A layer of blue light spread rapidly outward from Hyuga Akira, sweeping over trees, grass, and every Iwa ninja in the forest.
Everyone saw the blue membrane clearly. Its speed was astonishing—by the time they reacted, it was already over.
"What was that?"
"What just happened?"
"My chakra is decreasing!?"
All of them looked around warily, yet the only thing they felt was a slight drain on their chakra.
"Is it absorbing chakra?"
But the rate of loss was roughly equal to their natural recovery. It wasn't really a loss at all, which only made the phenomenon harder to understand.
"No… look above your heads," one Iwa ninja said.
Above each person floated two bars of light—one blood-red and one blue. A red title hovered above them as well.
Both bars displayed numbers. The red bar showed only 100/100.
The blue bar, however, varied: jonin ranged around 10000/10000, while chunin were about 1000/1000.
[Iwa Village Jonin]
[Iwa Village Chunin]
Each of them bore the same red title overhead.
"What kind of thing is this?!"
They stared at one another's heads in confusion.
Looking farther out, they saw that the blue membrane had formed into a hemispherical dome, enclosing all of them.
"Welcome, everyone, to my world."
A clear voice echoed in everyone's ears.
"This is my ability—Game Dungeon World."
"This dungeon has three factions. The first is the Player. That faction consists of only me. The second faction is Monsters—and all of you belong to it. The third faction is NPCs. There are none present this time, so there's no need to explain further."
"This dungeon is formed by chakra supplied jointly by me and by all of you. Until it ends, no one can leave."
"The method to end the dungeon is simple. Either I kill all of you, or you kill me. Either way, the dungeon ends."
"However, because of faction differences, the dungeon is a player-versus-monster challenge, not monsters challenging the player. Therefore, monsters have restrictions on their actions."
As Akira's voice fell, a glowing circle appeared beneath each Iwa ninja's feet. Powerful repulsive forces pushed them apart, separating everyone until each stood alone within an individual ring of light.
"To hit me, two conditions must be met. First, I must enter your attack range—the circle beneath your feet. Second, I must attack you first. Only then may you retaliate."
"Of course, for balance, the first attack I make against you cannot take your life, no matter what."
"Also, as a dungeon, both sides receive rewards for victory. If I kill you, I temporarily gain your chakra and recover part of my injuries. If you kill me, everyone present will permanently gain the chakra I possess."
"And with that… the game begins."
Although everyone heard the rules clearly, they still tried to break free.
But no matter what they did, they couldn't leave the white circles beneath their feet, much less test the boundaries of the dungeon itself.
"What kind of cursed game is this?!"
"Who's the monster here—you're the real monster!!!"
…
Akira hadn't explained the rules because he wanted to.
The Game Dungeon awakening technique required every participant to understand the rules in order to fully activate. Otherwise, it would be nothing more than a barrier that trapped people and displayed their health and chakra.
The true power of the dungeon was binding all enemies and allies within a certain area until one side achieved complete victory.
Once activated, it became a fight to the death. Those inside couldn't leave, and those outside couldn't enter.
The rewards were not entirely favorable to Akira either—at least on the surface. In truth, there was a hidden rule.
If Akira won, the chakra of monsters who died inside the dungeon would strengthen the awakening technique itself.
At present, the ability was only half complete—it could merely enclose an area. In the future, it could reshape terrain and even generate items within the dungeon.
That required more ninja to die inside it, providing chakra to strengthen the domain.
Once the dungeon reached full completion, the awakening technique could undergo a second awakening—but that would only happen at level seventy-two.
That was a distant goal.
Level seventy-two was roughly equivalent to surpassing the Kage tier. Who knew how much experience that would require?
Akira didn't attack immediately. Instead, he sat quietly on a tree branch, waiting.
The dungeon was restoring his depleted chakra—and that chakra was being supplied by the Iwa ninja themselves.
When he was nearly replenished, he finally stood.
"Byakugan."
His vision activated, scanning the forest full of "monsters."
Even though everyone knew the rules and the dungeon imposed a certain balance, the battlefield still favored Akira the most. With the Byakugan, he could see every corner of the dungeon.
As a long-range sniper, he could attack without moving at all.
He picked up a kunai and aimed at a chunin, striking it forward with Bear Paw Strike.
Then, in the next instant, he drew a second kunai—this one enhanced with Bear Paw Strike, Shadow Clone Technique, and Shiranui.
A blue fireball vanished from his hand in an instant.
…
One of the chunin was scanning his surroundings. The white circle at his feet restricted his movement, and his comrades stood not far away.
"Are we just supposed to wait here to die?!" he shouted, throwing himself against the edge of the circle—only to rebound as if hitting an invisible wall.
In theory, the Game Dungeon, as a Nen-based ability, could be destroyed by overwhelming external force.
But his strength was nowhere near enough. Perhaps only someone like Ōnoki could manage it.
Nen abilities weren't invincible—their defenses had limits. It was simply that no one present could exceed them.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
A fireball shot through the trees and appeared before him.
"It's the fireball thrower!" The chunin raised a kunai and blocked it, his expression twisting.
So they'd found the culprit.
This fireball wasn't as large as those on the battlefield, and blocking it wasn't difficult. At the same time, the white circle beneath his feet disappeared, signifying his freedom.
He turned, intending to help his companions.
"Watch out!!!" someone shouted.
The chunin spun around at once—but another fireball had already appeared in front of him.
Pfft.
It pierced straight through his head. The 100-point health bar above him instantly dropped to zero.
The headless body staggered forward two more steps before collapsing to the ground.
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