I ran through the field of the dead.
Bodies everywhere. Some face down. Some twisted like broken dolls. The smell of blood and burnt flesh filled my nose. My sandals slipped on wet ground. I did not stop.
The voice inside my head. Twelve extractions available in your current radius.
Twelve?
Eleven now. Time is passing. The dead are cooling.
Tssss. No time to waste.
I dropped to my knees beside a Cloud ninja. His vest was torn open. A hole in his chest the size of my fist. But his hands were still wrapped around a blade covered in lightning.
The thread appeared. Blue. Crackling. I reached out.
Ohhh.
Lightning Blade acquired.
The knowledge hit me like a punch. How to gather lightning chakra in my palm. How to shape it into a blade that could cut through steel. How to move faster than the eye could follow.
Ghhaa. My hand sparked. Tiny arcs of lightning jumped between my fingers. I had never used lightning before. Now it felt like breathing.
Hahaha. A short laugh escaped my throat. A dead man taught me to kill with thunder.
Next body. A Stone ninja. Old. Gray hair. His back was broken against a rock. But his chakra signature still pulsed. Heavy. Dense.
The thread was brown. Thick like a root.
Earth Release. Bedrock Armor.
Aaah. The moment I pulled, my skin tingled. Turned hard. Like stone grew under my flesh. I punched the ground. My fist left a crater. No pain. Just dust.
Tssss. Not bad.
Body after body. I moved like a hungry animal.
A Sand ninja gave me Wind Release. Pressure Damage. A small scroll from a Konoha scout gave me Sensory Perception. A dead medic from the Mist gave me Mystical Palm Technique.
Each extraction burned. Each one filled my chest with heat. My head spun. Too much. Too fast.
The voice. Warning. Your body can only handle three more extractions today. After that, system shutdown.
Three. That is all I get.
I stood up. Looked around. Most threads were dim now. Fading. But two glowed bright. One red. One white.
The red thread came from a body half buried under rubble. A woman. Long black hair. A forehead protector with a scratch through the symbol. Missing nin.
I crawled to her. Pulled the rubble away. Her eyes were open. Empty. But her chakra. Ohhh. Her chakra was a volcano waiting to explode.
Fire Release. Great Fire Annihilation.
Hahahahah. I laughed without meaning to. This was the technique that burned forests. That turned battlefields to ash. And now it was mine.
The moment I pulled, my lungs filled with heat. I opened my mouth. A small flame flickered out. Just a spark. But I felt the monster sleeping inside my chest. Waiting to wake.
One more extraction left today.
The white thread. Faint. Almost invisible. It came from a child. No older than me. A Konoha uniform. His face was peaceful. Like he was sleeping. But his throat was cut from ear to ear.
I almost ignored him. A child. What could a child give me?
The voice. Do not underestimate. Some children carry more than adults.
I reached out.
The thread was cold. Silent. Not a jutsu. Something else.
Stealth Walk. No sound. No chakra signature. No presence. The ability to disappear in plain sight.
Ghhaa. I felt my footsteps become nothing. I clapped my hands. Silence. No sound. I jumped. Landed. No thud. Like I was a ghost.
Hoh. A dead child made me invisible.
I stood up. My body ached. My head pounded. But my hands. My hands held fire and lightning and stone and wind.
A voice behind me. Not the system. A real voice.
You. What are you doing?
I turned. A Konoha ninja. Wounded. Leaning on a broken sword. His eyes wide. Watching me crawl over bodies like a vulture.
Nothing.
You are stealing from the dead. That is forbidden.
Tssss. Forbidden. Like Madara dropping meteors is forbidden. Like watching children die is forbidden. I am hungry. And the dead are not using their power anymore.
His hand tightened on his sword.
You are a monster.
Hahahahaha. Maybe. But I am the monster who will kill Madara. What are you? The monster who bleeds out in five minutes?
He looked down at his stomach. Red soaking through his vest. His face went pale.
Aaah. He fell to his knees.
I walked past him. Did not look back.
The voice. Three extractions remaining for tomorrow. Choose carefully.
I know.
The battlefield stretched ahead. Smoke rose from burning forests. In the distance, Madara laughed again. Hahahahahah. The sound echoed across the dead.
I whispered to myself. One more day. Then I come for you.
My footsteps made no sound. My hands sparked with stolen lightning. And somewhere inside my chest, a volcano of fire slept like a hungry god.