Chapter 12: Hunt

The atmosphere was suffocating.

The entire area had fallen into a tense silence. 

It wasn't just the three remaining Sound Four members—now utterly paralyzed by fear. 

A crowd of Konoha shinobi had also gathered nearby, but none of them dared to move, all standing cautiously behind Jiraiya.

After all, this was the legendary First Hokage in front of them—Senju Hashirama and meddling with a situation involving such a figure could easily lead to disaster. 

No one wanted to take the risk of being caught up in the aftermath.

In an instant, all eyes were on Hashirama, and the awe and respect in their gazes were evident.

This was the man who founded the Konohagakure, and his mere presence radiated power, creating an overwhelming sense of pressure. 

It felt like they were nothing more than helpless rabbits facing a mighty tiger, and every single one of them was cowered by the invisible force of his aura.

The remaining three Sound shinobi trembled and shook uncontrollably. 

The power of Hashirama's presence seemed to slow down even the flow of their chakra.

"Boring."

 Hashirama muttered, his voice tinged with disappointment.

He glanced at their pitiful state, and any desire for a fight completely faded.

Who could find joy in this?

With a sharp motion, the Wood Clone standing in front of Jiraiya instantly returned to Hashirama's body and merged as if it had never been apart.

After the clone disappeared, the pressure on the Konoha ninjas significantly eased.

Hashirama ignored anyone present and darted off in the direction where Orochimaru had fled.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Hashirama's figure vanished, leaving behind a daunting silhouette.

He was gone in an instant.

Once Hashirama had left, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief. They felt the pressure lift, and their blood circulation returned to normal.

"Don't let these Sound shinobi escape!"

Jiraiya's commanding voice rang out. 

He couldn't prevent Orochimaru from escaping, but he wouldn't let these Sound shinobi get away either.

"Yes, sir!"

Ibiki and the others immediately responded, surrounding the three remaining Sound ninjas.

Their eyes were filled with murderous intent.

These shinobi had attacked Konoha under Orochimaru's orders and attempted to destroy the village. 

This was no small matter.

This was war!

What was expected to be a fierce battle had turned into something entirely different.

The three Sound ninjas were visibly shaken after witnessing the power of the First Hokage.

They slumped to the ground, completely drained of their fighting spirit. 

They had just faced what felt like a brush with death, and now that the First Hokage had left, they felt as if they had miraculously survived.

They were unable to even stand, let alone resist these Leaf Village ninjas!

...

Hashirama quickly darted through the forest, sensing the location of his Wood Clone.

Swish! 

Swish! 

Swish!

He leaped from branch to branch in the forest, and his body felt weightless, and he didn't experience fatigue.

"Puck~"

At this moment, a very cute voice echoed in Hashirama's mind.

There was no doubt about it. 

It was indeed Puck

"Dear Host, your cutest system has successfully rebooted. Have you missed me?"

As soon as Pucl's voice sounded, a stream of light shot out from Hashirama's body, transforming into a cute little fairy that flitted her wings and followed him.

"No."

Hashirama replied coldly.

It wasn't a matter of disagreement.

He really didn't miss it!

When Puck wasn't around, it was very peaceful. However, when she showed up, his mind was filled with a lot of noise again. 

"Men are really contradictory creatures!" 

Puck pouted in a complaint.

"..."

Hashirama was momentarily speechless and decided to simply ignore this useless system.

"Host, why don't you ask me what functions have been restored after the reboot?" 

Puck blinked with her eyes sparkling with anticipation, clearly waiting for the question.

"Any function doesn't matter."

Hashirama was completely emotionless. He was only focused on retrieving as many of his cells as possible, and everything else could wait.

What kind of functions could such a useless system have?

Live streaming?

Spending money for points?

Gacha?

Or maybe showing off to get some points and enhance attributes?

Hashirama had no interest in such enhancement systems. After all, he was already at max level and had no room for improvement.

"Host, you're really a cold-hearted man!"

Puck complained unhappily with a little pout, making her look like she could hang a tank on it.

"Uncomfortable!"

"It's uncomfortable here!"

"Wuu~"

Puck pointed to the spot on her chest where her heart would be, deliberately flying around in front of Hashirama to act cute.

"Puck, what functions have you restored after the reboot?"

Hashirama's face darkened with frustration. He was really at his wit's end with this useless system and could only ask out of necessity.

"Host, you asked so well! The Puck system has now restored the task function. You can now complete tasks!"

The adorable little fairy immediately showed a look of joy on her face. 

She took out a pink flip phone from her pocket and started typing something with her chubby fingers.

"What tasks are there?"

Hashirama wasn't very concerned. He just wanted to go through this process with Puck and have some peace for a while.

"No tasks!"

Puck said with a thrill and waved the phone screen at Hashirama. 

The screen was completely blank, showing nothing at all.

"..."

Hashirama was immediately speechless.

Seriously…

Is this what you call a system?

Hashirama couldn't help but want to rant in frustration, but he kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to deal with her whining any longer.

"Host, are you so excited that you don't know what to say?"

Puck flew around Hashirama again as happy as a child who had just received candy.

"..."

Hashirama had a dark expression on his face and didn't want to talk anymore.

He just wanted to quickly catch up with the fleeing Orochimaru. He had no interest in dealing with this useless system.

"Host, now you can issue tasks!"

Puck held up the phone, and she pressed buttons on the phone, and at least she seemed quite cute.

"I can issue tasks?"

Hashirama raised his eyebrows, not quite understanding what she meant.

"That's right!"

She held up the phone, blinking her big eyes at Hashirama, and her gaze sparkling with intelligence.

"Host~"

"You can now use the task system to issue tasks for yourself. After issuing a task, the system will rate the task based on its difficulty. You will receive different rewards depending on the task's rating!"

Puck waved the phone in front of Hashirama's eyes, and a few lines of text with the title "Task Rules" could be seen.

"If it's an S-rank task, you can get Hashirama Cells~"