The pay-to-win class, Soul Reaper, unlocked an energy bar called spiritual pressure after the Class Change.
It came with a top-tier weapon, a Zanpakutō, making it an extremely powerful class that crushed the three main classes in the early game.
In the late game, game balance meant there was actually little difference between the major classes.
The region corresponding to Soul Reapers was the Land of Demons, where Soul Reaper-exclusive skills and the growth weapon Zanpakutō dropped.
Zanpakutō had no class restrictions, but they only dropped from farming the Land of Demons boss, Yomi, who hosted Moryo.
To farm a Zanpakutō, he would either have to wait until the timeline reached that point or arrange for someone to accept Moryo himself.
The second black-and-white image showed a man with flames coming from both hands, facing a giant dragon.
The pay-to-win class, Mage, gained an energy bar called magic power after the Class Change.
It also came with the top-tier skill Dragon Slayer Magic.
Its item and skill drops were associated with Iwagakure, though he had no idea what connection Iwagakure had to Mages.
But that was how the game was designed.
Still, that had little to do with Hyuga Akira. Without spending money, those two classes were unavailable to him.
"If I could use Class Change to become a Soul Reaper, I could probably undo the Caged Bird Seal too." Hyuga Akira sighed.
Besides, the Soul Reaper class was quite powerful in the early game. Its skills were just hard to farm, since they only dropped from the terracotta soldiers in the Land of Demons.
While browsing the game forums, he had also heard that the game had originally planned to introduce the Dragon Ball Warrior class, but the game company had abandoned it because it disrupted the setting and balance too much.
There were, however, some new classes that would only become available during the open beta.
The game announcements mentioned only two: Swordsman and Jujutsu Sorcerer.
The former's class skills could already be farmed during the closed beta, and they were not even class-restricted. Jujutsu Sorcerer was still being designed. Supposedly, there were places in the game where its drops could be obtained, but they had not been revealed.
The guides he had read did not mention them either.
After looking through the five classes, Hyuga Akira selected Hunter with a thought.
[Class Change to Hunter: yes or no]
"Yes."
[Class Change quest activated] [Complete the Class Change quest within the time limit. Failure will result in the loss of the Hunter class]
Hyuga Akira: "???"
Wasn't the quest system gone already? Why had it popped up again?
He had been happily anticipating his Class Change. What was going on now?
Hyuga Akira saw a quest tab appear on the panel before him.
[Class Change quest: complete the Hunter Exam within one month.]
Hyuga Akira: "???"
Where had this Hunter Exam come from? He knew Class Changes involved quests, but he really knew little about that aspect. He had only paid attention to information about item drops and such.
Where was he supposed to go to complete the Hunter Exam!!!
This was the world of Naruto, not Hunter x Hunter!!
"Teacher, what's wrong?" Seeing Hyuga Akira's furious expression, Nagato could not help asking curiously.
Hyuga Akira took a deep breath and said, "Nothing."
He glanced ahead. They were already quite close to Nagato's home. "Your home isn't far now. Go back on your own. I'm leaving first."
Now the game system was giving him trouble.
He had to go back and see what was going on.
If he couldn't use Class Change, he couldn't undo the Caged Bird Seal and would be unable to escape the Main Family's control. That would be a devastating blow to his plans.
With no time to say more, he turned and left.
Watching Hyuga Akira's departing figure disappear, Nagato opened his mouth, then scratched his head in confusion.
"Did I do something to upset Teacher?"
Hyuga Akira returned to the High Tower and plunged straight into his room.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he frowned and began studying the panel before him.
"How am I supposed to do this quest? Where am I supposed to take the Hunter Exam?"
He could not help asking the panel aloud.
Unfortunately, the panel did not even have artificial stupidity, much less anything capable of answering him.
He could only turn his attention to the quest prompt. Soon, the quest tab changed again.
[Begin the Hunter Exam: yes or no]
"Does this mean it's going to send me to another world again?" Hyuga Akira sank into thought.
If he traveled to another world again, it would have a major impact on his future, but the key question was how time would work.
If time passed at the same rate, it would affect his situation in Amegakure.
Tomorrow, he was supposed to go with Murakami Hana to meet Hanzo. Hanzo was an important figure to all of Amegakure. If he did not go along this time, he might not get such a good opportunity again.
"I'll leave it for now and deal with it after meeting Hanzo." Hyuga Akira gritted his teeth and did not immediately accept.
He had a month, anyway.
He would meet Hanzo first, then ask for some time off. For now, all sides were in a strangely quiet phase, so disappearing for a while would not affect him too much.
"Why didn't they put some artificial stupidity in the game?"
Hyuga Akira felt somewhat frustrated. That way, he could get answers to basic questions instead of being left so helpless.
He checked the leveling system. It was unaffected for now, so there was no problem if Hyuga Akira wanted to level up.
"Everything can wait until I meet Hanzo."
Chapter 64: Finally going to meet Lord Hanzo
The next morning.
Seeing Hyuga Akira, Murakami Hana asked curiously, "Who upset you this time? Why the long face? Have you forgotten how to smile?"
Hyuga Akira used to always wear a smile, though it looked somewhat sinister, as if he might attack anyone he looked at.
Now Hyuga Akira's face was as cold as ice, as if someone owed him several million ryo.
Forgotten how to smile, my ass.
Hyuga Akira looked at Murakami Hana expressionlessly and asked, "When are we leaving?"
He had originally planned to use Class Change right away, only to be suddenly told he had to complete a quest—and that quest might involve traveling to another world.
Who could be happy about that?
His previously cheerful mood had plummeted straight to rock bottom.
If he could beat Murakami Hana, he really would have liked to show the man what he could do and vent some of his anger along the way.
What do you mean, forgotten how to smile, you bastard?
He, Hyuga Akira, had never been someone who loved smiling.
"We can leave now." Murakami Hana shrugged.
He had learned all the basic facts about Muyu. As for whatever remained hidden, he truly could not dig it out.
Perhaps only Kusen, who was already dead, knew.
But he had no desire to go ask Kusen. He had not lived long enough yet.
"Let's go." Murakami Hana glanced at the fat ninja, who was pretending to be busy.
"Wait a moment." Hyuga Akira walked over to the fat ninja.
He could feel the man give a distinct shudder.
Hyuga Akira had originally wanted to smile to put him at ease, but he really could not manage it. He could only pat the fat ninja's face with a hollow smile.
"I'll come back to see you when I have time."
The fat ninja looked ready to cry. His body was now covered in bandages, all thanks to Hyuga Akira.
He was leaving, yet he still wanted to come back? Did he have to hold such a grudge?
But Hyuga Akira was not holding a grudge. This was an outright threat.
After all, Nagato still lived in this city. Although Hyuga Akira did not know whether Madara Uchiha had set his sights on Nagato yet, he did not want to leave behind a threat to him.
As long as he was alive, the fat ninja would never dare do anything to Nagato.
This was insurance for Nagato.
Over time, the threat would weaken, but if the fat ninja wanted to do anything to Nagato by then...
Madara Uchiha would probably have plenty to say to him.
They had far fewer scruples.
Murakami Hana watched everything Hyuga Akira did without commenting.
In Amegakure, status and strength determined what was right.
As long as your status was high and your fists were strong, everyone had to submit.
Struggle was the rule they lived by in Amegakure.
The two left the city, and Murakami Hana led Hyuga Akira swiftly through the woods.
Hyuga Akira secretly activated his Byakugan and discovered that their route kept winding around. In several places, they even circled the same spot twice. This was a way to obscure the route.
Murakami Hana simply led Hyuga Akira in circles, showing no intention of explaining.
Hyuga Akira did not ask any questions either. He merely kept his Byakugan active and silently memorized the route.
The Byakugan's penetrating vision allowed him to quickly understand the terrain, while the powerful memory he had gained after transmigrating allowed him to remember the route.
It had no effect on him at all. Any other ninja would have long since been left disoriented by Murakami Hana's winding route.
Recalling Hanzo's caution in the original story, Hyuga Akira had expected something like this.
A journey that should have taken only two days at their speed was stretched out by another three days by Murakami Hana.
Moreover, their route stayed entirely within the forest. Anyone else would have completely lost their bearings by now.
Especially since Murakami Hana had repeatedly taken out a map along the way to check.
You can't remember the route either, can you!!!
Only on the fifth day did Murakami Hana lead Hyuga Akira out of the forest. He looked at Hyuga Akira and took out a strip of black cloth.
"You can't see the road ahead."
The black cloth would have no effect on him at all, but Hyuga Akira had no intention of revealing that. He took it and began tying it over his eyes, asking curiously as he did, "Aren't we going to Amegakure? Do we need to be this careful?"
Although ninja villages were relatively secluded, their locations were not exactly secrets. Anyone with some ability generally knew where they were.
Even though Hyuga Akira had never lived here, he knew Amegakure's approximate location.
Murakami Hana said meaningfully, "Don't you want to meet Lord Hanzo? This route takes us to Lord Hanzo."
Although they were indeed heading toward Amegakure, the place where Hanzo was hiding was actually just relatively close to it.
Hyuga Akira nodded. Even after the black cloth covered his eyes, his Byakugan could still see his surroundings clearly.
He saw Murakami Hana wind a wire around one of Hyuga Akira's hands, then lead him from the front with the wire to guide his way.
The two made several more large loops before reaching a cave in the forest.
But rather than enter the cave, they opened a concealed door beside it.
Before you continue