In the instant Kaguya Toru accepted his reward, Orochimaru's attack arrived.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
Several brown pythons shot from the sleeve of his right arm, flying to Kaguya Toru in the blink of an eye and coiling around him tightly.
"Toru-kun, I was careless; you're far more perfect than I imagined."
He realized that Toru's abrupt words just now had been bait to draw him in for a last-ditch gamble.
Everyone says the Kaguya are brainless brutes, yet who'd have thought they'd produce such a cunning brat?
There was no anger on Orochimaru's face, only the thrill of a hunter who'd spotted prized prey.
An intelligent test subject makes the research so much more interesting.
"Tch, against one of the Sannin, I really am outclassed."
Bound by the snakes, Kaguya Toru gave a soft sigh and gave up struggling.
Boom!
Just as Orochimaru was about to inject him with Anesthetic, a deafening roar came from outside, giving him pause.
He suddenly realized something and stared hard at Kaguya Toru.
"You've still got another trick?"
This time Toru didn't answer; his body twisted and warped at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into stark-white bones that clattered to the floor in pieces.
"Bone Clone?!"
Orochimaru's eyes finally widened; he hadn't sensed that the one before him was a clone, nor had he ever heard of the Kaguya possessing such a technique.
A surge of anger at being toyed with welled up, only to be quickly washed away by delight.
"I will have you!"
A smile flashed across Orochimaru's face as he vanished in a Body Flicker.
In a corner of the Eastern Front Camp, black smoke billowed from a Konoha supply depot.
A Hidden Mist Anbu squad had slipped in, blown up the depot, and withdrawn at speed.
"Mission accomplished."
Kaguya Toru, wearing a Hidden Mist Anbu mask, felt the clone's message and curled his lips in a smile.
It had all been his setup.
When his squad neared Konoha's eastern camp, he'd spotted a purple question mark—never seen before—appearing inside the base on his map. He'd persuaded the team to let him feign capture, draw attention, and sneak into the camp while the rest infiltrated in the chaos.
That way they could finish the mission and he could still claim his reward.
Of course, his real body had stayed with the squad; only a Bone Clone had been caught.
The clone had revealed just a hint of Shikotsumyaku in the fight, so the moment it was captured it was sent straight to the lab.
He'd guessed that high-tier question marks would only spawn on important targets, he just hadn't expected it to spawn on Orochimaru.
Lying on the Experiment Table, he'd quietly grown a wrist-bone to saw through the restraints, ready to act at any second.
But Orochimaru was cautious and never came within arm's reach. Seeing the Sannin about to leave, Toru hurled taunts to draw him close, then brushed against him to snatch the reward.
Bone Clone was a jutsu he'd developed himself. Unlike ordinary Chakra clones, it was filled with real bone, mimicking a human body; unless you had a Sharingan or Byakugan, even Orochimaru couldn't tell it apart.
Meanwhile, the rest of the squad slipped into the camp and destroyed the supplies without a hitch.
Poor Orochimaru, he didn't know that every gift from fate already carries a hidden price tag.
Konoha's camp was in chaos; Kaguya Toru's team was already hundreds of meters out, the coastline in sight—once they reached the boat, Konoha would never catch them.
The Anbu captain in the lead spoke, half surprised, half jealous:
"Didn't think your Bone Clone actually worked. Why didn't you tell me about this new jutsu earlier?"
As squad leader, he'd only just learned of Bone Clone when he heard Toru's infiltration plan.
Having a subordinate hide a secret technique from him rankled.
Kaguya Toru shot back, "Captain, every Ninja's entitled to a few secrets, right?"
The Anbu captain snorted.
"I won't allow secrets in this squad. From now on you report any new developments to me."
"And when we're back in the Village, hand over the Bone Clone scroll. I'll submit it to the Village, and maybe they can create a version ordinary Ninja can use."
That amounted to stripping Kaguya Toru of his intellectual property; by Hidden Mist custom, he'd be lucky to get a few thousand Ryō as compensation.
The other two teammates stayed silent, clearly backing the captain's decision.
In the Village, Kaguya Ninja were despised; seeing Toru lose out delighted them.
"Understood, Captain."
Kaguya Toru answered meekly, raising both hands.
"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets."
With soft pops, the finger bones turned into high-velocity bullets, slamming into the backs of his three teammates.
Startled, they tried to dodge, but several Bone Bullets still struck their backs—fortunately not deep. As they spun to counterattack, their legs suddenly gave way and they crashed to the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
The Anbu captain collapsed, crimson eyes fixed on Kaguya Toru.
They all knew Kaguya were madmen, cruel and erratic, but never dreamed this brat would turn on fellow Anbu.
And why were their bodies going limp?!
"Sea-anemone toxin, I laced them with it."
Toru's muffled voice came from behind his mask, emotionless.
He had prepared a small vial of Jellyfish Paralytic Toxin in advance, smearing it on his ten fingers; the poison clung to the Bone Bullets he fired, and a single hit on a teammate would leave them unable to rise again.
Seeing the captain about to speak, Kaguya Toru cut him off:
"I know you're all looking for a chance to kill me, so why don't I send you to the Pure Land first?"
His three comrades gaped, no sound coming out.
Finding an opportunity to eliminate Kaguya Toru was indeed their top-secret mission, but how the hell did the brat find out?!
Kaguya Toru raised his hands again; a storm of Bone Bullets riddled the trio, shredding their brains to ensure Konoha couldn't extract intel.
When it was done, he tucked Exploding Tags inside their clothes.
Pity no question marks had popped up over the corpses, otherwise he could've looted them.
"There he is!"
Right then the Konoha Ninja spotted his back and sprinted after him.
"A little gift for you."
Kaguya Toru chuckled and sprinted off; flames blossomed from the three corpses, screams and explosions erupting behind him.
When the smoke finally cleared, over a dozen Konoha Ninja were dead or wounded, the survivors' eyes filled with terror.
The kid had murdered his own teammates to escape, then turned their bodies into an explosive tag trap; only a demon would tattoo that kind of madness on himself!
"Don't pursue."
Orochimaru arrived, glanced at the small boat already raising sail in the distance, and gave the order without hesitation.
The open sea was the Hidden Mist Village's home ground; he couldn't tell if more ambushes waited, so rash action was out of the question.
Looking at the charred corpses of Kirigakure Anbu and Konoha Ninja, Orochimaru felt a fierce desire ignite within him.
"Toru-kun, we'll meet again."
Caw! Caw!
Several seagulls skimmed past the white sail; Kaguya Toru gripped the helm and glanced astern. Seeing no pursuers, he finally exhaled in relief.
The Land of Water might lag in everything else, but its ship-building craft was unrivaled in the Ninja World—easy to handle and blazingly fast, impossible for Konoha to catch.
The mission had been perilous: facing the terrifying Orochimaru while watching for a dagger in the back from his own squad. Thankfully he'd survived unscathed—and gained quite a bit.
Once he'd caught his breath, he called up the System Panel—
[Explorer: Kaguya Toru]
[Chakra Volume: 9]
[Chakra Nature: Water]
[Bloodline: Kaguya Shikotsumyaku]
[Kekkei Ability: Bone Clone, Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets]
[Talents: Malice Perception, Cognizance, Genjutsu Immunity]
[Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique (D), Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique (D), Water Release: Water Formation Wall (B)...]
[Taijutsu: Kaguya Combat Style]
A glance at the stats reassured him—his current panel wasn't too shabby.
The three Talents had awakened automatically when he first obtained the system, and each proved highly practical.
Malice Perception let him sense goodwill or hostility much like the Nine-Tails could.
Cognizance dramatically accelerated learning and thought, making it far easier to develop new abilities, and his Bone Clone had come about that way.
As for [Genjutsu Immunity], it was simply broken: like Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, he became immune to all genjutsu, even those of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
After absorbing Orochimaru's Chakra, his own volume had reached 9; by the system's scale, Kage-level sat around 10, and anything beyond ceased to be human.
Orochimaru's reserves topped elite Ninja yet fell just short of true Kage-level; after all, going rogue boosts you tenfold, and the current Orochimaru was only growing mad, not yet at his treacherous peak.
Still, that amount of Chakra was enough for him to develop that powerful Ninjutsu.
The whole point of risking proximity to Orochimaru on this mission had been to fish for high-tier rewards and pave the way for that technique.
Before long, the Anbu would receive the mission to abduct Rin Nohara, only to be wiped out by an enraged Obito.
His cheat had arrived late; right now he was barely Special Jonin level, with zero chance against Obito's newborn Akatsuki.
Even if he somehow survived that encounter, a few years later Obito would personally come to the Hidden Mist Village, seize control of the Mizukage, and do as he pleased, another looming catastrophe.
Kaguya Toru had considered Decision 2.0, taking his Talents to Konoha or elsewhere, but its internal strife was notorious; even Senju and Uchiha had been driven to extinction. A foreigner with a bloodline would likely end up dissected by Danzo and Orochimaru, and the other villages weren't much better.
Since escape was impossible, Kaguya Toru hatched a bold plan.
What if he saved Rin Nohara's life and kept her under his control?
After much thought, only by kidnapping Rin could he hold a card against Uchiha Obito.
It sounded difficult, and indeed it was.
Rin's death was a grand play scripted by Uchiha Madara and starring White Zetsu; common sense said every move would be watched, making rescue nearly impossible.
Unless, during this window, he could master that Ninjutsu.
"I've got early intel and a cheat, so no matter how you look at it, the advantage is mine!"
The moment he said it, Kaguya Toru slapped his own mouth.
The last guy who'd claimed the advantage was now playing Boom Beach on some deserted island.