Magnet Release Ninja

Although Ryosuke had some reservations about Shisui's plan, he knew this was absolutely not the right time to return to the village.

The warlike Uchiha would only use the chance to make trouble for the village, and then unprecedented infighting would break out in Konoha.

Or Konoha might treat them as scapegoats for the war, and even hand them over to the Cloud Ninja in exchange for peace.

Even though the mission had been assigned personally by the Third Hokage.

The group rested in the cave for a night and drew up a detailed plan for their next move.

They set out early the following morning.

They still had the map from Konoha's Anbu, but now they used it only as a reference.

Shisui and Ryosuke, the two fastest, would scout the target locations, while Sanhe and Miyuki would monitor the enemy's movements.

An ordinary four-person team would never be able to carry out such a large and detailed plan.

But for the Uchiha Clan, who possessed the Sharingan, it was hardly difficult.

They only had to be wary that the enemy might already know their movements and have made preparations accordingly.

There were twelve target locations in total. Shisui was responsible for eight of them, including the farthest ones.

Ryosuke was responsible for the four closer locations.

He had only secured the assignment after insisting on it repeatedly, since his stamina and chakra hadn't fully recovered.

Shisui had no choice but to agree.

After all, he now knew that Ryosuke's use of the Sharingan far surpassed Sanhe's and Miyuki's, and that Ryosuke had better means of protecting himself.

Once they split up, Ryosuke headed for the first target location.

His chakra hadn't recovered yet, but he still had plenty of Military Ration Pills.

They had serious side effects, but they could still save his life in a pinch.

After what had happened the day before, Ryosuke had become much more cautious.

He kept his Sharingan active the whole way and used the Pesquisa skill at regular intervals.

The Cloud Ninja had ways to counter the Sharingan, but they didn't know about Ryosuke, an unexpected variable.

Ryosuke soon reached the first target location.

It was much as Shisui had described.

There were four clones in the Safe House acting as bait.

The real Cloud Ninja Anbu were lying in wait in a nearby earthen pit.

Ryosuke's mission was simply to mark the number of enemies there.

But he didn't want to pass up the prize right in front of him.

All four Cloud Ninja Anbu were only at Chunin level.

But if they'd made it into the Anbu, they must have some special abilities.

For Ryosuke, this was a chance that came with both danger and opportunity.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Ryosuke created a Shadow Clone and had it walk straight toward the Safe House as if it hadn't noticed the Cloud Ninja lying in wait.

The four Cloud Ninja took the bait.

Seeing that Ryosuke was just a child, they stopped hiding and quickly surrounded him.

"Uchiha brat, looks like you haven't learned your lesson. You actually came right into our hands again."

"Capture him, and we'll earn the first credit."

One of them formed Hand Seals, and a mass of sand and stones suddenly surged from the ground, enveloping Ryosuke's Shadow Clone.

Ryosuke immediately dispelled the Shadow Clone.

"A jutsu like Gaara's? No, that guy's using a variant of Earth Release."

[ Ding, special technique detected: Magnet Release: Magnet Coffin. Technique recorded. ]

It was a Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Release, which greatly surprised Ryosuke.

But although the system had recorded the technique, he hadn't even fully mastered his chakra nature yet, let alone a Kekkei Genkai.

Unless...

Unless he could kill the Magnet Release user and happen to steal his Kekkei Genkai.

The thought made Ryosuke's excitement rise.

He no longer hesitated and spent all his experience points to increase his chakra capacity.

[ Ding, host's chakra capacity increased. Current capacity: 7100/11000 ]

[ Ding, host has triggered a timed mission: kill three enemies within two hours. Reward: 1000 experience points and one Skill Selection Card. ]

A Skill Selection Card?

The sudden system mission left Ryosuke stunned.

It was the first time the system had offered him something other than experience points as a reward.

Could this Skill Selection Card let him choose any skill from the enemies he killed?

This really was a godsend.

System, you're amazing.

Ryosuke grew even more excited.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"

He was willing to spend a large amount of chakra, so he first used the Shadow Clone Technique.

Although Shadow Clones divided the original's chakra among them, they were also highly autonomous. As long as they had enough chakra, they could use any jutsu the original knew.

That was the real reason Ryosuke had increased his chakra capacity.

This time, he created ten Shadow Clones and launched the first wave of attacks.

Two of the Shadow Clones immediately used Lightning Release: Rampage, turning into streaks of blue light as they charged at the enemy.

The four Cloud Ninja were still discussing how they'd celebrate when they got back, not noticing that the person they'd captured had already "disappeared."

"Enemies!"

One of the Cloud Ninja was a sensor type and quickly noticed Ryosuke's Shadow Clones closing in.

"What's going on? Didn't we just capture that kid?"

"Damn it, it was a Shadow Clone! We fell for it. Hurry, capture him!"

"Leave it to me."

The Magnet Release user pressed his hands together and shouted, then plunged both hands into the ground.

"Magnet Release: Magnetism Imbuement!"

"All right, attack him with your Shuriken. You're sure to hit."

The other three Cloud Ninja nodded and immediately threw their Shuriken.

They had thrown them in directions that were nowhere near their target, but the Shuriken seemed to have eyes. They curved through the air and flew toward Ryosuke's Shadow Clones.

The Shadow Clones' autonomy came in handy now. They had the same knowledge and ability to think as the original.

So they understood what the Magnet Release user had just done.

The two Shadow Clones immediately opened the first gate of the Eight Inner Gates. A layer of blue light joined the electric arcs around their bodies, and their speed more than doubled.

The Shuriken couldn't keep up with them.

"What's going on? Their speed..."

Before the two Cloud Ninja could react, blue arcs of electricity pierced through them. They clutched their throats and fell.

[ Ding, congratulations, host. You killed an enemy and randomly plundered one ninjutsu. ]

[ Ding, congratulations, host. You obtained Lightning Release: Piercing Technique. ]

Hm? Hearing the system notification, Ryosuke frowned.

He'd clearly killed two enemies. Why had he only heard one system notification?

Could it be?

He immediately used Pesquisa and discovered that the Magnet Release user, who had been his target, was now somewhere else.

The one Ryosuke's Shadow Clones had just pierced was only his clone.

"Interesting. But this is only the beginning."

The two Shadow Clones disappeared, having run out of chakra and stamina.