"Huh? Can I go back?"
"The current maximum investigation duration is 30 cycles, but it can be ended early," replied the system assistant. Linton had realized by now that the system assistant and the combat assistant were different. While both spoke in a somewhat mechanical tone, the system assistant's responses were stricter, only answering questions related to investigations.
For example, when Linton tested if he could return early, the system assistant answered right away. Linton was asking because, in the past, he had always returned through death. Now, he found it wasn't so easy to die, not that he was invincible in the world of *Naruto*—many people could still kill him—but at the moment, no immediate threats were in sight.
Being able to return early was great, but Linton also noted the earlier message about his current investigation level. It seemed the increase in permissions had been effective. As for the 30 cycles, it likely referred to 30 days, something Linton had already tested before. This meant that, at most, he could stay in other worlds for 30 days.
At this point, he had been here for nearly 20 days, so he could return automatically in about 10 more. Should he go back early? He pondered. He had already gotten most of what he wanted, except for his planned meeting with Orochimaru. Even though they had arranged to meet, Linton thought, *Where's the Village Hidden in Sound anyway? Can I even get there in 10 days?*
If he knew the location, he could fly there quickly, but flying came at a cost. Only his full-body Susanoo could fly, and Linton's chakra reserves couldn't support that for long—he estimated his transformation would last less than two minutes.
Thinking this over, Linton decided to cancel the meeting with Orochimaru. *Forget it.*
"Confirm early return?" asked the system assistant.
"Yes."
"Returning..."
In a flash of white light, Linton found himself in a new location, and the sky darkened instantly—it was nighttime here.
"System Notification: This investigation has ended. Calculating investigation progress… Progress: 63.5%, Points earned: 389,000."
"System Notification: Battle points earned: 585,000."
"System Notification: Safe return, bonus points awarded: 50,000."
"System Notification: You have received a random reward: A-rank jutsu Chidori Stream."
"Oh?" The points earned were more than Linton expected, especially the battle points—585,000. Then again, he had fought quite a lot of people this time.
Looking at his total points, 1.12 million, he realized he had a few options. The first, of course, was the First Hokage's Sage Mode and Wood Release. All the techniques combined would take up most of his points, but Linton didn't really want to choose that. His biggest issue right now was his lack of chakra; having more techniques wouldn't help if he didn't have enough chakra to use them.
The second option was to solve that problem—Tailed Beast chakra, which would cost 1 million points to upgrade. Last time, he bought a D-rank upgrade, which increased his magic points cap by 100,000. Based on that, he figured 1 point of chakra increased by 1 point of magic value. Spending 1 million points this time should raise his limit by another 1 million. This would ensure he had enough chakra, and Susanoo's flight time would last longer. This seemed like the best option, but there was also a third option.
"Upgrade permissions?" Linton glanced at the upgrade permissions option, which also required exactly 1 million points. To be honest, Linton was eager to upgrade. He still didn't fully understand his current situation, his identity, or the true nature of the system. He really wanted answers, and he believed that upgrading the permissions was the way to get them.
After some thought, Linton finally chose the Tailed Beast chakra upgrade. Although the temptation to upgrade permissions was strong, he figured that boosting his strength should come first. With more power, it would be easier to earn points, and without strength, even if he found out more, what could he do about it?
Checking his chakra level, it was as expected. His magic value had increased to 1.14 million. If it weren't for some of his skills being so chakra-draining, Linton's magic value would be quite remarkable. He could now spam basic jutsu, and even techniques like Amaterasu could be used like a machine gun.
Additionally, Tailed Beast chakra seemed to boost the power of his jutsu, something he already knew. His current techniques should be even stronger now. Though he only bought one skill upgrade, Linton felt like his power had increased significantly.
As for the remaining points, Linton decided to save them for now. Noting the system's message, he realized there was a bonus for safe returns. It made sense—when he died in the past, points were spent on body repairs, but this time, no repairs were needed, so he received the extra points as a reward. As for the random reward, the A-rank Chidori Stream wasn't of much use to Linton, but at least he saved some points.
Having dealt with the points, Linton took a look around. He quickly recognized the area as the place he had left. There were traces of the campsite, and even the remains of a campfire, but no one was around.
Garcian, Barry, and Princess Yalan weren't there. Linton squatted by the fire and saw that they had only left a few days ago.
Linton sighed in relief. When he went to the *Naruto* world, a decade had passed, but time seemed to flow differently in the main world. It hadn't been long at all, so he didn't have to worry.
Looking around, he noticed that a large block of ice that had been there was now gone, along with the person inside. He wasn't sure if the assassin had escaped or if Garcian and the others had captured him. To be honest, the princess and the group weren't entirely safe yet. When Linton left, it had been too sudden, and many things were left unarranged.
He wanted to go find Garcian and the others to check if they were okay, but it was nighttime, and the forest was pitch-black. He had no idea where they were, and he couldn't even tell which direction to go.
After thinking for a bit, Linton decided it was better to wait until morning. If necessary, he could fly up to see if he could spot a nearby city and figure out the general direction.
There was a leftover campfire with some dry wood. Linton thought about lighting it to get through the night.
It sounded simple, but lighting the fire turned out to be harder than expected. The only way Linton could start a fire was by using a jutsu—he didn't have a lighter or anything like that. But using jutsu led to…
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." He specifically chose the weakest D-rank jutsu, but a massive fireball appeared, leaving Linton stunned. He realized that after upgrading to Tailed Beast chakra, the power of his jutsu had increased significantly—perhaps a little too much.
With a loud *boom*, the enormous fireball struck the ground near Linton, and flames roared up, almost reaching him.
"This… my aim's still off, huh?" Linton facepalmed. He had forgotten that his fireball would miss its target. Instead of hitting the campfire, it incinerated all the dry wood.
Since he was in a forest, the fire began to spread. First, it caught the underbrush, and then nearby trees started burning. In no time, the entire area was brightly lit. Watching this, Linton was speechless. *Did I just start a forest fire while trying to make a campfire?*
"What… now?" Linton felt a headache coming on. He had planned to sleep, but now, there was no way he could do that. Sleeping in the middle of a forest fire would be too reckless.
"Wait, don't I know Water Style now?" Linton suddenly remembered. This time, unlike last time, he knew Water Style techniques. Just as he was about to cast a jutsu to put out the fire, he noticed the atmosphere shift. All the flames began tilting in one direction, as if something was pulling them in.
Linton had seen this before, and he knew exactly what was happening. Activating his Sharingan, he scanned the forest and saw it: a familiar Flame Eater. It was the same one he had fought before, the one whose horn he had cut off.
Within seconds, the flames shrank, and the Flame Eater seemed satisfied. Then, suddenly, it turned its head and looked directly at Linton, as if realizing it had been spotted. In the next moment, it darted away, vanishing into the woods at its usual incredible speed.
"Fine by me," Linton said, deciding not to chase it. He didn't need to capture the Flame Eater anymore, and it didn't seem to want revenge—if anything, it seemed scared of him.
With the fire extinguished, Linton figured it was fine. He didn't have to worry about being in danger at night since he could fight automatically even in his sleep. His only concern was that any magical beasts might wake him up. Since starting a fire was so troublesome, he decided to just rough it until morning.
With that in mind, Linton lay down to sleep. But after a short while, before he could fall asleep, he heard a rustling noise again. He opened his Sharingan to check, and to his surprise, the Flame Eater had returned.
(End of Chapter)