We Need You

Sora still remembered that stormy night.

In the midst of a fierce battle on Summoner's Rift, a fully charged Haymaker blasted the enemy top-lane Vayne to pieces beneath her tower.

And blasted him into this godforsaken world as well.

But unlike all those predecessors who arrived in Konoha, he had been born in the Cloud Hidden Village.

After Sora was born, he never once saw his father. He and his mother had depended on each other since he was little.

There was nothing particularly unusual about a single-parent family. The ninja world was in constant turmoil; countless children lost their parents shortly after being born and could only grow up in orphanages.

Besides, what protagonist still had both parents around?

Sora had maintained a remarkably good attitude, especially since he had also been equipped with the standard cheat every transmigrator needed.

He had already prepared himself for a life of trampling the Uchiha beneath his feet and beating up the Otsutsuki with his fists in this world.

But as the days passed and Sora grew older, he realized that the way people around him looked at him was becoming increasingly wrong.

Indifference, disgust, abuse!

Children were taught not to play with him and even regarded him as a monster.

The adults' undisguised loathing left Sora at a loss, and for a time, he even wondered whether some Tailed Beast had been sealed inside him as well.

Not until his mother tearfully told him the truth.

His identity!

There was no Tailed Beast inside him, but the blood flowing through his veins was the same blood as that of the most vicious criminals in Cloud Hidden's history!

A few years before he was born, Gold Horn and Silver Horn—hailed as Cloud Hidden's heroes and the Light of the Clouds—had suddenly launched a coup during the alliance ceremony between the Raikage and the Hokage.

Using the power of the Sage of Six Paths' ninja tools and the Nine-Tails' chakra, the two had inflicted near-fatal injuries upon the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage, ultimately leading to both Kage's deaths!

But unfortunately.

The coup had ultimately ended in failure, with both sides suffering severe losses.

Perhaps to stabilize his own rule, and perhaps to steady the battered Cloud Hidden Village.

After taking office, the Third Raikage had not exterminated the remaining civilians. Instead, following the example of the former First Hokage, he adopted a conciliatory policy and accepted the surviving members of Gold Horn and Silver Horn's clan.

This merciful act greatly stabilized Cloud Hidden Village at the time and also secured the Third Raikage's position.

Everything seemed to have come to an end.

Yet the pain Gold Horn and Silver Horn had brought to the village was not something that could simply be erased.

On top of that, Sora's bloodline was exceptionally strong. Though both his parents had merely been ordinary members of the clan, he had been born with two horns—a reversion to his ancestors!

For a time, all the villagers' hatred for Gold Horn and Silver Horn had been heaped upon Sora, allowing the young boy to experience the treatment of a crown prince!

But the Third Raikage was not Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After discovering Sora's situation, the Third Raikage directly took Sora in as his adopted son, changed his surname to Night Moon, and arranged for him to join the ANBU.

On the one hand, this removed Sora from the public eye. On the other, the Third Raikage hoped to use the ANBU's high-intensity training methods to train Sora and bring out his extraordinary talent to the fullest.

And Dodai was Sora's ANBU captain and teacher!

Under the ANBU's tempering, Sora grew rapidly.

The high concentration of Six Paths bloodline made him Cloud Hidden Village's most outstanding genius. With the system's support, Sora had even surpassed the Third Raikage's son, who had been hailed as a candidate for the Fourth Raikage!

If not for that accident...

Sora released his hand. The man whose neck had already been crushed collapsed limply to the ground, devoid of life.

"Isn't this Teacher Dodai? It's been over ten years. Is that woman my gift for our reunion?"

"...The village has a mission for you."

"Oh?!"

Sora's face filled with astonishment, as though he had just heard some utterly unbelievable piece of news.

"A mission? For me?"

"Teacher Dodai, have I been punching for so long here that I'm hallucinating, or did you know I've been in a bad mood these past two days and come all this way to make me laugh?"

"Those old geezers are actually giving me a mission? Aren't they afraid I'll go mad while carrying it out?"

Dodai looked at Sora with a complicated expression.

If not for that accident, the Sora before him would have been Cloud Hidden's brightest rising star.

Not the brutal gladiator with a drastically changed personality that he was now.

But this was not the time to lament the past.

Dodai's lips trembled slightly as he slowly spoke. "The frontline situation is critical. The force led by Troy is trapped in a dangerous situation. Hidden Stone has deployed at least three thousand ninja. The Third Raikage has already headed to the battlefield, but the situation is still far from optimistic."

"We need your strength, Sora."

"We?"

Sora sat down on the sofa to one side with a bold, relaxed posture.

"Who exactly is this 'we'?"

"Is it you, Dodai? Those old geezers in the village? Or perhaps... the Raikage?"

"They're all the same!"

Dodai did not speak, but a cool voice came from behind him.

"Whether it is Lord Dodai or Lord Raikage, they are both part of the village. Since you are also one of the village's people, you should help the village and devote your strength to it!"

"Only then can the village become stronger and better, and protect all of us more effectively!"

"Well said!"

Sora laughed and applauded. "The village above all else. I like that conclusion."

"Then, my dear teacher Dodai."

"Can you tell me whether the village protected all of us while I was shedding blood for it?"

"Sora, what happened back then was only an accident. You and I both know what Tailed Beasts are like. Even if Blue B could control the Eight-Tails to a certain extent and use its power, he was ultimately not a perfect jinchuriki."

"Back then, it wasn't just your mother. That entire area also..."

"Enough!"

Sora's tone turned icy, his dark crimson eyes sharp and cold.

An incomparably terrifying surge of chakra erupted throughout the room. Even the floor beneath them shattered under that oppressive force, sending wood splinters flying.

Dodai's expression froze.

Behind him, Samui's hair stood on end under that pressure, cold sweat streaming down her face.

Even her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

What terrifying chakra!

Even across all of Kumogakure, few could compare to this level of pressure!

"Since the Third insisted on keeping that half-baked jinchuriki back then, why not send him on this mission? Why come looking for me?"

What a terrifying presence. In just over ten years, he had grown to this extent...

Dodai gritted his teeth and endured the pressure. "Blue B... is already dead."

"What did you say?!"

The frigid aura surged to its peak in an instant, only to vanish just as quickly.

Even so, Dodai's back was drenched in cold sweat.

Samui had collapsed onto the floor, gulping down air as she stared at Sora in terror.

For that brief moment just now, she felt as though she had seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Even the A-B Combo fell far short of this level of killing intent. Only the Third had ever made her feel such pressure.

This guy... was the legendary Blood Wrist?!