The battlefield burned like hell itself had opened its gates. Fire, explosions, screams, sobbing—it was a choir of misery. All the Hyūga Coalition's pride and precision had drowned beneath the Three Tails' rampage.
Three thousand ninja had marched in with banners flying. Barely a thousand stumbled away—half-dead, screaming, or fleeing through the mud. The rest were ash and bone.
The tide had turned so completely it almost felt unfair.
"...It's over."
Amamiya Raizen stood atop the Three Tails' armored head, its body still wreathed in smoke and chakra steam. His voice was flat, almost tired. From this height, the once-mighty army looked like insects crawling through the wreckage. Those who hadn't died ran. Those who couldn't run... didn't move at all.
He exhaled, gaze heavy. "Three thousand men... crushed by one bastard with bad eyes. Guess that's my resume now."
He raised his hand, and the beast vanished in a cloud of chakra smoke. His Mangekyō Sharingan flickered, vision doubling as the strain hit him like a kunai through the skull.
"...Damn it." His voice was hoarse. "Should've known the hangover would be this bad."
The world swayed in pairs—two suns, two horizons, two corpses for every one. Raizen clenched his jaw, forcing his way down the mountain of corpses as his vision blurred.
A rustle from the grass made the nearby Konoha troops spin into a guard stance. Then they saw him—bloodied, pale, eyes still faintly glowing red—and froze.
"Raizen-sama!" Inuzuka Daisaku sprinted over, grabbing his arm before he fell.
"The Hyūga Coalition's done," Raizen muttered, forcing each word out between breaths. "Get a cleanup squad out there—finish off the wounded, recover what's ours. Don't let any of those bastards crawl home."
"Yes, sir!"
Daisaku barked orders, pulling together a five-hundred-man team and sending them back into the inferno. Medics moved in, pressing salve to Raizen's temples, but he waved them off.
"Save your chakra. I'm not dying from eye strain."
They led him back to camp. He didn't even bother pretending to rest. When they left, he slumped onto a stool, clutching his face.
"Damn... this is bad," he muttered. The tent swam before his eyes. It wasn't just exhaustion—the world itself was splitting in two.
Ever since awakening the Mangekyō, he'd burned through his pupil power like a gambler chasing one last win. Susanoo, Amaterasu, and now the control over the Three Tails—each one a coin tossed into an empty purse.
His chakra was fine. His sight... not so much.
"Senju Hashirama's cells? Yeah, right. As if I could just shop for those." He snorted, half-laugh, half-groan. "Guess it's time to rely on my stupid System again."
[Super Achievement System Activated]
Two silver achievements glowed faintly, one gold flickering beside them.
"Alright, let's see what the loot gods have for me."
He tapped the silver icons. Two treasure chests appeared before him with a soft ding.
"Do you wish to open the treasure chest?"
"Yes."
The first chest rattled, burst open, and light spilled out. A white, wind-wreathed shuriken hovered in front of him.
[Acquired: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken]
"S-rank ninjutsu, huh?" Raizen smirked. "Not bad. Guess the gacha isn't rigged today."
The second chest wasn't so kind. A dull B-rank Earth Style scroll fell out. He sighed. "Typical. RNG giveth, RNG throweth mud."
He leaned back, massaging his temples. Between his clan's ninjutsu library and his System's constant drops, he probably had more techniques than sense.
"Now... let's see what the gold chest's hiding."
The golden icon pulsed. He'd gotten a few before—gifts of pure chaos. Detonating Clay, Dust Release, Ice Release... power that could level armies. Not bad for a guy who used to fill spreadsheets.
He tapped the gold.
"Open it."
The light flared—bright enough to make him squint. When it dimmed, something floated before him. A pair of pure white eyes.
[Acquired: Byakugan]
For a second, Raizen just stared. Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face.
"Sharingan, Byakugan... two out of three. What's next, a punch card reward for collecting all ocular tragedies?"
The System's voice interrupted his amusement.
[Another kekkei genkai detected. Overwrite existing eyes?]
Raizen blinked. "Wait—overwrite? The hell does that mean?"
[Only one ocular lineage may be stored. Installing Byakugan will erase Sharingan.]
He stared at the hovering eyes. His grin cracked.
"Cheating system! You wait until after the drop to tell me that?"
He clenched his teeth. Losing the Mangekyō meant losing everything—his Susanoo, Amaterasu, maybe even his mind.
"Can it replace just one eye?" he asked quickly.
[Affirmative. Partial overwrite possible.]
He exhaled. "Good. I'll stash it for now. Maybe I'll stick it somewhere else later—forehead, maybe. Kaguya-style. Third eye chic."
[Byakugan stored.]
The System faded, leaving him alone in the quiet tent, the air thick with smoke and fatigue.
Raizen leaned back, staring at the roof. His victory was absolute, his power terrifying... and his body was falling apart one jutsu at a time.
He chuckled bitterly. "A one-eyed god with a discount loyalty card. Perfect."
Then, as the wind howled outside and the fires dimmed, he let his eyelids fall. For now, at least, the Warring States slept.
...
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