The System Chimes Again, a God Takes Away a Terminal Illness

The dungeon's lowest level reeked of blood, and the stench of decay burrowed into the nose, refusing to fade.

Ye looked down at Kimimaro, who lay in the pooled water. The pale boy was gasping heavily, his chest rising ever more weakly. Gray spots had appeared on the broken bone spurs, showing that the Kaguya Clan genes were collapsing, while the last traces of life in his ruined body rapidly drained away.

Right on time, that familiar mechanical voice echoed in Ye's mind at this critical moment.

"Ding. An important person is about to die. Host, please make your decision quickly."

"Option one: Do nothing and let the Kaguya bloodline die out. Reward: the title Heartless One, which slightly increases mental resistance when equipped."

"Option two: Forcefully prolong his life with ordinary medical ninjutsu. He can only live a few more months. Reward: one ordinary soldier pill, which restores a little chakra."

"Option three: Forcefully reconstruct his genes, take in this strongest combat asset, cure the Shikotsumyaku bloodline disease, and rebuild his body. Reward: one drop of Sage Body Origin Blood Essence."

Ye's gaze did not change in the slightest as it fell upon the final line of the system panel.

Of the three options before him, none required any thought. He directly chose the third.

"Use?"

Those two cold words echoed back and forth through the narrow stone cell.

Ye took a step forward, his black leather boot crushing the remaining bones beside the water. Tiny fragments drifted toward the corner with the ripples.

Kimimaro's unfocused eyes reflected Ye's face looking down at him. Too weak even to raise his head, he could only lie against the cold moss while dirty blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"In your half-dead state, you don't even qualify to be used by me."

Ye's voice held nothing but cold cruelty, without the slightest trace of sympathy or pity.

Kimimaro slowly loosened the fingers gripping the stone slab, and the final support in his chest collapsed with them.

He had always regarded himself as a tool for slaughter. He believed that as long as he could still move, he still had value enough to exist.

Yet now, trampled beneath another's feet, he had been stripped completely of even the right to be a tool.

"The god you worshipped abandoned you."

Ye stopped less than half a meter in front of Kimimaro. The hem of his black coat stirred in the cold wind, brushing over the water's surface.

"But I can pull you out of this dead end."

Ye raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together.

As he withdrew the reward stored in the System Space, a dazzling drop of golden blood appeared at Ye's fingertips.

The blood droplet carried no scent of blood, yet it contained dense life energy. The pure chakra spreading outward caused the surrounding air to distort slightly.

Golden light flooded the entire cell, instantly overwhelming the weak flames on the walls and brightly illuminating the dark, damp underground chamber.

Kabuto Yakushi raised a hand to push up his round glasses. His fingertips paused on the frame as his eyes behind the lenses stared straight ahead.

As a top medical ninja, Kabuto possessed life-force perception far beyond that of ordinary people.

The vitality contained within the drop of blood at Ye's fingertips surpassed even the realm of chakra, exceeding the limits that current medical ninjutsu could reach.

Not even the existing historical records of the Shinobi World contained any mention of this source power, which could make wounds heal so quickly.

Without giving anyone else more time to react, Ye directly touched Kimimaro's chest with his glowing fingers.

The instant the golden blood touched his deathly pale skin, it scattered into countless fine golden threads. Following the heartbeat, they slipped into his blood vessels and rapidly spread through every channel in his body.

"Urgh... Aah!"

Kimimaro threw back his head and screamed, his roar making the dungeon flames tremble without pause.

His body convulsed violently in the pooled water. His eyes rolled back, the flesh at the corners splitting open as two streams of blood ran down from his temples.

The absurdly powerful Sage Body blood ignored whether his fragile channels could withstand it, forcibly reconstructing the collapsing and necrotic Kaguya Clan genes.

Black, filthy blood mixed with fragments of shattered organs flowed from every pore of Kimimaro's body, quickly staining a wide patch of water beneath him black.

Dead-gray bone spurs snapped one after another at the root and scattered across the stone slabs with a series of crisp clatters.

Fine muscle tissue grew from deep within the wounds, intertwining as it rapidly sealed every tear.

Kabuto drew in a sharp breath and took half a step back. His heel stepped into the water, splashing his pant leg wet.

What unfolded before him had long surpassed the boundaries of treatment. It was an unprecedented operation that forcibly repaired a body.

High-density life force spread outward from Kimimaro, swiftly filling every corner of the dungeon.

The shriveled moss touched by that vitality rapidly turned green, climbing upward along the damp wall roots until it soon covered the entire corner.

After a quarter of an hour, the surging golden light withdrew completely into Kimimaro's body.

Healthy color replaced the boy's sickly pallor, and his skin gained an additional layer of firm texture.

The dense, low grinding sounds coming from within his body were the sounds of bones rapidly realigning and hardening.

Along with the damaged gene chains, the terminal illness that had tormented him for years and constantly consumed his life force was thoroughly eradicated by the Sage Body blood essence.

Kimimaro gasped for breath, no longer feeling the agonizing pain in his lungs. With every breath, he could feel strength flowing through his body.

He rolled over and knelt amid the black blood covering the ground, his ten fingers digging fiercely into the gaps between the stone slabs. His shoulders and back drew taut with effort.

Those once-confused, cold eyes fixed tightly on Ye's figure. His breathing grew increasingly rapid, and veins bulged at his temples.

Kimimaro bowed and slammed his forehead heavily against the rough stone slab. The dull echo traveled down the corridor into the depths of the dungeon.

"You... are my only god."

Each word was spoken with perfect clarity. His voice was no longer weak, and his attitude carried not the slightest hint of retreat.

Having recognized his new destiny, Kimimaro decided to become the most useful tool in Ye's hand and clear away every obstacle for the person who had granted him new life.

Ye looked down at the kneeling boy by his feet and casually flicked away the moisture remaining on his fingertips.

The first step of the plan was already proceeding smoothly.

Just as Ye was about to turn and lead the others out of this foul-smelling dungeon, he suddenly heard a piercing scraping sound from above the stone steps at the end of the corridor.

Immediately afterward, a hoarse, low sneer slowly approached from the darkness.

"Hehe... what a wonderful performance."

"Erasing a bloodline disease by force like that... even I can't help feeling tempted."

A massive purple-scaled snake as thick as a thigh slithered down the stone steps. Its enormous head moved forward close to the pooled water, its scarlet tongue constantly flicking out.

The cold chakra accompanying that voice flooded the dungeon's lowest level, making the newly grown moss by the wall lean backward and sending countless ripples across the water's surface.

A pale face gradually emerged from the darkness. Those golden vertical pupils swept over Kimimaro before stopping on Ye, the greed and malice on that face completely undisguised.

"What a pity. You actually stole my most treasured toy, Uchiha Ye."