Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of loud knocks on the door echoed in the quiet night, piercing the stillness.
It wasn't long before the door opened, revealing a pale-faced Mo Yu.
"Who are you?"
Outside the door stood five or six people, all wearing ninja uniforms. The man at the front, with a stern expression, said, "We are from the Konoha Guard Force. I am Captain Uchiha Hiro. We heard some noise here and came to check."
It was well-known that the Konoha Guard Force was essentially the Uchiha clan's private army, so these people were most likely Uchiha clan members.
A cold gleam flashed in Mo Yu's eyes before he calmly said, "Oh, I was just practicing some ninjutsu, and it got out of control for a moment. Cough, cough..."
Uchiha Hiro nodded, "Do you mind if we come in and have a look? As you know, things outside aren't exactly calm, and we're just trying to prevent any accidents."
Mo Yu stepped aside, "Please, go ahead."
"Search!"
Uchiha Hiro waved his hand, and his subordinates rushed into the yard.
Mo Yu watched them, noticing that they seemed to be searching for something with a specific purpose in mind. A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Ten minutes later.
Uchiha Hiro looked somewhat frustrated as he turned to his team, asking, "Find anything?"
All of them shook their heads.
"No, Captain."
Uchiha Hiro's expression darkened slightly. He turned to Mo Yu and said, "Sorry to disturb you. We'll be leaving now."
"Take care, no need to see us off."
Watching them leave, Mo Yu shut the door, his face turning cold.
"Sure enough, something's off. Hasoma Yuichi came to find me tonight, but there must be another motive behind it."
Mo Yu waited for another ten minutes to make sure they had left, then returned to his room.
He stretched out his hand, and with a "Bang!" sound, Yuichi's body appeared out of thin air and dropped to the ground.
When Mo Yu had killed Yuichi earlier, he'd heard footsteps approaching and had no time to deal with the body. Fortunately, with the help of the system, Mo Yu spent one gold coin to exchange for a temporary storage space of one cubic meter, where he hid Yuichi's body.
Temporary Storage Space:
"One gold coin can be exchanged for one cubic meter of space. No living beings can be stored. The duration is unlimited, but items can only be inserted or taken out once."
For a permanent storage space, one cubic meter would require 100 gold coins, which Mo Yu couldn't afford yet.
Mo Yu searched Yuichi's body and found a letter.
Upon opening it, Mo Yu broke out in cold sweat.
It was a spy letter, containing confidential information about Konoha, meant to be delivered to the Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning.
After the First Great Ninja War, the relationship between Konoha and the Cloud Village had become very hostile. It was well known that the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, had been killed by the Cloud Village's Silver and Gold Division, making their enmity deep and unresolvable.
Spies were already an inherently secretive existence, but a spy from the Cloud Village caught in Konoha would be subject to certain death, no matter who their father was— even if their father was the Hokage.
Considering the "timely appearance" of the Uchiha Guard Force earlier, Mo Yu quickly pieced everything together.
This was a trap laid by the Uchiha clan!
Firstly, Yuichi must have had contact with the Uchiha before he arrived. Whether or not he agreed to collaborate with them was unknown. However, it was clear that during their contact, someone from the Uchiha had surreptitiously placed this spy letter on Yuichi.
According to the Uchiha's plan, if Yuichi had succeeded in killing him, that would have been ideal. They could have just sat back, watching him exact his revenge.
But if Yuichi had failed and been killed instead, the Uchiha Guard would have "timely" appeared and "appropriately" found the spy letter on him, placing the blame squarely on Mo Yu's head. They would have added another crime—betraying their people—on top of it all.
As for Yuichi's fate, well, he was bound to die. Even if he didn't, the Uchiha would make sure of it. When it came time to present both human and material evidence, no one would believe Mo Yu's innocence.
It was like the saying: If mud falls into your pants, it's shit, whether you like it or not.
The only thing they didn't anticipate was that Mo Yu would be so quick to "destroy the evidence" and leave no trace, forcing them to leave with their tails between their legs.
"That was ruthless. If I didn't have the system, I would've been done for," Mo Yu thought. "But from the scale of this plot, it doesn't seem like it was something Uchiha Fugaku, that little brat, could have arranged. Could it be that they called in the elders?"
Mo Yu pushed those thoughts aside, deciding to deal with Yuichi's body first.
He set fire to it, reducing it to ashes.
Then, Mo Yu accessed the system, where a prompt appeared.
"Your recharge amount has exceeded 100 gold coins. Would you like to advance to Chunin?"
Upon seeing this, Mo Yu's gloomy mood immediately lightened.
A "head on a platter" delivery — a small token of appreciation, truly!
"Thanks a lot, Yuichi."
Mo Yu mentally thanked him.
After a brief pause, he asked the system, "Can I choose to delay my promotion?"
"Yes, the host can choose when to advance."
"Okay, I'll hold off for now."
Mo Yu had other plans in mind.
Checking his balance, he still had 80 gold coins, so he thanked Yuichi once again.
"System, is there a way to heal my body?"
Mo Yu asked.
After having opened the First and Second Gates of the Eight Gates, Mo Yu was extremely weak now and couldn't even beat an ordinary person.
"10 gold coins to instantly recover all injuries."
"What the hell, this is robbery!"
Mo Yu couldn't help but curse.
But after a moment, he decided to let the system heal him.
If he relied solely on self-healing, it would take at least a week to recover, and that was far too slow. He had no idea what kind of conspiracy the Uchiha might be planning next, and he needed to stay in peak condition at all times.
Looking at his balance drop by 10 gold coins, Mo Yu felt some pain in his heart.
But soon after, he couldn't help but groan in pleasure.
"Ahh!"
Mo Yu felt a warm sensation spreading throughout his body, as though he had just been pulled out of icy water and was now basking in the sun. It felt incredibly comfortable.
In the blink of an eye, the energy he had expended from opening the Eight Gates had been fully restored, and his body was back to its peak state.
"Now this is what it feels like to spend money," Mo Yu sighed in awe.
Looking at the 60 gold coins remaining, Mo Yu decided not to make any more exchanges.
He kept some gold coins on hand, prepared for any sudden situations.
For example, the ability to heal was a life-saving skill, so it was essential to have enough gold coins in reserve.
With that, Mo Yu began researching the "Water Lightning Body Refining Method" in his mind, hoping to strengthen his small body enough to compete with those who specialize in Taijutsu. This way, he could truly unlock the full potential of the Eight Gates technique.