Hyūga Akira temporarily stayed at the frontline base.
Even if he wanted to return to Konoha, he still needed approval from the village. With the war underway, leaving Konoha for the outside world was actually easier than usual for most shinobi—but returning was far more strictly controlled.
This was to prevent enemy spies from sneaking in. If Akira wanted to go back, he would have to go through a long list of procedures.
First, he needed confirmation from Hiruko.
Second, he needed an evaluation from his former squad leader, Tsunade, since Akira hadn't been transferred to Hiruko's command through normal in-village channels. All of this had to be re-verified.
On top of that, his mission itself required reassessment.
His infiltration mission had originally been an indirect intelligence-gathering task regarding Iwa and Suna, which should have been classified as an A-rank mission.
But then the Land of Rain declared war on all three great nations—and Akira was directly involved. That alone could push the mission up to S-rank.
Unfortunately, because of earlier misunderstandings, the village had believed it was some unknown Uchiha who completed the mission. Now everything had to be discussed again from scratch.
Which meant one thing: the higher-ups were going to argue for quite a while.
After all, when the mission began, only Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Hiruko knew the details. None of them had formally reported it to the higher-ups, so as far as the village leadership was concerned, the mission barely existed.
As a result, Akira wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. During this period, he was still under suspicion, and even his movements within the frontline camp were restricted.
"Should've killed a few more Rain ninja before coming back," Akira muttered inside his tent, which now served as his personal quarters.
It was a bit crude, but at least it was larger than the room he'd had in the Rain Village base.
Right now, he couldn't even go out and help Konoha fight.
"Well… at least I finally have time to sort out my gains."
This time, during the Amegakure civil war, he hadn't fought much directly—but he'd picked up plenty of benefits along the way.
Especially after killing Shōzō, which alone had given him 50,000 EXP. Add in the death of Taira, and his total gains exceeded 60,000 EXP.
During that time, leveling up had cost him 7,500 EXP, plus 300 EXP spent on [Closed Room Fish].
Status Panel:
Name: Hyuda Akira
Class: Hunter
Level: Lv24 (0 / 8500)
Chakra / Nen: 240 / 1110 + 50 + 20
EXP Pool: 53,693
He still had over fifty thousand EXP left.
"That's enough to max out Bear-Brawler."
After a bit of thought, Akira decided to do exactly that.
Bear-Brawler was currently the core of his combat power—whether it was his sniper-style fighting or close combat, everything revolved around it.
He gritted his teeth and poured EXP into the skill.
Bear-Brawler (Lv7) EXP (0 / 6400)
Bear-Brawler (Lv8) EXP (0 / 12800)
Bear-Brawler (Lv9) EXP (0 / 25600)
Bear-Brawler (Lv10) EXP (MAX) Trait (Pending Selection)
A total of 44,800 EXP vanished in an instant.
EXP Pool: 8,894
Akira clutched his chest in pain.
"Fifty thousand EXP just… gone."
He looked at the trait options unlocked at max level.
Trait Options:
Summon Bear: Summon a giant flame bear to assist in battle. The flame bear's attributes scale with your level.
Become Bear: Transform into a black-and-white bear, wield the power of the divine dragon, and become a kung-fu master.
Bear Paw: Your palms grow soft pads that can repel anything.
Akira fell silent.
A long, long silence.
Finally—
"The first one is obviously Annie's ultimate from League of Legends! Don't call it Summon Bear—call it Tibbers' Rage already!!"
"Fine, you give me Annie's ult, I won't argue. But the second one—if I pick that, am I supposed to be called Po?! You're giving me Kung Fu Panda?! A black-and-white bear is a panda, right?!"
"Okay, sure, pandas are bears. I'll accept that. But system—come out here and explain this to me."
"What the hell does the third one have to do with bears?!"
"That's clearly the Paw-Paw Fruit! The user's name just happens to have 'Bear' in it, so that counts?! You didn't even bother with a pun—you went straight for a homophone gag?!"
The references were painfully obvious.
One from a game (League of Legends),
one from an animated movie (Kung Fu Panda),
and one from an anime (One Piece).
Akira suppressed his urge to rant.
He didn't even need to guess what these abilities did.
The first option, Summon Bear, actually suited his sniper role—Tibbers could guard him while he attacked from afar.
But—
If Bear-Brawler turned into Tibbers' Rage, how was he supposed to keep using his original power? He wouldn't be able to throw shuriken over extreme distances anymore.
His gaze finally settled on the third option.
"Tell me this isn't a bear's ability."
Absolutely flawless logic.
The Paw-Paw Fruit was absurdly powerful, both offensively and defensively.
He could repel air to create shockwaves, embed kunai into them for long-range sniping, repel fatigue and injuries, and even achieve teleportation-like movement—similar to [Consumable: Encore G-380].
Sure, the chakra cost would be high, but it was still within Akira's tolerance.
"Choose Option Three: Bartholomew Kuma."
Bear-Brawler (Lv10) EXP (MAX) Trait (Bartholomew Kuma)
Akira slowly closed his eyes.
Complex chakra circulation patterns flooded his mind.
After a long while, he opened his eyes and raised both hands. Chakra flowed through his body in intricate paths before converging in his arms.
Soft, pink pads formed on his palms.
"The chakra consumption is higher than normal Bear-Brawler, but still manageable."
"Right now, I can only repel compressed air. Long-range teleportation and repelling fatigue or pain are still out of reach."
His chakra reserves simply weren't enough.
To achieve the same level of performance as Bartholomew Kuma in the original work, he'd need chakra on the level of Kisame.
"But…"
Akira lightly slapped the ground.
The air compressed into a dense sphere.
Boom!
A deep, needle-like crater punched into the earth.
"This is easily sniper-rifle-level power."
"And it can combo perfectly with Fire Release, Shadow techniques, and Clone buffs."
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