The Sharingan Gamer

When Kyosuke returned to his tent, he found that both his shinobi guard and Hyuga Saori were waiting for him, having not yet rested.

Seeing this, Kyosuke passed the intelligence report to them and explained his plan. Hearing that they were to embark on such a dangerous mission, the three of them said nothing, simply asking when they would depart. This was a normal reaction. Saori had undertaken far more dangerous missions in Root; this was nothing to her. As for the two clan shinobi, if Kyosuke ordered them to attack the Sand ninja's main camp, they likely wouldn't even bat an eye.

Kyosuke observed their expressions, smiled with satisfaction, and said, "We have ten minutes to prepare. Then we move out immediately."

"Yes, sir!" the three of them, including Saori, replied in unison. They then began to change their gear and check their equipment.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

After the four of them assembled, they showed their exit papers to the guards and then sped off in the direction of the target valley.

At that moment, in the very valley that was Kyosuke's target, several jounin were gathered, deep in discussion.

"Why are we still waiting? Once Konoha's main force arrives, how are the three hundred of us supposed to handle them?" one jounin roared, slamming his hand on the table in anger.

"That's right. Those scouts we took out must have sent back the intelligence. We need to evacuate as soon as possible," another agreed.

Just then, the lead Sand ninja snorted, looking at the two of them with disdain. "Evacuate? And where do you suggest we go?" Before they could respond, he continued, "Do you know if there are any enemies watching us right now? Even if there aren't, can we evacuate several hundred men without them noticing? And even if we could, do you know how much trouble it is to find a new hiding place? We could end up walking right into an enemy trap. That would be a real laugh."

The first jounin was at a loss for words. Seeing this, the other tried to smooth things over. "Then what do you suggest we do now..."

"We wait," the lead Sand ninja said coldly. "You must understand, our Sand ninja's total forces are several times greater than Konoha's. They wouldn't dare launch a large-scale attack. At most, they'll send some cannon fodder to see if they can destroy our armory. So, what we need to do now is to maintain a tight defense. After they've lost a few waves of men, they'll naturally give up on attacking here."

Hearing his analysis, the others, including the jounin who had been so angry just moments before, silently nodded in agreement. They then went their separate ways to set up their defensive lines.

"Hmph, a bunch of fools," the lead Sand ninja muttered to himself with a hint of pride as the others left. He then lay down to rest. As for guard duty, that was not something he, as the leader, needed to worry about. His subordinates would handle it properly.

Kyosuke's squad finally arrived outside the valley in the early hours of the morning. However, due to the presence of the sensory barrier, they stopped a good distance away.

"Saori," Kyosuke said, looking at the silent valley before him.

"Understood," Saori replied. A network of veins suddenly appeared around her eyes.

"Byakugan."

Instantly, the entire valley was reflected clearly in her eyes.

After a long while, Saori deactivated her Byakugan and turned to Kyosuke. "There is indeed a sensory barrier, but just as you predicted, it's not perfect. Its detection of the area underground is relatively weak."

Kyosuke nodded, indicating that he understood. He trusted Saori's judgment. Because of the Caged Bird Curse Seal, Saori had studied sealing and barrier jutsu to some extent. While she hadn't reached a particularly advanced level, she could see through the Sand ninja's setup without a problem.

After a brief moment of thought, Kyosuke resolutely decided to proceed with the infiltration plan.

He bit his finger and pressed his hand firmly on the ground.

"Summoning Technique."

In the early hours of the morning, when people are at their drowsiest, although the jounin in charge of each team had ordered them to remain vigilant, the chunin on guard duty had inevitably become a bit lax.

Just then, in a remote corner of the valley, a small snake suddenly emerged from the earth.

It carefully sensed its surroundings, then quickly slithered toward a tent. Due to its small size, the snake was lucky enough to go completely unnoticed.

It wasn't until it was inside the tent that it finally stopped. Then, four figures slowly crawled out of its open mouth.

These four were, of course, Kyosuke and his team.

...It doesn't feel so bad inside, but coming in and out is really disgusting, Kyosuke and Saori thought, exchanging a look. They then waited patiently inside the tent.

They waited for an hour.

Finally, a slight noise came from outside the tent. Kyosuke knew it was the changing of the guard, coming back to rest.

Seeing this, he secretly gave a signal to Thirteen, who nodded slightly.

Before long, three Sand ninja walked into the tent one after another.

However, what greeted them was not a warm bed, but a pair of crimson eyes shining in the darkness.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan."

The genjutsu cast by the jounin-level Thirteen was far too much for these Sand ninja to handle. In an instant, the three of them were completely caught in the illusion, losing control of their bodies.

Kyosuke and the others quickly moved forward, catching their falling bodies to prevent any noise from alerting others.

Crack. With a few faint snaps, Kyosuke broke their necks one by one.

Notification: Successfully killed an enemy (Level 29). Gained 29 experience points.

Kyosuke looked at the single notification, despite having killed three enemies, and couldn't help but purse his lips. This meant that two of them were a lower level than him, so he hadn't received any experience for them.

This was also why Kyosuke had previously "level-locked." Although being at a lower level meant that some of his techniques weren't as powerful, such as Shisui's Body Flicker, blindly raising his level also had its drawbacks. The biggest drawback was that it would greatly reduce his experience point income, just like now.

So, Kyosuke's strength progression had to be a balance between leveling up and prioritizing skill upgrades. He couldn't blindly upgrade his skills to the point where they were unusable, nor could he blindly raise his level, causing his experience gain to slow down and his actual combat power to be unable to defeat higher-level enemies.

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