Yagami looked at his own hands.
In the shinobi world, chakra is a curse. The more powerful a person becomes, the more tragic their end. The Senju clan, the Uzumaki clan, the Uchiha clan—none of them met a good end. Bloodline ninja are dissected by researchers; civilian ninja are forced to bow their heads to the strong.
Every shinobi is cursed by chakra, as cycle after cycle of war brings nothing but endless death. Shinobi possess violence, yet they can never truly control it. Many of the world's greatest figures—Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju, and Naruto—saw this darkness. They all tried to change it, yet every one of them failed.
Chakra is a curse. Great personal power is a disaster for others and a curse for oneself. Unless one abandons chakra entirely, there is no answer; this curse will haunt every shinobi until the end.
Flower Deer stepped forward. "Captain, there's a large number of rebel miners. The Cloud sent a full company. The Moon nobles sent fifty samurai and wandering ninja."
Yagami waved a hand dismissively. "Let's go. Today, we cross off the first target in the assassination manual."
Yagami was the first to charge down the mountain. He engaged in a fierce struggle with the Cloud Jonin, Takami. Takami's Lightning Style: Thunder Clap was indeed impressive; he had managed to simplify a four-seal technique into just two.
Once Yagami confirmed Takami's full capabilities, he allowed himself to die at the Jonin's hands.
[Host death detected. Arc of Moon System is initializing...]
He resurrected at the previous full moon.
[Moonrise Arc activated!]
[Host has one resurrection opportunity per month...]
[Reward: One Random Draw...]
From the rewards, Yagami selected Proficiency-level Lightning Style: Thunder Clap, securing a new offensive jutsu for his "White Ghost" persona.
...
Standing once again on the peak in the Land of Moon, Yagami watched the miners being escorted below. He led the Flower Deer squad in a downward charge.
Takami looked up, squinting against the sunlight, and saw several ANBU ninja diving toward them. "Enemy attack!" he bellowed, unsure which village they hailed from.
Yagami glanced aside and saw a young miner taking advantage of the chaos to snatch a katana from a samurai. A flicker of satisfaction rose in Yagami's chest. In this world of curses, there were still those who refused to submit—those who fought back.
'No matter who you are,' Yagami thought,
'I'm here to back you up.'
Takami finished his seals, and a massive spear of lightning erupted from his mouth. The electric glow illuminated his face but failed to dispel the unease in his eyes. Any ANBU bold enough to enter the Land of Moon had to be formidable.
When he finally glimpsed the unique mask beneath the hood, his unease turned to pure terror.
The Leaf's Copper Fox! The man who had survived a strike from the Third Raikage!
Fox vanished into the earth using Earth Style, dodging the lightning spear. Takami felt a chill. Copper Fox was incredibly powerful, yet he refused to engage head-on, choosing instead to submerge and relocate instantly. His combat style was disturbingly erratic.
The lightning spear struck nothing but air. Takami wove seals again, this time for Lightning Style: Earth Flash, sending electricity into the ground to strike his submerged foe.
Just as Takami's hands hit the earth, he heard the whistle of air behind him. Abandoning the jutsu, he scrambled into a desperate roll.
'How is his Underground Projection Jutsu so fast?'
Seeing Takami dodge his kunai strike, Yagami acknowledged that the man earned his Jonin rank; his reflexes were sharp. Yagami transitioned the swipe into a throw. As Takami finished his roll, the kunai followed, burying itself in his lower back.
Takami didn't even stop to pull the blade out. He spun to face Fox, only to see him finishing a single seal.
Water Style: Water Severing Wave!
A high-pressure jet of water shot out, piercing Takami's heart instantly.
The Cloud Jonin had been suppressed from start to finish. He hadn't even been able to use a Substitution or Clone. The reason for the total suppression was the exaggerated speed of Fox's movement. In a mere heartbeat, he had appeared behind his target.
Yagami's "Underground Projection" was a feint; once submerged, he switched to the Mayfly Technique. While the former relied on swimming through soil, Mayfly moved through the organic network of the earth. The speed difference was astronomical. This mobility alone could serve as the core ability for an elite assassination-type Jonin.
As the water jet vanished, blood sprayed from Takami's chest, impossible to staunch.
'I should thank you for the proficiency-level Thunder Clap,' Yagami thought. 'That makes three for the Five-Style Great Combo.' He now had proficient Fire, Wind, and Lightning. He still needed high-impact Earth and Water techniques to complete the set.
While the Fallow Deer squad handled the rest of the Cloud company—all four having unsealed their Cross-Seals to suppress the enemy with coordinated jutsu—Yagami looked toward the valley at the young miner.
The boy's clothes were shredded. His grip on the katana was somewhat professional, but untrained. The blade was too long for him, yet his gaze was unwavering. Faced with five charging samurai, he remained calm, showing a grim determination to find life through death. He had genuine combat talent.
When faced with danger, some people freeze—the "faint" instinct of prey. Others experience an adrenaline surge that heightens their senses. The boy was the latter. Faced with armored, towering samurai, he didn't cower; he lunged.
With raw speed and a reckless style, he drove the long blade precisely into a gap in the samurai's armor. No formal swordsmanship—just pure instinct.
After killing one, another samurai swung at him. The boy tried to pull his sword out, but it was stuck in the armor. He looked up, the smell of the samurai's metal filling his nose as a blade swept toward his throat. Cold air bit at his skin.
At that moment, a kunai whistled through the air.
It buried itself in the samurai's wrist. Blood sprayed, and the man lost his grip. Seeing the opening, the boy didn't bother with his stuck sword; he snatched the falling katana from the wounded samurai and drove it into another gap in the man's plating.
The other samurai nearby faltered, their courage failing. They looked at the battle between the ninja on the hillside, exchanged glances, and fled. Their Cloud Jonin leader was dead; the mission was over.
The young miner looked up at the mountain peak. That kunai had come from the ninja in the fox mask.
'So strong...' The boy thought, then turned and sprinted toward his bound companions to cut them loose.