"An A-Rank Ninjutsu?"
Uchiha Shinji was tempted when he heard this.
After all, techniques like Great Fire Annihilation, Whirlwind Dance, and Shadow Clone Jutsu are all only B-Rank in the Hidden Leaf.
A-Rank Ninjutsu usually includes signature moves like Chidori, Rasengan, or Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu—considered ultimate techniques.
Generally, to master an A-Rank Ninjutsu, the user has to be at least a Jonin.
Therefore, upon hearing that he could receive an A-RankNinjutsu, Shinji was indeed tempted.
However, the words "random" made him hesitate.
There are indeed many ultimate-level offensive techniques in the A-Rank category.
But there are also plenty of techniques that, for someone like Shinji with Mangekyō Sharingan, wouldn't be particularly useful.
After all,
The A-Rank rating primarily reflects the difficulty of learning the jutsu, rather than its overall power.
For example, the technique Exploding Shadow Clone is also A-Rank.
Similarly, the Wind Blade that killed Gekkō Hayate by Hidden Sand Jonin Baki is another A-Rank Ninjutsu based on its learning difficulty.
There's also the Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique, Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld, and the Mind Control Sand Technique, which manipulates the brain.
For Shinji, who possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan, these A-Rank Ninjutsu wouldn't significantly boost his combat power or fill any gaps in his abilities.
So if he received any of these techniques by random, it would be a waste.
More importantly, he was in the Hidden Leaf.
As the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Hidden Leaf has countless jutsu. There were plenty of ways for him to acquire techniques, so there was no need to gamble here.
If he were to gamble, it would be better to try for the random reward offered upon achieving an A-Rank evaluation.
At the very least, he could glimpse the origin of the mysterious voice and see what kind of rewards it could offer!
After weighing his options, he made his decision. "I decline the Hidden Leaf's gift. I'll take the random reward instead."
[Generating Random Reward]
[You have received: 20 merit points]
[Total Merit Points Calculating...]
[Total Merit Points: 26]
Shinji blurted out, "Merit points? What's that?"
[Merit points can be used to raise your rank and upgrade your permissions.]
For once, the mysterious voice responded.
"I can upgrade my permissions!?"
Shinji's eyes lit up.
It was like someone handing him a pillow when he was about to fall asleep!
He remembered that the mysterious voice had previously mentioned that he was still a Candidate Lampbearer, which is why many of his questions were ignored—his permissions were too low.
So upgrading his permissions was crucial.
Only by raising his permissions could he gain a deeper understanding of what exactly the Lampbearer was, who was behind the invasion of the ninja world, and what their purpose was.
"Alright, help me upgrade my permissions!"
[Upgrading to 'Junior Lampbearer' requires 10 merit points.]
[Do you confirm?]
"10 points? Confirm!"
Shinji didn't hesitate and nodded.
[Upgrading...]
[You are now a 'Junior Lampbearer'.]
Shinji asked, "Can I continue upgrading?"
[Upgrading to 'Lampbearer' requires 100 merit points. You currently have 16 merit points, which is insufficient.]
Does that mean I now have access to everything?
As Shinji contemplated the changes brought by the upgraded permissions, he quickly calculated.
He had completed one mission with an E-Rank evaluation and another with an A-Rank evaluation. Adding the 20 merit points from the random reward, his total was 26 merit points.
If the math was right, his two missions had earned him 6 points overall.
The A-Rank likely gave him 5 points, while the E-Rank gave him 1 point.
"So, I now have 16 merit points, which means I would need at least 17 more A-Rank evaluations to reach the status of 'Lampbearer'."
After a pause, Shinji shook his head. "Wait, I can't just count it that way. Achieving an A-Rank evaluation also gives me another shot at a random reward, which could also grant merit points!"
For example, in this mission, he received 5 points from his A-Rank evaluation and an additional 20 points from the random reward. That meant he earned 25 points from this mission alone.
If he could maintain that level of efficiency, he would only need four more A-Rank evaluations to become a full Lampbearer.
His gaze then fell on a mark left on the ground.
It was a scar from the blood-red light that had torn through space earlier, and it appeared like a burn, about one or two meters long.
Shinji asked, "What is this?"
[Detected: Lamp Trace]
The mysterious voice immediately provided an answer.
Shinji quickly followed up, "A Lamp Trace? What's that?"
This time, the mysterious voice didn't answer immediately. After a while, it responded.
[The realm has been anchored by an unknown Lamp Trace.]
[Junior Lampbearer, regrettably, we have been captured.]
Shinji immediately stared intently at the inconspicuous mark on the ground. "Can it be erased?"
[Lamp Traces cannot be erased.]
Shinji's expression darkened.
He then inquired in detail about the nature of the Lamp Trace.
Clearly,
The Lamp Trace came from that mysterious Lampbearer. Its function was simple: to anchor the ninja world.
As long as the Lamp Trace successfully made its way into the ninja world, the other party could use it to locate the world.
And with further questioning, Shinji learned a shocking fact:
Anything from another world is toxic to the ninja world!
And by "anything," it didn't just refer to the invading demons.
The blood, flesh, items, traces, information, and even memories left in the minds of living beings—all of it was poison!
This poison would pollute the ninja world, forming anchors similar to the Lamp Trace.
The more anchors linking the two worlds, the more blurred the boundary between them would become. Eventually, the two worlds would overlap and collapse together!
Shinji stood frozen for a long time before asking, "Isn't he also a Lampbearer? If he knows that this will harm both worlds, why would he do it?"
Perhaps this question was beyond Shinji's current permissions, or perhaps even the mysterious voice didn't understand why the other Lampbearer would take such actions.
Either way, the mysterious voice gave no answer this time.
Shinji was left with no choice.
Previously, he had thought that these invading demons were a nuisance, but not an overwhelming threat to the shinobi world.
The Hidden Leaf Village's forces ran deep!
But now, he realized the situation was entirely different from what he had imagined.
If the mere existence of the invaders, including their information and memories—things that are hard to define as tangible—counted as poison to the ninja world, then the issue was far more serious than he had anticipated!
Gathering his thoughts, Shinji asked in a grave tone, "I have one more question. What are you?"
The mysterious voice echoed in his ear.
[Lamp]