21. Bullet Time
Whoosh…
Akio is sprinting through the forest while monitoring his surroundings.
He stares at the quest timer on his reticle.
[30 seconds remaining]
"I am close to the completion."
Suddenly, he notices a giant figure rushing towards him with a club tied on his back.
Akio involuntarily checks the status of the figure with a hand on his gun.
[Name: Daicho
Race: Human (Modified)
Age: 25 years, 5 months
Class: Bandit
Combat Strength: High-tier Genin
Strength: 30 Vitality: 25 Agility: 15 Dexterity: 13 Endurance: 25 Resilience: 27 Stamina: 29 Chakra: 20
Hidden Stat: Intelligence: 5 Spirit: 8
Title: - Bandit of the Mountain
Special Skill: - Devil Blood: - Passive (Adds + 20 strength, +15 vitality, + 15 resilience, + 15 stamina)
Active: - Rage Mode: The user enters a berserk state and gains enhanced strength in exchange for rationality (Adds + 20 strength)
"Die!"
Daicho swings his club and aims it for Akio's head.
BANG…
Without any second thought, Akio spends 10 points of nature energy and fires a bullet infused with Fire nature energy. The fuinjutsu seals on the barrel glows and fires a concentrated flame bullet.
BOOM…
The bullet hits Daicho squarely on the chest and explodes. A small black cloud of dust and debris rise as the explosive bullet incinerates him to ashes.
Huff… Huff…
Akio breathes heavily as his stamina drops by -5 points after that shot.
He rests against the tree and relaxes his nerves.
"That was a close call!"
Akio notices a bunch of scrolls lying around the ashes of the bandit.
He stands up and picks them.
[Ding: The emergency quest Protect the supplies is complete.
Reward: Bullet time. Do you accept?]
"Later!"
Akio shakes his head and confirms the contents of the scroll.
He raises his head and signals to Garu to descend and pick him up.
Swoosh…
Garu dives down and Akio jumps on its back.
"Let's go!"
Garu soars to the sky as Akio rests on its back.
"System, why did my stamina drop suddenly after that last bullet?"
[The last bullet was infused with the 10 points of nature energy. So, the recoil of that bullet was quite large. The host had to expand his stamina to withstand it.]
"I… I see!"
He turns to Garu and gestures it to fly forward.
"I have to find uncle and drop this storage scroll to him without being spotted. Or else how will I explain I recovered this from the bandits?"
He spends 10 system points and performs a scan in a radius of a kilometer to search for his uncle. Akio feels dizzy after the scan.
"Found him!"
He clutches his forehead and signals Garu to fly in the direction.
Whoosh…
A few minutes later,
Minato appears at the location of the battle between Akio and Daicho.
Hmm…
He notices the ashes on the ground. Minato picks up the ashes and frowns.
"Strange! I can sense a large amount of Nature energy in the surroundings. Looks like someone used a fire-type jutsu infused with nature energy."
Minato wipes his hand and shakes his head.
"To be on the safe side, I will scout the surrounding area and inform the patrol squad about it."
Swoosh…
He flickers away to survey the surroundings.
Meanwhile,
Kakashi and the rest escort the caravan to Konoha. The merchants have issued a B-rank escort mission and Minato has accepted the request.
Swoosh…
Akio appears on top of the caravan. He scans the caravan and notices his uncle in one of the carriages.
Akio gestures to Garu to lower his altitude as he drops the scroll in the carriage.
The scroll lands beside a sleeping young man with dark brown hair.
"Time to head back to the village!"
Fwoosh…
Garu flaps its wings and soars to the sky.
"Let's go full speed ahead!"
With another flap of its wings, Garu speeds up and disappears on the horizon.
Akio lies down on Garu's back as it flies towards the village.
"System, give me the reward!"
[Affirmative]
A burst of Nature energy from the surroundings enters Akio's body as he feels dizzy. He feels a stifling sensation as a burst of pain assaults his senses.
The sensation lasts for 5 minutes and everything returns to normal.
Akio opens his status and notices the newly gained skill.
[Bullet Time: Active: The user can greatly enhance his perception, reaction speed, and cognitive abilities by rapidly expanding stamina. Creates a sensation of frozen or slowed time while active. (The increase in perception is proportional to the agility of the user. Current scale: x3)
Passive: - Triples the reaction speed of the user. Automatically triggers the active skill while the user is facing a life threat.]
"Woah!"
Akio reads the description and is amazed by the effect of the skill.
"That's quite an overpowered skill with a window for growth."
He nods his head in satisfaction.
"I won't try its effect for now, since I am already exhausted from all that exploration and that last bullet."
Half an hour later,
He arrives at the outskirts of Konoha. Akio signals Garu to land on the same training ground. Darkness has shrouded the training ground as he notices various glowing eyes in the dark.
"It's already 10 pm. I have to quickly return home."
Poof…
Garu disappears in a puff of smoke and a notification appears on his reticle.
[Ring of Contracts: Active Skill cooldown: - 10 days]
"10 days?! System, are you trying to scam me?"
Akio complains.
[Host, don't slander the system. The ring is on cooldown because Garu needs to rest. He is still an infant and is in his growth stage. So, he needs plenty of rest.
The host can buy the improved version of Ring of Contracts to summon another creature for his help.]
"Never mind!"
Akio shakes his head as he stares at the whopping cost of 20,000 system points.
The sudden loss in stats by the disappearance of Garu makes him weak.
He hurriedly returns to the shop.
Meanwhile,
Kaori is standing at the entrance of the shop with a frown.
"Where is this boy? It's already past 10:30, and he hasn't returned yet. Should I ask someone to search for him?"
Kaori decides to register a search commission in the Konoha Police Force.
"I am back! I am back, Mom!"
Huff… Huff…
Akio pants as he stops in front of his mother.
"Why are you so late?"
Kaori has a stern expression.
"Mom! I spent the entirety of my evening with Yamato touring the village. Exhausted, I escorted him to the orphanage. But I ended up falling asleep. When I opened my eyes, it was already this late."
Sigh…
Kaori heaves a sigh of relief as the uneasiness in her heart fades away.
"Wash yourself and we will eat the dinner."
"Yes, Mom!"
Akio quickly slips away; afraid his mother might inquire further.
Kaori also returns to the house with slight worry on her face.
"Kazuha should be back by now. But he has yet to return. I hope he is safe on his journey."
She silently prays in her heart.
------------------
Next morning,
La… La… Llla…
Akio hums a melody as he cleans a sword to perform maintenance.
"Uncle should be back by now! Once he arrives, I will quickly sell the weapons and pay my debt to the system."
As if on cue,
Whoosh…
A chunnin in a green vest flicker in front of the shop. The chunnin has a grave expression on his face as he informs Akio.
"Kazuha Nakamura is currently hospitalized in the Konoha Hospital."
He informs them and flickers away.
"Mom!"
"I heard him!"
Kaori quickly walks out.
"I am paying a visit to the hospital to check on your uncle's condition."
"I will come with you."
Akio quickly lowers the shutter and follows her.
------------------
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Office;
Hmm…
Hiruzen reads the report, and the scroll submitted by Minato.
"So, Iwa has infiltrated the Land of Fire!" He frowns and rubs his head in contemplation.
"Recently, there has been quite the tension at the borders. Be it Iwa, Suna, Kumo, and even Kiri; all of them have grown impatient after the conclusion of the previous war.
They suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Konoha in the previous war. So, now they are looking for a chance to turn everything around."
He rolls the scroll and turns to Minato, who is kneeling on the floor.
"Minato! You did a splendid job unmasking the schemes of Iwa.
"Hokage-sama! As a shinobi of Konoha, it's my responsibility to act for the safety of the village." Minato shakes his head.
"Still! Your achievement won't go unrewarded."
Hiruzen rummages through the documents and forks out a deed of a house.
"You married Kushina recently and I never got a chance to present my gift. This should make for it since you both are lacking a house right now."
Hiruzen transfer the ownership of the house to Minato.
"But Hokage-sama…"
"Accept it, Minato! It's my congratulatory gift!" Hiruzen pushes the deed into his hand.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
Minato bows in gratitude and flickers out of the office.
Hiruzen smiles at the departing back of Minato.
"Such a great seed for Hokage's position. He still lacks achievements for the position, but he will soon build them up. Now for the invasion of Iwa…"
Hiruzen's expression turns serious.
"I have to summon the Elder Council and hold a meeting."