Wait for a Lightning Strike?

Chen had no idea that simply accepting a large number of simple hunting missions had caused him to be targeted by Kakuzu.

Even if he had known, Chen would likely have just been speechless.

After all, with the Flying Thunder God, if Chen wanted to leave, Kakuzu alone truly couldn't stop him.

Unless Kakuzu could kill him instantly without Chen noticing at all.

However, in Chen's view, that was clearly unlikely.

After all, Chen's appearance was that of a mere child.

Unless someone knew Chen's identity and abilities beforehand, who would assassinate a four-year-old brat, let alone use a finishing move right off the bat?

Chen soon arrived at his destination, and the moment he saw Yuzuki Ryoma, he realized he had been played once again.

This Yuzuki Ryoma was indeed a Chunin, but the destination was a place resembling a bandit stronghold.

From what Chen could see alone, there were over a dozen ninjas.

Although he couldn't gauge their strength, Chen really didn't have much confidence in facing so many ninjas.

"System, you are definitely messing with me."

"I am not."

"Over a dozen ninjas, and they clearly look to be on the same level as this Yuzuki Ryoma, which at least means they are all Chunin. Are you asking me to fight ten at once? Even Itachi only did a one-versus-seven; is it appropriate for you to ask me to do a one-versus-ten? Do you think I'm Ip Man?"

Chen was truly defeated; he kept getting played by this system at every turn. Could they not just play nicely?

"Are you an idiot? Can't you find a way to lure them out and defeat them one by one? These people are clearly rogue ninjas; taking them all out would net quite a bounty. Look at how much I'm looking out for you."

"I thank you so much."

Chen didn't want to say anything more. There wasn't a soul for ten miles around this mountain stronghold, so waiting for them to leave clearly wasn't realistic.

As for relying on some trick to make them come out, there didn't seem to be any good way.

"If you ask me, why don't you turn into a girl and let them exhaust themselves to death?"

"Get lost! What exactly is inside your head?"

It was clearly unrealistic for Chen to take them on head-on with his current strength, and he couldn't think of any good way to lure them out.

Rashly infiltrating also carried significant risks; after all, someone capable of leading a group of Chunin was likely a Jonin.

Standing in a tree, Chen watched his surroundings quietly, hoping to find some way to exploit the environment, yet there was nothing useful nearby.

Just then, thunder began to rumble in the sky, and Chen, not wanting to act as a lightning rod, hurried back to the ground.

"Got it."

Watching the lightning in the sky, Chen's eyes suddenly lit up.

He immediately turned and headed toward the distant town.

A distance of ten kilometers was nothing to Chen, especially since he had long since left a Flying Thunder God mark.

"Hey, what are you planning to do? Tell me about it; maybe I can help you."

"If you just stayed quiet and didn't speak, that would be the greatest help you could give me."

Chen didn't want the system to stir up any more trouble; his system was far too unreliable.

Arriving at the town, Chen bought the materials he needed and then used the Flying Thunder God to return to the original location.

"A kite? Can this thing deal with these ninjas?"

"A kite certainly can't, but look at the sky."

"You intend to use the lightning?"

"Exactly. Consider it a budget version of Kirin. This stronghold is already on high ground, and these kites with steel wire frames are enough to attract lightning. And what comes next is this."

As he spoke, a large number of shuriken appeared in Chen's hands.

Simply guiding the lightning to the ground wasn't enough; what Chen needed was to use the lightning to kill his targets.

The system was somewhat confused by Chen's plan, but Chen immediately manifested a Shadow Clone and threw a kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God.

The next second, the Shadow Clone appeared inside the stronghold.

"A brat? Was that the Body Flicker Technique just now?"

The moment the Shadow Clone appeared, it was discovered by the people in the stronghold.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

The Shadow Clone immediately launched an attack, and upon seeing this, the rogue ninjas scrambled to dodge, while the Shadow Clone's attack drew even more of them out.

As a multitude of rogue ninjas appeared, the Shadow Clone didn't wait for them to launch an attack, instead immediately unleashing a barrage of shuriken.

Each shuriken was tied to a thin steel wire, the other ends of which were attached to kites soaring in the sky.

"Tell me, have you ever considered a certain question?"

The system's voice rang out.

"What question?"

"Aren't you worried that the lightning will simply destroy your Shadow Clone?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm using a Shadow Clone precisely because I'm worried the lightning might strike prematurely. Tell me, what would happen if you got struck by lightning?"

Although he didn't quite understand the composition of the system, Chen instinctively felt that it must be related to electronic devices. If he utilized the Lightning Release Armor of the Lightning Release, could he potentially affect the system?

Chen didn't intend to destroy the system, but teaching her a lesson so she wouldn't be so infuriating seemed like a decent idea.

"You can try, though I suspect you'd be the one struck dead first, and then I'd just go find another host. How about it? Want to give it a shot? If you need to, I can even issue a mission for you; that way, not only can you test your hypothesis, but you'll also get a reward. How about this: I'll offer the Six Paths power as a reward. Why don't you go try out the feeling of being struck by lightning right now?"

"Uh..."

Forget it.

Chen had only been having a whimsical thought; the idea of waiting to be struck by lightning didn't sound like a good plan at all.

Besides, the fact that the system was dangling the Six Paths power as a reward meant she was nine times out of ten just trying to scam him.

"Never mind, I think it's better to build up my strength bit by bit. Becoming too strong all at once would be too boring."

No sooner had Chen finished speaking than a thunderclap exploded in the sky, instantly obliterating Chen's Shadow Clone along with a large number of rogue ninjas.

These rogue ninjas had been on guard, anticipating some special attack from Chen's Shadow Clone, as there were many in the Shinobi World who utilized steel wires and the like for combat.

But who could have imagined that lightning itself could be harnessed?

It must be said, this was a lack of knowledge. If it were a mad scientist of the Shinobi World like Orochimaru, he certainly wouldn't have just stood there waiting to be struck by lightning.

"Why do I get the feeling that this bolt of lightning was meant specifically for you? Wasn't what you just said a bit insincere?"

The system continued to mock him, but Chen chose to ignore her entirely.

The lightning had indeed caused massive damage to the rogue ninjas in the mountain stronghold, but it hadn't wiped everyone out.

Consequently, Chen immediately stepped forward to finish them off.

"Fire Release, Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

As a B-rank ninjutsu was unleashed, thanks to his Fire Style Mastery, the power of Chen's Fire Dragon Flame Bullet already surpassed that of a standard B-rank ninjutsu.

Yet it didn't end there; two Shadow Clones followed closely behind, forming hand seals almost simultaneously.

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!"

"Fire Release, Flame Bullet!"

With three Fire Release ninjutsu appearing at once, the rogue ninjas, who hadn't even recovered their senses, suffered another devastating blow, and the entire stronghold was transformed into a sea of flames.