Ten Consecutive

Late at night, Konoha, Uchiha Compound.

"You have obtained 70 Soul Shards. Would you like to perform your first Stand summon?"

A ringing in his ears, mixed with distant noises, echoed in the mind of Lin Qing.

Lin Qing sat blankly in a pool of blood, the piercing wound in his chest slowly knitting together, the gravel of the courtyard digging into his backside.

He touched the blood on his chest.

It was still warm.

Lin Qing wore a look of utter confusion, a thousand words condensing into a single syllable:

"Huh?"

Fragmented memories flooded into his mind:

Uchiha Qing, 18 years old, idle and incompetent. After being expelled from the Ninja Academy, he lived off the clan's welfare, known as the disgrace of the Uchiha.

Tonight, the moonlight was bright. His predecessor had been drinking and admiring the moon when he spotted someone crouching on a utility pole.

And then...

Lin Qing logged in.

"I transmigrated?"

"And into the world of Naruto?"

Lin Qing had heard of Naruto.

But that was all—just heard of it.

Lin Qing was a small-town academic striver; ever since he could remember, he had poured his heart into his studies, rarely watching anime, and knew very little about Naruto.

He only knew a few of the more viral events, such as:

Naruto had the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside his belly.

Sasuke's "Amaterasu."

And...

Tsunade, Ino, Sakura, and others, whom he had learned about from a certain website starting with P.

As for the specific details of the story, Lin Qing knew absolutely nothing.

Transmigrating into an anime world without knowing the plot.

How was he supposed to play this?

"You have obtained 70 Soul Shards. Would you like to perform your first Stand summon?"

While he was lost in thought, the ringing in his ears gradually faded, and Lin Qing heard the cold, unfamiliar voice once again.

He let out a sigh of relief and grinned: "At least there's a system."

Lin Qing opened the system interface:

JOJO Stand System.

Derived from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, it contains all the Stands that have appeared in the series. One can obtain Stands through a card-drawing mechanic and cultivate them.

Lin Qing hadn't watched the JoJo series either.

Perhaps the system was aware of this, as it had left a "Plot Review" function in the corner.

Lin Qing could view the manga from parts 1 through 8.

Not in a rush to read the manga, Lin Qing opened the card-drawing interface.

A so-called Stand is the manifestation of its master's spiritual energy, possessing various miraculous abilities, capable of fighting, defending, and scouting for its master.

Because it is a manifestation of spiritual energy, if a Stand is injured, the host will also suffer severe damage.

The two are closely linked, two sides of the same coin.

On the card-drawing page were many silhouettes of Stands, with options for a single draw and a ten-pull below, alongside the draw description:

"Standard Card Pool: Can produce 4-5 star Stands, Stand upgrade materials, special items, etc. 10 Soul Shards per draw."

"Four-star Stands: Stone Free, Emperor, Hermit Purple, Silver Chariot..."

"Five-star Stands: Crazy Diamond, Metallica, Star Platinum (no time stop), Whitesnake..."

The variety was complex and dense.

Lin Qing's gaze focused on the first sentence.

"This is the standard card pool, which means there are special pools?"

The system did not respond to his question.

It merely prompted him again whether to draw, and a message appeared on the card-drawing interface:

[First draw: A ten-pull guarantees a five-star Stand.]

This was good news.

This gacha pool didn't even have a pity system; heaven knows how much one would have to invest before seeing any return.

The murderer who killed his predecessor might still be nearby, so obtaining a 5-star Stand would at least give Lin Qing some means of self-preservation.

He glanced at the balance in the top right corner.

Soul Shards: 70.

Each pull cost 10 shards, so he was still 30 Soul Shards short.

Not enough for a ten-pull.

There were three ways to obtain Soul Shards:

Defeating powerful enemies, altering the world line, and mortgaging one's own soul.

The first two were easy to understand—nothing more than killing monsters or changing the direction of the plot.

But that last one, mortgaging one's soul—

"Mortgage your own soul to exchange for Soul Shards. Repay the mortgage amount within 24 hours to redeem your soul; otherwise, the mortgaged soul quota will be lost permanently."

Current soul mortgage value: 500 Soul Shards.

500, which meant 50 pulls.

Is my soul only worth a single 648-yuan pack?

Lin Qing grumbled inwardly.

What would happen if he lost a portion of his soul?

Lin Qing didn't know.

And he didn't want to know.

He would never take out a loan to pull for cards.

Lin Qing stood up from the pool of blood, having made a plan for the future:

Lay low.

With the Uchiha Bloodline and the Stand System, he would develop in the shadows. Once he had the chance to draw a powerful Stand, he would live a good life—no overtime, no suffering, a bit of spare cash, and a girl in his arms.

Just thinking about it made the corners of his mouth lift.

"Brother Qing, save... save me..."

A weak cry from inside the house interrupted Lin Qing's thoughts.

There was someone else?

Lin Qing frowned slightly, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.

Lying on the tatami mat was a four or five-year-old girl with two pigtails, a scarlet wound on her abdomen oozing blood.

She reached out toward Lin Qing.

Lin Qing took her hand—it was cold, trembling, and small. Memories of the girl surfaced in his mind:

Her father had died in the war, and her mother, consumed by grief, drank incessantly, beating the child whenever she was drunk.

Although his predecessor had been a loser, he was kind to the children in the village, often using his meager welfare allowance to buy them candy.

The little girl was afraid to go home, so she would pester Lin Qing all day, coming to his house to play games and mooch snacks.

"When I grow up, I want to marry Brother Qing."

That was something the girl often said.

Tonight, her mother had gotten drunk again, so she had run over to find Lin Qing.

"Brother Qing... I don't want to die..."

The joy he had felt upon receiving the system quietly faded away.

Without a word, Lin Qing scooped up the girl and ran outside.

A doctor!

He needed to find a doctor!

As Lin Qing ran out of the courtyard holding her, he realized he still had the system.

He remembered that several Stands possessed healing abilities; if he could just draw one, he could save this child's life.

"Hold on, just a little longer—"

Lin Qing couldn't finish the sentence.

The girl's eyes in his arms turned grey and dull, and her breathing stopped.

She was dead.

Lin Qing didn't really know her, and the memory fragments of his predecessor were intermittent.

But as a modern person, witnessing a vibrant, fragile little life die right before his eyes, it was impossible not to be moved.

The predecessor was an adult, at least, but he had been a waste for years, squandering the resources of the Uchiha, so someone who couldn't stand it anymore killed him.

Lin Qing could not agree with this, but he could understand the logic.

Yet, what fault could a five-year-old child possibly have?

"Caw—caw—"

The cawing of crows drew Lin Qing's attention.

Crows circled in the air, and the night sky was cast in absolute darkness.

Lin Qing twitched his nose.

After stepping out of the courtyard, the scent of blood became even thicker.

The slow evening breeze parted the dark clouds, and as the moonlight spilled down once more, Lin Qing saw clearly.

Corpses.

Corpses were everywhere.

The elderly, the young, children.

There was not a single survivor.

Lin Qing's scalp went numb. "What is this? Did the devils invade the village?"

He stood at the end of the street.

Behind him was the brightly lit Hokage Village, and ahead of him was the Uchiha Compound, suffused with the color of blood. As the night wind blew against him, his heart turned cold.

First came fear, but after the fear, there was anger.

It was not because of the fragmented memories of the deceased held by his predecessor.

It was the pure, unadulterated rage of an ordinary person who had received a modern education and understood the value of life, directed at such an inhumane massacre.

The world of Naruto was full of fighting, killing, and hot-blooded shonen manga tropes; people dying was normal, but...

Killing an old man who trembled when he walked?

Killing a child who could only babble?

Is this something a human being could actually do?!

Beasts.

Only beasts could commit such acts.

"Ahhh!!!"

A scream came from not far away; judging by the sound, it was a small child.

A survivor.

Lin Qing instinctively took a step forward, then suddenly froze.

The perpetrator had slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, which meant their strength was extraordinary.

Konoha had yet to come to the rescue, which suggested the perpetrator likely had someone behind them, responsible for clearing the way.

The perpetrator had power, influence, and a premeditated plan.

Risking his life to rush over and save a stranger's child.

Was it worth it?

The second after this question popped up, Lin Qing took his second step.

What was there to consider regarding whether it was worth it or not?

He had transmigrated anyway; this life was a bonus, and he had a system at his side.

Cower?

If a grown man didn't even have this much courage, then he was the real dog.

Lin Qing strode forward, the gale winds tousling his hair, but they could not shake his gaze.

Deep within his pupils, a golden spirit ignited.

In the night, it was like a blazing sun.

Itachi Uchiha looked down at Sasuke, who had collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with a cold, bordering-on-insane indifference.

Obito, wearing a mask, stood to the side with his arms crossed, looking on as if watching a play.

Just then, they both heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward them from afar.

The pace... no, there was no pace at all.

The breathing was chaotic; it could not be called the movement of a ninja at all.

It was merely the level of an ordinary person.

At the corner of the street, Lin Qing rushed out.

He saw a tiny, sobbing Sasuke, and standing opposite him were Itachi Uchiha and Obito.

"A fish that slipped through the net?"

Obito glanced at the bloodstain on Lin Qing's chest: "Itachi, are you too tired? You can't even kill cleanly anymore; do you need me to do it for you?"

"No need."

Itachi Uchiha drew his blade and said coldly: "I didn't expect to have to kill you again."

He recognized Lin Qing.

The disgrace of the Uchiha clan, a professional welfare recipient.

During the Third Shinobi World War, most of the Uchiha clan had gone to the front lines.

Only Lin Qing, in his prime, had been so weak he possessed less strength than a child and couldn't perform a single ninjutsu; he hadn't even qualified to serve as logistics support, spending the entire Third Shinobi World War lying at home.

To be a failure to such an extent, he was quite the celebrity.

Seeing that it was Lin Qing, the hope that had just flickered in Sasuke's eyes extinguished once more.

"Pah!"

Lin Qing spat on the ground: "You animal, don't try to act familiar with me."

He caught his breath, stepped forward, and gently patted Sasuke's little head.

"Go on, go crouch over there."

Lin Qing looked back at Itachi Uchiha and Obito, issuing a command to the system:

"Mortgage my soul, and then..."

"Ten-pull card draw!"