Chapter 9 – Rules for Shinobi

Raito groaned as he glanced at the persistent notification box before him.

[5:00 AM]

Raito walked down the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen. Upon opening the fridge, he discovered it was nearly empty. "I knew I was forgetting something."

'Naruto should be rubbing off on me.' Raito mused, shaking his head before hurrying to the bathroom

After donning fresh clothes, Raito tapped softly on Naruto's door and peered inside. Naruto was deep in slumber. 'After yesterday's training, it's ok.'

Leaving the house for the market, Raito activated his 'Chakra Sense' and let it be. As he approached the market, he noticed the growing crowd of people—chatting, laughing, and calling out to one another.

Yet, within the jovial ambiance, Raito's ears caught snippets of several groups engaged in troubling matters.

"We have no other option."

"It's going to give us a bad name."

"Tenda-sama is asking us to do this, but to do this… to a child… isn't this a bit-"

"Did you all forget? What you did to that demon brat?"

[A special skill has been created through a special act.]

[Skill 'Lip Reading' has been created.]

When Raito heard it, he activated '[Stealth]', and quietly approached to the wall, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Hush, you wanna die?"

"We are just businessman. The civilian council is the one giving oders."

"I know we all lost someone, but to blame it on one child, it looks a bit… stupid."

"And what does that lead to? What did that kid do?"

"He goes around pranking people."

"I thought if he was a demon why not just kill people."

At this point, a man with a large belly and beard slammed his hand down and declared, "That demon knows that if he kills people, Hokage-sama will send ANBU to kill him. That's why he doesn't kill."

"Don't take us for fools."

"You can only fool a three-year-old with that nonsense."

A few individuals chuckled at the mockery and looked at the large-bellied man with contempt. However, another group of people backed the large-bellied man and replied.

"The information came from the higher up. So, we believe it's true."

"Without your business license, just see the money slip through your fingers."

One of the men on opposite side, who looked a little burly, stomped his feet and walked forward. "Stop it."

"Sora, Rei, Kenta." He looked at the three and said, "You three should know the ban Hokage-sama placed on everyone. I hope you don't forget."

He looked at everyone, extended his hand and said, "It's time to open for business."

Raito looked at the profile tabs of these people and began mentally categorizing them. He discovered that he could group them into different categories and save them for later reference.

A new category 'Fated one' was created that day. How fated were they going to be, only time can tell?

With an empty bag in hand, Raito ventured into the bustling market street and approached the first stall selling vegetables.

A thin man was busy arranging boxes behind the counter. Upon noticing Raito, he quickly approached him and said, "We're not open yet."

Raito glanced at the man and replied, "But it's already time. When will you be opening?"

The man stammered, "Uh, when the shopkeeper returns. I'm just a mover, so…" The man hurriedly made an excuse and returned to his job.

Undeterred, Raito moved on to the next stall, which was smaller than the first but had all the ingredients he needed: potatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and chilies.

Raito looked inside but there was not a soul to be seen.

Raito narrowed his eyes and scanned the area. He spotted an older woman nearby and approached her. "Excuse me, Aunty, I would like to buy some cheese-"

The woman shook her head, "Can't, can't, can't. Everything is brought by the… council members. They are having some kind of party today."

Raito hummed, looking at the older women then turned to a meat shop. "I hope it's a grand party…"

This butcher shop was run by the same big-bellied man who was quite antagonistic earlier.

The three Raito visited before were the milder ones compared to him.

Raito looked at the beef chunks, pointed at one of the larger one and said, "I'll take this one."

The big-bellied man paused his butcher's knife mid-air and said. "Can't."

"Can't?" Raito raised an eyebrow and smiled. He rummaged through his pockets, but in reality, he was accessing his inventory. Raito pulled out a small card and presented it forward. "I want this beef chunk."

The big-bellied man squinted at the card, which seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "Not selling."

The card was a verification of Raito's status as a member of a registered ninja clan or family. While it didn't provide any significant benefits, it did confirm his identity.

Raito's smile grew wider as he took a step back and walked towards another shop.

The shopkeeper seemed to have been emboldened as he rejected Raito.

Raito tried one store after another, but each one rejected him. His actions started to attract attention, and a few of the shopkeepers he hadn't visited yet gave him some advice, telling him not to expect too much.

Raito ignored them and continued with his rejects, and at the same time started activating his chakra.

Manipulating chakra was itself a verification that the person was a ninja or going to be one. This was the absolute fact that differentiated them from the civilians.

Of course, civilians also had chakra, but they didn't have the ability, knowledge or training to manipulate chakra.

And one perk of being able to manipulate chakra is that you can do some mysterious things…

Of course, for now, Raito could only do as much as he was taught by the people around him, and one of the use was sending chakra flares.

By manipulating these chakra flares, one can send messages, which are picked up by sensor-nin, who then decode what the flares are supposed to mean, and that will then lead to deployment of shinobi. It can be Chūnin, Jōnin or even ANBU.

Of course that depend on the level of codes.

Every level has certain codes. Each message are compacted into codes.

Those are used in cases of emergency and discovery within the village, or any hundred other things. This method is a bit harmful as there is a high chance of discovery by the enemy ninja, if they have a sensor in the team.

But for now, Raito was dealing with a bunch of antagonistic civilians.

The big-bellied man watched Raito with a dumbfounded expression as he continued to visit the shops on the same street. When he noticed people starting to talk and point fingers, he realized he was in trouble.

The other shopkeepers also sensed that something was amiss, but they were hesitant to act, as there were a few members of the civilian council on the street, watching them with a nonchalant air.

Raito returned to the butcher shop and muttered, "If I was to report you, you would just get a fine, and things would come to an end. But…"

Raito took out another card, which was given to him by the Hokage, and continued, "I'm really sorry for what… I'm about to do to you, your family, and your friends."

Raito felt all the hatred leaving him as he finally release the last of the chakra spike.

'Post war script – Monitoring division, that's why they made me read it.' Raito remembered the few books that had some interesting things and shook his head.

"The village can be disrupted by the merchants, businessmen or even a rioting group of civilian. They can stop the food supplies, medical supplies and water treatment in the village and its surroundings."

"Even more crucial is that by interrupting the production and sale of food and other essential items, there will be mass panic, confusion, and anxiety."

Raito looked at the big bellied person and said in the inside, 'When I showed you the verification card, you should have told me the reason why you weren't selling yo me. It was that simple, but you didn't.'

He looked down at the card in his hand and frowned. 'If Naruto had this card, could he do the same?'

Suddenly, three ANBU appeared in the middle of the street, scanning the area before their gaze landed on Raito's hand, which was holding a simple card.

'While there are laws to protect civilians form shinobi, there are also laws to protect shinobi from civilian.'

Ratio waved the card and continued, "I don't think you know, but there is a law to deal with situation like this. To protect the village, a clan, a family and an individual, against such actions."

"Civilians have these rights, but when it involves shinobi, the level goes to maximum, a bit beyond."

Raito's breathing was irregular as he stepped back and approached the ANBU and said, "Stall number 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 11,12, 13,15,17, 21 and 23, and their stall owners, on the first name basis; Sora, Rei, Kenta, Bunko, Amaya, Yuka, Junko, Nissho, Miki, Shunmyo, Razan and Komi."

Raito took a deep breath and clam his heart as he said, "They have violated the Shinobi's Rights Protection Act. I want to ask as a member of the Ninja family to the T & I division to supervise this case and pursue the truth."

Raito's breathing quickened as he looked around. The ANBU had created shadow clone and grabbed all of the named individuals in one sweep. There were civilian council members in the middle of streets looking at the scene with anger and confusion.

'Are those people responsible?' A fire grew in Raito's heart as he looked at these people. He quickly categorized them in the special 'Fated one' then let out a breath

Tap.

A hand landed on Raito's shoulder—a touch from the ANBU. They had completed their mission, and the individuals were tied with tags around their necks.

[Mutism Seal]

"You need to fill some forms before noon, if you want to start this process." the ANBU said.

"Ah, yes. I will do it by noon." Raito came out of daze and nodded.

"You have classes-"

"Today, it's all theoretical classes, and I'm the highest-scoring student in the academy. I'll send an application letter to Iruka-sensei." Raito explained in his broken sentences.

The ANBU agent behind him shook his head and spoke up, "New generation 12 year olds. Leave it be, 30."

"I recommend the shinobi district for future purchases." The ANBU whispered to Raito then walked away with the rest towards the T & I with the shopkeepers in tow.

Raito looked at his balance and then at the shops. "I should buy as much as I can."

Raito ignored the limits and walked towards a store with meat but thinking that the shinobi district indeed has an Akimichi meat shop, he walked to the next store.

The butcher sighed in relief but the shopkeeper beside his shop was trembling at the absurd hands that were not stopping even for a second.

He gulped and said. "That's about 4,000 Ryo."

"I am buying in bulk so…"

"Even if you are buying in bulk, I cannot-" the shopkeeper started to say, but Raito started again.

Raito looked at the man and returned the vegetables, "This again?"

Raito sighed as he turned around, looking towards the direction the ANBU had gone off to.

The shopkeeper jumped and hurriedly said, "We are having a special discount for our special customer."

Raito quickly turned around, raised his two fingers and said, "Everything for 2,000 Ryo."

"Slashing the price half is no good." Shopkeeper looked at the things, that weighed quite a bit and said, "500 Ryo discount."

"If it is not 3,000 then I feel it just…" Raito closed his eyes and sighed.

"Let's come to middle and-"

Raito raised his hands and stopped the shopkeeper, "I don't want it."

Outside the shop, a small group of civilians were looking at the items when they heard Raito stopping the shopkeeper.

Raito then let go of items and looked at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth then sighed. Since they were talking in low voices, the others didn't hear about the price war.

The shopkeeper raised three fingers and looked at Raito.

Raito nodded and gave 3,000 Ryo to the shopkeeper and said, "Thank you, Mr. Shopkeeper."

Raito walked away with a big smile on his face.

'I hope I don't have to threaten them all the times.' Raito looked at the stores then continued.

Well killing a chicken to scare the monkey was indeed somewhat right.

At the end, he spent a little less than 10,000 Ryo in this shopping spree.

Raito stood in front of a fruit shop and the shopkeeper for this was the one who stopped the quarrel this morning.

Raito brought a kilo of everything and looked at the man before paying the full price.

"You bargained all the way here but paid the full price in my shop. Did I do something to deserve it?" The shopkeeper brought out a small cart after looking at the number of bags around.

"You might have." Raito was vague in his word as he grabbed the cart and put everything in it. 'I like this cart.'

Raito looked at the market street before turning away. 'I don't think I'll be coming here for a while.'

Raito trudged home, his mind abuzz with jumbled questions. Why was Naruto ostracized by the villagers? What was the reason behind everything happening? And most importantly, what course of action should he take? And lastly, what should he do?

Dismissing the quest notifications with a swipe, Raito reached his house at the end of the road.

Pushing open the door, he found Naruto cleaning the house with an intensity bordering on frustration.

"This stain just doesn't go." Naruto grumbled.

"That's because it's not a stain. It a Fūinjutsu mark." Raito explained, entering with a cart full of items.

Naruto glanced at the wooden panel he was scrubbing, then scratched his head in confusion. "I didn't know that."

[Negation – Sensory Penetration.]

[Negation – Eye block]

[Central – One way channel]

Raito gave a glace to the popups, and absorbed the needed information silently as he began organizing the items.

"That's a lot of stuff." Naruto looked at the items and looked at Raito weirdly. "Won't it-" he started, then trailed off with a sudden realization. "Oh, right, that jutsu."

"Yup, if there is any more I can just keep them in my inventory." Raito added to Naruto's sudden enlightenment.

"That's smart." Naruto tapped his temples in understanding.

"So, did you do your stretching?" Raito finished his work and looked at Naruto.

Naruto sheepishly shook his head, "I was going to."

"Then let's do it together." Raito suggested, changing into more comfortable clothes before heading to the backyard.

When it was time to go to academy, Raito gave Naruto his lunch box and said, "I won't be going with you today."

"Give this to Iruka-sensei, okay?" Raito took out a letter and gave it to Naruto.

"I am skipping classes, but I have a reason to." Raito waved his hand and disappeared from the house.

Naruto looked at the letter and lunchbox before sighing. "I wanna skip too…"

Raito walked slowly under the red moon and made his way to the T & I department. On his way, he killed several zombies with his sword and gained a new title.

[Beginner Swordsman]

# Obtained by

Swinging a sword 1000 times.

Killing 100 enemies.

# 10% Increase in attack damage while using a sword.

# STR +5 while equipped with a sword.

Raito appeared near the T & I department area in the real world, and walked in with a Henge, disguised as a senior ninja.

It was the same as every day, but this time several eyes were fixed on him. Some of the shinobi had already noticed the Henge and were a bit weary of him, but didn't take any action.

Raito walked to the receptionist and took out his family verification card then said, "I am here to file a form."

The receptionist examined the card and registered the name before pulling out a dozen-page form and said, "Please, fill the first two pages and describe the event in detail as much as possible."

Several men, who were looking towards the door, looked at Raito, thought for a while before starting to move, but the receptionist continued, "Hall number three, on the second floor. Mitarashi Anko will be handling your case."

Raito nodded before walking away, leaving the men and women in the reception area.

Knock.

Raito knocked once before opening the door. As expected, the room was empty. He sat down and began writing in extreme detail, his calligraphy skill allowing him to write much faster than before.

Click.

Mitarashi Anko, self-proclaimed best infiltrator of the village, walked in wearing a mesh body suit that covered her from neck to thigh and a tan overcoat. Her light brown, pupil-less eyes locked onto Raito, who was going to turn his head to the door handle noise.

Anko tapped the ground and appeared before Raito in just a second.

"Got you," Before Raito could even turn his head Anko had made a jump on him.

Squashed between her breasts, Raito tried to break free, but her grip was just too strong. Meanwhile, Anko's summon, a white snake with a distinctive red diamond-shaped mark on its head, slithered around Raito's body.

"Midori, stop doing that." Raising his head, Raito made a small escape and shouted, "And Anko-nee, please, let go."

"Aw, but I haven't seen you in a week." Anko released him then ruffled his hair.

"I came, but you weren't home. The dorm manager told me you were on a mission outside the village." Raito tried glaring back for which Anko started moving, swinging Raito like a doll.

After a while, she released her grip and said, "It was just a retrieval mission."

Taking a seat, she continued, "When I saw ANBU bringing civilians in, I didn't think it would be from ya."

"Sorry for that. I also didn't think it would happen." Raito sighed and passed the event form to her.

Raito started explaining. "They were talking about Naruto and me. So, I went in with a plan."

Anko looked at the papers and frowned. "I interrogated a few and they pointed towards a member of civilian council."

Raito grabbed Midori's head then said, "I thought the civilian council wouldn't try anything after the academy incident."

Throwing the form on the table, Anko sighed and said, "It's not like the whole civilian council is on the opposing side. It's this Shimada, he just…"

"The one in charge of the clothing department?" Raito asked then added, "He has a son called Tomio."

"He is in trouble too. Do you know?" Anko raised her brows and looking at Raito, she thought of another thing.

"Of course, I know." Raito nodded and started explaining what happened that one day he came to academy on time. "I did a bit too much because he said Naruto was Kyūbi reincarnate."

"…With all the prank he is pulling, there are some who want to think that." Anko looked at Midori and stretched her hand.

Raito looked at Anko and the table.

[Lie detected.]

Anko sighed and said, "It's not like the whole civilian council is on the opposing.

"What?"

Raito shook his head and said, "There were thirteen of them, those shopkeepers, who believed Naruto was a demon, Kyūbi reincarnate, just like Tomio said."

Raito threw the pen, he was holding, and it landed on the door handle, "Not just this. Naruto is treated differently wherever he goes…"

Then he looked at Anko, "That's not normal. It's super abnormal."

Anko narrowed her eyes and looked at Raito. "…"

"And this demon thing now… Anko-nee-"

"Go to the academy." Anko stood up and collected the form.

"What?"

Anko ignored Raito and called, "Midori."

She looked at Raito and said, "Go to the academy and study. That's what a student is supposed to do."

'Of course, she wouldn't tell me. I am not even a Genin.' Raito stood up and let Midori go. "The more you say like this, the more clear it get, you know?"

He walked ahead and said, "I have Shikamaru with me. He can find out for me."

With a bang, Raito closed the door and walked down the stairs to the reception area.

The small group was still there, looking anxiously at the doors.

Raito looked at their profile tab and guessed that they were family of those shopkeeper.

Using another Henge, he quickly walked out of the door.

"I should give it a rest for few days until the investigation is over. But now I have to find a new place to shop." Raito walked leisurely along the road and turned west instead east. "Not like I have anything to do at the academy."

"Shopping in the shinobi district… it will be a bit pricey but… Argh, it's so troublesome."

Raito kept on walking until he reached a quiet place. There wasn't anyone else, and it was a perfect place for thinking and resting. Under a big tree, there was a small bench.

Raito cleaned the bench and sat, then took out a sandwich from his pouch and started eating it.

At this moment, a teen, slightly older than Raito, walked from behind and sat beside Raito. He had a Konoha forehead protector on his head and a pouch on his hips.

Raito gave him a glance before continuing to eat his sandwich.

"Raito-kun, a lot of things happened to you this morning." The Genin started.

Raito finished his sandwich and asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Iwamoto Katsurom, the son of Iwamoto Bunko, the butcher at the market street."

"Okay," Raito nodded and asked. "What do you want from me?"

"The thing is… I learned of what happened on the market street and I just want to ask for your forgiveness." Katsurom did a simple bow and looked at Raito. "For the things my father did, I sincerely apologize."

"Hey, no need." Raito raised his hand and made an awkward smile. "Those things just happened… you don't need to do this."

Katsurom looked at Raito and sighed, "I have a lot of free time now…"

"… That involved you?" Raito asked with his 'Chakra Sense' active.

He let out an ugly smile and sighed, "It seems so."

"Well, they are here for you so…" Raito looked at the tree couple of meters away from him before giving him a side-glance.

"Every decision leads to present, so we should make our decisions carefully to make our future." After saying that, Raito threw the paper and walked away.

The Genin looked down and sighed. He was then escorted by the three shinobis, wearing Chūnin vest.

"I got to say what Inoichi-sensei said to me." A grin spread on Raito's face as he joyfully exited the area.

When Raito returned home, it was already dark. When he entered the house, Naruto was standing in front of him with a towel and a water bottle.

Raito raised his brows and grabbed the things then asked, "What do you want?"

"Um… Raito, can you take me to that place again? I think I learned something during my fight with Hinata today and I so wanna try it out."

"Heh, you mean getting ass kicked. I can't believe you lost ten times in a fifteen-minute break. How can you say that you learned something?"

Naruto's face was twitching, "You were watching?"

"I didn't think that Hinata was so powerful and could hit that hard. I mean, in our previous matches, she looked not so attacking type. I didn't know she would change after that…" Naruto started yelling at the end as he stared at Raito. "After you said something to her."

"Yes, yes. I won't ever do that again from now on. It is just too annoying."

"But-."

"Let's not think about that anymore. Come." Raito didn't let Naruto continue as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder and disappeared.

"[ID Create: Wasteland – Zombie]"

The two boys teleported and the sky changed, casting an eerie silence.

"I don't think I can ever get used to this." Naruto looked around then hurriedly went out.

"Me neither." Raito activated his 'Chakra Sense' then quickly went to the nearest gathering point.

"I am going to practice hand seals. Wanna join me?" Standing on top of a building, Raito took out a small hand book and sat on a corner.

"For real?" Naruto looked at the zombies below then at Raito.

"Why don't you make a clone and make him practice some hand seals too? It won't hurt."

"Well, it will just take one clone, so why not." Naruto made a hand seal and with a puff of smoke, one Naruto clone was standing together with Raito.

"Five more clones, I have some books here."

Naruto nodded and again with a puff of smoke five more Naruto clones came.

"Aww come on, boss, not reading again. While you go and have fun, we have to read these boring books, it's really not fair."

"What do you mean fun? I am going to train." Naruto rolled his eyes and looked at his clones.

"But it's not fair for us." Another clone raised his voice then all the clones started shouting.

"Shut it." Raito added chakra to his voice and looked at them.

All the clones stopped talking and turned towards Raito.

"You dare!" Raito tried adding chakra to his voice and found it not so effective, so he switched it to reasonable one.

"These books are really important, so don't you dare tell me you're not going to read them. Even if you can pass your Ninjutsu test, I know you can't pass the Genjutsu test. Then there's Taijutsu. If you had to fight someone strong, you'll lose. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu will give you fifty points, but the other fifty will come from your written test and throwing test. If you look at the numbers, Naruto, if you don't do well in your written test, there's very little chance you'll pass the exam. Do you want to fail the last exam of the academy and repeat the year?" Raito yelled at Naruto and his clones, playing all the emotions correctly. "If you really want to fail and repeat the semester and don't want to be with us."

Raito's bombardment made Naruto and his clones blush a hundred times the red color. Some of the clones were even thinking of just canceling the jutsu and disappearing.

"It's your choice, Naruto. To be with us or not." Raito concluded his barrage with a heartfelt deciding words.

"He's right guys." Naruto's clones nodded and Raito had a slight smile on his face.

"I really don't wanna repeat academy." Naruto and clones looked at one another then started pouring out emotions.

"Who wants to be there with those stinky teachers."

"Hey!"

"Iruka-sensei is still cool."

"That's when he is not teaching."

"It's better when he is buying us ramen."

Seeing the content go out of hand, Raito immediately gave a clap, powered by chakra then looked at them with squinty eyes.

"Now, one of you come with me and others go read these books." Raito pointed and ordered the clones.

The original jumped off the building and the clones started reading the books.

Raito, after locking in his chakra, started doing hand seals, and at the same times got caught in a bit of trouble.

These Narutos had too much of left over chakra, but not as much as original, so after quite a bit of practice, they were able to lock in their chakra, and start doing hand seals.

[Skill Created]

[Hand Seals Lvl 1 (Passive) Exp 0.0%]

Hand Seals are used to perform many Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and other secret arts other than Taijutsu. The exact amount of chakra necessary to perform a jutsu is manipulated through hand seals. There are different sequences of hand seals for every technique.

You start with chakra, mold them to your desire with knowledge and effort then release

- At higher levels, user can use less or even decrease the number of hand seals to perform a jutsu.

Raito grinned and started practicing hand seals after three hours or so.

[Skill 'Teaching leveled up by 10]

[Skill 'Hand Seals' leveled up by 10]

[Skill 'Hand Seals' reached level 11]

"Naruto, look, I've gotten even faster." Raito showed Naruto the speed by which he was weaving through the seals.

Naruto was getting frustrated looking at Raito.

"Damn it, how the hell you are even doing it?" Naruto stopped and scratched his head vigorously. Was that despair in his face.

"Hehe, I am just that good." Raito smiled.

"Damn it. I am going to surpass you! Believe it!" Naruto shouted as he started the hand seals.

ROAR!

"What the hell is that?" Raito shouted as he looked at the source of the roar.

A zombie, equal to a 5 storied house, purple in color, stood in front of Naruto.

"You, dispel. I want Naruto here." Raito ordered and looked at others. "Follow me."

After some time passed, Naruto came running towards where Raito was and got himself punched in the face.

"What the heck did you do?" Raito questioned and started moving with everyone, as the giant started moving towards them.

"Nothing. It just came out of nowhere, I swear!" Naruto answered while crying anime tears.

Raito grabbed Naruto and commanded '[ID Escape]' in his head, but nothing happened. He tried again but nothing happened

"Naruto, I don't think we can escape right now. It looks like we need to beat this monster before we can return."

"If that's the case, let's defeat it," Naruto said with a determined glint in his eyes.

'How silly can you be Naruto?'

'If we could beat it, I wouldn't be thinking of escaping.'

"Before that, tell me everything."

Naruto explained that he had been training his Taijutsu using the 'Shadow Clone Technique', and after defeating a hundred monsters or more, a substantial amount of black gas had gathered in one place, leading to the appearance of the monster.

"I understand. Wait here for a moment. I want to test something," Raito said as he ran towards the monster, drawing his katana.

'[Observe]'

Zombie S1 Lvl 20

HP 5000/5000

MP 250/250

STR 70

VIT 30

DEX 10

INT 5

WIS 10

LUK 0

Description: Zombie S1 is an undead, a variation of the normal zombie created through the combination of a hundred zombies. It possesses enormous power and defense.

Kill to gain: 10,000 Exp, Superior Healing Gem, and Money

Rare Drop: Skill Book

Raito took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the sword, and began running. He jumped from the road to the wall, from wall to roof, and from roof to roof before jumping onto the back of the zombie and striking it.

-200

"Damn it," Raito muttered. Although the sword had inflicted some damage, it ultimately broke. Consequently, Raito discarded the sword as quickly as possible.

Simultaneously, the zombie, after being hit from behind, turned its body and swung its arms, attacking the figure behind it.

When the zombie struck Raito, he was flung towards a nearby house. But with a puff of smoke, the figure turned into a log.

"This giant has quick reflexes," Raito noted.

Raito ran back towards the house and saw Naruto walking around. "Naruto, it seems we're going to be stuck here for quite some time."

"No~, I am getting hungry," Naruto whined, shedding anime tears.

Raito chopped Naruto's head and brought out some food from his inventory.

"Oh, I forgot about that jutsu of yours. Thank you for the food," Naruto said without further comment, starting to eat his meal. Raito did the same.

"So, now what?" Naruto asked, looking towards the monster.

"This monster is really strong. I mean, insanely strong. My sword cracked."

"I don't have many weapons on me right now. We can only hope to use all those rubble and…" Raito said with a weak laugh, shaking his head helplessly.

"If we're talking about kunai and shuriken, then don't worry, I have plenty of them," Naruto assured Raito, showing his set, and so did the clones.

"These are just clones, though. One hit and they'll get destroyed if they come in contact with anything." To demonstrate, Raito took a set from a clone and threw a kunai at the wall. He waited for a while, expecting the kunai to disappear, but it didn't. Ashamed, Raito pulled the kunai from the wall and attacked the clone, causing it and the kunai set to vanish.

"Hey, what was that for?" Naruto yelled and then looked at Raito.

"That, Naruto, was an experiment. If that's true, then you're our only hope to get out of here faster," Raito said dramatically, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder and looking him in the eye.

Naruto beamed and made a cross sign.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Naruto and clones, each of you, hide in buildings where the monsters can't see you. When it's in range, hit it with your shuriken at full power and try to make as little noise as possible," Raito gave out orders

"Ok guys, move out." Naruto moved with his clones, searching for ambush site.

"Wait, Naruto, you just command and don't throw your shuriken. We may need more clones to get the work done." Raito pulled Naruto back.

"I understand." Naruto nodded as he stood on top of water tower with Raito.

Raito looked around, feeling bitter about how everything was going. Sullying for a bit, Raito promised to double his training.

The zombie was walking around the village searching for his enemies, angered by the fact that the two puny humans had actually managed to harm him.

All the Naruto clones were standing on the balcony with kunai and shuriken on their hand ready to strike. As the zombie walked to the street, they attacked him with all the weapons

Raito used '[Observe]' on the Zombie at all times, hoping for rapid drop in its HP but the HP was dropping very slowly.

Total damage dealt: 750

Zombie S1 Lvl 20

HP 4000/5000

"Damn it. It is not working at all. Naruto can you make more clones?" Raito cursed and asked Naruto.

Naruto tried but only a few clones appeared, "Any more than this… is painful."

Raito looked confused and looked at Naruto then used '[Observe]'.

CP: 250/4600

"Don't make any more clones. You are low on chakra. Rest for a while." Raito instructed. He pondered his surroundings, searching for ways to defeat the zombie.

'We can make traps, I have wires and still some shuriken but we don't have a weapon that can actually damage it. If only I had more powerful weapons or any offensive jutsu.'

'Damn it, I am definitely going to learn some powerful jutsu and buy more powerful weapon from Higurashi if I get out of here alive.' Raito though for several minutes, but he found that there weren't enough of anything that could help him defeat the giant zombie.

Raito blinked and blinked some more than he ran into the house and observed and touched the things in the house.

"Ahh, are you kidding me? Another dud?" Naruto yelled as he opened another packet of chips.

"Oi Naruto, what did I say about yelling? And is that chips?" Raito reprimanded then asked while pointing at the bag of chips.

"Nah, there is no food here. All of them have this weird thing inside." Naruto showed Raito the boxes and chips he had opened.

Raito pondered for a while then said, "It seems this place or world has no living people and the food has turned to ashes but the other things are just the same."

"The weapon store will have weapons?" Naruto asked. His eyes were twinkling like little stars, ready to explode.

"I was just going to say that." Raito exited the building and ran towards 'Higurashi Weapon Store'.

The 'Higurashi Weapon Store' is the best ninja weapon shop in the village. They offer the highest quality items, but they also come with the highest price tags in the village.

Naruto and Raito walked in the store and looked around.

Rows of dazzling swords were hung on the wall along with kunai and shuriken of different types.

"Naruto, pick whatever you like and let's go kill that monster." Raito started picking shuriken and kunai. After looking at the description of some weapons, Raito was shocked comparing his weapon to these.

[Ninjatō – Uncommon Quality]

Attack power – 400

Durability – 5000/5000

A Ninjatō made by Blacksmith Apprentice named 'Tenten'. The Ninjatō was crafted for ninja use.

[Dragon's Cry – Ninjatō – Rare Quality]

Attack power – 2000

Durability – 20000/20000

A Ninjatō made by Blacksmith Apprentice named 'Tetsu'. This Ninjatō was crafted using rare chakra metals and other rare metals. The name Dragon's Cry was engraved on the sword so its name.

# 30% increase in destructive power.

# Absorbs some amount of chakra when attacking from the user.

User restriction

-STR must be 60 or higher.

Raito eyes were shining, reading the description, then he went to pick some explosive tags, only to find the paper with no Fūinjutsu marks attached to kunai and made into balls.

Raito's eye twitched, looking at the explosive tags he so much wanted right now. Sighing, he turned around and left the store.

"Naruto sure is taking his sweet time." Raito looked at the giant zombie's direction then started manipulating his chakra.

[Body Reinforcement activated - 25 CP per minute]

Raito didn't stop as he took out a kunai from his pouch and tried extending his chakra over it.

[A special skill has been created through special action.]

[Skill 'Chakra Flow' has been created.]

"Seriously? It's easy." Raito looked at the chakra covering the kunai, which previously seemed to be crumbling but now it was smooth and covered all the parts.

[Chakra Flow Lvl 1 (Active) 0.0% CP Cost 50 per minute]

Chakra Flow refers to both the flowing of chakra through an object as well as any technique that increases the potency of a weapon by flowing chakra through it.

Earth Chakra Flow – Increase defensive power of an object.

[Elemental affinity unlocked]

[Primary Earth Affinity Lvl 1 (Passive) 0.0%]

Earth Affinity is one of the basic elemental nature transformation techniques. It allows the user to manipulate the surrounding earth for offensive and defensive purposes or create it; be it dirt, mud or rock. Earth techniques are one of the most versatile of the elemental techniques.

- Increases the power, speed, and range of earth-based techniques by 20%

- Decrease chakra used for Earth-based techniques by 20%

- Increases defense by 50%

- Increases experience gain when learning and using Earth techniques by 20%

"Are you telling me to fight more?" Raito murmured as he looked through the skills.

"I had that too." Raito took out the healing scroll book and immediately learned it.

[Skill learned]

[Heal Lvl 1 (Active) Exp 0.0% CP Cost – 500]

- Recover 50 HP

- Remove status effect

"Raito, I am ready." Naruto walked out with a clone holding several weapons from the store.

Raito looked at the weapons and walked forward before grabbing a Ninjatō from the clone. "Isn't this a bit too much?"

"Nope, I just want to make sure that we have enough to deal with that monster." Naruto said as chain and sickle fell from his shoulder.

"Well, let's go." Raito sheathed his new Ninjatō and jumped.

He took out his Ninjatō with an attack power of 600 and used 'Chakra Flow'. A yellowish-brown thin layer appeared over the sword. Then he looked at his skills and titles, 'Kenjutsu Lvl 19', 'Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner' and 'Beginner Undead Hunter.'

"Naruto, I am going to go for the first hit." After saying that, Raito jumped down the water tower and appeared behind the zombie. With a swift slash, Raito dealt 1300 damage to the zombie.

HP 2700/5000

"Damn!" Shocked by the damage done, Raito pulled back the sword and retreated. "Chance looks really good now."

"HAAAA!" Naruto started throwing a lot of kunai and shuriken with the help of his remaining clones, non-stop.

HP 1700/5000

The zombie swung his hands furiously towards Naruto.

Naruto managed to hold on for a while before his clones were destroyed, and he was flung away.

Running hurriedly, Raito went to catch Naruto and dropped him to a safer place.

"Oi, Naruto, are you ok?" Raito patted Naruto's face and checked his body. After finding that there was not much damage to Naruto's body thanks to his '[Observe]', Raito let out a breath he was holding.

Groaning, Naruto woke up and looked at Raito's face. "So not cool."

"You're running low on chakra. Stay here; I'll take care of it." Raito rolled his eyes and grabbed his Ninjatō.

Opening the inventory, Raito brought out a number of logs of different size.

"It'll take just one hit." Leaving a log behind, Raito jumped down with another then dumped the log before dashing towards the giant.

"[Chakra Flow]"

Bluish light covered the Ninjatō, which slowly turned dirty yellow.

"[Stealth]"

Zombie S1 Lvl 20 (ERAGED)

HP 1700/5000

"Let's finish this." Suddenly appearing behind the giant zombie, Raito swung his sword swiftly and made a deep cut at the back of the ankle then brought out a small red pill and pushed it inside the wound.

"[Replacement]"

Fearing the quick reflexes of the zombie, Raito used '[Replacement]' and switched with the log.

What he had thought was true as the zombie moved with incredible swiftness and made a sweep with the other leg.

Zombie S1 Lvl 20 (ERAGED)

HP 1150/5000

Roar!

"That's Naruto's favorite chili bomb mixed with my extreme itchy-itchy bomb." Raito laughed and circled the zombie slowly while regulating his breathing.

When not in combat, Raito found that his rate of chakra recovery had increased significantly. According to numbers, if it was compared to past, it would be like comparing a lazy turtle to a hard working rabbit.

Roar!

The zombie roared in pain and anger, probably.

'Why are you feeling pain?'

"[Stealth]"

Raito vanished from the street, approaching the zombie slowly. Unseen and unheard, he raised his Ninjatō and repeated his previous actions.

Roar!

Unable to bear weight of its own body, the zombie fell down in fetal position, trying to reach his ankles to feel the wound and do something to lessen the agony.

Zombie S1 Lvl 20 (ENRAGED) (CRIPPLED)

HP 600/5000

"I'm going to end your pain." Raito activated the stealth once again and disappeared.

Reappearing behind the zombie, Raito accumulated power and chopped down with full strength.

*Ding

Killed 100 out of 100 zombies

- Gained 6 Soul Stone

- Gained 3 bones of Zombie

- Gained 1 eyes of Zombie

Killed 1 out of 1 Zombie S1

- Gained 10,000 Exp

- Gained 20,000 Ryo

- Gained 1 Superior Healing Gem

- Gained Skill book – Body Flicker (Shunshin no Jutsu)

Your level has risen by 1.

You gained 5 stat points to use.

The two boys exited the dungeon, reached home and sighed in relief. After using '[Heal]' a couple of dozens of times, Raito left Naruto then went to his own room.

Raito lay on the bed, fully awake, using '[Chakra Sense]' to extend his perception.

What happened today was out of his consideration, thinking and planning. And this '[Heal]', it's different from what he had seen in the past.

'I can do it.'

Raito closed his eyes then continued his sensing.

Initially, he could barely sense chakra, but now he could distinguish between the chakras of different individuals and even make out their shapes and surroundings. This '[Chakra Sense]' was different from what he had read in the scroll.

According to the scroll, the '[Chakra Sense]' had two modes, first called 'Domain', where the user releases chakra, making a sphere around the user and whenever something comes into the sphere, the chakra sends signals directly to the brain and the body takes actions immediately.

The second is called 'Area Sensing', which had two stages, and the requirement was to be a natural born sensor type.

First was to just sense the chakra around the body and slowly expand that range using special chakra manipulation method.

The second stage of this technique was to use elementals to do the sensing. The user uses the chakra and communicate with either of elements to feel the vibrations, shifts, sounds, thermal, etc. to get information.

Raito suspected the change was due to his 'Gamer Ability' but didn't dwell on it.

"Hey, I've got some money now."

[Balance: 38,400 Ryo]

After sometime, Raito woke up and checked his stats and saw HP and CP fully restored. He tehn took out books and started reading.

After 5 hours of reading.

[Skill 'Reading' leveled up by 8.]

[Skill 'Stealth' leveled up by 2.]

[Skill 'Chakra Control' leveled up by 1.]

[Skill 'Leaf Sticking Exercise' leveled up by 4.]

[Due to your diligent study, INT raised by 4.]

[Due to understanding the contents of the book perfectly, WIS raised by 1.]

[Due to strenuous exercise, STR raised by 2.]

Raito set aside the dumbbells and books before retiring to bed.

This morning, Raito's good sleep was interrupted by Naruto, who was screaming frantically.

"Ahh!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Reluctantly, Raito released the seal and allowed Naruto to enter.

"Raito I can't find my weapons!" Naruto barged inside the room and told Raito about the weapons from Higurashi, what he had done and such.

"Ah, those weapons? I tried it too, but we can't." Raito shrugged.

"B-But I had brought a lot of them, I even used a lot of clones to help me move them." Naruto cried.

"A lot of clones?" Raito narrowed his eyes then shrugged.

Raito left the bed and went to the bathroom, then after a hot bath, he made his way to the kitchen, where he could see Naruto clones reading and writing everywhere. Most of them were writing the same thing repeatedly and only a few clones were reading and doing the math.

"Oi, clones, one of you go to Hokage tower and ask Jiji about your calligraphy."

"Ino and Hinata." Raito picked up a water bottle and sighed, "What a troublesome day."

"Should I skip?"