Chapter 67: Kisame's Trial
"Reincarnation Game? How boring," Kisame Hoshigaki scoffed with disdain.
"Boring?"
Fang Yi calmly gazed at the grotesque-looking but honest man before him. "Compared to the Eye of the Moon Plan, which creates an illusory refuge from reality, I suppose it does pale in appeal to you, Mr. Kisame."
Kisame, an elite ninja forged in the Bloody Mist era, had a life story written in blood—a tale of endlessly killing his comrades.
He had killed his classmates to graduate, killed teammates to protect classified information.
He dared not yearn for friendship or love, avoided closeness with fellow villagers for fear of someday having to cut them down.
His heart had become sealed like stone.
Then he met Tobi—disguised as Uchiha Madara—like a firefly appearing in the darkness. Kisame accepted the Eye of the Moon Plan without hesitation.
A man lost in confusion, yearning for validation and companionship, one who loathed falsehood—yet, in the end, buried his head in the sand in order to escape.
"You bastard..."
Kisame bared his sharklike teeth as they clacked together, anger sparked by the subtle mockery in Fang Yi's words.
This blood-soaked reality could not be called "real"—it was nothing more than a hellish illusion. Only Lord Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan could bring forth a true world.
Fang Yi chuckled and said, "Real or false, the Reincarnation Game can offer you tangible strength. After all, even your ideal world requires power to make it real."
That struck a chord with Kisame.
He had slaughtered countless comrades, becoming a hopeless scumbag—yet Lord Madara had called him 'comrade' and accepted him.
It wasn't just about escaping a false world.
It was about keeping up with his comrades' pace—only with strength could he do so.
Otherwise, if faced with a situation like before, would he again be forced to kill his comrades to prevent intel leaks?
Or worse—be killed by his comrades, staining their hands with blood?
He didn't want either outcome.
A black envelope appeared out of thin air, floating down and landing on Samehada's scales.
With a flicker of chakra, the envelope could be shredded to pieces by the blade's spikes.
Kisame remained silent for a moment, then slowly lifted Samehada and plucked the envelope by one corner. He pulled out the invitation inside.
Fang Yi explained, "This is a trial qualification. You'll be sent to an unknown corrupted zone. If you clear it, you'll gain a class that perfectly matches your soul."
"My class is already ninja. What could suit me better?"
Kisame laughed bitterly. Someone who'd killed so many comrades to protect information—how could he not be perfectly matched with the title 'ninja'?
Fang Yi shook his head. "I'm just a game merchant. I don't know what class suits you. But fate will guide your path."
Such was the power of the Rune of Destiny.
Among all the runes he could create, Destiny was the most expensive—touching on past and future, soul and mind.
The most elusive and unpredictable of materials.
Even a first-tier Destiny Rune cost a million reward points, but it greatly aided player growth.
Fang Yi had chosen to create it only after long deliberation.
"Fate, huh…"
Kisame murmured the word, then began uploading his ninjutsu to the game store in exchange for reward points.
He submitted numerous high-difficulty Water Release techniques, earning the store a large amount of primal energy.
Fang Yi quietly sensed the rising point total and nodded inwardly.
Kisame truly was a natural Water Release specialist. With immense chakra reserves and a high affinity for water, he could rival even Tobirama Senju in this aspect alone.
In the blink of an eye, he had gathered over 5,000 points.
"Let's begin," Kisame said.
Confirming the black text before him, he was instantly teleported away.
As Kisame's body collapsed where he had stood, Fang Yi turned to Itachi and smiled. "The game even prompted him to buy a protective barrier, but he declined. He must really trust you."
Itachi didn't respond directly. Instead, he said, "Kisame is a comrade I deeply respect."
He remembered Kisame once asking him, "What does it feel like to kill a comrade?"
His own reply had been, "You're just a trash who doesn't even know where he's going."
But the truth was, they were different.
From the beginning, Itachi had walked a set path—
Whether as a reviled double agent, the entrusted heir of Shisui's Sharingan, or the murderer of the Uchiha Clan.
He had joined Akatsuki as a sinner and a traitor.
Through it all, he had always known what he had to do.
Kisame saw him as a comrade, but Itachi couldn't reciprocate.
Because the road he had chosen—one lined with thorns and drenched in blood—was a path no one could walk beside him.
Fang Yi's smile didn't change as he asked, "And you? Will you take on the trial?"
He had no interest in probing Itachi's mind.
The Reincarnation Game was about equivalent exchange.
Whether someone was a genocidal monster or a self-sacrificing saint of the ninja world, it didn't matter.
As long as they paid with reward points, everyone was treated equally.
Itachi, ever courteous, bowed slightly. "Please give me an invitation, sir."
Only in front of Sasuke did he show arrogance.
Before defecting from the village, most of his peers had praised him as a respectful, selfless teammate.
"As you wish."
A black envelope fell into Itachi's hand. He opened it, and his soul was immediately teleported away.
His physical body was encased in a translucent golden barrier.
Though a candle in the wind, he could not die yet.
This sinful body still had something left to do—it had to keep living.
"Where is this…"
Kisame picked himself up off the ground. The scorching heat made him deeply uncomfortable.
A dry desert. Withered trees, crystallized under the blazing sun.
The horizon stretched endlessly.
[Mini Trial Initiated]
Trial Objective: Locate the Corroded Forest at the edge of the Hollow Realm and eliminate the corrupted Fallen Hollow.
Note: The souls of the dead who linger in the human world slowly transform into twisted, evil spirits. The Hollow Realm is where these souls eventually gather.
"What the hell is this? I thought I'd spawn near an ocean."
Kisame instinctively reached back for Samehada—only to find it gone.
To bring real-world gear into the game, certification was required.
Samehada, being a powerful ninja blade on par with a level 15 blue-tier weapon, couldn't just be brought in freely to give players an unfair advantage.
The Reincarnation Game was about fairness.
You had to pay to grow stronger.
Following the green arrow on the minimap,
Kisame trudged through the hot, soft sand toward a sea of dark green forest in the distance.
In his hand, he held a beginner's weapon from the default inventory.
A double-edged greatsword.
"It's nothing like Samehada… but I'll manage for now."
He gave it a test swing, his face scrunching in irritation.
Years of wielding Samehada had made him uncomfortable with anything else.
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