A-Rank Ninja Fragments, Hacking Shimura Danzō's Account

Uchiha Jun stopped and sized up the young man before suddenly smiling.

"You're a Chunin, right?"

The young man frowned. "So what if I am?"

"A Chunin-level chakra reserve. Judging by your stance, you should be a taijutsu-type ninja."

As Uchiha Jun spoke, he drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist. The blade glimmered with an eerie blue sheen beneath the moonlight.

Uchiha-style Swordsmanship: Instant Slash!

The blade flashed through the night, as swift as a silver bolt of lightning.

The young man had only gotten halfway through drawing his kunai when Uchiha Jun's sword hilt struck his wrist.

"Crack—"

The kunai fell to the ground.

Another strike followed immediately, the sword hilt smashing into the back of the young man's knee and forcing him to kneel.

Uchiha Jun held the sword one-handed, its tip aimed at the young man's throat, barely a hair's breadth from his skin.

"I'll give you two choices now."

Uchiha Jun's voice was calm, so calm that it sent a chill down one's spine.

"First, hand over all your money and ninja tools, then go back and tell Uchiha Setsuna that I'm not interested in playing political games with him."

"Second, I break both your legs, and you crawl back yourself."

The young man's Adam's apple bobbed as beads of cold sweat formed across his forehead.

"...I choose the first."

Gritting his teeth, the young man emptied everything he could from his ninja tool pouch and pockets—shuriken, kunai, Explosive Tags, and silver.

Uchiha Jun unceremoniously stuffed everything into his Storage Scroll, sheathed his sword, and patted the young man's face. "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that from the start?"

He had no interest in playing any "which way the fish head faced" games with Uchiha Setsuna. The old bastard could get lost; this Shinobi World belonged to young people like him!

The young man's face turned pale and green by turns, but in the end, he said nothing more. He could only watch helplessly as Uchiha Jun disappeared into the night.

He lowered his head and looked at the arm Uchiha Jun had struck with the back of his sword. A red welt two fingers wide had already swollen across the back of his hand, a shocking sight.

Deep within the Uchiha Clan Grounds stood an ancient residence.

Uchiha Setsuna sat in a dim room, the wrinkles on his face crisscrossing like a dried-up riverbed.

"He refused to come? He even said he wasn't interested in playing 'political games' with me?"

Listening to the kneeling young man's report, Uchiha Setsuna silently took a drag from his pipe. Smoke curled upward through the dim room.

"Yes. His exact words were—"

"No need to repeat them!"

Uchiha Setsuna raised a hand and cut him off.

He stared at the flickering ember in his pipe for a long while before suddenly letting out several dry chuckles.

"Interesting."

He tapped his pipe, scattering sparks through the darkness.

"A dead-last graduate who's only been out of the academy for a month completed an A-Rank Mission while under siege? And even made that little brat Orochimaru look at him differently?"

"Keep people watching him. Don't make a move. Don't approach him."

The young man acknowledged the order and withdrew.

The room returned to silence.

By the time Uchiha Jun pushed open the door to his new home, it was already late at night.

The house Fugaku had given him was not large: a small courtyard, two floors, and a detached little villa. It was more than enough for one person.

Tatami mats covered the floor, an Uchiha Clan fan crest hung on the wall, and several basic pieces of furniture sat in the corners.

What pleased Uchiha Jun most was its secluded location. There were few neighbors nearby, and it was away from the main road.

Peaceful and quiet.

After securing the doors and windows and setting up warning Explosive Tags, Uchiha Jun lay down on the tatami mats and finally shed every bit of his disguise.

Tired.

He really was tired.

Not because of the battle's exertion—with the Senju Bloodline supporting him, he would not get tired even after three more fights.

What exhausted him was acting.

In front of Orochimaru, he had to play a loyal and ambitious student. In front of Uchiha Fugaku, he had to play a steadfast clansman. In front of Yamazaki Kengo, he had to play an inexperienced junior. And before Uchiha Setsuna's men, he had to play an unruly thorn in their side.

If anything went wrong at any point, it would bring endless trouble.

"This is way more exhausting than fighting."

"Once I save up enough for Uchiha Izuna or Sasuke Uchiha, I won't have to put up with this crap anymore!"

Uchiha Jun muttered with his eyes closed, then rolled over and sat up.

Tired or not, he could not neglect serious business!

He opened the system panel and watched the numbers ticking across it, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward.

[Copper Coin Balance: 17000000]

[Ninja World Recruitment Scroll Balance: 9]

[Random A-Rank Ninja Fragment ×15: Ready to Open]

[Silver: 1,170,000 taels]

[Current Ninja Fragments: [Uchiha Sasuke (Susanoo) (18/40)]]

"Fifteen random A-Rank Ninja Fragments. I've already gathered eighteen Skeleton Dog fragments. Just two more and I'll have half a full card! It's not too much to ask for three this time, right? Even two would do. At least let me touch the threshold for the trial card!"

Uchiha Jun rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, and tapped the fragment gift pack hovering on the panel.

Five clusters of golden light exploded at once, turning into five cards floating in the air before him.

Uchiha Jun held his breath, his fingers trembling slightly as he opened them one by one.

The first card flipped over.

A figure leaning on a cane appeared on its surface.

The man's right eye was wrapped tightly in bandages, while his exposed left eye was as sinister as a snake's. The cross-shaped scar on his chin was especially glaring in the golden light.

[Obtained A-Rank Ninja Fragment: Shimura Danzō ×5]

Uchiha Jun's smile froze.

"Dan... Danzō?!"

Before he could curse, the second card automatically flipped over.

Another cane.

Another cross-shaped scar. Another sinister left eye.

[Obtained A-Rank Ninja Fragment: Shimura Danzō ×5]

"No... System, are you screwing with me?!"

The third card.

It flipped over.

[Obtained A-Rank Ninja Fragment: Shimura Danzō ×3]

"Three Danzōs in a row?! Are you wholesaling Sharingan to me here?!"

Uchiha Jun's voice had started shaking.

He stared fixedly at the fourth card. To him, that golden glow no longer looked like golden light—it looked like a golden coffin lid bearing down on him.

The fourth card flipped over.

Cane, scar, sinister eye.

[Obtained A-Rank Ninja Fragment: Shimura Danzō ×1]

Fourteen Shimura Danzō fragments.

"..."

Uchiha Jun fell silent.

His lips moved twice as if he wanted to say something, but it felt as if something had lodged in his throat. He could not force out a single word.

The fifth card flipped over beneath his utterly expectationless gaze.

—Bandages.

—Cross-shaped scar.

—Sinister eye.

[Obtained A-Rank Ninja Fragment: Shimura Danzō ×1]

All five pulls were Shimura Danzō!

Uchiha Jun sat blankly on the tatami, staring at the five Danzō card images floating before him. He looked as if his soul had been sucked out.

For a long time, there was silence.

Then he suddenly sprang up from the tatami.

"Fuck your mother!!!"

"All fifteen were Shimura Danzō!!!"

"I wanted Skeleton Dog!"

"You damn Danzō, just wait! Once I unlock your trial card, I'm taking Sexy Sun Brother straight to blow up the Land of Fire Daimyo!"

After cursing in a lowered voice, Uchiha Jun clenched his fists until they cracked.

He had thought this pull would at least bring his Skeleton Dog fragments past twenty, preferably thirty, getting him closer and closer to the full forty-fragment card.

But now, Skeleton Dog had not moved at all. Instead, he had amassed a pile of fragments for that old dog Danzō!

Uchiha Jun slumped onto the tatami, his expression like he had just swallowed a hundred flies.

But a moment later, he got over it. Shimura Danzō it was, then.

He could use Shimura Danzō's "identity card" to do some shady things and earn silver to buy High-Recruitment Scrolls.

After all, Danzō had been born with the ultimate Shinobi World scapegoat physique.

With a little maneuvering later, Uchiha Jun could dump a few massive black pots on Shimura Danzō's head, turn him into a "Konoha rogue ninja," and completely crush his dream of becoming Hokage!

Not to mention anything else—just attacking the Land of Fire Daimyo and killing the Twelve Guardian Ninja would be enough to keep Shimura Danzō busy!

Then he could throw in something like, "This is my new watch," and the Uchiha Clan's radicals would definitely explode on Shimura Danzō!

By then, even if Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to protect Shimura Danzō, he would not be able to!

After all, if you dared wear the Sharingan of Konoha's largest clan, the Uchiha Clan, like watches, then were you secretly collecting the secret techniques and Kekkei Genkai of other ninja clans too?

As for the fact that Shimura Danzō's right arm was still intact at this point in time, that was not much of a problem for Uchiha Jun.

Once he got the Summoning Animal Elephant and tossed it into a crowd, it would be useless even if Shimura Danzō stripped naked to prove his innocence!

After all, the summoning animal Baku was Shimura Danzō's exclusive summoning animal.

Ninjutsu could be copied or stolen, but summoning animals could not be faked!

"Right, I remember there being a mute among the Twelve Guardian Ninja. His bounty seemed pretty high, about on par with Asuma's. I just don't know what his bounty is at this time."

"...Whatever. If the Twelve Guardian Ninja aren't worth much, could the Land of Fire Daimyo possibly be poor?"

"I've worked so hard doing missions to save fragments. It's time for a little surprise cash-out!"

After making his plans, Uchiha Jun calmed down somewhat.

He lay on the tatami, rubbed his face hard, then let out a heavy breath.

The random A-Rank Ninja Fragments were gone now. He still had nine High-Recruitment Scrolls left.

"...I'll save them. Later, I'll see if I can take a mission to the Land of Rivers."

"I remember that somewhere in the Land of Rivers, there seems to be an Uchiha with a top-tier Mangekyo called 'Dazzling Light' and 'Remarkable Talent.' If I don't go 'capture' him, that would be a waste of my identity as an Outer Realm Heavenly Demon!"

Uchiha Jun flopped back onto the tatami and closed his eyes.

He was tired today.

Tomorrow, he still had to report to Orochimaru. Who knew what trouble that creepy bastard would stir up for him again.

He thought hazily as his consciousness gradually sank into darkness.

Meanwhile, hundreds of meters beneath Konoha, inside the Root base.

Shimura Danzō sat in a dim room reading an intelligence scroll when he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill. Every hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

He raised his head, and his uncovered left eye flickered in the darkness.

"What is this?"

Danzō frowned and looked around.

There was nothing unusual in the room, and the barrier had not been disturbed.

Yet he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong, as if someone were plotting against him somewhere beyond his awareness.

"I'm overthinking it."

Danzō shook his head and lowered his gaze to the scroll again.

Yet that chill lingered in his heart, impossible to dispel.

Irritably, he tossed the scroll aside and beckoned to the Anbu waiting in the corner.

"Go investigate. See if anyone has been asking about me recently."

The Anbu acknowledged the order and vanished.

Danzō leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The room returned to silence.