A long silence passed...
At last, the system's upgrade tone rang out once more.
"Congratulations, Master, for regaining control of your body. This service has now concluded."
Ye Liang suddenly gasped, his heartbeat pounding in his chest as he looked around wildly—like he'd just returned from the brink of death.
"Is this real? I'm actually back?"
Ye Liang couldn't believe it. He carefully felt his own body.
Suddenly!
Four delicate figures beside the bed threw themselves toward him!
"Pervert! You're finally back—you scared me to death!"
"Teacher Ye Liang! I thought you were really gone."
"Mr. Ye Liang! It's okay now, everything's fine, really fine!"
It was Anko, Rin Nohara, and Kushina.
The three women who had always cherished Ye Liang saw him finally awaken—and their emotions spilled out uncontrollably.
Ye Liang was momentarily stunned but quickly recognized who they were.
Warmth filled his heart.
Coming from the modern world, Ye Liang often felt detached from these native ninja—he kept a certain distance, almost like he wasn't one of them.
But today, he suddenly felt like a real person.
Not some distant, god-like figure anymore—he was finally, truly human again!
"Even little Naruto has grown so big," chuckled Ye Liang as he pulled young Naruto onto the bed and hugged him tightly. Then he turned his gaze to Terumi Mei.
"What about you, Terumi Mei? Want a hug too?"
...
Half a month had already passed since Ye Liang's awakening.
After that incident, each village began focusing on cultivating Sensor ninjas.
Yet at this very moment, Ye Liang had begun considering leaving Konoha.
On a secluded forest path, Ye Liang had just killed another assassin sent after him.
Cat-faced mask!
A Konoha Anbu assassin!
Konoha's power structure had split into two factions—one led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage faction, and the other by Danzo, the Anbu faction.
Hiruzen had always sought to appease Ye Liang, no matter how controversial his actions were. As long as nothing extreme occurred, he would suppress all issues—essentially trying to win Ye Liang's favor.
Danzo was different.
For him, the village's interests came above all else. He regarded Ye Liang as an eyesore, a thorn in his side. Especially after the Chunin Exams.
That enigmatic Ye Liang must be eliminated!
Within merely over ten days, Ye Liang had faced countless assassination attempts. Although initially he refrained from killing those Anbu from Konoha, eventually he ended up killing several.
This placed Hiruzen in a politically delicate situation.
After dealing with the persistent ninja tailing him, Ye Liang finally left the Hidden Leaf Village.
Years later...
"This is the Assassination Tavern?"
Clutching a map, Ye Liang arrived deep in a remote mountain area. His face now bore a thick beard, his weary eyes reflected years of hardship, and his chiseled muscles radiated quiet strength.
Just then, a man dressed in a red-clouded robe stepped out from the tavern.
Ye Liang's eyes flickered, but he ignored him.
Kakuzu? Unexpectedly, he's here too.
The Assassination Tavern was where the Black Market posted bounties. Meeting Kakuzu here meant that the undercurrents of the ninja world had already begun to stir. It was just unclear what role Akatsuki would take on without Obito.
Walking inside.
All around were ninjas here to pick up missions. Behind the tavern owner, several wanted posters were pasted on the wall. The highest bounty was actually worth hundreds of millions!
This reward was far greater than what you'd get for completing a mission in Konoha!
Ye Liang's heart stirred. He looked around at these rogue ninjas. Each of them bore slashed forehead protectors—clear proof of their status as traitors.
"Oh look! A total newbie walks in!" a dark-skinned man mocked. "C'mon, are you seriously thinking about taking a mission? Look at how skinny you are!"
Seeing Ye Liang's contempt, he provocatively added.
Private fights were strictly forbidden within the Assassination Tavern. After all, if anything got damaged during a fight, it would cost full compensation. But naturally, this rule could be ignored if someone else initiated hostilities.
The dark-skinned man was goading Ye Liang, hoping to make him start a fight so he could legally kill him.
Ye Liang didn't even glance at him, coldly cursing: "Get lost! Trash!"
That instantly enraged the dark-skinned man!
He was a rogue ninja from Iwagakure, not only a master of Earth Release techniques but also a core figure named specifically on wanted notices. The reason he'd survived until now was precisely because of his methods—extremely effective methods!
"I think you're asking for death!" the man spat angrily, immediately wanting to attack. However, seeing Ye Liang had already approached the tavern owner, he restrained himself.
"Just wait until we get outside—I'll show you how to deal with you!" he muttered before walking out.
Ye Liang paused momentarily, clearly raising his estimation of the tavern owner.
At this moment, he began examining the bounties posted inside the tavern.
"Shisui Uchiha, 30 million!"
"Hidan, 20 million!"
"Deidara, 20 million!"
...
"Orochimaru, 50 million!"
These were all huge bounties.
Ye Liang glanced through them briefly before picking up a particularly dusty notice—the one with the highest bounty:
Sanshouo Hanzo, wanted dead or alive with a one billion ryo bounty!
Immediately, the rogue ninjas present became agitated.
"Quick look! That newbie actually took Hanzo's bounty—he must be crazy!"
"Hahaha, definitely a newbie. He mustn't know just how strong Sanshouo Hanzo really is! That guy's known as the 'God of Shinobi'!"
"Yeah, exactly! What a shame. Such a good-looking face too. Pity he's going to die."
Hearing their words, Ye Liang chose not to respond.
Years of daily missions enabled Ye Liang to master every low-level ninjutsu technique!
Even surpassing the so-called Professor Ninja Hiruzen Sarutobi in sheer variety of techniques—except for a few S-ranked ones.
Even the Sage of Six Paths hadn't mastered as many jutsu as Ye Liang!
Through years of training, Ye Liang could remain in Sage Mode indefinitely and had developed taijutsu skills rivaling even those of a Kage. Most importantly, Ye Liang possessed abundant battle experience.
[Ninjutsu Level 7!]
[Taijutsu Level 5!]
[Ninja Tools Level 5!]
What kind of ability was Level 7? Ye Liang guessed it was probably on par with Kaguya Hime!
"Young man, are you sure you want to take this mission? You should know, even ordinary Kage-level shinobi can't accomplish it!"
"It's said that Konoha's Sannin once joined forces against Hanzo, but they were defeated by him. If the Hokage hadn't stepped in at the last moment, those three would've died right there."
"Indeed, young man! Be cautious!"
The shopkeeper reminded again.
But Ye Liang still firmly grabbed the wanted notice!
"Pfft! That pitiful Sanshouo Hanzo isn't worth spit!"
As long as the bounty's high enough, not even Kaguya herself would intimidate me one bit!
Seeing Ye Liang leave, a group of ninja immediately followed out in a hurried manner.
"Let's go watch the show."
At the entrance.
The infamous rogue ninja from Iwagakure who'd been mentioned earlier was already waiting for him.
"Kid, you spoke disrespectfully just now. As your senior, I ought to properly discipline you! I don't want to waste time — if you're so eager to die, make your move already!" As the rogue ninja spoke, he immediately buried his hand into the ground.
[Earth Release - Earth Sphere Bun!]
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