Eyes and Ears (Third Update)

"Hey, everyone, calm down. Calm down, okay? I didn’t trick you. I didn’t know it would turn out like this either."

Dragged into a small grove, Xu Yue wore an innocent expression. At first, he played dumb, relying on the fact that they could not reveal Root intelligence. Only after one of the hotheaded, straightforward fellows accidentally let something slip and realized it was fine to tell Xu Yue did he have to face them directly.

Fortunately, the twin brothers whom Xu Yue had helped were speaking up for him as well.

"He’s right. When you think about it, charging each person only one C-Rank Plot’s worth wasn’t expensive. The identities we obtained…"

Before Qian Zuo could finish, a burly man immediately cut him off.

This burly fellow had once fawned over Xu Yue on the battlefield and asked him to help dispose of corpses, but now he showed no mercy at all.

"You two naturally don’t care! Even though you’re only genin too, your scouting abilities still let you farm missions here. But why don’t you look at us? We even have to clean the toilets! What missions are there for us?"

"I don’t care about that. Just return our Plot Points."

"Yeah, return them, and compensate us too! We know you completed a B-Rank mission!"

"…"

Very quickly, some people revealed their true colors, their eyes full of greed as they looked at Xu Yue.

Even Chu Yingxiong would be excited and covetous over a B-Rank mission. These newcomers, who had only just begun their Promotion Mission and only just shed the label of rookies, had considerable need for it even if they were elites.

The core skills of most of them had still been built up with C-Rank Plot Points and Reincarnation Points!

"You people?!"

Seeing the greedy looks in everyone else’s eyes, the twin brothers’ faces darkened. These people had merely been looking for an excuse from the start!

"Don’t forget, he’s also from the legion. And don’t forget, this is a Faction Mission!"

Qian You warned them as well.

"Heh, don’t forget that he isn’t part of the Faction Mission. He’s a newcomer."

The burly man who had spoken earlier laughed.

Another person added at the same time.

"And he hasn’t officially joined the legion yet."

"Besides, don’t forget that his relationship with that woman Bao Ji is unclear. Who knows if he’s a spy? Even if we really do something, the higher-ups won’t pursue it."

"He’s already squandered all the favorability of the important figures. Would anyone really stand up for him? What would be the point?"

"This has nothing to do with you two. Don’t worry, we promised we wouldn’t take his life."

"Yeah. Use your brains. He’s three story arcs ahead of us, and he’s shown this kind of talent. Once he truly joins the legion, he’ll definitely squeeze our resources. We’re only protecting ourselves."

"That’s right. Lowering his potential a little benefits all of us."

Hearing their teammates say such things, the twin brothers realized that even after being together for so long, they still did not truly understand them.

The human heart was hidden behind one’s belly. The ancients truly did not deceive us…

"Fine. Remember what you said."

Seeing that there was nothing they could do, Qian Zuo sighed. Qian You looked at his brother, then at Xu Yue, and could only pat Xu Yue on the shoulder. The two of them finally turned and left.

A favor was a favor, but the others were also teammates they had spent every day with. Having survived in the Reincarnation Space this long, their reason still overcame their emotions.

Xu Yue said nothing about it.

Only after the twin brothers left did he sigh, seeming somewhat helpless.

"Honestly, I thought it would be enough. I got a little carried away researching Sealing Jutsu these past days."

As he spoke, he scratched his head.

"Not much Chakra left."

His reaction instead made the other seven Reincarnators from the Beiyang squad feel rather strange.

"Hey, hey, did you hear what he said?"

"Looks like he still wants to resist?"

"Haha, I like resistance best."

"Time to teach you to respect your seniors, newcomer."

The burliest man, who was clearly their leader, wore a savage grin as he swaggered toward Xu Yue and raised his hand to grab him.

But the next moment, he was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through several large trees and kicking up a storm of splinters and shredded leaves!

Rubbing his fist, Xu Yue still wore that innocent smile.

"But it’s fine. They’re just genin-level trash. This much Chakra is more than enough…"

A sharp killing intent erupted from Xu Yue’s Wood Clone, instantly making everyone stiffen, chilled to the bone.

A drifting leaf sliced a cut across one person’s face under that killing intent.

"Time to teach you newcomers to respect your seniors in Root…"

Chu Yingxiong learned through the twins that Xu Yue had been robbed over the B-Rank mission, but he could only feel helpless after hearing it.

He had no direct command relationship with this Promotion squad. He had merely been assigned to lead them during this mission.

And given the overall environment of both the Reincarnation Space and the legion, no one would stand up for Xu Yue. After all, he had not officially joined yet. Before potential became strength, it was ultimately only potential.

"Sigh, it’s not bad for him to suffer a setback. It’ll temper him a little. He’s too lazy and carefree."

Chu Yingxiong sighed.

But at that moment, a timid-looking figure entered through the doorway as if he had made up his mind after a long struggle. It was one of the Beiyang Promotion squad members.

"Captain Chu, Captain Chu, you have to save us, he—"

Before he could finish, it was as though he had triggered some taboo. His entire head exploded like a smashed watermelon, brains and blood splattering all over the floor.

Chu Yingxiong and the nearby twin brothers were left completely dumbfounded.

Had he triggered Root’s mark?

That idiot had tried to reveal information that was supposed to remain secret. Had they received some classified mission?

Sigh, but there was nothing to be done. They were only a group of genin. The legion would not use an ultra-high-permission item to save them.

Even the legion was likely helpless against this mysterious organization, about which there was not a single piece of information in the guides.

And because they could not reveal anything, they would not even be able to tell the legion about this organization after returning!

"He has some injuries. Maybe they really did carry out some secret mission. Let’s find the others and see if there are any clues."

The twin brothers could no longer sit still.

But when they arrived at the Beiyang squad’s camp, they found that the other six were in even more miserable condition. The one from before could at least barely move, but these people seemed almost unable to move at all, as though each of them had been ravaged by a hundred Teddy dogs.

And no matter how the two questioned them, they wore terrified expressions and refused to say anything even if beaten to death.

It seemed they really had been on some secret mission…

That day, the squad led by the Yellow Flash also returned in triumph like heroes. Minato Namikaze’s popularity as a candidate for Fourth Hokage continued to rise.

Meanwhile, Xu Yue, who had also returned to the village and gone to Root to hand in his mission, stood respectfully before Danzo.

"You completed this mission quite well. The quality of those absorbed is acceptable, and their backgrounds are all clean. According to the request made by the Shadow Clone you sent back early, their control marks will be handed over to you. From now on, they are your direct subordinates."

Danzo’s face remained cold, but his attitude was clearly different from the first time.

With the reputation Xu Yue had earned on the battlefield, combined with the backer standing behind him, Danzo seemed to have changed his method of recruiting him.

Hearing Danzo’s words, Xu Yue understood that his Wood Clone had likely requested the authority over the control seals and restrictions on his behalf.

This was probably the additional reward for completing the mission excellently.

Well, in that case, he now had a few eyes and ears. Who knew whether they might prove useful at a crucial moment…

After Xu Yue’s main body returned to the village, Tsunade dragged him to a barbecue restaurant for a huge meal. Drunk and tipsy, she repeatedly lectured Xu Yue about masculine ideals, saying things about having three wives and four concubines.

In short, she was urging him to spread his seed more. She even said bizarre things like twelve years old was about the right age to give it a try. It practically made one want to call the police.

The next day, Tsunade left Konoha, becoming the first of the Sannin to depart…

Third update, and the last one too.

As for the settings, those are merely some references I proposed. Let’s see what everyone can accept.

First, Bleach, Lelouch, Food Wars!, Re:Zero, Fullmetal Alchemist—though the original and manga versions need to be separated—Azeroth, and Marvel—movies only. Let’s start with these.

It would be best to focus on objections. If there’s anything you strongly dislike, please say so. You can comment under this chapter or leave a book review.

Also, don’t worry too much about the power system. Low-power worlds can mainly be used to farm missions. Right now, it only amounts to pioneering SR cards, and there’s still quite a large mission gap.