"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Were these Cloud ninja completely shameless?!
The war hadn't even reached its fiercest stage yet, and they were already firing off Tailed Beast Bombs?!
Do you have any moral bottom line?!
The Tailed Beast Bomb was hurtling toward them at terrifying speed.
If Arin threw a kunai and used Substitution to escape on his own—
then Nawaki and Aburame Mushihime would die here.
He didn't have time to take both of them with him.
But if he tried to carry them away—
there wouldn't be enough time to throw the kunai.
And if he did take them with him…
there was only one place they could go.
The Tailed Beast Bomb didn't give Arin any time to think.
There was no time to hesitate.
"MOVE!!!"
Arin lunged toward Nawaki and Mushihime.
At that very instant, the Tailed Beast Bomb slammed directly into the mountaintop.
BOOM—!!!
A catastrophic explosion erupted.
Every ninja still on the mountain looked up in horror at the descending Tailed Beast Bomb.
They all recognized what it was.
The most dangerous weapon in the entire shinobi world—
the strongest power a Jinchūriki could wield.
Despair appeared on their faces.
The explosion radius was something none of them could escape.
Blinding white light bloomed, swallowing their bodies whole.
Everything vanished.
"…Phew."
Arin let out a quiet breath.
The moment he landed, he leveled up.
[Name: Hyuga Arin]
[Class: Hunter]
[Sub-class: Doctor]
[Level: Lv41 (0/37,500)]
[Chakra / Nen: 10,110 / 8,110 + 1,000 + 500 + 500]
[Essence: 6,000]
Fully restored.
Only then did he look around.
All around them, Cloud ninja were staring straight at the three of them.
"B-big bro… honestly, I don't really need to fight that badly," Nawaki said with a stiff, forced smile.
He did want to fight.
But not against this many enemies, damn it!!
And he had no idea how many jōnin were here!
"Listen carefully, Nawaki. Mushihime."
Arin condensed a black battle blade in one hand.
In the other, a blue sphere appeared.
"Stand right where you are. Don't move."
"If you move… I won't be able to protect you."
The Cloud ninja didn't know who these three were—
but seeing the Leaf forehead protectors was enough.
One by one, cruel smiles spread across their faces.
"Three brats?"
"Hahaha! Konoha kids, come experience the terror of Kumogakure!"
"Hey—wait. How did these three even get here?"
One of them frowned, a bad feeling rising in his chest.
Arin, meanwhile, grinned widely.
"Awakening Skill."
"Game Dungeon."
A layer of blue light surged outward, instantly engulfing everyone.
The rocky mountains vanished—
replaced by an endless desert.
"Welcome, everyone," Arin said calmly,
"to my world."
"This dungeon is divided into three factions."
"The first faction is the Player—that's just me."
"The second faction is Monsters—that's all of you."
"The third faction is NPCs—my teammates."
He rattled off the rules at lightning speed before the Cloud ninja could react.
The moment he finished explaining the monster rules, white orbs appeared beneath everyone's feet.
Each person was instantly separated and scattered.
Only then did Arin finally relax a little.
Before the rules were fully declared, they could attack him.
Now they were stuck in the analysis phase—and had missed their best chance.
The kunai he could teleport to were buried right in the Cloud ninja crowd.
He'd hesitated for just a moment earlier.
That hesitation meant—
he was now facing all of the Cloud ninja at once.
There weren't just a few here.
There were nearly a hundred of them.
And his Awakening Skill couldn't withstand another Tailed Beast Bomb.
If they fired one from outside again—
he'd be completely finished.
There was no choice now.
He had to push forward.
"N.P.C. rules," Arin continued.
"The area the NPCs occupy is designated an Absolute Safe Zone."
"Whether you're a Player or a Monster, violence is forbidden there."
A glowing ring of light appeared around Nawaki and Mushihime, enclosing all three of them.
"At the same time—"
"The Player cannot harm NPCs."
"Monsters can harm NPCs."
"If all NPCs die, the Player loses the game and will be erased by the dungeon."
As long as the NPCs stayed within the Absolute Safe Zone, they couldn't be harmed.
But the moment they stepped out—
monsters could attack them freely.
"N.P.C.s can also transfer all their power, chakra, and weapons to the Player, increasing the Player's combat strength."
"B-big bro… can we attack too?" Nawaki asked timidly.
He didn't fully understand what was happening, but he'd listened carefully to the rules.
And inside the light ring, he realized—
he couldn't even mobilize his chakra.
Arin really wanted to smack Nawaki on the head.
He wanted to say no, but the rules of an Awakening Skill had to be stated clearly.
"NPCs can attack monsters if they leave the safe zone," Arin said sharply,
"but you'd better stay right where you are!"
Nawaki immediately shut his mouth.
He hadn't even gotten to fight yet.
He thought he'd finally battle to the death—
only to find out he still couldn't fight.
So what was the point of being surrounded?!
"Then big bro—take my share too and fight with it!" Nawaki said, clenching his fist.
"I can too! Me too!" Mushihime raised her hand.
"Just don't cause trouble," Arin replied.
He didn't take their techniques—
only their chakra.
He didn't lack jutsu.
What he lacked was cha—
cough—chak-ra.
Arin stared at his chakra total as it instantly jumped past 100,000, then slowly turned to look at Nawaki in shock.
"…Isn't your chakra a bit ridiculous?"
Mushihime's chakra barely made a ripple.
Nawaki's, on the other hand—
was nearly ten times Arin's full state.
The standard for a jōnin was around 10,000 chakra.
"You've got… a hundred thousand?" Arin asked.
Nawaki scratched his head.
"I've never really felt like I run out. I don't actually know how much I have."
…Unbelievable.
Arin looked at him with pure envy.
So this was the chakra of the Senju clan.
He suddenly felt a strong urge to just farm this little brother.
Senju bloodlines were seriously tempting.
Nawaki felt a chill down his spine.
But they were in a scorching desert.
Where did that cold wind come from?
Arin turned back toward the Cloud ninja.
They were still trying to test the boundaries, but none of them could break the Awakening Skill's rules.
The desert environment boosted fire-element damage—not ideal compared to resource-type environments—
but it still gave him a solid advantage.
"Everyone," Arin said softly.
"The victory conditions for this game are very simple."
"Either I kill all of you…"
"…or you kill me."
A savage grin spread across his face.
With this massive pool of chakra surging through him—
this was the richest fight he'd ever taken part in.
"Pulling aggro."
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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