"Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have completed a side quest!"
"Put on the Akatsuki's Red Cloud Black Robe uniform (1/1): Complete. Reward: Reiatsu +1!"
"Your Reiatsu has successfully reached LV. 4, advancing to the intermediate level!"
"EX Reward: 'Way of Destruction No. 90: Black Coffin'!"
My Reiatsu had reached a new level?
As the system's voice faded, Chen Xiaoxi's eyes lit up.
He hadn't heard that Reiatsu level-up notification in years!
And now, after only a day since leaving the secret realm, he'd managed to raise his Reiatsu through the rewards from these side quests!
"So this is what they mean by small gains adding up?"
Chen Xiaoxi smiled faintly and raised his hand. A thread of Reiatsu appeared in his palm.
It was obvious that both its density and its oppressive force far surpassed what they had been before.
When Chen Xiaoxi tried to focus this Reiatsu on the flowerpot in front of him—
Bang!!
The instant the Reiatsu enveloped it, the flowerpot seemed to be struck by an invisible, tremendous force and exploded!
As dust billowed into the air, the bouquet was reduced to fragments.
Just as he'd expected!
His Reiatsu could now begin to affect the real world!
The smile on Chen Xiaoxi's face grew broader.
The benefits of increasing his Reiatsu were plain to see.
"It seems I can't slack off on the side quests from now on, either."
Chen Xiaoxi smiled as he spoke to himself.
If his Reiatsu already had this much power at an intermediate level,
then he believed that if he completed enough missions, he'd eventually reach a point where his Reiatsu alone could make him invincible!
A moment later,
Chen Xiaoxi turned his attention back to the system panel.
EX Reward: "Way of Destruction No. 90: Black Coffin"—
A signature technique of Aizen Sosuke from Bleach, this was a high-level Way of Destruction with the sequence number 90!
Upon release, it trapped the target inside a massive black cuboid. In an instant, countless shadow blades surged forth, attacking with hundreds or thousands of Reiatsu swords that coursed with gravity.
A high-level Way of Destruction like this meant immense destructive power, as well as an extremely high level of difficulty to perform.
However, for Chen Xiaoxi, who possessed "Outstanding" Kido proficiency, learning the incantation would be enough to master it completely.
After that, he could easily perform it without any additional requirements, even with an unchanted release!
Although abandoning the incantation would cost him some of its power,
the advantage was speed.
"If my Kido ever reaches the [Pinnacle] level, I wonder if an unchanted release will have the same power as a full incantation..."
Chen Xiaoxi wondered, but he couldn't know the answer just yet.
Besides, although this high-level Way of Destruction was powerful, it also consumed a great deal of Reiatsu. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't use it casually.
Two days later.
In a cave in Amegakure, inside a hidden meeting room.
Three seats stood at three points around the room, forming a triangle, with a person seated in each one.
The person on the left wore a Red Cloud Black Robe. She had bluish-purple hair, with an iris flower in it. She was the White Tiger of Akatsuki, Konan.
The person on the right also wore a Red Cloud Black Robe. His pale purple Rinnegan glimmered faintly in the darkness. He was Pain, the leader of Akatsuki.
The strange thing was that the person seated in the middle wasn't wearing an Akatsuki Uniform.
Instead, he wore a black robe with a dark green scarf draped over his shoulders. An orange Spiral Mask covered his face, hiding his features.
Only his right eye was visible, glinting with a blood-red light.
He was the power behind Akatsuki,
one of the three master actors in the Akatsuki organization—the Masked Man.
At that moment, he sat with one leg crossed over the other, propping his chin on one hand as he spoke in a low voice:
"I've learned from your messages that Sasori of the Red Sands was killed by that man named Chen Xiaoxi."
"Now, tell me..."
"What information do you have on this newcomer?"
The Masked Man spoke in a deep voice.
He was not in a good mood.
When he'd planned the selection of Akatsuki's members, he'd put a great deal of thought into it.
He'd specifically emphasized to Pain and Konan that Sasori of the Red Sands, the rogue ninja from Sand Hidden, was undoubtedly at Kage Level.
With his puppet techniques, he might even be strong enough to destroy a small country someday.
And then—
Only a few days after he'd left, he'd suddenly received a message from Konan.
It said that Sasori of the Red Sands had been killed instantly by a boy carrying a sword...
Killed instantly?
Was this some kind of joke?
And even more ridiculous, the boy who'd killed Sasori had now become a full member of Akatsuki!
Without consulting him, Akatsuki's behind-the-scenes boss, Pain and Konan had taken it upon themselves to give the boy a uniform and a ring.
Naturally, the Masked Man was somewhat displeased about that.
However, Pain was still Akatsuki's leader in name, and he did have the authority to decide who joined.
The Masked Man wasn't going to quibble with him over something like this.
It was just that—
The Masked Man couldn't trust someone he knew absolutely nothing about.
Everyone in Akatsuki—Nagato and Konan, Kakuzu and Sasori, as well as those he planned to recruit later, such as Itachi Uchiha—was someone the Masked Man was confident he could control.
But this newcomer, Chen Xiaoxi, was an unexpected presence.
And he was a being of the Super Kage level!
That was a real problem.
That was why he'd made a point of returning to discuss the matter in person.
For the sake of the Eye of the Moon Plan, he wouldn't allow anything in Akatsuki to happen beyond his control.
Hearing the Masked Man's question, Pain and Konan exchanged a glance before Pain spoke calmly:
"We haven't been able to get any useful information from him."
"We only know that he doesn't belong to any organization. He seems to be like us—a victim of the Ninja World War, a displaced person with nowhere to go."
"Also, we've made a preliminary assessment of the abilities he possesses—"
"Oh?"
The Masked Man narrowed his eyes slightly.
After a brief pause, Pain continued:
"The short blade at his waist may be some kind of mysterious ninja tool. It can both 'extend' and 'retract,' its length can be adjusted freely, and it moves extremely fast with tremendous destructive power."
"According to Konan, he used this ninja tool to kill Sasori of the Red Sands from the Land of Wind."
"..."
The Masked Man fell silent and gave a slight nod.
It wasn't strange for such a remarkable ninja tool to exist. Still, he wasn't concerned about it.
After all, with the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Kamui, he had nothing to fear from any physical weapon.
Then Pain continued in the same calm tone:
"His second ability is that he can freely release various strange techniques without hand seals: blue Fire Style, golden Lightning Release, and a floating technique that lets him move through the air as easily as if he were walking on level ground..."
"According to our observations, whenever he uses these techniques, a strange light seems to appear in his eyes."
"Therefore, we believe..."
"He may possess some kind of mysterious eye technique unknown to us—that is, those unusual golden eyes of his."
"Of course, these are only our deductions. We haven't confirmed them yet."
Pain finished speaking in an orderly manner.
Before you continue