Uchiha Ryoichi and the others began their assault on the Senju guarding Senju Banma, while Uchiha Gin lingered on the sidelines, slacking off.
A battle of this scale was far beyond him—he had no desire to set a record for the shortest-liveder.
His gaze swept over the unfamiliar Senju faces before settling on Senju Banma in the center.
From a distance, he studied the child doomed to a tragic death in the original story, recalling, "This is that famous scene—Senju Banma surrounded and killed by five Uchiha."
Suddenly, a loading sound from a game in his past life echoed in his mind. Time froze around him, the snarling faces of both sides locked in that instant.
"Ding! Detected host encountering a plot character. System entering pre-release mode early. Complete prerequisite tasks to unlock hidden system functions."
Uchiha Gin nearly wept with joy. Heaven hadn't forsaken him— novels didn't lie!
Thrilled, he mentally summoned the system. A clunky, outdated dialog box popped up before him.
"Accept prerequisite task?"
"Yes, yes, yes, YES!" he shouted internally, spamming the option.
"Task activated: Save Senju Banma from Uchiha Fuka and the others. Reward: 10 points. Senju Banma dies: Task fails."
Seeing the task, Gin's blood pressure spiked. Save that kid? Dream on!
"What do points do?" he asked, calming himself to inquire about their purpose.
"Complete one D-rank task daily to earn 1 point. Accumulate enough points to unlock the shop, after which it drops random golden orbs daily."
"Unlock the shop? Golden orbs?" Gin stared, dumbfounded. This was straight out of a game from his old life.
"What's 'pre-release mode' mean?" he pressed, curious about the "early activation" mention.
"The system isn't fully activated; the shop module is still loading. Points earned in pre-release mode will carry over to full activation."
"So my points are useless now?" If the system wasn't fully online, the task's stakes felt pointless.
Rushing to save Banma with his meager skills could get him flattened by Fuka's team—or at best, crippled and hauled before Uchiha Tajima for judgment.
"Can I refuse it?" he ventured.
"Host has accepted the task. Abandonment equals failure, resulting in immediate erasure."
Erasure?!
What ancient system was this? What year was it?!
"When did I accept?!" Gin protested, bewildered.
["Yes, yes, yes, YES!"]
The system replayed his earlier frantic agreement.
Damn it—he'd been tricked by this prehistoric relic. Who wouldn't say yes to a goldfinger?
Before he could argue, another prompt arrived.
"Newbie gift packing. Accept?"
Gin wanted to say no, but since he'd already been roped into the task, he might as well take it.
"Newbie gift pack received 1. Open?"
Resigned, he shook off the negativity and mentally clicked "Yes."
"Congratulations, host! Received: Heart of Steel Chest 1, Purple Orb 1."
Points to unlock the shop? Heart of Steel Chest? Purple Orb?
Was this system's logo a penguin with a golden spatula?
A gray chest floated to his left, identical to the Heart of Steel chest from his old game. To his right hovered a purple orb with a bold "?" glowing in its center.
Gin was numb. This system's reliability was questionable—what if it spat out more archaic junk?
With no choice, he tapped the chest. A description appeared:
[Defeat Opponents: Host gains heart energy by defeating foes.
Lose Battles: Losing yields more heart energy.
Heart Energy Conversion: Every four days of combat, convert energy into powerful rewards.
(Limited to one qualifying battle daily, upgradeable)]
Pure Heart of Steel mechanics—three-stack version.
"Three-stack start's pretty decent," he admitted. It wasn't immediately useful, but the allure was undeniable.
["Steel if you've got it, steel it if you don't!"]
Next, he eyed the purple orb, muttering, "Spirits above and below, Buddha bless me—give me something good!"
He slammed his right hand down. The orb burst into blinding light, then vanished, leaving nothing behind.
"Empty orbs too?!" Gin roared, ready to curse the system and demand a refund.
"Ding! Backyard daily random skill refresh 1. Learn?"
Backyard daily refresh? Puzzled, he selected "Yes."
[Backyard Daily Random Skill Refresh: Each day, a random skill spawns in the host's backyard, triggered by an uncontrollable NPC. Cannot kill the host. Post-skill, chance to drop the skill or fragments. Collect fragments to learn it.]
…
Not exactly powerful—currently useless. He had no home, no backyard. Learn what? Surviving long enough to own a house was uncertain. These rewards did squat for his predicament—he'd have to find another way to complete this cursed task.
As he claimed the newbie rewards, time resumed. What felt like ages in the system was a mere blink outside.
The system's arrival boosted Gin's confidence in surviving until Konoha's founding.
"But first, I've got to finish this task, or erasure makes it all moot."
Though this ancient system's gifts were presently useless, Gin resolved to risk it all. Tied to Banma's fate now, they were in the same boat.
Nearby, Uchiha Fuka was overpowering Senju Koji—victory was imminent.
Ryoichi's group steadily wore down the three Senju guarding Banma, who were stuck defending passively.
Then, one Senju spotted a gap in Ryoichi's encirclement. He clapped his hands, casting "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
A thick wall rose, blocking Ryoichi's line of sight. Another Senju used monstrous strength to hurl Banma out of the circle, yelling, "Run!"
Banma, flung dozens of meters, grasped their intent. Mid-air, he kicked off, bolting toward the gap without looking back.
Unfortunately, that gap led straight to Gin, who'd been loafing nearby.
Ryoichi saw the target escape and moved to pursue, but the wall-casting Senju blocked him.
Helpless, he watched Banma flee—then grinned, spotting Gin. "Gin! The target's heading your way—take him out!"
The Senju's eyes widened in horror. An ambush?! Panicked, he unleashed a massive punch at the distracted Ryoichi, aiming for his chest.
At the last second, Ryoichi twisted, revealing the giant Fuma shuriken on his back. With a thud, the punch struck the shuriken.
Ryoichi was knocked back but unharmed, retaliating with a slash. The two resumed their duel.
Meanwhile, Gin stared, headache mounting, at Banma charging toward him.
[Now what? Help, urgent!]
---
If you want to read more than 20 chapters early feel free to visit pa tre on . com /Archus