Goal: Chidori!

The night wind blew, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

Yet Uesugi Sasuke felt no cold.

The power of the Great Fireball had set his heart surging, but the weakness from having his chakra drained had also sounded a warning.

Having a powerful trump card without a body capable of sustaining its cost was fatal.

He needed a more conventional, more efficient means of attack with a more reasonable cost.

[Chidori].

It was his only choice at present.

He was still 200 points short.

That meant he needed to kill at least two more demons.

Sasuke wasted no time. After recovering a little strength by the river, he immediately asked the system for the next target's location.

[Northeast, five kilometers away, in an abandoned village in a mountain hollow.]

With directions in hand, he set off immediately.

This time, he was even more cautious than before.

He pushed his basic ninja stealth techniques to their limits, moving silently through the forest like a shadow that had merged with the night.

In less than half an hour, he reached the abandoned village.

The village was small, with only a dozen or so households. Most of the houses had collapsed, looking eerie and sinister in the moonlight.

Sasuke did not rush inside.

He circled the outskirts of the village to scout it out and soon discovered some fresh blood in front of a relatively intact house.

Rather than approaching directly, he first quickly laid several simple traps along the routes around the house that anyone passing through would have to take.

Tripwires made from the steel wire he carried, and animal traps camouflaged with branches and vines.

Only after finishing all this did he creep onto the roof like a wildcat, lift a tile, and look inside.

Inside the house, a gaunt, lanky demon was gnawing on a wild boar's carcass.

This demon did not look as muscular as the last one, but its limbs were unusually long, and its nails were as sharp as blades.

Sasuke judged that this was probably a speed-type demon.

He had only one chance at a surprise attack.

He did not choose to attack from behind, because he was unsure how quickly it could react.

He chose to create an opening.

Sasuke took a small stone from his ninja tool pouch, calculated the angle, and threw it toward the wall on the other side of the house.

Tap.

The stone struck the wooden wall with a faint sound.

The feeding demon paused, then abruptly raised its head and looked warily toward the sound.

It let out a low growl, abandoned its food, and dropped onto all fours, scuttling rapidly in that direction like a giant spider.

An opening!

Sasuke immediately jumped down from the roof and landed soundlessly.

He did not give chase, but waited quietly where he was.

A few seconds later.

"Aargh!"

The demon's scream came from the other end of the village.

It had stepped into the animal trap he had set.

Sasuke moved.

He sprinted at full speed, reaching the demon while it was still struggling to escape the trap.

The kunai in his hand became a streak of cold light, slicing precisely across its neck.

This time, there was no resistance.

A head flew into the air.

[Ding! Kill successful. Gained 100 revenge points.]

Sasuke watched the demon turn to ash, his face expressionless.

Compared to the peril of the first encounter, this hunt had been easy and efficient.

This was the power of intelligence and skill.

He was still 100 points short.

Without resting or even cleaning the blood off himself, he immediately set out for the next target.

The flames of revenge urged him onward, allowing him not a moment's pause.

The third target was in a cave in a mountain ravine.

This demon was more cunning. It seemed able to smell humans, and Sasuke was discovered as soon as he approached the cave entrance.

A beastlike demon covered in stiff black hair charged out of the cave with a roar.

Sasuke immediately retreated, maneuvering around it through the forest.

This demon's strength and defense far exceeded those of the previous two. Shuriken striking its body could leave only white marks.

Sasuke knew that fighting it head-on was not the answer.

During one dodge, he deliberately left an opening, allowing the demon's claws to graze his arm and leave several bloody scratches.

Then he turned and ran.

Smelling blood, the demon grew even more frenzied and chased after him without a second thought.

Sasuke lured it to the edge of a steep cliff.

He abruptly stopped and turned to face the charging demon.

Thinking he was about to fight for his life, the demon let out an excited roar and picked up even more speed.

Just as the two were about to collide.

The ground beneath Sasuke's feet suddenly collapsed.

It was a pit trap carefully concealed with leaves and loose soil, its bottom lined with sharpened wooden stakes.

Sasuke, meanwhile, used a steel wire he had prepared in advance to swing from the edge of the pit to the other side.

Unable to stop its momentum, the demon plunged headfirst into it.

Squelch! Squelch!

Several wooden stakes pierced its body, leaving it unable to move.

Sasuke gave it no chance. He stepped forward and cleanly severed its neck with the kunai in his hand.

[Ding! Kill successful. Gained 100 revenge points.]

[Revenge points have reached 300. Unlock skill: Chidori?]

"Unlock!"

Sasuke did not hesitate.

The instant he confirmed, a torrent of information even more violent than when he had unlocked the Great Fireball surged into his brain.

It was the ultimate understanding of the nature transformation of lightning release chakra.

It was the method for taking chakra shape transformation to its limit and forming a high-intensity electric current in his hand.

Countless images flashed through his mind.

Forming hand seals, molding, compressing, releasing.

Everything became the most deeply ingrained instinct.

Sasuke slowly opened his right hand.

He could feel the free ions in the air seemingly gathering toward his palm.

He closed his eyes and willed it.

Bzz... bzzz...

Faint blue arcs of electricity began dancing in his palm, giving off a clear sound like a thousand birds chirping.