Thanks for Hauling It Over, Haosheng

A year into the Shinobi War, on the Konoha-Kumogakure front.

"A m-monster!"

A Kumogakure ninja clutched the hastily bandaged wound on his left arm, not daring to slow down.

One person had wiped out his entire squad. The moment they saw those scarlet eyes, his two Chunin teammates had lost their lives.

Any attack that approached that monster slowed to a crawl.

Even the strike he had poured all his Chakra into had passed straight through the monster.

The more the Kumogakure ninja thought about it, the more terrified he became. He had planted so many Explosive Tags already.

He won't catch up, will he...?

"You know you can't outrun me, right?"

The voice plunged the Kumogakure ninja into icy despair. Unable to bear the fear any longer, he screamed and swung his Kunai wildly toward it.

"Ah!"

A dark figure flipped into the air and hurled several Kunai crackling with lightning.

"Flying Bird Breaks White Plum."

Thunk.

The Kunai pierced the Kumogakure ninja through the chest. As he fell, he saw those scarlet Sharingan and murmured,

"Red Blade..."

After half a year of battle, Yan had earned the name Red Blade among Kumogakure's forces. Once he confirmed every target had been eliminated, he returned to the Konoha camp.

Inside the tent, Shikaku Nara looked up from his map.

"Ah, Yan. Thanks for the effort. We've gained a huge advantage lately, and Kumogakure's forces are gradually pulling back to defend. We've reached a stalemate."

Shikaku picked up a ledger and flipped through it. "Hmm. Your turn to rotate off the front is next month. Hang in there a little longer."

He rubbed his nose sheepishly as he spoke.

As Konoha's supreme commander on the Kumogakure front, Orochimaru had ordered a strategic offensive months ago, after seeing through Kumogakure's feint and realizing they intended to deal with Sunagakure first.

They had pushed the front from the Land of Fire's border all the way to the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of the Moon. Caught in the middle, small countries like the Land of Hot Water trembled beneath the great powers' war.

But since then, Orochimaru had handed nearly all command to Shikaku Nara and spent his days holed up in the Laboratory.

Seeing the Kumogakure front gradually stabilize, the village had transferred some of its main forces to the Iwagakure front.

With fewer elite fighters, the burden on the rest had grown immense.

For Orochimaru's disciple Yan in particular, taking two missions a day had become routine.

Anko, meanwhile, worked diligently in the Laboratory.

Shikaku always felt guilty about it. Yan was not even seven, yet they worked him like a machine.

Yan did not mind. He nodded to Shikaku and returned to his tent.

True Immersion System (Mortal Realm Version)

Skills: ...

Gold Coins: 4650

Yan sighed. Since arriving on the battlefield, he had not encountered a single Kumogakure character from the original story. The Night Organization was scattered far and wide, so he could only earn ten Gold Coins a day through training.

His strength had hit a wall.

He could hardly pick a fight with Shikaku, their strategist, for no reason.

What a headache.

Yan scratched his head, took out some cat food he had gone to a nearby town to buy, then formed Hand Seals.

Summoning Technique!

With a puff, White Cat Haosheng appeared in the tent. He spotted the cat food and promptly helped himself.

But what came out of his mouth was less pleasant.

"The cat food's delicious, but unless you say the incantation, I can't give it to you."

"I worked so hard hauling that stuff over. You think a bag of cat food can buy me off?"

Yan grabbed Haosheng fiercely. "Give it to me, or I'll have you neutered!"

"Meow!"

Haosheng's fur stood on end, but he still said helplessly,

"I can't do anything about the rules."

Yan desperately wanted a refund for the skill [What Would You Do Without Me Hauling It?]. What the hell was it good for?

Since Haosheng had not hissed at him, Yan let that pass. Ignoring the half-eaten cat food, he dismissed the summon.

He took out an official Uchiha history book and began to read.

Uchiha Xuandou rose from humble beginnings. Having received the kindness of **, he was gentle and refined in his youth. But his temperament changed drastically in adulthood. He led an assault on the Senju Clan and, after many hardships, forced them to move their ancestral lands a hundred li away.

After examining multiple sources, Yan was certain Uchiha Xuandou had been one of Indra's reincarnations.

Otherwise, there was no explaining why Xuandou had been so mild and uncompetitive as a child. Some records even told of him leaving an opening in his nets so birds could escape while he hunted.

Then he had suddenly changed as an adult and begun attacking the Senju Clan as soon as he took power.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Xuandou had been active seven to eight hundred years ago, and records from that period were badly incomplete. Yan could not even determine whose kindness Xuandou had received.

The Senju Clan's records might have a more complete account, but Yan had no suitable reason to approach Tsunade. That left the Land of Lightning, the Uchiha's former homeland, as his only lead.

After turning it over in his mind for a while, Yan grew sleepy. He laid the history book over his face and prepared to sleep.

He had been worked to the bone lately. Even as he drifted off, he grumbled to himself about Haosheng.

You think you've worked harder than me? Harder than Uchiha Xuandou?

Wait. Worked hard...

A memory from his previous life surfaced. Yan sat bolt upright and summoned Haosheng again.

Seeing the look in Yan's eyes, Haosheng hissed for the first time.

"Hiss! You're not planning to be Luffy, are you?"

Yan cleared his throat, crouched in front of Haosheng, and said solemnly,

"Sorry for the trouble hauling it over, Haosheng."

In an instant, a current seemed to run through Haosheng's body. He went limp all over and slapped a paw against the ground.

Bang!

A pile of items appeared before Yan's expectant eyes.

A waterskin, Kunai, the Shinobi World Daily... Why was there an Akatsuki Uniform?!

Yan's hopes shattered. He seized Haosheng and rubbed him mercilessly.

"What have you been hauling over? Can't you bring something useful?"

"Mmph! You never said the incantation before, so I could only bring random things. You can specify them from now on. Stop rubbing me!"

Yan changed his tune without a hint of shame. "Oh, Haosheng, looks like there's been a misunderstanding! Bring me a Rinnegan next month."

"Heh." Haosheng immediately backed away from Yan. "In theory, yes, but..."

Seeing Yan's expression darken, Haosheng hurried to explain everything.

"You can only specify a broad category. If you want a Rinnegan, for example, you can only request eyes. Each month, I can copy a random pair of eyes. In theory, if you try enough times, you could get a Rinnegan."

Once he was sure Haosheng was not holding anything back, Yan let him go. After all, if the ability were really that absurd, Yan could simply have Haosheng bring him a Chakra Fruit and become invincible.

"By the way, can you bring a Chakra Fruit?"

Haosheng shook his head. "No. I can only bring things that exist in the Shinobi World. The Chakra Fruit is already inside Kaguya, but she's on the moon, outside the Shinobi World. Even if you had me bring you fruit countless times, I'd never bring one back."

Yan sighed. After a moment's thought, he ordered,

"From now on, bring me history books."

Haosheng nodded, and Yan dismissed the summon, satisfied. Little did he know that unofficial histories counted as history too.