Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The knocking wasn't loud, but each sound was like the swing of a reaper's scythe, striking Crane's heart again and again.
The acrid stench of blood and the foul musk of serpents hadn't yet faded from the room. The air was thick, foul, and suffocating.
It was Kakashi.
Crane's [Byakugan Insight] had already locked onto the silver-haired figure standing outside the door. His mind didn't panic, instead, it kicked into extreme overdrive. In less than a second, he activated the remnants of Orochimaru's sinister chakra still lingering inside him and fused it with the genjutsu knowledge he inherited from the Third Hokage's legacy. A perfect script took shape in his mind.
Like black ink dropped into clear water, the chakra poisoned the entire atmosphere of the room.
Crane collapsed heavily onto the floor, his body convulsing violently.
Boom!
The door exploded inward with a thunderous kick, shards of splintered wood flying everywhere. Kakashi stood in the doorway, Sharingan glowing warily in the gloom, until his gaze fell on what lay before him, and his pupils narrowed sharply.
Crane was sprawled in a pool of blood and debris, oozing dark crimson fluid from his nose, ears, eyes, and mouth. His body was wrapped in a shroud of purple chakra, visibly evil, sinister, like a curse clinging to bone.
His limbs twisted unnaturally, as though he were being tortured by forces no human should endure.
"Monster… s-snake… ate me…" Crane mumbled incoherently, voice slurred, eyes glassy and full of primal terror, as if his mind had been completely shattered.
He portrayed the image of a poor soul, a victim left behind after being consumed by Orochimaru's cursed power, down to the finest detail.
The sharp gleam in Kakashi's eyes slowly faded.
He stepped forward, knelt down, and pressed two fingers to Crane's neck.
His chakra gently probed inward, carefully scanning.
Physically, Crane showed no fatal injuries. But mentally, his spiritual field was in utter disarray, ravaged and riddled with holes by a corrosive, alien chakra.
Sharingan confirmed it without doubt.
This was a textbook case of Curse Mark backlash.
Kakashi let out a soft breath and finally released the last traces of suspicion in his heart.
So it wasn't an act. It wasn't calculation. Just pure, rotten luck… Crane had been caught in the crossfire of Orochimaru's lingering trap.
A strange wave of sympathy stirred in Kakashi's heart for this lower-ranked genin, who somehow always managed to be present at the center of major events.
"Medical team! We need urgent mental healing and enforced recovery!" Kakashi barked toward the waiting ANBU outside.
Exactly what Crane needed.
This "diagnosis" became the perfect cover for his next move.
As medical ninja carried his "unconscious" body away on a stretcher and Kakashi's figure disappeared from view, Crane's consciousness immediately dove into the system space.
His personal feast, was only just beginning.
The reward for killing Orochimaru far exceeded anything he'd dared hope for.
[Background Level Upgraded! Current Level: Lv.2!]
[Points Gained: 80,000!]
On the system panel, golden icons glittered row upon row, each one humming with power.
[Living Corpse Reincarnation (Incomplete)]: Allows host to seize another's body as a vessel, but due to missing core technique, there's a high risk of rejection.
[Curse Mark Power (Customizable)]: Allows host to create and apply personalized curse marks on others.
[Summoning Contract: Manda (Lesser Tier)]: Grants secondary access to Ryuchi Cave, permitting the summoning of Manda.
Crane's heart pounded with excitement as he browsed through these powerful new skills.
But the real surprise came with the level-up itself.
[Ding! Background Level has reached Lv.2. Core Privilege Unlocked!]
[Level 2 Privilege: World Travel!]
A vast, illusory star map unfolded in Crane's mind.
Glowing points pulsed across the cosmic grid, flickering like breathing embers. Each light was a world he knew intimately.
One Piece. Bleach. Dragon Ball...
As his blood surged with anticipation, a blood-red alert window suddenly popped up with brutal force, filling his entire vision.
[WARNING: You have slain a major narrative character (Orochimaru). The "Will of the Naruto World" has issued a maximum-level rejection!]
[Erasure Countdown: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 47 seconds.]
[Upon expiry, you will be forcibly erased by World Law. Irreversible.]
The chill of imminent death instantly doused Crane's ecstasy.
He had twenty-four hours.
Twenty-four hours to leave this world.
But he didn't choose to escape right away.
A cold smirk curled his lips.
Before he left, he wanted to leave a final "gift" for this world that sought to expel him.
With a single thought, he activated the newly acquired [Curse Mark Power].
Somewhere in a dark alley of Konoha, a seemingly ordinary grass snake stiffened, a glint of eerie violet flickering in its eyes. Hissing softly, it slithered unseen into the brightly lit Hokage Tower and slipped a piece of coded intelligence into a hidden compartment inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's former office.
The contents of that scroll pointed directly to the years-long covert dealings between Shimura Danzo and the traitor Orochimaru.
When Crane left, he wanted the waters of Konoha to become even murkier.
After setting this trap, just as he was about to select his destination, Crane's still-activated Byakugan suddenly detected movement.
Dozens of cold, dead chakra signatures had silently encircled his house like ghosts, locking down the perimeter.
Leading them was none other than Danzo's most loyal right hand.
Clearly, Danzo had sensed something off about Orochimaru's demise and had come to "clean up" the last living witness.
The crisis had arrived.
Crane no longer hesitated.
His eyes swept over the starmap and locked onto one glowing point, the one marked by a skull in a straw hat.
One Piece.
A world of freedom, adventure, and endless sea.
No chakra sensors. No Byakugan.
For a "background character"… it was paradise.
As he made his choice, the system's icy voice rang out:
[World Coordinate Locked: One Piece]
[Warning: First-time traversal will consume 99% of chakra and stamina. Landing location is random.]
[Estimated Survival Probability: 37%]
[Proceed with traversal?]
Outside, Root ninja were finishing their seals. A destructive Earth Style technique was moments from being unleashed.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter