Chapter 29C29

The full name of the Dark Division is "Assassination Tactical Special Forces". The name itself clearly shows one of its main functions: assassination.

But in addition to these, common tasks include espionage, intelligence gathering, interrogation, tracking, and surveillance.

Because of the Byakugan's X-ray vision and farsightedness, coupled with her proficiency in lightning release techniques that enhance speed, and the deliberate or unintentional marginalization she faces by her direct subordinate, Captain Kakashi, Kana's primary mission since joining the Anbu has been tracking and surveillance.

As the saying goes, fortune changes every day.

Unlike her, who can use her Byakugan to monitor from a distance, her colleagues in the Dark Side who do not have the Byakugan bloodline need to keep a distance of no more than ten meters from their target—that is, the unfortunate her—when they are secretly monitoring her. Once she senses that she is being spied on, it is like insects crawling on her back. It is difficult for her to deceive herself and pretend not to know and continue to act as usual.

Fortunately, because families with bloodline limits have a strong sense of territory and a defensive mentality, out of respect and a tacit understanding between the bloodline families and the higher-ups, the disturbances from the Konoha higher-ups—which are more like "inspections" than "surveillances"—are somewhat restrained when Kana is at home.

However, correspondingly, it's inconvenient to practice ninjutsu that involves even a little noise within the clan's territory.

But none of this should be a reason for taskers to stay at home all day doing biochemistry problems.

The system couldn't help but remind her once again to complete the newly released decomposition task.

Kana's attitude towards this has always been firm: I won't go, I won't do it, you're dreaming.

The thing she wants to do most right now, besides getting rid of that bunch of nagging family members who keep telling her to practice Gentle Fist and restore the glory of the Hyuga clan, is to step on Kakashi Hatake's silver-haired head, stick a knife into the side of his face, and laugh loudly with the smug look of a villain in a TV drama, saying, "You little brat, you've finally met your match."

The task of "raising Kakashi Hatake's affection level to 5%" was kicked into the non-recyclable trash can the moment Kana heard it, without even a second of thought.

That's right, she's not only petty, but also holds grudges.

She had never been humiliated like this before, in both her past and present lives. Even though Kakashi's motivation this time wasn't entirely because he disliked her, this feud had become quite serious.

Unfortunately, the system kept making notification sounds in her head.

Kana put down her pen, patiently holding each of the densely drawn pages of manuscript paper between two fingers and placing them on the candle. The flickering light reflected in her pale eyes. "Are you a properly trained system that focuses on saving others? Why do you always make me rack up people's favorability points?"

"It's true!" It was originally such a calm, objective, and dedicated system, but now it has been forced by the 100th mission taker to become proficient in using exclamation marks.

"Kakashi Hatake is the future Sixth Hokage. Based on calculations and analysis, gaining his favor can increase the success rate of the mission."

How many people died in the omitted storylines? How could Kakashi, who broke promises, harbored prejudices against his subordinates, and used his position for personal revenge, become Hokage?

Kana shook her head secretly; Konoha wouldn't do.

Speaking of favorability ratings, Kana has always had a problem: "The two storylines I was given to choose, whether it was overthrowing the Caged Bird Seal or changing the image of the Uchiha clan, either required maxing out Neji's favorability, or it was Itachi's..."

Kana paused for a moment, then said, "So... you really are a romance major, right?"

"Our Rescue Department is a century-old, top-tier specialty, while the Romance Department is a place only assigned to by the system. Please be careful with your wording and avoid making systemic attacks."

The system glanced at the pharmacology scroll that hadn't been put away on the table and replied irritably, "How would you feel if someone said you studied bioengineering?"

"I'm really happy," Kana said. "If conditions allow, I'd like to study that major."

"Isn't the task taker a law student?" In the past, when selecting task takers, a lot of time and effort would be spent investigating their life experiences. However, task taker number 100 was a strongman that it captured after its energy was nearly exhausted following the restoration of the world. It only roughly measured the success rate based on her ability value. Therefore, it didn't know as much about her as it did about the previous task takers.

Being good at a subject doesn't mean you love it. She had no sense of professional pride that the system envisioned. "In high school, I originally wanted to choose software engineering because it was a good way to make money, but the welfare home's sponsor had a soft spot for law and would provide a scholarship to study up to a master's degree, so I went there."

The number one survival rule in orphanages: Don't even dream about having breadcrumbs.

Write this down. Be very careful about taking on tasks that involve giving up on dreams and survival in the future.

—If it can complete this internship assessment task and there is a future.

Having followed this mission taker for so many years, I've learned a thing or two about how to handle her. If you insist on talking to her about grand ideals like "saving humanity from the destruction of the world," and she gets angry, she won't hesitate to step on the gas and send the world on its way.

Only by rationalizing these tasks according to her logic and turning them into something practical can she have the motivation to "try it because I'm bored".

"The human soul has no weight."

As the top scorer in the written exam for the rescue department, it remembered very clearly: the connection between humanity and the world is essentially the bond between him and everyone else in the world.

Humans cannot see it, but the system can. Red threads extending from a person's heart connect, intertwine, and weave together. If someone is important enough, even if that person is gone, the red threads may stubbornly remain tied to things related to them. It is an important tool for leaving a fleeting soul in the world.

Once all the red threads are severed, the soul will be blown like a kite to the other side of the underworld.

"Even if the Caged Bird Seal is overthrown, Neji Hyuga might not survive; similarly, even if Itachi Uchiha can overcome his bloodline disease, he might not survive."

It's like having a chance to be reborn, but not feeling joy because of it.

Those on the mission should be well aware of this.

"You humans are strange." The system's voice carried an electromagnetic timbre, hollow and inorganic. "Even though you no longer have the strength to live for yourself, you choose to live for someone else."

The tattered page in her hand had burned to its last flame, which burned her fingertips in the final moment before it went out. Kana, who usually kept her pain shielded at level three, only felt a filtered pain, like needles pricking her skin, but it was enough to wake her from her reverie.

Kana pressed her thumb firmly against her index finger until it turned white, immediately masking the stinging sensation. "You said you'd let me choose how I live in the world after completing the mission, you weren't lying, were you?"

If she truly became a connection between others and the world, would this damn system still let her go?

"The mission taker has misunderstood," the system explained. "The mission objective has been meticulously calculated. Once completed, it will provide enough energy to repair the world line. Once the mission is deemed successful, no maintenance is required."

Kana understood its implication—raising favorability was to provide energy for the mission target to survive; once the mission was completed and the energy was sufficient, whether the target lived or died would no longer matter.

The system usually complains that she is heartless and tries every means to persuade her to help, take care of, and show concern for Neji. Compared to her indifferent attitude, the system seems to be overly enthusiastic and disappointed in her.

—Actually, it was all just to complete the task pieced together from those data.

A mass of data does not develop feelings for humans, and therefore has no fear.

However, since she is biologically still human and therefore has some concerns about actually carrying out the mission.

Who is truly heartless?

Kana's gaze fell on the spot on her fingertip that had been burned. The pain blocker could only adjust the pain, but it did not reduce the damage in the slightest. The area had already begun to swell and turn red.

Kana lowered her head and blew a soft breath, extinguishing the scorching candle flame and dissipating the warm light that had fallen on her.