System's New Mission

Kakashi and Sakura dragged the two tightly bound rogue ninjas with Ling Yue to a concealed patch of woods some distance away from the outpost.

"Wake these two up first and question them." Kakashi gestured to Sakura as he spoke.

Sakura nodded, took a small bottle from her medical kit, and waved it beneath the two rogue ninjas' noses.

The pungent smell quickly woke them.

The moment they opened their eyes and saw Kakashi's Sharingan and Ling Yue watching them like a tiger eyeing its prey, they immediately began struggling. When they realized they could not move, their faces turned deathly pale.

"Who are you? Why did you attack the outpost? Where are the people inside?" Kakashi asked directly, wasting no words.

The Earth Release rogue ninja whom Ling Yue had electrocuted gritted his teeth and remained silent.

The other one, the swordsman, was more sensible. Panting, he said, "Will talking get us a chance to live?"

"That depends on whether what you say is worth it." Kakashi's tone was calm.

"We're from the Black Hoe Mercenary Corps. We took a job to clear out the outpost and stir up some trouble."

"Who hired you?"

"Don't know. We were introduced through a middleman. All he said was that the client was an important figure and paid well. There were only three people in the outpost—one Chunin and two Genin. There was nothing valuable, so after we finished clearing them out, we disposed of the bodies as ordered."

"Disposed of them?" Sakura could not help asking.

"Yeah. Sank them into the swamp over there." The rogue ninja jerked his chin in one direction.

Ling Yue's heart sank. She had expected it, but hearing it confirmed still made her feel uncomfortable.

Kakashi continued, "Besides clearing out the outpost, was there anything else in the commission? Did they tell you to look for something, or watch for any abnormalities?"

The two rogue ninjas exchanged glances, seeming somewhat hesitant.

Kakashi's Sharingan turned slightly, applying pressure.

"...The client seemed very interested in some kind of... abnormal chakra reaction the outpost had reported recently. After clearing the place out, we were told to search it carefully and see whether there were any remaining samples or records."

"An abnormal chakra reaction?" Ling Yue caught the key phrase.

"We don't know what it was either. We turned the whole outpost inside out and didn't find a damn thing. Maybe they were just seeing things."

Kakashi stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Just then, the system notification sounded in Ling Yue's mind again.

[Ding! Key intelligence detected: "abnormal chakra reaction" and "sample."]

[New mission issued: Obtain an "abnormal chakra" sample (0/1).]

[Mission hint: This sample may be related to Orochimaru's or Danzo Shimura's experiments.]

[Mission reward: 1,500 Dimensional Points, Special Draw Ticket (designated system) x1.]

[Failure penalty: None. (But getting caught up in upper-level conspiracies may be more troublesome than death.)]

Again? This time it had even named Orochimaru and Danzo directly? Was the system tired of her living too long? And "more troublesome than death"... what a comforting hint.

Kakashi questioned them a few more times and confirmed that the two knew little. They were merely hired thugs working for money. He efficiently knocked them unconscious again.

"It seems the attack on the outpost was no accident," Kakashi told Ling Yue and Sakura. "That 'abnormal chakra reaction' may be the key. We need to search the place again carefully, especially for hidden rooms or overlooked clues."

"Yes!" Sakura and Ling Yue answered.

This time, the three were even more cautious. Kakashi took the lead, his Sharingan carefully scanning every inch of wall and floor.

Sakura checked the documents and items. Ling Yue, meanwhile, used [Beast Instinct] and Zetsu's senses to search for any abnormal energy fluctuations.

The outpost's interior was a complete mess, with obvious signs of battle. Everything valuable and all the ninja tools had been stripped away.

"Doesn't seem like there's... anything special." Sakura flipped through the scattered documents. They were all ordinary patrol logs and reports.

Ling Yue focused her senses. Suddenly, she walked over to a pile of charred debris in the corner and crouched down.

Zetsu's senses told her that beneath the ashes was an extremely faint residue of energy, unlike ordinary chakra.

She carefully brushed aside the ashes, revealing a loose floorboard underneath.

Prying it open, she found a palm-sized, half-burned hardcover notebook hidden inside, along with a short broken glass test tube. A tiny amount of dried dark-purple crystalline substance clung to the inner wall of the tube, radiating a faint, eerie aura.

"Kakashi-sensei, I found something!" Ling Yue immediately called out.

Kakashi and Sakura came over.

Kakashi carefully picked up the broken test tube with a Kunai. His Sharingan examined the dark-purple crystals closely, and his expression grew solemn. "This chakra feels... very abnormal. It is filled with an ominous, corrosive nature."

Sakura sensed it as well, and her face turned pale. "It feels... awful."

Ling Yue picked up the notebook and opened it.

Most of its pages had been burned away, leaving only a few scattered pages that could still be read.

They recorded how the outpost's ninjas had observed nearby forest animals becoming abnormally violent, plants withering, and an instance during a patrol when they found an unknown purple liquid seeping from the ground.

The final lines were scrawled messily: "Collected a small sample... must report immediately... danger..."

A small scrap of map was tucked into the back of the notebook, marking the precise location where the purple liquid had been found.

"It looks like this is the abnormal chakra sample," Kakashi said, looking at the broken test tube. "This thing is dangerous. We must take it back to the village for Lady Tsunade to study."

Ling Yue looked at the sample, then at the mission requirement to obtain it, feeling somewhat conflicted.

This thing clearly was not anything good, but the system reward was too tempting... and the mission hint suggested it might involve Danzo and Orochimaru. It would not hurt to learn more.

She quietly separated an incredibly fine strand of [Void Threads]. While Kakashi and Sakura were focused on the notebook's map, she used her Nen thread with extreme care to scrape off an almost invisible speck of the sample, then secretly stored it in a small sealed scroll she had prepared beforehand.

[Ding! "Abnormal chakra" sample obtained (1/1). Mission completed. Rewards issued: 1,500 Dimensional Points, Special Draw Ticket (designated system) x1.]

[Current Dimensional Points: 2250.]

[Special Draw Ticket (designated system): Allows the origin world of the next skill/item draw to be designated (such as Bleach or One Piece).]

Success! Ling Yue rejoiced inwardly and quickly put away the scroll. This tiny amount should not affect Kakashi's research.

"According to the map marker, the source is not far from here." Kakashi pointed at the location on the map. "We'll go take a look, confirm the situation, then return to the village immediately to report."

The three carefully searched the outpost once more. After confirming that nothing else had been overlooked, Sakura used a sealing scroll to seal away the two unconscious rogue ninjas and the important broken test tube sample.

Kakashi looked at the map, then at the sky.

"Move quickly. We'll take one look at the sample's source, then withdraw."

The three swiftly left the outpost and stealthily headed toward the location marked on the map.

The closer they got to the marked location, the more withered and eerie the surrounding trees became. A faint, unsettlingly sweet and bloody smell permeated the air.

Ling Yue's [Beast Instinct] began sending a subtle warning.

Pikachu also poked its head out from her collar and sniffed. Sparks flickered uneasily on its cheeks as it let out a soft, anxious "Pika pi..."

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ling Yue asked in a low voice.

"Pika... pi!" Pikachu pointed ahead with its tiny paw, its expression somewhat frightened.

Kakashi stopped as well. His Sharingan stared intently into the depths of the dense forest ahead, his voice lowered to an extreme hush.

"There's something ahead... more than one. Be careful. We may have run into the real culprits."