Linton was feeling a bit confused. He had just figured out where he was—was this *Naruto*? But he remembered it as just an animated series. He couldn't recall exactly when he'd watched it, but he did remember quite a bit about the story.
Luckily, Linton had already been through another world before, so he calmed down fairly quickly. The real question now was why he had ended up in the world of *Naruto* instead of the previous *Spider-Man* world. Could the emergency exploration mission be different from the regular exploration missions?
While Linton was thinking about this, his body didn't stop moving. Despite his opponent's impressive skill with throwing shuriken, even predicting Linton's movements, Linton was faster. With a quick sidestep, he dodged the shuriken and closed the distance between them.
His opponent seemed to realize that Linton had superior taijutsu, possibly marking him as a taijutsu ninja. He quickly adjusted, knowing that facing a taijutsu specialist head-on would be unwise. Fortunately for him, he had a technique specifically to counter such fighters.
With a sharp "ding," Linton suddenly noticed his opponent's eyes flash red. Looking up, he saw that the ninja's eyes had turned crimson, with several tadpole-like shapes swirling within them. Recognizing them instantly, Linton muttered, "Sharingan? You're from the Uchiha clan?"
Upon closer inspection, the guy did have the black hair and eyes characteristic of the Uchiha. But the ninja didn't respond; instead, he formed a hand seal: "Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique."
Since Linton was already looking into his opponent's eyes, his vision shifted instantly. The ninja before him suddenly transformed, his body exploding as a giant monster grew out from within. Of course, Linton quickly realized he was caught in a genjutsu.
The Sharingan was an extremely effective medium for casting illusions, and genjutsu was especially useful against taijutsu users. As Linton succumbed to the illusion, his opponent relaxed for just a moment. But in that brief second, the battle was decided.
Though Linton was trapped in the illusion, his body didn't stop. As his opponent let his guard down, Linton stepped forward, crouched low, and grabbed the ninja's kunai from his waist, driving it upward in one swift motion.
With a sickening sound, the kunai pierced the ninja's throat, and blood poured out uncontrollably. But Linton wasn't done. He slammed the ninja to the ground and repeatedly stabbed him in the chest until he stopped moving.
"Battle over."
Linton heard the mechanical voice just as his vision returned. With the caster of the genjutsu dead, the illusion dissipated, and the chaotic scene vanished. In its place, the Uchiha ninja lay beneath him, eyes dull and lifeless.
"This... was so unnecessary," Linton sighed, rubbing his forehead. The battle system had certainly helped, but that was a close call. Still, he hadn't been able to get any useful information. The moment he encountered someone, they turned into a corpse. Now what?
Just like before, once the fight ended, Linton regained full control of his body. He stood up, checked his surroundings, and realized he was uninjured, though he was drenched in blood, which was uncomfortable. But there was no time to dwell on that now. He needed to think fast, so he started searching the corpse for any clues.
His intention was to look for anything useful on the ninja's body, but as soon as he touched it, a voice spoke in his head:
"System notification: Important analysis material detected. Upload to receive reward points."
"Important analysis material? What does that mean?" Linton asked, confused.
There was no answer. Linton quickly realized the voice belonged to the system that had spoken when he crossed worlds. It didn't seem to interact with him much. During battles, there had been a mechanical voice that could communicate, but it only dealt with combat-related matters. Clearly, it wasn't going to answer his other questions.
Either way, Linton needed points. He wasn't sure what the system was all about, but he did know that losing points would disqualify him as an investigator, which probably meant losing the system itself—something he definitely didn't want. After thinking it over, he confirmed the upload.
A white light flashed over the ninja's body, and soon after, a notification sounded: "Analysis material uploaded successfully. Reward: 30,000 points."
Linton immediately checked his point balance and saw that it was back in the positive, which reassured him. It seemed like there were other ways to earn points besides completing an exploration mission. Finding and uploading important materials could also grant points. Interestingly, the corpse didn't disappear after the upload.
After inspecting the body more closely, Linton understood why. The ninja's eyes were gone—the "important analysis material" had been the Sharingan. According to the lore, these eyes were incredibly valuable, passed down from the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Realizing this, Linton opened the points shop, and sure enough, new items had appeared. Most notably, the Sharingan was now available for purchase. Other ninja techniques of varying ranks (B, C, D) were also there, but Linton focused on the Sharingan.
Of course, he wanted the Sharingan. If his memory served him right, the eye was an overpowered ability. The D-rank Sharingan only cost 1,000 points, which was shockingly cheap, and the C-rank was 10,000 points, also affordable.
Without much hesitation, Linton decided to enhance his abilities. After being nearly killed by an assassin before, he had no sense of security and had realized how important it was to grow stronger. He still didn't know who sent the assassin, but they clearly wouldn't stop coming after him. When the exploration ended and he returned, he didn't want to be defenseless again.
"Purchase successful."
Two notifications later, Linton had bought the C-rank Sharingan. His eyes itched slightly, making him blink, and when he opened them again, his vision had changed.
It was hard to describe, but the world around him seemed brighter and clearer, as if everything had sharpened. It felt like he'd just put on glasses after being nearsighted—though Linton wasn't actually nearsighted. The sensation was addictive, not just because of the power but because it felt like his understanding of the world had deepened. However, a B-rank Sharingan cost 100,000 points, far out of reach for now.
Still, Linton made a mental note: he needed to return with at least 100,000 points. Was that achievable? Last time, he had earned a little over 20,000 points, mostly because he had died so quickly. He figured that dying ended the exploration, and the points seemed to be calculated based on exploration progress and battle victories. If he could avoid dying and explore more, he should be able to earn more points.
"Just stay alive," Linton muttered to himself as he continued searching the corpse. After some rummaging, he gathered everything useful, including the ninja's clothes.
He found two kunai, ten shuriken, a few small pills (likely soldier pills), and two explosive tags. As for the clothes, Linton decided to put them on. They fit reasonably well, and his old clothes were too conspicuous. The ninja's earlier reaction had made that clear.
Linton knew he had to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. The biggest issue, however, was the battle system. Though it hadn't explained much, Linton had noticed a pattern after a few encounters: if someone showed any hostility toward him, the system would fight to the death. To prevent that, Linton decided to disguise himself as an Uchiha.
After quickly changing, Linton spent a few points to buy a handgun. It only cost 800 points, and bullets were just 1 point each—a cheap, reliable backup. With that done, he hid the body in some bushes and prepared to move.
A Konoha ninja wouldn't be wandering alone in the woods for no reason, and since this one had been attacked, there had to be others nearby. Following the trail of blood, Linton decided to head in the direction the ninja had been going. Maybe that would lead him to the rest of the Konoha group.
(End of chapter)