Naruto: I Have Cursed Spirits!

[Reminiscence detected: +5000 points]

[Energy transferred to Choso]

[Development progress: 28%]

Shiratori closed his eyes and gently curled his lips into a smile.

Today's gains far exceeded his expectations. He didn't believe that Copy hadn't been activated.

System? he called out mentally.

Has Copy has been activated?

If it hadn't been activated today, he suspected that the system had secretly absorbed his emotional points.

[Confirmation: Copy has been activated.]

[Multiple new abilities unlocked.]

If Copy was activated, then why didn't you give a prompt?

He clearly remembered that when other abilities were activated, the system had given immediate notifications.

[System notification preferences can be adjusted.]

[Enabling audio alerts for all ability acquisitions.]

As soon as the system finished processing, notification sounds rang out in his mind.

[Base Ability]

[Reverse Cursed Technique: UNLOCKED]

[Copy Technique Template]

[Fushiguro Toji - Heavenly Restriction: UNLOCKED]

[Copy Technique Template]

[Mei Mei - Black Bird Manipulation: UNLOCKED]

Shiratori waited a few more minutes. When no further notifications appeared in his mind, he asked, No more?

[Current acquisition cycle: COMPLETE]

He wished the notifications could go on forever. Unfortunately, that was impossible.

Now that his base Reverse Cursed Technique had been activated, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

At the very least, he could now heal his own wounds.

He valued physical combat, and Toji's Heavenly Restriction was a technique he had long desired to activate. While ninjutsu was certainly powerful, being physically strong gave him a stronger sense of security.

Even if one day his cursed energy ran out, he could still fight his way out with physical prowess alone. And having strong taijutsu was not bad!

Mei Mei's Black Bird Manipulation was a reconnaissance ability.

By infusing cursed energy into birds, one could control them.

There was no limit to the number of birds, as long as one had enough cursed energy, they could control a huge flock.

The birds could share their vision with the user. But the technique wasn't just for reconnaissance, it could also be used for attacks.

Of course, the core of the Black Bird Manipulation technique was sharing vision with the birds and using them for various tactical maneuvers.

The three techniques gained today all, in one way or another, compensated for his weaknesses.

Healing, physical combat, reconnaissance, these were exactly what he needed at the moment.

Jackpot!

He leaned against Chiba's back.

Hanzō's voice rang out, "Begin the return to the village."

"Yes!" The ninjas responded in unison, excitement in their eyes.

Hanzō walked at the front, followed by a dense crowd of ninjas. They quickly moved toward the central district of Ame.

---

Meanwhile, inside the tower, Sakikawa's expression was grim.

Next to him, Kageto wore a deeply guilty look.

He smacked himself on the head in frustration. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't let my guard down, he wouldn't have snuck off."

Sakikawa leaned against the cold wall, his tone colder than the wall itself as he said in a low voice, "It's not your fault. I didn't notice he used a Transformation Technique either."

After Kageto left, Sakikawa had noticed that Shiratori had been in the restroom for far too long. Suspicious, he went to check, only to find not him, but an unconscious Kageto.

At that moment, he knew they were in serious trouble.

Now, all they could do was pray that Shiratori was discovered by other Ame ninjas and not in any real danger.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to face Hanzō.

Two medical-nin paced anxiously in front of them. Ever since it was revealed that Shiratori had snuck out, the medics had been unable to stay calm.

They were the ones who understood better than anyone just how valuable Shiratori was.

If he didn't return, then the wounded Ame ninjas coming back from the battlefield wouldn't survive either.

A heavy cloud of gloom hung over the entire tower, until the iron gate was knocked on.

Sakikawa and Kageto instantly went on high alert, but hope still bloomed involuntarily in their hearts.

Could it be... Shiratori had come back?

"It's me!"

"I'm back!"

Standing outside the gate, Shiratori shouted.

Behind him were a group of Ame ninjas with only minor injuries.

Once Hanzō returned to the village, he had to begin dealing with post-war affairs, so he and Shiratori had split up.

The iron gate swung open with force.

Sakikawa and Kageto stared at Shiratori, their tightly wound hearts finally able to relax.

The two medical-nin immediately shoved past Sakikawa and Kageto, crouching in front of Shiratori with worry on their faces.

"Are you hurt? Where did you go? You scared us to death! Didn't we say not to run off on your own? Did you encounter danger?"

A barrage of questions came tumbling from their mouths.

Shiratori smiled. "I went to the battlefield to save people. I wasn't hurt."

At the mention of the word battlefield, the two medical-nin nearly blacked out and fainted on the spot.

Sakikawa and Kageto were also filled with lingering fear.

For a child like Shiratori to go alone to the battlefield and come back alive was already a miracle, let alone return completely unscathed.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

"They're injured. Let them in so you can treat their wounds," Shiratori said to the two medics.

The medics immediately got serious. But when they saw the injured ninjas standing behind him, they were completely stunned.

"W-Why... why are there so few of them?" one of the medical-nin asked in confusion.

In the past, after a war, the wounded often filled the entire street outside the gate.

Many of them had to be carried back on stretchers due to their severe injuries. But now, the number of returning ninjas wasn't even a third of that.

At a glance, there wasn't a single seriously injured ninja among them.

"Shiratori already treated most of the wounded on the battlefield."

"He used up too much energy. We didn't want to trouble him with our minor wounds."

The leading ninja smiled as he explained to the medics.

The two medics forced down their shock and emotion, nodding repeatedly. "Of course he shouldn't overexert himself! He's still just a child!"

[Gratitude detected: Multiple sources +2000 points]

[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]

[Development progress: 58.7%]

The two medics immediately began treating the wounded.

Shiratori walked up to Kageto. "I'm sorry."

Kageto froze for a moment, then softened. He shook his head. "No need to apologize. You were saving everyone."

How could they possibly blame the boy?

He had risked his own safety to save their comrades. If anything, they were grateful.

[Gratitude detected: Kageto +1000 points]

[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]

[Development progress: 58.8%]

A single "sorry" in exchange for 1000 gratitude points, Shiratori was very satisfied with that exchange.