Mizuki appeared on a tree branch above, crouched like a hawk in the night, two massive shuriken strapped to his back. The moonlight glinted off the metal as he grinned down at Tatsuya.
"Tatsuya... you've really done it big this time," he said with a sneer. "Stealing the Scroll of Seals... I wonder how the Fourth Hokage will react... maybe he'll take away your headband."
"Am I wrong or didn't you tell me about this, Mizuki-sensei?" Tatsuya replied calmly.
"And where's the proof?" Mizuki chuckled darkly.
Tatsuya sighed and crossed his arms. "Do you really think the Hokage will believe you and not me after I tell him you're colluding with Orochimaru? How could a kid like me know that unless you told me?"
Mizuki's expression twisted with rage. "You—!"
[You're very stupid, host...]
The system's voice chimed inside Tatsuya's head.
'Eh? Why?' he asked mentally.
[Did it seem like a good idea to you to provoke Mizuki? Now he's gonna kill you.]
'Oh... now that I think about it... it's really stupid...' Tatsuya admitted—just as a kunai whizzed straight toward his head.
"How do you know that?!" Mizuki yelled, his eyes wide with fury as he hurled more kunai.
"Professional secret!" Tatsuya yelped and took off running.
"COME HERE!" Mizuki roared, yanking one of the enormous shuriken from his back and launching it.
"I am SO fucked!" Tatsuya thought, eyes wide, as the spinning blade tore through the air toward him.
[Mission!]
[Defeat Mizuki!]
[Reward: Lightning Affinity (Lesser)]
[Failure: -7 DEX]
[Would you like to accept this mission?]
"Does this seem like the moment to give me a mission—" he shouted mentally, but tripped over a root and slammed face-first into the dirt.
"FUCK!" he yelled. The giant shuriken was nearly upon him.
Tatsuya clenched his eyes shut. 'Is this how I die? I'm useless... dying like this even with a system... those gods were right... I am useless... they should've picked someone else to give the system to... but I really wanted to touch Tsunade's boobs—'
[Host, stop it and open your eyes.]
"Uh?" Tatsuya blinked, stunned. He opened his eyes just in time to see—
A kunai clashed against the massive shuriken, deflecting it just inches from his body.
Standing in front of him was a kunoichi.
She had straight black hair cut in a jagged fringe above her sharp, almond-shaped eyes. She wore a standard Konoha flak jacket over a dark blue high-collar shirt, and her figure was lit by the shafts of moonlight breaking through the bamboo forest canopy behind her.
[Image Here]
Tatsuya didn't know who she was—but in that moment, she looked like an angel of salvation.
The kunoichi's voice rang out, sharp with disbelief and sorrow.
"Mizuki! What the hell are you doing?!"
Mizuki's expression faltered for a moment, but then he grunted and narrowed his eyes.
"Tsubaki... move. You knew I was planning something like this."
"Yeah... but—" she hesitated, her voice cracking. "You never said you'd try to kill a kid!" Her hand clenched around her kunai.
Mizuki sighed, the edge of his fury returning.
"You're such a bother, Tsubaki… That brat knows about me and Orochimaru-sama. He can't be allowed to live."
Behind her, Tatsuya blinked.
He squinted at Tsubaki's face.
'Oh—she's Mizuki's girlfriend from the anime! I remember her—somewhat.'
Tsubaki shook her head.
"No, Mizuki!" she cried, torn between love and horror. "Come back to your senses! This isn't who you are!"
"You're so damn annoying!" Mizuki roared, suddenly flinging the second massive shuriken.
Tsubaki froze.
Her body wouldn't move.
She had trained for years, survived missions most couldn't… and yet, when the one she loved tried to kill her—
She broke.
"Tsubaki-san!" Tatsuya yelled, scrambling to his feet behind her.
'Sorry, kid…' Tsubaki thought, knees giving out. She closed her eyes. 'I… I'm just useless…'
Squelch!
The sound of steel piercing flesh echoed through the clearing.
Tsubaki gasped.
Two arms wrapped around her.
She opened her eyes—
And saw the kid's face, blood trailing from the side of his mouth, his teeth clenched in pain.
"Kid…?" she whispered, stunned.
Tatsuya grinned. Blood drooled past his lips.
"Don't worry, you're safe now… beautiful."
[Sigh…]
The system murmured.
Tatsuya turned his head toward Mizuki, fire blazing in his eyes.
"I am Aoki Tatsuya! And I'll become the strongest womanizer in this world! No woman will be hurt under my protection!" he shouted.
Mizuki just stared.
"You're insane…" he muttered, thrown off completely.
Tsubaki, still trembling, looked at the boy shielding her with his bleeding body.
In that moment, he looked like the strongest man alive.
Tatsuya grabbed the enormous shuriken lodged in his back and pulled it out with a scream, blood gushing.
[Warning: Excessive bleeding. If you don't receive medical treatment within five minutes, you will die.]
"I know, sys…" he muttered, staggering. "But this is my main-character moment!"
A pause.
Then, even the system's voice shifted, just slightly.
[...You always manage to surprise me, host.]
Tatsuya smiled.
He was sure he'd die right here.
But if these were his final moments—he'd rather go out like a hero than cower like a background character.
Tatsuya's blood continued to trickle down his back as he grit his teeth and stared at Mizuki.
Then, he whispered the words:
"Eye of the Sleepless."
A soft pulse of Yin chakra surged through his body. His eyes, once dark and tired, suddenly flared open—turning a pale, almost luminous ashen gray, the irises marked with thin concentric rings that shimmered like ripples on a midnight lake. Faint seal-like markings spread from his eyelids toward his temples, glowing subtly with black chakra veins like spiderwebs etched into his skin.
[Image Here]
Mizuki recoiled. "A D-Dōjutsu?! What the hell is that?!"
Tatsuya didn't answer.
[Eye of the Sleepless (Active) — Lv. 1]
[By applying Yin chakra in a precise seal pattern on the eyelids and directly to the brain's frontal cortex, the user enters a hyper-focused, sleepless state. Their visual perception and cognitive clarity are dramatically enhanced.
Effects:
Sharpened perception and prediction in battle (+Reaction Speed)
The ability to track fast movements
Complete immunity to sleep and fatigue for the duration
Drastically accelerated learning for visual or observation-based techniques
Side Effects:
30 seconds: Eye dryness, irritability
1 minute: Hallucinations, memory errors
2 minutes: Cognitive drift, chakra desync, paranoia
5 minutes: Mental collapse, coma, possible death
Note: Once canceled, user must sleep for 24 hours to recover safely. If interrupted, damage may persist.]
'So this is why it's a forbidden jutsu… the risks aren't worth the benefits…' Tatsuya thought, his breath sharp, his mind now racing with terrifying clarity. 'It's practically a dōjutsu that kills you...'
He could see everything. The shift in Mizuki's muscles. The angle of his foot adjusting for a throw. The faint glint in his eye as he calculated Tatsuya's next movement.
His body still screamed in pain—but his mind was faster than it had ever been.
Tatsuya raised a hand. "Inventory."
Two kunai blinked into existence with a faint shimmer of light. He gripped them tight, spinning one backward into a reverse hold.
"Mizuki…" he said, his now-sleepless eyes locked onto him like a predator.
"Here I come!"
To be continued...
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