of his Sharingan or his sensory abilities.

It was the system's notification.

Training alone made proficiency increase very slowly.

But when he used an ability against an enemy, the progress bar advanced several times faster.

Just now, while Roy was maintaining Elementalization, the system's notification had unmistakably told him that someone was nearby!