Heartbeat Timeout

"Hah... hah..."

Everyone opened their eyes, gasping for breath. Asuma wiped away sweat that wasn't there. "Yan, that was way too real..."

Feeling the Chakra inside him grow stronger, Asuma broke into a delighted smile.

But when he spotted the Third Hokage, his voice trailed off, and he fell silent.

"Third Hokage."

Yan stood and explained.

"We were using a Genjutsu I just developed. It simulates fighting a powerful enemy."

The Third Hokage nodded. Judging by the reactions of those who had woken first, Yan's Genjutsu was anything but simple.

Yet Yan hadn't kept it for the Uchiha. He had used it to help his companions. Clearly, the Will of Fire burned in him.

In truth, apart from Fugaku, Mikoto, Obito, and Yashiro, the Uchiha didn't trust Yan enough to join the organization.

The Third Hokage looked around. Everyone wore the relief of having survived a close call, but they were excited too. They had clearly gained a lot.

He looked at Asuma and opened his mouth, but said nothing.

He merely told Yan to be careful, then left.

During wartime, sparing even a few minutes to check on his son was all the Third Hokage could manage.

"The Hokage has a lot on his shoulders." Yan patted Asuma's shoulder.

Asuma said nothing. Yeah, the Hokage has a lot on his shoulders. So...

Asuma suddenly stood and walked over to Kurenai.

"Um, Kurenai... My mom made enough dinner for my dad tonight, but Jonin Shinku went to the front, right? Why don't you and your mother come eat at my place?"

Wait, what, man?!

I meant you should care more about your dad. Who told you to use him as an excuse to hit on a girl?

On his way to the front, Yuhi Shinku suddenly felt an urge to return to Konoha.

"Ahem. So, Anko..."

"My dad hasn't been assigned a mission yet. Maybe in a few days."

"Oh."

Yan nodded, not disappointed in the slightest, and decided to give Asuma extra grief tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in Sunagakure.

"Damn it! Those brutes from Kumogakure agreed to attack Konoha with us, then turned around and attacked us instead."

Wearing the Kazekage's hat, Rasa slammed a hand on the table. Every report from the front told of a crushing defeat.

And it looked as though Iwagakure wanted a piece of the action too.

"The Daimyo still won't give us anything?"

Ebizo nodded. When the war began, the Daimyo had reluctantly handed over a little money. Sunagakure was his military force, after all, and deserved at least that much consideration.

But once Sunagakure became mired in war, funding it was a bottomless pit.

The ninja could fight to the death without the Nobles ever being touched. The Daimyo wasn't foolish enough to pour in more money. He only needed to provide enough food to keep Sunagakure alive.

Chiyo had already gone to the front. Rasa thought for a while. "Gradually move some troops toward Konoha. Then send someone to tell them we're interested in an alliance."

Rasa clearly intended to bluff, making it look as if Sunagakure would attack Konoha unless they formed an alliance.

Konoha was already struggling to fight on two fronts. If Sunagakure lashed out in desperation, the consequences would be dire.

"My sister..." Ebizo hesitated. Chiyo bore a deep grudge against Konoha.

"I'm the Kazekage!" Rasa had had enough of being constrained by these elders, though he couldn't do without them yet.

At that thought, his tone softened.

"Elder Chiyo will understand that it's for the village. I won't publicize Sasori's wanted notice."

Ebizo nodded. Chiyo doted on Sasori more than anyone. With that concession from Rasa, she would probably agree.

"One more thing. Send Pakura. Have her find out who's behind the Heavenly Eye Society while she's there."

Half a month later, the war had grown fiercer. Even newly promoted Chunin were being sent to the front lines, let alone veteran Chunin like Mitarashi Masamune. The Third Hokage had even lowered the academy graduation age to nine.

So Yan finally got his wish and brought Anko home for dinner.

Things were going smoothly for Asuma and Yan. Poor Obito, meanwhile, was still nursing an unrequited crush.

Obito did seem to be catching on, though. Out of nowhere, he asked Yan, "Did you awaken the Sharingan? Did you ever put me in a Genjutsu where a man chased me down?"

"Ahem. Of course not. We're both Uchiha, and you're only a tiny bit weaker than me. You haven't shown any sign of awakening it, so how could I have? Besides, I use Genjutsu on you all the time. How could you not have noticed?"

Swayed by Yan's insincere flattery, Obito didn't press the matter.

The shadow of war hadn't disrupted Yan's daily life in Konoha. He kept farming Gold Coins from people he knew, and today, he had squeezed every last coin he could out of them.

Fugaku's house.

[Gold Coins: 16,300]

Yan bathed, changed his clothes, and rubbed his hands together. In his mind, he told the system to start a ten-pull.

System, give me a ten-pull!

Ten potatoes appeared before his eyes and slowly burst into light so bright he couldn't keep them open.

Obtained [Heartbeat Timeout ×3]

Obtained [Invincibility Frames]

Obtained [Grab]

Obtained [Aura Suppression]

Obtained [If I Don't Fetch It, What Are You Even Playing For?]

Obtained [Dodge]

Obtained [Synthesis ×2]

Maybe spending money had upgraded the system. This draw even came with notification sounds.

But...

What the hell is Heartbeat Timeout? Your potato server has a bug now too?

Fuming, Yan opened his panel to inspect the skills he had just obtained.

[Heartbeat Timeout] (Special) MAX: Triggers automatically after death. Revives you immediately and restores you to peak condition. Can trigger only once per day. Uses remaining: 3

[Invincibility Frames] MAX: You can choose to make your next complete attack action that includes movement invincible. No attack can touch you during it. Cooldown: 2 seconds.

[Grab] Lv. 1: You can choose to make your next binding skill or action restrain an enemy for 2 seconds without fail. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

[Aura Suppression] MAX: You can expend energy to release a defensive aura with a 1-meter radius. Hostile people and their attacks are slowed upon entering it. The aura lasts up to 10 seconds.

[Dodge] MAX: Dodge an enemy's attack within 0.5 seconds before it hits to gain a boost to all attributes.

[Synthesis] (Special) MAX: You can fuse three max-level non-special skills into a new skill. The skills used as materials will not disappear. Uses remaining: 2

[If I Don't Fetch It, What Are You Even Playing For?] (Special) MAX: Obtain a Ninja Cat named Haosheng. Once you sign a contract with him, he will bring you one item from somewhere in the Shinobi World every month. You must work out for yourself what will make him willingly hand it over.

Yan: ?!

That last one has to be a joke!

Yan set [If I Don't Fetch It, What Are You Even Playing For?] aside for now and looked at the other skills.

With these downright dirty—no, perfectly respectable—skills, even Madara Uchiha would have a hard time against him now. Of course, if Madara regained his youth, Yan would still choose to run.

Yan checked his balance. He had 6,300 Gold Coins left.

With a flourish, he hammered the upgrade button for [Counterattack] until it reached level five and displayed MAX.

[Counterattack] MAX: Successfully defend against an attack within 2 seconds of taking a defensive stance to gain a boost in every respect. Can trigger up to 3 times in succession. Duration: 5 seconds.

Gold Coins: 1,300

Wait. [Counterattack] says I have to defend...

Yan spotted something he had missed. [Aura Suppression] was defensive too. That meant it could trigger Counterattack!

Yan contained his elation and calmed himself a little. He dispelled the Shadow Clone that had been attending school in his place while his real body stayed away.

He was going to ask the Third Hokage to let him graduate early.

(Four updates today. Dear readers, please keep asking for more and keep reading, orz.)