What difference did an extra thousand chakra make? He'd still burn through it and hit empty just the same.
If he didn't have his equipment, using the awakened skill would leave him completely unable to fight.
Was this really a buff, or just making things harder for him? The enemy would probably laugh themselves to death if they saw it.
This damn system.
Hyuga Akira sighed helplessly and glanced around.
This wasn't a good time to test his awakened ability. He'd wait until a proper opportunity appeared—and chances were, it wouldn't take long.
After all, he was going to be fighting here for quite some time. Sooner or later, he would have to reveal it.
Faced with his long-range attacks, the Iwa-nin would inevitably target him. When that time came, he'd give them a little "surprise."
Hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a surprise.
Akira curled his lips.
If he burned all his chakra at the start and then had to fight, the Iwa-nin wouldn't be able to keep the grins off their faces.
What he didn't realize was that he was already exposed. His Byakugan could see very far, but his hearing couldn't reach nearly as far. He had no idea the Iwa-nin had already noticed him.
Looking at his remaining experience, he found he couldn't do much with it, so he raised Fire Release: Shiranui by two levels.
[Fire Release: Shiranui (Lv5) EXP (0/1600) Trait (None)]
[Fire Release: Shiranui (Lv7) EXP (0/6400) Trait (None)]
[Experience Pool: 280]
Now he had left himself no margin at all. Tomorrow he absolutely had to farm enough experience to level up.
"The most important thing right now is figuring out how to kill jonin."
A kunai appeared in Akira's hand. All the kunai from the watchtower had already gone into his inventory.
Handled properly, that was a large sum of money. Didn't that count as getting paid directly?
After all, with God's Left Hand and Demon's Right Hand, he could manufacture kunai himself. Keeping these was pointless; better to sell them for cash.
Ahem.
Back to the point.
His current sniping method was to reinforce the kunai with Ten, add fire attributes with Shiranui, create double amplification with the Clone Technique, and finally launch it with the Kumobou Hand, turning it into a high-speed fireball.
This fireball could easily kill genin. Killing chunin was harder, but still very possible. The real problem was jonin.
Unless the circumstances were special, he simply couldn't kill a jonin.
And his kunai only delivered a brief burst of damage—it didn't inflict much lasting harm.
He needed to increase the power of his sniping.
"Maybe giving up speed and focusing purely on power would work," Akira muttered, looking at his Great Fire Dragon Technique.
The Great Fire Dragon Technique was already a mid- to long-range attack, and he could still control it after casting it.
Most people lost fine control over a jutsu once it was released. Akira didn't—he could still guide it as he pleased.
But with his current understanding, integrating the Great Fire Dragon Technique into his sniping system was difficult.
Fortunately, he had a god-tier ability.
"Brain Elixir, activate!!!"
With more than four thousand chakra, he could maintain Brain Elixir for over twenty seconds.
The world changed in Akira's eyes. It felt as if the haze inside his mind had been stripped away.
Everything became perfectly clear.
Great Fire Dragon Technique, Shiranui, Kumobou Hand, Clone Technique, and the Nen application Ko—five abilities began combining rapidly in his mind.
Among them was the most crucial component:
The Nen ability he had developed himself—Chakra Nature Manipulation.
This ability didn't appear on his panel; it was simply his own method of controlling chakra.
Yet this very method became the key to linking all these techniques together.
First, he wrapped the kunai in Ko. Because of Chakra Nature Manipulation, his Nen could use Ko on objects outside his body.
Then he poured all his chakra into the kunai, ignited it with Shiranui, launched it using Kumobou Hand and the Clone Technique, and at the moment of impact activated the Great Fire Dragon Technique through the chakra condensed on the kunai.
Casting Great Fire Dragon point-blank on contact—no one could block that.
Akira named it:
Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike.
He deactivated Brain Elixir. There was still some chakra left, and he popped a soldier pill into his mouth.
He had no mana potions left. He still had plenty of health potions, but those didn't restore chakra. Soldier pills were the closest substitute.
A trace of longing flickered in his eyes. He hadn't fully come down from the Brain Elixir state yet. That godlike clarity was dangerously addictive.
Soon he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, regaining his composure.
After using it many times in the Hunter world, he had developed some resistance.
Looking toward the distant trenches, firelight illuminated the surroundings. Akira felt that if he went over to the Iwa-nin side right now, he could wipe them out in one go.
One Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike—let's see if they could withstand that.
He flipped back up to the watchtower and looked into the distance. On the far battlefield, he could faintly see many flickering lights.
Drops.
But no one knew whether Iwa-nin were hiding nearby. If he went to pick up loot and a group of Iwa-nin suddenly appeared, what then?
War wasn't a fight between a few individuals. It was thousands, even tens of thousands of shinobi clashing.
On such a battlefield, even the strength of a jonin felt small.
Perhaps only elite jonin could show off a little—but without teammates, they could still die miserably.
Unless it was a Kage. Only a Kage could truly dominate a battlefield.
Leaning against the wall, Akira hugged the Dark Battle Blade and closed his eyes to rest.
…
The next morning—
"The Iwa-nin are attacking again!!"
A shout rang out, and Akira opened his eyes.
He stood up and activated his Byakugan, looking into the distance.
Countless Iwa-nin were charging toward the Konoha lines.
"What are they trying to do?" Akira formed a kunai and examined the attackers. There were far more than yesterday.
They knew about his long-range attacks—yet they still dared to do this.
He began throwing kunai.
"Heavy Firepower: Fireball!!"
One flaming projectile after another crashed into the crowd. Akira prioritized chunin, then genin.
Jonin were basically a waste of effort.
As for why he didn't use Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike—it consumed far too much chakra. A single shot cost over a thousand chakra just to form.
He needed to accumulate experience first, prepare to level up, and only then use Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike.
[EXP 1859][EXP 1789][EXP 1478][EXP 869][EXP 789]…
Experience notifications flooded his vision.
He focused completely on bombarding the Iwa-nin.
Their assault was frenzied—so reckless they seemed to disregard casualties entirely.
As his experience rapidly climbed high enough for another level, Akira's Byakugan locked onto a jonin.
He would sustain himself through battle.
"Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike!!"
A far more scorching fireball shot forward.
Its target—a jonin of Iwagakure.
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