[Current Status: Kazuya]
Age: 21
Level: Kage-level
Chakra: Lv4 (85,500/100,000)
Eye Power: Lv2 (350/500)
Sage Energy: Lv3 (3,900/5,000)
Ninjutsu: Fireball Jutsu Lv5, Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Lv5, Phoenix Flower Jutsu Lv5, Wind Blade Jutsu Lv5, Vacuum Sphere Lv4…
Taijutsu: Konoha-Style Taijutsu Lv5, Konoha Whirlwind Lv5…
Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique Lv3, Cherry Blossom Triple Bloom Lv2, Demonic Illusion: Nonexistent Area Lv2…
Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan
Special Abilities: Flying Thunder God Lv3, Clone Jutsu Lv5, Body Flicker Technique Lv5
Eighty-five thousand chakra points!
Sage Mode!
Flying Thunder God!
After this recent round of attribute pickups, Kazuya's power had surged to new heights!
With this setup, he was considered among the stronger Kage-level shinobi!
Kage-level!
Kazuya was now on the verge of reaching peak Kage-level power.
In the entire Leaf Village, only a handful—like the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Danzo—could truly suppress him in battle.
And even then, with Flying Thunder God, Kazuya could ensure his survival in any fight.
Tsunade and Danzo might not even be stronger than Kazuya!
He was just 15,000 chakra points away from breaking into the Super Kage tier!
Kazuya was excited. That day was approaching faster than he thought.
However, this battle had also made him more cautious.
Orochimaru had relied heavily on ninjutsu and taijutsu throughout their fight, barely using genjutsu at all.
In a way, Kazuya had been lucky this time.
After returning to the village, he would have to find ways to improve his genjutsu defenses. He didn't need to become a master, but at least he wanted to ensure he wouldn't be taken down easily before obtaining a Sharingan.
Typically, Kage-level battles didn't rely on genjutsu.
At that level, shinobi's physical and chakra control were so refined that genjutsu rarely worked, making it a waste of chakra in most cases.
Genjutsu was mostly for dealing with lower-ranked opponents.
Of course, some exceptions existed, particularly among certain specialist shinobi.
But Orochimaru had fallen into a predictable routine. If he had used more genjutsu, the outcome might have been different!
Too bad for him—there were no "what-ifs."
Meanwhile, the Leaf ANBU had finished cleaning up the battlefield.
The heads of the rogue ninja had been severed and sealed into scrolls.
Despite the intensity of the fight, there were minimal casualties on the ANBU side—no one had died. Most had only sustained minor injuries, with a few suffering severe wounds.
Among the heavily injured was Hayate Gekkō, who had been peppered with shuriken and was now lying on the ground, looking like a pincushion.
Yugao Uzuki wanted to help him up at first but, for some reason, the image of Kazuya flashed through her mind.
After hesitating for a moment, she ultimately decided to let her teammates take care of him.
She didn't know why, but Yugao had a feeling that keeping her distance from Hayate was the smart thing to do.
Who knew? She might regret it one day if she didn't.
"Sigh… These last two missions, first against the Fourth Raikage and now Orochimaru—if not for Captain Kazuya, the consequences would've been unimaginable!" the Hyuga jonin remarked suddenly.
The nearby ANBU all nodded in agreement.
Despite the ANBU's intimidating reputation, most of their usual missions involved taking on jonin-level threats at best.
Facing Kage-level opponents wasn't in their usual job description.
Under normal circumstances, encountering Kage-level enemies would lead to catastrophic losses.
But in these two battles, not a single ANBU had died.
The reason?
Captain Kazuya!
In that moment, every ANBU felt a deep sense of security.
What's the most important thing in a ninja's life?
Effort? Hard work? Perseverance?
No!
It's finding someone strong enough to rely on!
That was the key to survival.
After Orochimaru's escape…
The large-scale hunt for Orochimaru in the Land of Fire had not ceased.
Kazuya, still leading his team, continued to search for any traces of Orochimaru.
When it comes to work, both results and attitude matter.
As for the command of the team, Kazuya handed it over to Kurenai.
With the story arc over and no more golden attributes dropping, he didn't feel like using his brain too much anymore.
Kurenai, on the other hand, was deeply moved. She saw this as Kazuya focusing on her, giving her an important task, and she felt a great sense of pride.
Nearby, Yugao Uzuki was filled with admiration.
She hoped that one day she could become Kazuya's right-hand woman!
Ah, the simplicity of youth!
She likely hadn't yet realized what a man's "right hand" is used for!
As for Jiraiya, he had returned to the village early. Even if something went wrong, no one dared to blame him.
After all, he's Jiraiya—one of the Legendary Sannin, the beloved disciple of the Hokage, and someone who had no interest in power.
Who would bother to make trouble for Jiraiya?
Over the next three days, Kazuya led three ANBU teams along the border of the Land of Fire, searching aimlessly.
[You've picked up 20 battle experience points]
[You've picked up 10 chakra points]
[You've picked up 10 chakra points]
[You've picked up 5 chakra points]
A constant stream of golden light poured into Kazuya's body.
"Sigh..."
Kazuya sighed.
The quality of the golden light was declining by the day!
In three days, he had only managed to collect a bit over 1,000 chakra points, a pitiful yield.
"System, you've changed!"
Kazuya sighed again.
It was becoming difficult.
He had already noticed that the amount of golden light dropped had been steadily decreasing while he had been slacking off in the ANBU.
At first, he could collect around 5,000 chakra points per day, but then it gradually dropped to around 2,000.
Now… it was down to a measly 1,000 chakra points over three days!
Kazuya suspected this was some sort of cooldown mechanism.
He theorized that the same person's attribute drops would decrease over time due to a diminishing returns effect: a lot at first, but less and less over time.
After a while, the cooldown would reset, and the drop rate would increase again.
Kazuya's theory was confirmed by the system.
That's exactly how it worked!
Kazuya frowned. It looked like he would have to find new "experience packs" to farm.
The path of minimal effort was endless!
Meanwhile, back in the Hidden Leaf Village...
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat, smoking his pipe, his expression serious as he listened to Jiraiya's report.
"So…"
"That guy, Orochimaru, got away in the end?"
Hearing this, a complicated expression crossed the Third Hokage's face.
Truth be told, even Hiruzen himself wasn't sure of his true feelings at that moment.
Perhaps he was furious.
But deep down, there was also a sense of relief.
He truly hadn't been able to bring himself to kill Orochimaru.
For a moment, the entire office was plunged into an uncomfortable silence.
Orochimaru's defection was a massive blow to both Hiruzen and Jiraiya.
"I am getting old…"
Finally, Hiruzen shook his head with a bitter smile.
After a brief pause, Hiruzen suddenly looked up and asked, "I want Kazuya to become Tsunade's student. What do you think about that?"