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Chapter 42 - Chapter 42: Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg

On the other side, Akashō left the Konoha camp and quickly, based on past experience, found a relatively hidden cave to stay in.

"About two hours left until dawn."

Akashō reverted to his original form, sat cross-legged, and casually pulled up Kokushibo's template, glancing at the reputation points that had been completely drained a few days ago when he activated the second template.

"Over four hundred thousand—just a bit short of five hundred thousand. Mm, about what I expected."

"In the end, places packed with ninjas like this really are the fastest for farming. These reputation points just come pouring in."

"Hopefully this war lasts a bit longer. After all, judging by the pattern, what I've gathered so far is less than a tenth of all the ninjas involved in this war."

"If I sweep through another round tomorrow, I should be able to unlock a new template—and even have quite a bit left over."

This had been Akashō's plan from the beginning: first use the Kokushibo template to farm a wave of reputation and build up enough hatred, then gather both Konoha and Iwagakure ninjas together. In a large-scale battlefield like that, the Colossal Titan's abilities could be utilized to their fullest extent.

At that moment, Akashō seemed to suddenly remember something. He straightened up.

"Hey, system. The reputation points used to unlock templates are universal, right? Don't tell me unlocking the third template specifically requires points from the second template."

"Response to host: they are universal."

"Oh, good."

Relieved, Akashō relaxed again, his back slouching as he propped his chin on one hand, staring blankly into the pitch-black cave.

"Come to think of it… is it really necessary to rush unlocking the third template…"

He began reconsidering his current situation. For now, he had the undying Kokushibo at night and the Colossal Titan as a fallback during the day, but both were only at the lowest S-rank level.

Even though that lowest tier was already enough to slaughter the vast majority of ninjas, there were still quite a few who were significantly stronger than these two templates.

Just tonight's battle was a perfect example—Han and Orochimaru.

Especially Han—his raw strength was terrifying. If he hadn't been constrained by the weaker Iwagakure ninjas in the camp, Akashō was certain that man could have smashed him to pieces over and over until sunrise.

And then there was Orochimaru. Although they hadn't fought to the death like Han had, his survival methods were just as terrifying.

That technique where he could spit out a snake from his mouth and recreate himself, and that endless sea of snakes that made it nearly impossible for Akashō to move.

This was the power of veteran Kage-level fighters. And above them, there were still the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

In terms of raw strength, Kokushibo was clearly inferior to both of them, and the Colossal Titan at the same level would likely fare no better.

Perhaps… he needed to find a way to obtain a higher-tier template.

"If I had a higher-tier template, I could even try directly invading a ninja village. The 'harvest' there would be far greater than in camps like this."

Akashō silently stared at Kokushibo's reputation points, making up his mind.

"I'll take the gamble. After clearing one more battlefield and reaching around one to two million reputation points, I'll unlock the third template."

Having made his decision, Akashō immediately closed his eyes and began to rest.

At three o'clock, he still had a tough battle ahead.

...

The midday sun had already shifted. In the dry air, a chilling aura of impending slaughter began to spread among the troops.

Han looked at the neatly arranged formation of over two thousand Iwagakure ninjas before him, his expression grave.

Normally, only about half that number would be stationed in the camp. The reason there were so many now was because he had recalled all ninja squads deployed outside.

Unfortunately, more than two hundred Iwagakure ninjas had been brutally killed by that madman last night…

"Lord Han."

An Iwagakure jonin stepped forward.

"According to intelligence from our scouts, Kokushibo also went to the Konoha camp last night and caused chaos, killing many. He made the same demand to them as he did to us."

"Oh?"

Han narrowed his eyes. So this wasn't a declaration of war issued on behalf of Konoha.

Kokushibo… if you're not with Konoha, then what exactly are you trying to do?

"There's more…"

"What is it? Spit it out."

Han shot the jonin an annoyed glance. Stammering like that—where was his backbone?

"However… Lord Kitsuchi didn't make it back."

Han froze. "Didn't… make it back? What do you mean by that?"

The jonin lowered his head.

"Dozens of kilometers away, we found what appears to be Lord Kitsuchi's body."

Han fell silent for a long while before rubbing his head. "What a pain…"

It wasn't just because Kitsuchi was the Tsuchikage's son that this gave him a headache. Kitsuchi himself was quite strong and carried considerable prestige. His death would inevitably have some impact on the upcoming battle.

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