"Anko."
As night began to fall, the chill of the room deepened when Orochimaru suddenly called out to his departing apprentice.
"Orochimaru-sensei."
Anko nodded respectfully, her eyes filled with curiosity.
Ever since she had become the pupil of this renowned man, she had indeed learned much. Yet, along with that knowledge came countless strange questions.
For instance—what exactly was her teacher always so busy with?
And why did those rooms she was never allowed to enter sometimes echo with faint, agonized screams?
She didn't know.
But she didn't dare ask.
Orochimaru studied her quietly for a long moment before finally shaking his head.
"It's nothing. Give my regards to Hakken-kun."
Just moments ago, he had recalled another major breakthrough in his research—aside from the Living Corpse Reincarnation.
The Cursed Seal.
A strange and sinister energy.
It had been refined from the body of a newly acquired test subject—the boy named Jūgo.
By fusing his own cells into that energy, he had created the perfected version of the Cursed Seal.
When he had called out to Anko just now, he had done so with the intent to perform one last experiment before leaving.
The power of the Cursed Seal was far too much for an ordinary person to withstand.
But that had never stopped him from using ordinary people as test subjects before.
Yet, as Anko turned back to face him, something crossed his mind.
The girl standing before him was indeed his apprentice—ordinary in some ways, but not quite like everyone else.
Anko Mitarashi.
She had something others didn't—an enviable younger brother, Hakken Yoru.
If he used Anko's body for his experiment and something went wrong, that boy would despise him. He might even abandon his life in Konoha entirely to seek revenge.
That had been his calculation at first.
But then he remembered the look in that boy's eyes the other day—wild, primal, untamed—and he suddenly understood.
This was her brother.
And while Orochimaru feared no one, dealing with that kind of creature would be… inconvenient.
Besides, Hakken Yoru had already promised that one day he would come find him.
There was no need to provoke him early. Watching with his own eyes just how far that child could go—that was the true experiment.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei," Anko replied, still puzzled.
"Also," Orochimaru added without looking back, "you don't need to come here anymore."
He turned away, sorting through his scattered notes and files—a silent sign that no matter what she might ask next, he would not be answering.
No need to come anymore?
As Anko stepped out of the room, the confusion in her eyes deepened.
A strange feeling rose within her—a quiet certainty that something momentous was about to happen.
...
"1997!"
"1998!"
"1999!"
Swish!
"2000!"
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, Host, on completing the daily quest [2000 Sword Swings]. Reward: King of Normal Attacks Template [Zaraki Kenpachi] unlock progress +0.2%!"
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on achieving the [Continuous Slash] milestone. Daily Quest upgraded successfully!"
"From now on, the Daily Quest will be renamed [Never-Ending]. Quest rewards will scale with the number of swings performed each day."
It appeared—The upgraded daily quest.
Sheathing his Zanpakutō, Hakken Yoru summoned the system panel and glanced through the data.
Host: Hakken Yoru
World: Naruto
Unlocked Template: King of Normal Attacks – Zaraki Kenpachi
Unlock Progress: 7.6%
Reach 10% progress to unlock the next character template.
Next Template Awakening: Second template progress reaches 5%.
Slash Points: 195 (Exchangeable for template progress or shop items.)
Chakra: 30 (Genin level)
Physical Strength: 80 (Above average)
Spiritual Pressure: Unknown
Activated Trait: Chakra Blade
Daily Quest: Slash 2000 Times (Completed)
New Daily Quest: [Never-Ending]
Swing 1000 times – Unlock +0.1% progress for all unlocked templates. (Unachieved)
Swing 2000 times – Chakra reserve increases by 0.1. (Unachieved)
Swing 4000 times – Physical attribute coefficient increases by 0.1. (Unachieved)
Swing 6000 times – Slight enhancement to Spiritual Pressure, the energy representing the soul. (Unachieved)
Swing 8000 times – Unlock +0.2% progress for all unlocked templates. (Unachieved)
Swing 10,000 times – Chakra reserve increases by 0.2. (Unachieved)
...
Never Ending!
Just like the new quest's name, as long as he continued to swing his blade, his strength would keep growing stronger—
Chakra, spiritual pressure, physical ability, and most importantly, template progress.
A complete, all-around enhancement.
Yet within Hakken's body, these three energies did not conflict.
Chakra was born from physical cells and spiritual energy—the stronger the body, the greater the chakra that could be refined.
Spiritual Pressure, on the other hand, came from the soul itself—the core energy of a Shinigami.
The three forces did not oppose each other; in fact, they complemented one another.
And when, one day, these three energies broke through their limits and fused together... Hakken believed he would become something terrifying—
A monster of unimaginable strength.
But one thing still puzzled him.
"Why does Spiritual Pressure show as 'unknown'?"
Indeed, aside from that, every other stat displayed precise numerical values—a clear assessment of his capabilities.
But for Spiritual Pressure, the system listed only one word: Unknown.
"Host, this is related to your template unlock progress," the system explained. "Only after fully unlocking the Zaraki Kenpachi template can this value be accurately measured."
"I see."
Hakken nodded and drew in a deep breath.
The moon hung high in the night sky.
Itachi had long since gone home to rest and prepare for the next day's mission.
As for him—his daily task had evolved. No longer confined to just 2000 swings a day.
Which meant—
"Keep swinging. Never stop."
Drawing his Zanpakutō once more, the boy beneath the moonlight felt the fire within him ignite again.
...
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