"After using the **Ninja Art: Vanishing Card**, you will gain the **Ninja Art: Vanishing**. This is a unique beast ninjutsu that only ninja hounds can master. It includes effects such as chakra tracking, scent tracking, and other complex multi-tracking utilities. Please experience its effects for yourself after use," the System replied.
"This is the technique!" Haruto immediately confirmed.
This technique was undoubtedly the eerie tracking ability that Kuro had used to pinpoint his location so quickly. It allowed Kuro to sense the position of a ninja moving underground in an extremely short time. This technique was undeniably powerful.
Eat the cards! Eat the cards!
Haruto consumed the **Kuro's Legs Card**, **Kuro's Scent Card**, **Kuro's Strength Card**, **Kuro's Tracking Card**, and the **Ninja Art: Vanishing Card** all at once!
His speed and strength were enhanced, and his sensory abilities improved. When combined with his **Hyper Sensory Perception**, his direct sensory range expanded to a radius of one kilometer. Within this range, Haruto could instantly detect even the slightest movement.
The **Kuro's Scent Card** increased Haruto's sense of smell by two thousand times!
Even the most exceptional ninja hounds couldn't match this level of olfactory ability!
As for the **Ninja Art: Vanishing**… Originally, this technique didn't require hand seals. It was Kuro's innate ability, and since Kuro didn't have hands, it couldn't perform hand seals anyway. However, the human body structure was different from that of a dog, so when this technique was transferred to Haruto, its activation method changed slightly.
Haruto didn't need to perform hand seals either.
But he needed to clasp his hands together to activate the technique.
This was still convenient!
Haruto felt the world becoming noisier because his sensory abilities had been enhanced in every way. Having overly acute hearing wasn't necessarily a good thing—every tiny sound seemed loud and distracting. The heightened sense of smell made the world feel "complicated." Scents he had never noticed before now felt vivid and overwhelming.
This sensation was terrible!
It was because Haruto wasn't used to it yet.
And he hadn't learned to control it!
So he felt somewhat disoriented.
"This world… is so annoying!" Haruto complained, standing up at the edge of the cliff. He looked out and expanded his senses. Countless pieces of chaotic information flooded his mind—insects flying, leaves rustling, ants crawling, rats scurrying…
And then there were the foul smells.
The closest one came from his own body.
He was filthy after digging through the ground for so long, diving into water, and bleeding. He was covered in all sorts of grime.
Haruto first expanded his sensory abilities to their limit, then slowly tried to rein them in. He attempted to control them but kept failing because his own scent was overwhelming him. It felt like he was submerged in a pit of mud, unable to move comfortably.
"Damn it," Haruto cursed, though it wasn't clear who he was cursing. He formed a hand seal and vanished from the cliff.
Not long after.
Under the night sky, a sparkling stream.
Splash!
Water erupted as Haruto surfaced. He took a thorough bath, wiped the water from his face, and flipped onto the shore. With a hand seal, he changed his clothes. Then, he found a cave hidden by grass near the cliffside, entered it, suppressed his chakra, and sat down in a meditative state.
He needed to adjust himself as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, his overly heightened senses and sense of smell, which he couldn't control, would constantly affect his state of mind.
Actually, adjusting wasn't too difficult.
He just needed time to adapt.
******
A new day, with faint sunlight slanting into the dim cave.
Haruto's body jolted, and he slowly opened his eyes.
He took a deep breath and felt much better!
Although his super-sensitive sense of smell allowed him to detect incredibly complex scents, his brain had learned to filter out or block non-essential smells.
As for his heightened sensory abilities, thanks to his **Hyper Sensory Perception**, controlling them had become much easier.
Haruto stretched and walked out of the cave.
The morning air in the Land of Whirlpools was chilly, but Haruto felt a warm glow from the sunlight.
"Not bad, very good. Time to go treasure hunting!" Haruto's mood had improved significantly. He took a couple of deep breaths, savoring the fresh air. He leaped onto a tree, not planning to eat breakfast, and was about to leave when his expression suddenly changed.
He turned to look north, his face becoming complex.
He hesitated for a moment, then leaped into the air, heading north.
North.
Great Wave Village.
A scene of ruins and mud-covered ground.
Most of the water created by ninjutsu had seeped into the ground, leaving only a few pools in the craters formed by the attacks. The water was stained bright red with blood.
Corpses were everywhere!
Many of the bodies were incomplete. The force of the water release attacks was so strong that when they hit ordinary people, they often tore them apart. Even ninja, if they weren't strong enough or failed to dodge in time, met the same fate.
A young samurai silently collected the body of his friend under the ruins of a watchtower.
A haggard-looking merchant clutched blood-stained, tattered clothes, weeping uncontrollably in front of a collapsed shop.
A pale-faced ninja knelt before a fresh grave, kowtowing repeatedly, then vomiting blood.
A child with a purplish complexion lay on a pile of rubble, half-crushed by stones, staring blankly at the sky with wide, lifeless eyes.
A woman screamed and called out, searching for someone, stumbling and falling into a puddle before scrambling back up… Perhaps she would never find who she was looking for.
The wind carried the pungent smell of blood and decay, along with endless cries of sorrow, spreading and permeating the air.
A figure in a black robe, wearing a mask and a wide-brimmed hat, slowly walked into Great Wave Village. They climbed onto the ruins, leaped to the highest point, and looked around. It seemed… some buildings were still intact, and some people were still alive, but most were destroyed, dead!
The once bustling and lively Great Wave Village, which had thrived like a prosperous era just yesterday, was now a scene of utter desolation.
It was brutal!
Hard to accept, yet impossible to ignore!
Haruto looked, scanned, and gazed into the distance. His heart felt like it had been struck hard, aching with an indescribable feeling.
When ninja wars spilled into the civilian world, they inevitably brought disaster!
Haruto knew this. He had always known!
But he had never imagined it would happen to him.
He would never initiate a battle in the mundane world, as he couldn't justify indiscriminate attacks on thousands of innocent people just to kill an enemy. However, he was the one being hunted. He had no choice. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had no such reservations!
To them, ordinary people were as insignificant as ants.
"Revenge! I want revenge! Killing one is breaking even, killing two is a profit! My wife and son are dead. What do I have to fear?"
"You need to calm down! Who do you want to kill? The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist? Or the Hidden Mist Village? Wake up! Are you a match for them?"
"I don't care! I want revenge! Don't stop me!!"
"You're insane! Calm down!"
The argument, though far away, reached Haruto's ears.
He turned to look.
Two young samurai were arguing, shouting and gesticulating, their eyes red with emotion.
Haruto watched them for a long time, then muttered under his breath, "Revenge?" He took a deep breath and looked east, his gaze distant and profound. "I'll handle it."
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