"What!?"
Before the three Konoha ninjas could even process why a child had suddenly turned into a six-eyed monster, their heads were already sliced off by Akashō.
The one leading them had previously been assigned to guard duty at the Konoha hospital, so Akashō had at least seen him around a few times.
But that didn't stop Akashō from clearing away any pebbles blocking his path forward.
"Didn't expect to be discovered before even leaving Konoha, but the immediate danger's gone for now. I should seize the chance and get out fast."
Akashō didn't revert to his original form. Instead, he leapt straight onto the rooftops and sprinted toward Konoha's main gate.
"Who goes there!?"
The moment he arrived, the two Konoha ninjas guarding the gate immediately became alert.
Without a word, Akashō dashed forward and cut them cleanly in half, then quickly oriented himself and continued running.
His target was already set—the Earth–Fire battlefield.
While traveling, Akashō took a moment to summon the Kokushibo template, wanting to see exactly how much reputation he still lacked. Maybe he could even consider unlocking a second Villain Template before reaching the battlefield.
But after just one glance, his eyes widened.
"Already five hundred thousand!?"
He kept sprinting to avoid being caught by Konoha pursuers, but inside he was baffled. Before coming to Konoha, he had still been short by twenty to thirty thousand. How had it suddenly jumped so much?
Was it because of the few Konoha ninjas he had just killed while leaving?
That didn't make sense—they were clearly too weak.
"System, do you know what's going on?"
When in doubt, ask. Akashō chose to consult the system.
"Ding. No abnormalities detected in the reputation value."
"No abnormalities? Then where did all this reputation come from?"
Akashō wanted to fully understand the rules behind reputation, or he might unknowingly miss out on huge amounts later.
"Please explore on your own."
He came to a stop, clicking his tongue in annoyance. What a useless system.
Even with all his dissatisfaction and confusion, the fact remained—his reputation had reached five hundred thousand. There was no reason to hesitate anymore.
"System, unlock the second Villain Template!"
"Ding. Current total reputation: 513,000. Do you wish to consume all reputation to unlock the second template?"
"Yes!"
"Ding. Second template unlocked. Please check it."
The system notification sounded, and Akashō immediately opened the template interface in his personal panel.
Villain Template 1: Kokushibo.
Villain Template 2: Bertholdt Hoover.
"…What is this?"
Looking at the name of the second template, Akashō froze for a moment.
An English name?
What the hell is that—some nobody villain I've never even heard of?
He quickly opened the detailed description.
Bertholdt Hoover:
Skills: High-Temperature Steam, Destructive Explosion.
Special Ability: Power of the Colossal Titan.
Overall Strength: S-.
Current Reputation: 0.
"Holy shit—the Colossal!?"
The moment he saw those words, Akashō instantly realized who it was.
"Damn… my DNA is reacting."
Eyes wide, he scratched his head in agitation. For a moment, he almost abandoned his path as a villain and went off to chase freedom.
"Calm down… calm down."
He took several deep breaths, forcibly steadying his pounding heart.
"The Colossal Titan is rated S-?"
"So about the same as Kokushibo…"
He recalled the performances of both in his memory.
Compared to Kokushibo, the Colossal Titan clearly wasn't suited for prolonged battles.
Even as one of the Nine Titans, it possessed decent regeneration, but that couldn't compare to a Demon Body.
On top of that, the transformed Colossal Titan lacked skin covering its surface. It constantly emitted heat, causing its muscles to shrink and dissipate rapidly—making its endurance even worse.
"But the Colossal Titan has an absolute size advantage, and with that comes overwhelming physical strength."
"The steam it emits nonstop can also be controlled. Push it far enough, and the transformation itself can unleash an explosion comparable to a miniature nuclear blast."
"That's why it's known as a god of destruction."
"More importantly, this one doesn't have any day–night limitations."
Akashō curled his lips into a grin.
"Not bad. Considering five hundred thousand reputation is just the minimum requirement, this level of power is already pretty solid."
"Come to think of it… does this mean I now have to build up the reputation of both characters at the same time?"
"Tch. Normally, shouldn't a system like this give me some kind of split or clone ability so I can summon extra characters?"
"It's manageable with just two for now… but if I end up with ten or so templates later, how am I supposed to handle all of them alone…?"