Chapter 34 C34

The rain in the Land of Fire is different from the rain in the Land of Water.

The summer in the Land of Fire is brilliant and intense, with rain often accompanied by strong winds and thunder, possessing a wild and unrestrained energy.

The rain in the Land of Water was gloomy and heavy, the continuous strokes of the brush dyeing the sky and earth in patches of dark and light bluish-gray, which reminded her of the view she saw when she was a child in the orphanage, lying on the damp windowsill and looking out through the narrow glass opening on the second floor.

This is Kana's first time visiting the Land of Water.

For the past ten years or so, she has been confined to a small ninja village for most of the time. Even when she goes out on missions, she only follows others within the Land of Fire, mechanically drawing her sword and swinging it, coming and going in a hurry, rarely staying.

So, in terms of understanding how big the world really is, how insignificant a ninja village is, and what people should live for, she is not much different from other ninjas who have been tamed into being loyal to the core.

This was also Kana's first mission as a key member of the ANBU squad.

The term "main force" refers to a core member, whose strengths and weaknesses are fully considered, and whose strengths are maximized while weaknesses are minimized. Tactics and plans are then formulated based on this core member. Due to the special nature of this customized approach, the main force sometimes even has decision-making power higher than that of the team captain.

This is clearly an affirmation of their abilities.

To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise.

The only person she could be considered close to in the team, Uchiha Itachi, has been promoted to squad leader and left. Now, Kana can be described as "isolated and helpless" in Kakashi's team.

Kakashi has always intentionally marginalized her, trying to keep her away from important core tasks, which inevitably leads to some contemptuous comments about her strength from the other members of the team.

In the dark underworld, where strength reigns supreme, being weak is a cardinal sin. Besides, her personality wasn't much better, so she simply didn't get to know anyone.

Despite not being trusted by her teammates, she became the core of the mission.

Kana sheathed the wakizashi that had just been stained with blood. "It seems you really hate me."

Kakashi raised his hand and pulled down the blindfold to cover his blood-red eyes. He didn't deny his persecution of his subordinates, shamelessly and openly, "Now only your eyes can find him—have you found him?"

The continuous rain became an excellent medium for ninjutsu, severely interfering with the ability of sensory ninjas. If they wanted to find the kidnapped young lord, the only thing they could rely on was the Byakugan, which could ignore the obstruction of the rain.

“Found it.” She saw Kakashi raise one eyebrow. “But it’s not the right time yet.”

Several round water droplets floated on her palm, then quietly scattered with a flick of her wrist, blending into the rain curtain, inconspicuous. "This time, even if you're the captain, you have to listen to me."

The importance of this mission stems from the identity of the target, while its danger arises from the strength of the opponent. Moreover, in the past two years, the relationship between Kirigakure, which had previously maintained a neutral stance due to its unique geographical location, and Konoha has suddenly deteriorated rapidly. Therefore, an elite Anbu squad skilled in stealth was dispatched to carry out this mission.

For the first time in her life, Kana felt a brief moment of fondness for rainy days.

The rain became an easily accessible conductor for her to manipulate the lightning release formation. Lightning release is powerful and fast, but it cannot be used for precise long-range attacks. Water release makes up for this shortcoming.

The water techniques she practiced always emphasized precision over increasing attack power and range, and this is why.

The water arrows fired contain immense power, ensuring a perfect hit.

Kakashi glanced at her, and because he had once seen her in her nascent, uncontrolled state, he remained remarkably calm amidst his teammates' shock.

"cool!"

The last person who could use ninjutsu with two different chakra natures simultaneously was the First Hokage. Even if there is only a slight resemblance, it indicates that she will definitely become a strong person.

"Little Chongming, what's this move called?"

The code name of the Dark Division is closely related to his mask.

Kana was given a bird-shaped mask when she joined the Dark Division, but because there was another person in the team codenamed "Crow," they made a precise distinction based on the pattern on the mask and then called her "Chongming Little Bird."

The word "little bird" was completely unnecessary; they added it without permission, carrying the contempt and mockery of seniors towards juniors with "mediocre abilities."

But now "Chongming Little Bird" has been automatically replaced with "Little Chongming"—whether they did it intentionally or unintentionally.

Therefore, having strong capabilities can often save you a lot of trouble.

"I haven't gotten up yet," Kana told the truth.

She noticed the gazes fixed on her and turned to meet Kakashi's cold, lifeless eyes—at this rate of growth, it might not be long before his team couldn't keep her.

Just like Itachi Uchiha.

The gears of his mind jolted for a moment because of some unknown rust, and Kakashi inappropriately recalled the Third Hokage's sigh, the death of Uchiha Shisui, the inevitable deterioration of the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village—which had almost reached the point of no return—and finally, Uchiha Itachi's proud but never-looking-back figure as he left the team.

He didn't know what the future held, but he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of empathy, lamenting that the price of growing up was far too high.

This should have been a normal mission, although it was ranked as an S-level danger, but in Kana's eyes it was just a normal hostage rescue mission.

Until Kakashi told her, "He wants to see you."

The room was still filled with furious shouts and the sound of porcelain shattering against the wall.

The hostages were successfully rescued and woke up unharmed. Just as they were about to leave, their mission was declared over, but the young city lord suddenly asked to see the "black-haired, white-eyed man" who had saved him.

Kana pushed open the door.

The boy had disheveled hair and bloody scratches on his face.

"Get out."

Kana took a step back.

"Everyone except her, get out! Get out!!"

The door was closed behind me.

"You can see, right? Are there any other people nearby?" Even though he had already ordered the guards to retreat.

Actually, there's also Kakashi and the head of your secret guard.

However, when faced with a nobleman who suddenly went mad, having someone to monitor her was actually a form of protection for her.

His feet seemed to feel nothing as he stumbled across the shards of the floor, trying to grab her hand.

Kana frowned; dodging ordinary people who couldn't use ninjutsu was a piece of cake for her.

After trying twice, he sensed her wariness. His once-childish voice, strained from prolonged shouting, became hoarse and vibrated. "I am number 88..."

Kana's pupils trembled.

She was positioned with her back to the two people hiding outside the house. Taking advantage of the cover of his wide sleeves, she quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist, her chakra flowing along her meridians to seal his dumbness acupoint.

Kakashi Hatake experiences severe side effects after using the Sharingan, rarely revealing it outside of missions, and his sensitivity to genjutsu also decreases.

And that head of the secret guards, I heard, is skilled in swordsmanship.

The illusion was silently laid out with her as the origin.

The stakes cannot be just the unexpectedness and lack of preparedness of those two people.

"System, use [Tyka's Kiss]."

Kana released her grip on his hand, and in the blink of an eye, a chilling killing intent erupted. She pulled out a wakizashi and held it to his neck, causing blood to immediately seep from his pampered skin.

No one came in to cut her with a knife or scold her for insubordination. Moreover, from the Byakugan's perspective, the two of them remained hidden, without any argument or fluctuation in chakra.

The hand gripping the wakizashi had already fallen, but the fear of facing the killing intent still lingered in his mind. His body trembled slightly, and his speech pressure point had been silently released. "Is...is it okay?"

"The illusion has taken effect."

Kana lifted the exhausted man who was about to fall to the ground, threw him onto the bed, and gripped his neck with her hooked fingers, her eyes cold. "Who are you?"

Who are you?

Nobody has cared about this issue for a long time.

So long that he almost forgot who he was.

He was just an ordinary person at the beginning.

An ordinary family, an ordinary mind, an ordinary appearance, an ordinary life, and even their names—tens of thousands of people across the country share the same name.

He was neither a criminal nor a helpful person.

If the world were truly just a comic book, then he would be the kind of passerby who either praises or disdains the protagonist's deeds—a background character whose face is too lazy to even be drawn and utter a single word.

The only accident, which was not ordinary, ended his life.

When the inorganic voice of the system rang in his mind, his first feeling was ecstasy.

Who hasn't fantasized about being the protagonist of the world when they were young and impetuous, overcoming all obstacles to become a great hero who saves the world and is admired by everyone?

But he died very quickly.

To carve a caged bird at such a young age is a disastrous start; scratching one's head won't solve it, so pass.

So I chose the Uchiha branch. Apart from getting a perfect score during my time at the Ninja Academy by taking advantage of my adult mindset, I quietly faded into obscurity.

He was an ordinary man who didn't even live to see the night his clan was wiped out.

Geniuses like Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, with their "great love" and lofty aspirations, cannot see the ants crawling on the ground, busy with their own affairs.

Even the most approachable genius is still proud and arrogant. They don't understand why practicing a single fireball technique would lead to a lung infection, nor do they understand why something as simple as shadow clones takes half a year to master.

Perhaps they didn't mean it; they're just standing on a high pedestal, so when they speak to you, they do so with a condescending, pitying tone.

He never came into their sights, let alone became a friend with whom they could have an equal conversation.

His only advantage was knowing how the story would unfold.

But all the system gave him was a story outline. He didn't know or could guess how this lush tree grew to be like this, why it grew like this, or what happened in the blank spaces that weren't described.

He was like a naive reborn person, thinking that he could seize the initiative and everything would be fine just by holding the script. But those people, who should have just been characters in the story, were living, breathing people, not static figures. They directly tore up the script and changed the play. When he told Uchiha Shisui, "I know you joined Root," in an attempt to gain his trust, he was killed by a Root member who was secretly monitoring him.

That works too.

In his last moments before dying, he resigned himself to his fate, thinking, "Just consider it a lost game. I'm going to die anyway, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

The nightmare truly began when I opened my eyes again.

He could not hear any sound, see anything, speak, smell anything, or even feel the existence of his hands and feet.

The system that had been bothering him for over a decade remained unresponsive no matter how much he cried out in his mind.

The next second, I felt a sharp pain in what appeared to be my lower back and abdomen. Then I lost consciousness.

It was only later, when he was reincarnated as a chicken, that he suddenly realized—back then I was an insect.

He's died far too many times.

I've been an insect eaten by chickens, a hen that eats insects, a rat killed with a shovel, and a firefly that lives only a day.

Survival is an instinct, but if too much time passes, the body's brain capacity becomes insufficient to hold his memories, and he gradually forgets that he was once a human being, so he chooses to die.

If he wants to be a human being, he can only die.

Finally, he was reborn as a human this time.

They came from an ordinary family, and although they were somewhat poor, they were healthy and lucky. In the ninja world, where the average lifespan was only so-so, living to sixty was considered a long life.

But when he opened his eyes again, he was still in this world, and even the starting point was the same.

Perhaps hate lasts longer than love, so pain is more profound than happiness; those painful memories linger like a bone-deep sore.

When he was a beast, he wondered why there was no Meng Po soup (the soup of oblivion). He even came up with a perfect excuse: what could a brain the size of a sesame seed remember? If he hadn't died young in every life, he would have forgotten everything. What was the point of the soup?

No wonder the mission takers in the infinite flow novels used to need psychological treatment. He didn't think much of it at the time, thinking it was a good thing. Only now does he understand that reincarnation with memories is actually an endless punishment.

The system had forgotten many of the things he had said, but it still remembered one sentence, which was something like, "To live in this world, one needs connections."

He understood that it was composed of attachment, reluctance to part, and concern.

He no longer has that feeling.

In his three subsequent incarnations, he was human in every one, but each life was shorter than the last.

He gripped Kana's arm tightly, because his body was still young, and he only reached Kana's chest.

The emotions he thought were long dead hadn't disappeared; they erupted from his eyes, nose, and mouth, flowing with scalding tears of blood. He was like a volcano about to self-destruct. He stared into her eyes, as if trying to see through them, to converse with some inorganic life form. "Why me? I've never run a red light, I pick up litter when I see it on the street. I'm not a saint, but I've never done anything wrong! What did I do wrong? Why me? Why did you choose me? Tell me!"

Sadly, even anger requires physical strength for humans.

His grip on her hand gradually weakened, and his initial questions slowly turned into cries and pleas for mercy, "I want to leave here! Please let me go, I beg you, please..."

"explain."

"..."

"I'll let you explain!"

"He is indeed mission taker number 88." The system could sense a trace of its own signal fluctuations remaining in his soul.

"The 87th mission taker faked his death and defected to Akatsuki. He took advantage of the Fourth Shinobi World War to massacre his clan and trained the Byakugan of the entire Hyuga clan into the Tenseigan. This world was destroyed to the point of near collapse."

"Number 88 was not a qualified mission taker, but the system had almost exhausted its energy to repair the world, so it was an accident."

"Unexpected" is a euphemistic term; in human terms, it's like being completely lost.

This was bad luck for Mission 88, but it was also bad luck for it.

He just happened to die in a car accident at that particular time. With the system's energy level at the time, even recruiting one person was a gamble, let alone analysis and screening.

—Number 88 is the least qualified and has the lowest completion rate among all the task takers.

However, by a twist of fate, it discovered that even if it failed to complete the final mission, completing some of the side missions could still allow it to accumulate some energy.

Therefore, the subsequent 89 to 99 mission takers did not even aim to complete the final mission, but simply relied on small missions to accumulate energy.

"What about them?"

"You mean...?"

"Are those who came after him and before me also trapped here in an endless cycle, just like him?"

No. He was just unlucky.

That was when its energy level was at its lowest. Number 88 should have followed the original world's laws of rebirth as an outsider, but it was unlucky enough to fall into the spacetime rift torn by Number 87, and it was powerless to do anything about it.

It already possesses enough power to ensure the departure of the souls of those who later undertake the mission.

"They have all successfully passed away."

"If you complete your mission, he may leave with you."

"What if I don't succeed?"

"You are the 100th mission taker, and the last one. The system can no longer afford the energy to reopen the world line." The world rift caused by Mission 87 is gradually widening, and this mission is a do-or-die battle.

It turns out that people really do laugh when they're extremely angry; who cares what happens to this damn world? "Will I be trapped in this world too?"

"By then the system will have ceased to exist and no answer can be provided."

"You are my all-or-nothing gamble."