[Eternal Dream upgraded to blue] [Training effectiveness greatly increased while asleep] [Shared effectiveness increased to 50% of the user's own] [New effect: dreams can now be actively controlled while Eternal Dream is active]
Cangyue was jolted awake by the system notifications.
He opened his eyes and stared blankly for two seconds.
A blue trait.
Dream Manipulation.
This upgrade to Eternal Dream hadn't just increased his training efficiency. It had given him the ability to actually influence dreams.
If he kept developing it, he would be able to simulate battles in dreams, or even construct personalized training grounds for others.
Cangyue rubbed his chin.
"Why does this thing keep looking more and more familiar?"
If it went up a few more levels and its range expanded to cover the entire Shinobi World...
Infinite Tsukuyomi, otherwise known as the knockoff Eternal Dream.
Anyone get it?
Cangyue sat up on the Flame and Thunder Swords and surveyed his surroundings.
The meeting hall was deserted.
Pain and Konan were gone.
Kisame, Itachi, Deidara, and the others had vanished without a trace, too.
All that remained on the floor were the chair Hidan had knocked over and a few impressions left by the sleepers.
Cangyue looked outside the hall.
The curtain of rain was gloomy, and the sky looked almost exactly as it had before he'd fallen asleep.
"I only slept for a few minutes, and everyone left?"
His colleagues in the Akatsuki had no loyalty whatsoever.
They'd clocked out early without even telling him.
Still, that group nap had been well worth it.
Deidara, Kisame, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Zetsu were all powerful, high-value practitioners.
Their first firsthand experience with Dream Training had pushed Eternal Dream straight from green to blue.
Cangyue inspected the trait again.
Increased training efficiency.
Shared effectiveness raised from one-third to one-half.
Dream Manipulation added.
If it continued spreading at this rate, Dream Training would eventually become a truly independent training system.
"You're finally awake."
A low voice came from the entrance to the hall.
Cangyue looked up.
Deva Path Pain stood beside the doors, his Rinnegan fixed on him in an impassive stare.
No matter how composed Nagato usually was, even he found this somewhat hard to understand.
Kambara Sogetsu had only joined the Akatsuki two days ago.
He'd spent at least a day and a half asleep.
Yet every time he woke up, his abilities underwent some sort of change.
"What do you mean, finally awake?"
Cangyue voiced his displeasure first.
"Why didn't you wake me when you left?"
"Where is everyone?"
"You slept for a full day and night."
Pain answered impassively, "They've already collected their missions and left."
Cangyue froze.
"A full day and night?"
He looked out at the curtain of rain again.
No wonder the sky hadn't changed much.
The Land of Rain barely saw any sunlight at all. Judging the time by the sky here really wasn't reliable.
"It wasn't for lack of trying."
Pain continued, "After you fell asleep, an invisible domain formed around you."
"Anyone who entered it was attacked by Sword Intent."
"Force your way in, and you'd lose your head."
Cangyue understood.
The Sword Way he'd raised to lv5 last night had already given him mastery of the Sword Intent Domain.
Now that he'd fallen asleep under the influence of Eternal Dream, his body had instinctively used the domain as a security measure.
No wonder he'd slept so soundly.
Nobody in the entire Akatsuki could get close. How could he possibly have slept badly?
Cangyue gave a couple of light coughs to hide his embarrassment.
"I forgot to warn you."
"I am fond of killing in my sleep."
Pain looked at him.
Before yesterday, no intelligence report had ever mentioned an ability like this.
This was clearly a new technique Cangyue had acquired after falling asleep.
Dream Training again?
At this point, Nagato was wondering whether he should try this so-called Dream Training himself.
[Valor Points +30]
A question suddenly occurred to Cangyue.
"How did you know forcing your way closer would get your head cut off?"
Pain was silent for a moment.
"Hidan tried."
Cangyue understood at once.
Hidan had probably noticed the benefits after his Dream Training ended and wanted to wake him up to ask about them.
Then, relying on his immortal body, he'd charged straight into the Sword Intent Domain.
"Does he still have his head?"
"Kakuzu has already sewn it back on."
Perfectly reasonable.
Hidan handled the death wishes.
Kakuzu handled the after-sales service.
The Akatsuki's Undying Duo had quite the complete business cycle.
Pain didn't continue discussing Hidan's head.
He raised his hand and tossed over a Mission Scroll.
"Your trial mission."
The Thunder Sword unsheathed itself, caught the scroll on its tip, and carried it steadily over to Cangyue.
"Leave immediately."
"All right, all right."
Cangyue tucked the scroll into his robe.
"I'm going."
As Pain watched him fly out of the hall on his sword, he suddenly felt that he wasn't giving orders to a new recruit.
It felt more like he was prodding an employee who'd overslept to get to work.
Nagato felt deeply troubled.
Just what is our Akatsuki going to become...?
Cangyue had barely flown out of the temple when he spotted someone lying in the clearing outside.
A Swirl Mask.
An Akatsuki cloak.
It was Tobi.
His limbs were spread out as he lay beneath the gloomy rain clouds, posing as though he were sunbathing.
Maybe he really is more melancholy than I am.
Cangyue couldn't help thinking so.
Cangyue guided the Flame Sword over his head.
Tobi immediately rolled over and scrambled up, waving both hands with exaggerated enthusiasm.
"Senior!"
"You're finally awake!"
"I've been waiting so long I'm about to grow mold!"
Cangyue stopped the Flame Sword.
"You're sunbathing in the rain?"
Tobi tilted his head up to look at the sky.
Leaden clouds completely blocked the sunlight, and rain was still falling onto his body.
This guy really is bold.
When it comes to sunbathing in the rain, anyway.
He fell silent for half a second, then perked up again.
"As long as there's sunshine in your heart, you can sunbathe anywhere!"
Cangyue nodded.
Just last night, the Sword Intent Domain had forced him back. Today, he'd sidled up in his role as an Intern as though nothing had happened.
If Cangyue hadn't known the plot, this performance alone could easily have convinced him that Tobi was a new recruit who wasn't quite right in the head.
"Senior, what mission are we doing?"
Tobi sidled up beside the Flame Sword.
Only then did Cangyue open the scroll.
Mission type: fundraising. Time limit: 3 days. Objective: obtain 10 million ryo and hand it over to the Akatsuki. No restrictions on methods.
Cangyue raised an eyebrow slightly.
The Akatsuki really did give its members considerable freedom.
They didn't ask where the money came from.
As long as the full amount was handed over on time.
Tobi leaned his mask toward the scroll.
"Ten million?"
"That's a lot of money!"
"Senior, let's get jobs at a ramen shop!"
"I heard you can earn a thousand ryo if you work hard for a day!"
"If we just work for ten thousand days, we'll finish the mission in no time!"
Cangyue glanced at him.
Ten thousand days.
Nearly thirty years.
Sometimes Cangyue couldn't help admiring how masterful Obito was at playing the fool.
Cangyue closed the scroll.
"You have my acknowledgment."
"Really?"
Tobi's eyes lit up.
"Is it because I'm so smart?"
"Because you have a very creative approach to arithmetic."
The Purple Flame Sword beneath Cangyue's feet abruptly accelerated.
A streak of purple sword light tore through the rain, flying dozens of meters in an instant.
It was only a matter of making money.
He happened to know a very wealthy target who deserved no sympathy.
Gato.
Judging by the timing, Naruto and Sasuke should soon be heading to the Land of Waves.
He could complete the Akatsuki's Trial Mission and check on Team 7 along the way.
Two birds with one stone.
"Senior!"
Tobi stood there, hopping anxiously from foot to foot.
"I'm not on board yet!"
Cangyue did not slow down.
"An Intern needs to learn to get around on his own."
"But I can't fly!"
"Then run."
The purple sword light swiftly vanished into the distant curtain of rain.
Tobi waved his arms and chased after him for a while before finally bending over with his hands on his knees, looking utterly out of breath.
Only once Cangyue was well and truly gone did he slowly straighten up.
His exaggerated antics and panic vanished in an instant.
The single eye behind his mask grew somber.
I have Space-Time Ninjutsu. I don't need Cangyue to carry me anywhere.
The problem is, Cangyue clearly had no intention of traveling with his new partner.
Was he simply doing whatever he pleased?
Or had he already noticed something?
[Valor Points +20]
A spatial vortex appeared beside Tobi.
His body silently disappeared.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Konoha.
"Let's go!"
With his mission pack on his back, Naruto thrust his fist into the air, so excited that he nearly jumped.
This was Team 7's first mission outside Konoha.
Several days of catching Hajikami had bored Naruto out of his mind.
And those cats were hard to catch, too. They liked hiding under vehicle wheels.
The moment a vehicle moved, they turned into flattened kitties on the spot.
Then Naruto had to scrape them up and bring them back to complete the mission.
"Kurama, we're going to show everyone what we can do today!"
"Do whatever you want."
Sasuke walked beside him with his hands in his pockets.
His eyes were still covered with black cloth, and an iron sword he had found in the old Uchiha residence rested on his back.
After all his practice lately, he could now travel normally without using his sight.
Kakashi brought up the rear, engrossed in a little book with a suspicious cover.
Only Sakura diligently checked their medicine, food, and Ninja Tools, making sure they had not forgotten any supplies they would need along the way.
In the middle of the group, Tazuna held his liquor bottle, looking increasingly uneasy.
One shouted and yelled the whole way.
One walked around blindfolded.
The Jonin leading them cared only about reading some indecent book.
The little girl was the only one who looked reliable, but this seemed to be her first time outside the village.
Tazuna took a gloomy swig of liquor.
Could this team really protect him all the way to the Land of Waves?
Before you continue