Koga’s eyes squinted. "What is going on?"
Fenfyr barked softly. Ignilion lowered his head, watching Koga carefully.
Koga immediately raised a hand.
"Stand by."
Both wolves became still.
"Do not move unless I tell you to."
Fenfyr’s ears twitched, while Ignilion remained beside the bed.
Koga climbed out of bed and walked toward the window. His heart was beating faster than it should have. He had already learned one important lesson about the Sky Screen. It never did anything quietly.
If the System wanted to cause trouble, it could turn the entire village upside down in seconds.
"What’s happening this time?"
The screen suddenly flickered. The previous message disappeared. Then the entire sky lit up again.
BUT THAT IS NOT ALL!
This made all watching focused.
THE IDENTITY OF THE HONORABLE ANSWERER SHALL REMAIN SECRET! THE REWARD OF THAT PERSON SHALL ALSO REMAIN SECRET!
All of them watchibf understood in their heart. They can’t help but feel disappointed.
HOWEVER!
Everyone’s heart jolted.
THE SYSTEM HAS DECIDED TO GIVE AN ADDITIONAL REWARD! BECAUSE THE ULTIMATE MISSION WAS COMPLETED IN ONLY A FEW MINUTES! AN ULTIMATE MISSION THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH! AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE! AN EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE! SO SUCH SPEED MUST BE REWARDED!"
Koga’s eyebrows rose.
"Wait..."
The Sky Screen became even brighter.
THEREFORE! ALL HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE INUZUZA CLAN SHALL RECEIVE A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!
The Villager Chat immediately exploded.
"What?"
"All honorary members?"
"Who are the honorary members?"
"I didn’t even know we had them!"
"How many are there?"
The Ninja Chat became just as chaotic.
"Wait, this is a Clan wide reward?"
"The System is rewarding people who aren’t even full Ninjas?"
"That is insane."
"What kind of reward?"
The Sky Screen answered before anyone could ask.
THE BUG DUNGEON!
A strange image appeared across the screen.
It showed a vast dungeon entrance surrounded by tall stone walls. Strange lights glowed inside the darkness, and countless silhouettes of beasts could be seen moving beyond the entrance.
THE BUG DUNGEON IS A SPECIAL DUNGEON FILLED WITH BEASTS! TREASURES CAN BE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE DUNGEON!
THE TREASURES WITHIN CAN PROVIDE ORDINARY PEOPLE WITH THE FOUNDATION REQUIRED TO BECOME NINJAS! THE TREASURES CAN ALLOW HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE INUZUZA CLAN TO REACH THE PEAK OF GENIN LEVEL!
AND THEIR NINKENS TOO...
The Sky Screen paused dramatically.
CAN EVEN REACH CHUNIN LEVEL!
The entire village went silent. Then the chaos erupted.
"GENIN? CHUNIN?"
"THEY CAN BECOME NINJAS, REACH PEAK GENIN AND EVEN MAKE THEIR NINKENS GROW TO CHUNIN?"
"YOU MEAN OUR HONORARY MEMBERS CAN ACTUALLY BECOME NINJAS?"
"PEAK GENIN?"
"THAT ISN’T A NORMAL REWARD!"
"THEY CAN TRAIN THEIR OWN NINKENS INTO CHUNIN LEVEL?"
With the revelation right in front of them, they couldn’t stop exclaiming. The system basically told them they could become ninjas, and that was so ridiculous it felt unbelievable, especially for the villagers, because becoming a ninja was the one dream they had after years of trying and failing to make it, but being told they finally had a chance made the whole thing feel unreal.
It shocked even high level ninjas, but the villagers who constantly worried about ninjas and other dangers were filled with excitement and energy, and after feeling that ninja terror for so long, they broke down in tears because at last they had a possible way forward, even if they were unsure if this system was saying was real, it still made them hopeful.
An elderly man suddenly typed into the Villager Chat.
"I AM AN HONORARY MEMBER!"
Another message immediately appeared.
"I AM TOO!"
"I HAVE BEEN AN HONORARY MEMBER FOR TWENTY YEARS!"
"DOES THAT MEAN I CAN BECOME A NINJA?"
"CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT PEAK GENIN MEANS?"
A younger villager answered him.
"It means you would become much stronger than an ordinary genin!"
The old man replied.
"THEN I WANT IT!"
Someone else typed.
"My ninken is already stronger than me!"
"Then you are in luck!"
"This is incredible!"
Especially the Inuzuza Clan members, they were practically celebrating in their homes.
Several honorary members had spent their entire lives supporting the Clan without becoming full fledged Ninjas. Some helped care for the Ninkens. Others delivered supplies, maintained training grounds, prepared food, assisted injured members, or served the Clan in countless other ways.
They had never expected the Sky Screen to reward them. Then one of them suddenly appeared in the Villager Chat.
Inuzuza Gendo: I can see something in front of me!
Another message followed.
Inuzuza Gendo: What is this?
Inuzuza Gendo: I can actually see something floating in front of me!
The Sky Screen flickered.
THOSE ARE YOUR PORTALS! THE PORTALS TO THE BUG DUNGEON HAVE NOW APPEARED BEFORE EVERY HONORARY MEMBER OF THE INUZUZA CLAN!
Inuzuza Gendo: A portal?
Inuzuza Gendo: I can really see it!
Another honorary member typed.
Inuzuza Hama: I have one too!
Inuzuza Hama: It is standing right in front of my house!
Inuzuza Roka: Mine is inside my room!
Inuzuza Gendo: Can we enter whenever we want?
The answer appeared immediately.
YES!
THE PORTALS WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! YOU MAY ENTER THE BUG DUNGEON AT ANY TIME!
BUT REMEMBER...
The letters became enormous.
YOU CAN ONLY ENTER ONCE!
The excited messages suddenly slowed.
Only once?
The Sky Screen continued.
YOUR JOURNEY IS IN YOUR OWN HANDS! YOUR STRENGTH! YOUR COURAGE! YOUR DECISIONS! YOUR FATE! EVERYTHING YOU OBTAIN INSIDE THE BUG DUNGEON WILL DEPEND UPON YOUR OWN ACTIONS!
ENTER WHEN YOU ARE READY! BUT ONCE YOU LEAVE! YOUR PORTAL WILL DISAPPEAR!
The Inuzuza Clan immediately began discussing what to do.
"Should we enter together?"
"Can honorary members bring their Ninkens?"
The System said their Ninkens can grow stronger, so obviously!
"Then we need to prepare!"
"Prepare what? I don’t know!"
"That is not helpful!"
Meanwhile, the other Clans were furious.
Kuma Clan members flooded the Ninja Chat.
"WHY DOES INUZUZA GET THIS?"
"We have honorary members too!"
"Bullshit! We don’t have that!"
"STILL... THIS IS UNFAIR!"
Karasu members joined them.
"What about us?"
"We have people who have served our Clan for decades!"
"Why didn’t our Clan get a dungeon?"
Yukiju members complained as well.
"This System clearly favors the Inuzuza Clan!"
"First the Ultimate Mission, now this!"
"Maybe we should create honorary members immediately!"
A Kuma Ninja responded.
"Too late!"
A Karasu Ninja replied.
"Then make them now!"
"That probably won’t count!"
"Why not?"
"Because the reward already happened!"
The argument continued.
In the Overlord Chat, Kuma Rai stared at the messages with a dark expression.
"So now even honorary members can become peak Genin."
Karasu Moira laughed.
"And their Ninkens can reach Chunin level."
Yukiju Ken smiled.
"I believe we have learned something important."
Kuma Rai looked at him.
"What?"
"We should create honorary members."
Moira laughed again.
"Immediately."
Kuma Rai grunted.
"I already regret not doing it earlier."
The only person who remained silent was Inuzuza Kiza. Again. Her name sat quietly in the Overlord Chat. She had said nothing about the reward. Nothing about the mission. Nothing about the mysterious person who had answered her Ultimate Mission.
Koga, meanwhile, had barely heard any of the arguments.
He was staring at the portal. He could see it from his window. A strange circular doorway had appeared outside his room, glowing faintly in the darkness.
Koga’s expression slowly changed.
"Bug Dungeon..."
He had absolutely no idea what kind of place it was. Beasts. Treasures. Chakra. A chance to become stronger. That was enough.
He clenched his fists.
"I don’t care what it is."
Fenfyr looked at him. Ignilion raised his head.
Koga suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of happiness.
"Whoever answered that question..."
He looked up toward the Sky Screen.
"I don’t know who you are."
His expression softened.
"But whoever you are, thank you."
For once, the System had given him something he actually wanted. A way to strengthen himself. A chance to build himself up without revealing everything he had. A chance to become stronger while keeping his true abilities hidden.
He looked at his two disguised legendary beasts.
"You two."
Both wolves stood.
"We’re going."
Fenfyr barked. Ignilion gave a low growl.
Koga quickly grabbed his clothes.
"Come on!"
He hurried toward the portal. Then he stopped.
He looked back at the room.
"Wait."
He returned and grabbed his forehead protector.
"If I’m going somewhere called a dungeon, I’m bringing this."
He tied the forehead protector around his head. The wild grass symbol rested against his forehead.
Koga took a deep breath.
"All right."
He looked at Fenfyr.
"You’re still a wolf cub."
Then he looked at Ignilion.
"And you’re the bigger wolf."
Both stared at him.
"No fire."
Ignilion’s ears lowered.
"No strange wind techniques."
Fenfyr looked away.
"And absolutely no revealing your real forms."
Both wolves barked.
"Good."
Koga stepped toward the glowing portal.
His excitement was almost impossible to contain. He had no idea what awaited him. He didn’t know what kind of beasts lived inside. He didn’t know what treasures he might find. He didn’t even know whether the dungeon was dangerous. But for someone who was the system’s target and kept pulling pranks on him, this was one of the ways to gain strength. He wouldn’t let it pass.
Koga stepped through.
Fenfyr followed. Ignilion followed immediately after him. The moment all three disappeared inside, the portal shimmered.
Then it vanished from the room.
Far above Koyagakure, the Sky Screen displayed one final message.
THE JOURNEY HAS BEGUN!
And somewhere beyond the portal, Koga opened his eyes.