Under the night sky, the Eight-Tails, glowing crimson all over, lashed its eight octopus tails wildly.
The entire Kumogakure encampment was thrown into chaos.
Gekko Chizan and Tagitsuhime stood far off, observing the battle.
"Damn, Kumogakure's base in the Land of Hot Water is finished."
"Tagitsuhime-sama, you're truly ruthless... but I gotta admit, that was beautifully done."
Just as Gekko Chizan was sighing in awe, a notification suddenly chimed.
[Ding! Detected that the host, acting on the principle of never letting a grudge go unavenged, launched a nighttime raid on the Kumogakure base, used Genjutsu to torment the Raikage's son A, and left a lasting impression and hatred among a hundred Kumogakure shinobi. Special reward: Second Kekkei Genkai fusion progress: 10% (Current progress: 100%)]
[Ding! Host's second Kekkei Genkai progress complete. Special reward granted: Second Kekkei Genkai.]
[Ding! Kekkei Genkai mission triggered. Host must complete the following tasks to activate the second Kekkei Genkai.]
[Ding! Ding! Ding! Mission issued!]
Holy crap, just from watching the battle, the second Kekkei Genkai is already done?
Gekko Chizan was overjoyed. What he lacked the most right now was offense—he had means to flee, to go invisible, and to cause trouble, but not to hit hard. He couldn't keep relying on the Thousand Years of Death forever.
Sure, it worked well, but it wasn't exactly a high-level technique.
With hopeful anticipation, Gekko Chizan opened the system panel, but the moment he saw the mission details, he was dumbfounded.
"System, you're not joking, are you...."
[Ding! Absolutely not. Please complete the mission as soon as possible to unlock the second Kekkei Genkai.]
Looking at the mission on the system panel, Gekko Chizan felt utterly targeted by the system....
The mission... how should he put it... made his scalp tingle. It was practically a death sentence!
Mission to unlock the second Kekkei Genkai:
Kekkei Genkai are rare techniques developed by only a few shinobi. Once successfully created, they are recorded in the ninja's genes and passed on to the next generation.
Such a powerful bloodline technique can be yours... for the low, low price of a five hundred million ryō deposit.
System really is something else. Just opens its mouth and says five hundred million. Where the hell was he supposed to find that kind of money?
He'd stolen so much gold dust from Rasa, and that had only made him a few tens of millions.
"System, are you messing with me? Five hundred million just like that???"
[Ding! Indeed. It's only five hundred million. Please complete the mission soon.]
Gekko Chizan was stunned speechless. He couldn't even focus on the epic battle unfolding before him.
Is a Kekkei Genkai valuable? Yes. But five hundred million ryō? That's way too much.
Wait a minute, the system said "deposit" of five hundred million? Oh, that's not so—screw that! A deposit of five hundred million? He'd have to hustle for a lifetime!
[Ding! Host, do not forget this system's guiding principle!]
[As long as the host completes the mission, this system guarantees the new Kekkei Genkai will be far stronger than your Transparent Release!]
Guiding principle? More like abandon humanity. But even so...
A thought crossed Gekko Chizan's mind. Right, he's already Number Six. Does a Number Six need to earn money the proper way?
With that, countless schemes flashed through his mind—methods that completely disregarded his bottom line!
And they'd all earn money fast!
With an idea forming, five hundred million didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.
Besides, he already had four nature transformations: Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth.
His Transparent Release was a fusion of Fire and Earth—burning earth into glass, making it transparent.
Surely this new Kekkei Genkai would be stronger than Transparent Release. So many possibilities!
Wind + Water = Ice Release? Fire + Earth = Lava Release? Both are excellent Kekkei Genkai.
Gekko Chizan was thrilled.
"Hey hey, Gekko Chizan, what are you smiling about?"
"The Eight-Tails is being suppressed!"
What?
Tagitsuhime's words snapped Gekko Chizan out of his fantasies.
Opening his bug-eyes to peer into the distance, just as Tagitsuhime had said...
The battlefield was completely segmented, with massive rubber restraints binding the Eight-Tails.
These rubber restraints came from Dodai. Though he'd been unconscious, the Eight-Tails' roar woke him up, and he immediately joined the suppression effort.
Looking at the Eight-Tails now... Hmm...
The rampaging Eight-Tails was being... beaten by a rampaging...
Rampaging A???
What the hell? Was he seeing things?
A's eyes were glowing red, his body surrounded by lightning. The arcs of lightning slithered like snakes around his body.
Every punch he threw stirred up massive surges of electricity.
Even with its thick skin, the Eight-Tails was being gradually pushed back.
"What the hell happened to him? And what's with that lightning on him??"
If A was a humanoid dinosaur before, now he was a humanoid Ultraman, and the Eight-Tails was the poor little monster getting beat to hell.
"He wasn't like that at first, but after the Eight-Tails shouted something, he went berserk."
"What did the Eight-Tails shout?"
Gekko Chizan was curious. By all logic, the one going berserk should've been the Eight-Tails, so what the hell did it say to trigger A?
Tagitsuhime gave Gekko Chizan a meaningful look, then slowly uttered words.
"Thousand Years of Death...."
Oh. That explains it. No wonder he went berserk.
The Thousand Years of Death had left a serious trauma on A, especially after coming out of that terrifying Genjutsu.
"You little brat. You look so proper, but when you strike, you're as shameless as they come."
"Even using the Thousand Years of Death."
Gekko Chizan completely ignored Tagitsuhime's jabs.
She didn't understand the power of Thousand Years of Death. Once its damage multiplier reached 50%, whoever it hit would be on their knees singing surrender.
"We should go. With all this noise, Tsunade and the others will definitely notice. They're probably already on their way."
The Eight-Tails' rampage was way too loud, and the Fire Country border wasn't that far.
And it wasn't just the noise. The tailed beast was huge and easily visible, even at night. Plus, the monstrous chakra—it was impossible to ignore.
Tagitsuhime nodded and casually said, "Then I'll head back. Don't call me out at night again, don't you know beauty sleep is important?"
"Hah? You're a snake."
"So what? Snakes can't have beauty sleep? Hmph! Stupid brat!"
Tagitsuhime dissolved into mist, ending the Coiling Serpent Technique and vanishing from sight.
With the snake woman gone, Chōmei immediately reappeared.
"Hahaha! Chizan kid, you're something else! The damn Eight-Tails went berserk again and got its ass kicked! I'm dying here!"
Hearing Chōmei's gleeful voice, Gekko Chizan smirked.
Then he activated Transparent Release and ran toward the Land of Fire.
He didn't get far before he saw Shirakumo, and several Konoha shinobi running toward the Kumogakure base.
They were probably going to investigate the Eight-Tails incident.
Gekko Chizan didn't reveal himself. Instead, he used Flying Thunder God to teleport directly to the camp.
When he returned, the place was ablaze with lights.
He slipped into a secluded corner, dispelled Transparent Release, and went straight to his tent.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw Tsunade waiting for him.
"Kid, where have you been all night?"
"Hmph! I knew you were up to no good. Tell me—did the Eight-Tails rampage have anything to do with you?"
Gekko Chizan broke out in a cold sweat, thinking: Damn, the Eight-Tails rampage really did cause a chain reaction...