Skills and Magic

Ye Uchiha thought he could just barely qualify for the profession of "Hero," but since he did not possess a Legendary Weapon like Naofumi Iwatani and the others, he could not unlock the skill panel. He could only learn magic.

As mentioned earlier, there were two ways to learn magic. The first was through diligent study, and whether one learned it well depended on one's aptitude for magic. This reminded Ye Uchiha of wading through mountains of books and oceans of practice questions for the college entrance exam in his previous life. He recognized every word on the page, yet once they were strung together, he could not understand a thing.

The second was to spend money on a Magic Crystal and imprint the magic sealed within it directly into one's mind. This was the quickest, most convenient method, requiring no effort spent learning this world's writing system or magical formulas.

As long as one could afford it, the problem was solved. Such was the eternal truth: "Pay to get stronger. No money? Then fuck off."

As a certified academic failure, Ye Uchiha would rather fight a well-equipped ninja unit than endure this world's version of those grueling exam-prep workbooks. Besides, selling the Subdragon's corpse had left him with a decent amount of savings. If all else failed, he could simply buy a few Magic Crystals.

As the old saying went, anything money could solve was no problem at all.

He chose to use the Demon Crystal, and the purple crystal crumbled into dust and vanished.

A skill tree composed of countless icons appeared on an interface the size of a browser window. With a clear chime, one of the skull icons lit up, followed by a notification.

New magic unlocked.

[Netherworld Type · Undead's Eulogy]

Undead's Eulogy: Summon three LV15 Undead Familiars to serve you. While the familiars remain active, they consume 25 SP and 30 MP per minute. Once the familiars are killed or recalled, the cooldown is six hours. Demon Crystals can be used to strengthen, level up, and advance this magic.

Ye Uchiha's SP and MP had both exceeded two thousand, enough to maintain the three ghosts for a little over an hour.

Summoning magic. I can use them as lackeys, but their level is far too low-only LV15. Even ordinary militia with a little training could kill them. With that kind of strength, they can only bully ordinary people.

Ye Uchiha pondered as he read the magic's description in the information panel.

He lightly waved his hand, and a black magic circle lit up. Three gray, humanoid ghosts with indistinct faces appeared before him. Their claws were long and slender like daggers, and they had no lower bodies, floating in the air instead. Their blank faces showed not a trace of emotion, like unfeeling machines.

Ye Uchiha reached out and poked one of the ghosts he had summoned.

Hmm, soft. As soft as cotton. It feels like I could poke a huge hole through it if I pushed a little harder.

Judging by the sensation against his skin, it was cold and damp, heavy and oppressive. It felt like standing in a dark, musty cave during a downpour, with a venomous viper beside him, flicking its tongue and watching him with a cold, predatory gaze. The atmosphere was unbearable.

"Is this... a soul?"

Princess Kaguya walked over to Ye Uchiha, her flawless, luminous white eyes studying the ghosts curiously.

In the Naruto World, people entered the underworld's Pure Land after death and could not remain among the living. Even figures as powerful as Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju could not defy that law.

There were exceptions, of course. After his death, the Sage of Six Paths had relied on his remaining chakra to wander the world, clinging to existence as he observed developments in the Shinobi World. Even so, he could not intervene directly. He could only awaken Yin-Yang Release in Sasuke and Naruto so they could seal Princess Kaguya.

Princess Kaguya had seen mortal souls being drawn into the underworld's Pure Land after death. She had also used her Byakugan to peer into it.

It was a chaotic realm forbidden to life, a resting place for the souls of the dead. There was no such thing as reincarnation. Once someone died, they were truly gone, their soul sleeping forever in the underworld's Pure Land without consciousness.

After observing them for a short while, Princess Kaguya withdrew her gaze, her interest fading. She cut straight to the truth. "They have no consciousness. At most, they are merely unusual puppets."

Ye Uchiha nodded slightly and gave Princess Kaguya a surprised look, taken aback by her keen insight.

"Is this thy power as a 'Hero'? Wielding strange arts-the magic of this world?"

Ye Uchiha had previously told Princess Kaguya about his status as a Hero and some basic facts about this world, including magic.

At first, Princess Kaguya had scoffed at it. No matter how powerful these skills and spells were, could they surpass her Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack or All-Killing Ash Bones?

Only later, as she traveled with Ye Uchiha and encountered various spells, did she discover that although these arts could not compare with her own abilities, they offered an astonishing variety. Some could even strengthen the user or weaken an enemy.

This sparked the ever-proud Princess Kaguya's curiosity about this other world's magic, along with a strong desire to learn it.

She was indeed the strongest, but there was no denying that Princess Kaguya wanted to become stronger still. Just like billionaires, who never complained about having too much wealth and instead considered themselves "too poor."

"That's right. This is the magic I just unlocked with that purple crystal," Ye Uchiha replied.

"I, too, wish to learn magic."

Princess Kaguya stared at Ye Uchiha with her flawless white eyes, as though she were stating something perfectly natural.

"Huh?" Ye Uchiha looked at Princess Kaguya in astonishment. He had never expected this supremely arrogant progenitor, unrivaled in the Shinobi World, to lower herself to learning magic.

Princess Kaguya kept her gaze fixed on Ye Uchiha, suddenly making him feel an enormous weight of pressure.

Scratching the back of his head, Ye Uchiha said, "All right. Once we get back to the Capital, I'll buy you a few magic books to read."

Princess Kaguya gave a soft acknowledgment, then returned to her usual cold, aloof demeanor and said nothing more.

After spending the past few days with her, Ye Uchiha had grown accustomed to Princess Kaguya's chilly disposition and took no offense.

The Ogre corpses were worth very little, and Ye Uchiha did not want to waste extra effort for a few copper coins. After all, he was now a wealthy man worth over a million.

So he piled the Ogre corpses together and burned them to ashes with a Great Fireball Technique, then used Water Release to wash away the blood and ashes around them.

After sweeping through the mine and confirming that no Ogres remained, he returned to Rhode Town to turn in the quest.

With the Old Town Chief's gratitude and a commission of several dozen silver coins, they boarded a traveling merchant's Philo Bird carriage and set off back toward the Capital.