I'm retrieving corpses in Konoha.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves. A few leaves, beginning to turn yellow, drifted down and fell.

A few seconds later, the sound of stomping footsteps came from ahead.

A figure appeared deep in the jungle. Because it was running in such a hurry, it didn't jump from tree to tree, but ran quickly on the ground.

As the figure drew closer, Captain Jackal was about to give a hand signal when he saw a silver-haired figure dart out.

"Rachel!"

Crackling, eerie blue lightning gathered in Kakashi's hand.

The captain sighed inwardly and, seeing Kakashi rush out, could only quickly follow.

This rogue ninja, like the previous one, is also an S-rank, but his true strength is that of a Jonin.

Although he was ambushed by Kakashi and injured, he quickly adjusted his posture to deal with the situation.

However, he was ultimately outnumbered and unable to escape, dying under the Raichi sword.

“Sharingan…Kakashi…” A look of terror was imprinted on the rogue ninja’s face, filled with resentment and regret, before his body slowly collapsed.

"thump"

The body fell to the ground. Kakashi lowered his head, staring blankly at his bright red right hand, the lingering lightning evaporating the blood on his hand.

Uchiha Natsu knew that Kakashi was in this state because of the successive blows of the deaths of his teammates and teacher.

However, this had nothing to do with him; he was only concerned with cleaning up the bodies.

The captain and two other team members went to study the route, and it wasn't until the rogue ninja was completely dead that Uchiha Natsu emerged from the ground.

Upon arriving at the body, Uchiha Natsu, seeing that Kakashi had no intention of leaving, simply retrieved the body right under his nose.

He clasped his hands together, pretended to run chakra around his hands, and then pressed them onto the corpse.

The corpse instantly turned into powder, which dissipated into the air.

Kakashi's eyes widened, and for the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared in his usually deadpan eyes.

Uchiha Natsu casually explained, "It's a ninjutsu I learned by chance, and it only works on dead corpses."

Meanwhile, in Uchiha Natsu's mind, the corpse had already been sent into the shop.

Shortly after, the system displayed the following message:

—Corpse score: 60 points, credit rating bonus: 0 points, total score: 60 points.

—Recovery successful. Item obtained: Contracted Spirit Beast "Giant Bear". Detailed information has been sent to the host's memory.

Please choose to take it or discard it at your own discretion.

Followed by.

A piece of information appeared out of nowhere in Uchiha Natsu's memory.

This giant bear is not a creature of this world, but it is very powerful in combat and is extremely large. Its true strength has definitely surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin.

The key point is that this giant bear will not betray you; even if you were to die, it would completely obey orders.

With this giant bear, as long as I'm not fighting against an elite Jonin-level opponent, I can at least go toe-to-toe with them.

For someone as weak as him, this was a godsend.

Uchiha Natsu immediately chose to claim it.

Subsequently, the giant bear's summoning technique was transmitted into Uchiha Natsu's consciousness.

There's no need to memorize it anymore; the psychic spell has already solidified its impression on its own.

With this giant bear protecting him, Uchiha Natsu finally felt a little safer.

After the body was disposed of, the team set off again.

Before long, they arrived at the border of the Land of Fire. Further ahead, they would cross the border.

"Captain, the target stopped less than 800 meters ahead. Should we continue chasing?" White Horse asked Jackal, his eyes flashing white.

"Killing him is the mission," Kakashi interjected, his tone cold and chilling.

Uchiha Natsu frowned.

Although Uchiha Natsu really wanted the corpse, their overall strength was not reassuring.

A small team with only two Jonin, not even an elite Jonin, would be in danger if they were ambushed after crossing the border.

All three rogue ninjas escaped with data; Uchiha Natsu didn't believe that no one was there to meet them.

However, given Uchiha Natsu's temporary logistical role, it would be useless for him to speak up, so he simply kept quiet.

The captain glanced at Kakashi and pondered for a moment.

A few seconds later, the jackal, as the team leader, made a decision: "Keep chasing!"

Amid Uchiha Natsu's worries, the team set off again.

'You can't completely trust the Byakugan either; there are many things you can't judge with your eyes...' Uchiha Natsu thought to himself.

Turning to Kakashi, Uchiha Natsu said, "I can't hold it in anymore, I'm going to relieve myself, I'll catch up in a bit."

After saying that, he left the group without waiting for Kakashi's response.

Kakashi could only speed up and get ahead to explain the situation to the captain.

Uchiha Natsu was only there to clean up the mess; it didn't matter whether he was there or not during the battle, so the captain didn't say anything.

After leaving the group, Uchiha Natsu awakened his Sharingan.

Scanning back and forth, not missing a single detail.

Even with the Byakugan, it's impossible to observe so closely while moving at high speed, which is why Uchiha Natsu left the group.

If they fall into an ambush, everyone else is at least a special Jonin, but he's just a newly promoted Chunin, so he'll definitely suffer.

[A book-reading app recommended to me by a friend I've known for ten years, Wild Fruit Reading! It's damn good! I use it to read aloud and listen to books while driving or before bed to pass the time. You can download it here.]

It's better to play it safe and split up.

Uchiha Natsu was afraid there might be traps underground, so he observed carefully and slowed down, soon putting some distance between himself and the group.

Not long after.

Suddenly, an unusual sound came from ahead, indicating that the group was in trouble.

Uchiha Natsu quietly crept forward and peered ahead through the bushes.

The team had indeed fallen into an ambush, likely a pre-arranged trap, and several members sustained injuries of varying degrees.

A four-man squad from Kumogakure and the Konoha rogue ninja, a total of five people, surrounded Kakashi and his group.

The battle has begun, and it's clear that the opposing side consists of Jonin, putting Konoha at a disadvantage.

"As expected..." Uchiha Natsu sighed inwardly, then quietly retreated.

He was just a weak Chunin, and it was too dangerous for him to participate in the battles of Jonin, so to be on the safe side, he let the giant bear take his place in the charge.

Once he had retreated to a safe distance, Uchiha Natsu formed hand seals and then slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Spirit Spell!"

shhhhhh...

Black runes spread like a spider web, and then a huge gray bear appeared out of thin air in front of Uchiha Natsu.

"Go, Giant Bear," Uchiha Natsu said in a low voice, pointing towards the battle circle.

The giant bear understood immediately, roared, and charged forward in an instant.

"boom!"

The huge bear paws stomped on the ground, causing it to tremble.

The giant bear's massive body moved incredibly fast, closing the distance of tens of meters in a second, and the next second, it slapped a Cloud Ninja with its paw.

The Cloud Ninja was still attacking frantically and hadn't reacted when he was struck in the back by a claw, immediately spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He rolled his eyes and spiraled upwards, flying in a parabolic arc for more than ten meters, suffering a blow that made him question the meaning of life.

Even if there were medical ninjas on the scene, they could only keep him alive for a short while, and he would probably be a cripple.

However, it was clear that there were no medical ninjas present.

Chapter 3 is probably still quite weak.

Uchiha Natsu, watching from behind, was terrified.

Indeed, without overwhelming strength, one shouldn't easily go off on a whim.

The giant bear is not even at the level of an elite Jonin; at most, he is only slightly stronger than a Jonin.

To round it off, that means the Cloud Ninja and the Giant Bear are roughly the same strength.

However, the giant bear was able to kill a Cloud Ninja with a single claw strike.

Putting yourself in their shoes, the strength of a genin and a chunin is actually not that different...

"Looking at it this way, I'm totally weak now. Any random genin could easily kill me." Uchiha Natsu swallowed hard, feeling utterly insecure at the thought of facing Obito and Itachi on the night of the massacre.

The giant bear is ultimately just a spirit beast; to truly save its life, it must become stronger on its own.

Only by relying on yourself can you live longer.

.

The four Cloud Village Jonin were all burly men skilled in powerful attacks.

But when the giant bear appeared, they all looked as tiny as chicks.

In an instant, everyone quickly scattered, their hearts pounding as they stared at the suddenly appearing giant bear.

"What...what kind of bear is this?!" The Cloud Ninja Captain's eyes widened like saucers. This giant bear was ten meters tall. What kind of bear could grow so big?

On the other side, Kakashi and the others also looked somewhat solemn.

This outrageous bear just killed a Cloud Village Jonin with a single swipe of its paw; it's definitely stronger than any of them.

Involuntarily, both sides turned their gazes toward the unfortunate Cloud Ninja not far away.