Chapter 29
The moment Jayden felt the faint ripple of bloodlust behind him, his instincts flared like wildfire. Without a second thought, he launched himself into the air, narrowly dodging a molten fist that sizzled the air it passed through. Lava splattered across the cracked stone ground, steam rising in ghostly wisps as the earth hissed in pain.
Mid-air, as his body twisted with precision honed through battles, Jayden's eyes caught a shadow above—a colossal hammer of stone, descending with brutal force. His eyes widened, but it wasn't the hammer that made his eyes widen.
[System Switch: LOADED]
[Current System Activated: Naruto System]
The hammer slammed into Jayden with the force of a meteor, sending him plummeting into the earth like a comet. A thunderous shockwave cracked the arena floor, creating yet another deep crater. Dust and debris erupted, veiling the scene in a suffocating cloud of destruction.
But even as pain seared through his ribs, blood trickling down his lips, a flicker of something rare crept across Jayden's face—a smile. Faint. Barely noticeable. But there. His cracked lips curled ever so slightly as he stared at the glowing interface floating in front of him:
Jutsu Library
Tailed Beast Shop
Weapon Arsenal
.....
It was like reuniting with a part of himself he had forgotten.
A figure leaped from the dust. A thin-bladed warrior, eyes burning with arrogance, shouted, "What the hell are you smiling at?!"
Jayden's eyes gleamed. Click.
Sharingan: Activated.
Three tomoe spun to life, freezing time in Jayden's perception. Everything slowed. Every twitch. Every step. Every breath.
Before the attacker's blade could even reach him, Jayden vanished in a blur—Rasengan already formed in his palm. The spiraling orb slammed into the warrior's chest, the added force of the enemy's momentum multiplying the damage.
BOOM.
The man was blasted backward, skidding unconscious across the cracked arena floor. Silence fell like a thunderclap.
The crowd gasped.
"He one-shot him…" someone whispered.
"Isn't that guy at his last leg?"
"Impossible… he's only in the Blue Plane…"
Jayden rose slowly, blood-red Sharingan locking on the remaining opponents. His voice echoed with deadly calm:
"I think it's time we had a real, fair fight."
That's when the red-haired youth with spiky hair narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second," he muttered, stepping back. "He's using wind… but he's supposed to have only metal and fire affinity. And his eyes… he's not just an Elementalist."
The realization struck him like lightning. "He's… a dual-ability wielder."
The arena stilled.
Dual wielders were legendary. Almost Unheard of. Feared. Factions fought wars over recruits like that. To possess two entirely different powers, especially across separate categories like Elementalist and Visionary, was akin to being marked by destiny itself.
Zon's expression darkened. If the higher-ups knew the truth… they'd punish us for even picking a fight with him.
Before he could think further, a voice cut through the tension like poisoned steel.
"Hah! What now?" Rictor mocked from the sidelines, arms crossed and smirking. "This is exactly what I expected. The moment Jayden shows a hint of his true power, you all start pissing your pants. Bunch of damn cowards."
Zon clenched his jaw. Fury bubbled up in his chest. Rictor's words struck true, but they also humiliated him. No. He wouldn't be mocked. He wouldn't let Jayden walk away with his reputation intact.
His eyes turned cold.
"Destroy his core," he ordered.
If Jayden's core was shattered, he'd be powerless. No essence. No future. Not even dual-wielding could save him then.
"Lucky shot or not… he's still Blue Plane," Zon spat. "We're Superior."
From the left, the gorilla warrior growled, his muscles bulging grotesquely as his transformation completed. He now towered over the others, his roar shaking the air.
The remaining four Oblivion Coil elites powered up in unison, the arena trembling under their killing intent.
A system message flickered in Jayden's vision.
---
[New Quest: "Ashes of Arrogance"]
Objective: Defeat all five attackers within 15 minutes.
Defeated: 1/5
Reward: Mystery Box
Timer: 00:00 / 15:0
Quest or no quest, Jayden already made his decision —he was going to beat them until they forgot their own names.
But that didn't mean it was going to be easy.
Five warriors at the purple plane.
All powered up. All hostile. All out for blood.
Even for him, that was no walk in the park.
To make things more complicated, he wasn't planning to use his Shadow Clone Jutsu. He'd already drawn enough attention for one day, and unleashing that technique now would be like putting a neon sign over his head that read:
"Anomaly #1."
The gorilla mutant charged, his arm glowing with condensed purple essence. With a furious roar, he punched, the air shattering under its pressure. Jayden blurred through hand signs.
"Earth Style: Dual Mud Wall!"
The first wall shattered instantly, but the second held… barely. Cracks spread like spiderwebs before it finally caved.
"Arrogant fool!" the whip-headed guy roared, veins bulging across his face as he whipped out like a snake, his whip cracking through the air with a menacing screech. The whip wasn't just for show—it was laced with reinforced spiritual threads capable of slicing through reisteel.
But Jayden's eyes, glowing with crimson power, caught the movement with deadly precision.
In one smooth motion, his feet slid to the side as he dodged the attack. The whip sliced past his cheek, leaving a faint line. A normal person would've been injured. Jayden didn't flinch.
Zzzzt!
He thrust out his palm.
"Chidori!"
Electricity exploded from his hand as he cut the whip mid-air. The lightning surged through it like a livewire back into the whip wielder's body.
"AAAAAARGHHH!!!"
The sound that escaped the man's throat was less of a scream and more of a guttural howl of pain. His eyes rolled up. He convulsed violently as arcs of lightning danced up his arm. The crowd winced, some even gagged at the sickening smell of burnt flesh.
Before he could recover, Jayden was already moving.
Snap!
Jayden yanked the whip free and leapt, forming handseals at inhuman speed.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A colossal, twisting dragon of water surged from behind him, roaring to life before crashing into the molten-armored warrior behind him. The crowd screamed as steam exploded into the air, shrouding everything in thick mist. The flame-armored guy was flung back, his armor sizzling as he collapsed to one knee, steam rising from his burnt body.
"W-What the hell is he?!" he muttered in shock. "Water… and lightning?! But he's supposed to wield only fire and metal! What is he!?"
He didn't have long to think—Jayden was already in front of him.
"Giant Rasengan."
The massive ball of swirling wind chakra slammed into his chest, launching him like a meteor. He crashed into the ground with a deafening BOOM, forming a crater as big as a house. The flames on his body extinguished instantly.
The remaining three opponents took an instinctive step back.
They were terrified.
"He just… take down another purple plane fighter," someone whispered from the sidelines.
One of them stammered, "Wait… i-is he a Bodyhooder…?"
A deep silence fell. Even the birds in the sky seemed to stop flying.
"There's only one Bodyhooder in the faction... Blake… and anyone daring to impersonate him usually ends up… well, fertilizing the training field."
Kael gritted his teeth. "Don't be discouraged! The earlier attacks must've drained him. There's no way he can keep that up forever!"
Jayden snorted internally. That idiot actually said something smart for once…
He was right.
Though he barely showed it, Jayden was running on fumes. Using the Fullmetal Alchemist System before, and now multiple A and B-rank jutsu back-to-back, his energy reserves were taking a serious hit. SP regen had a cooldown, and now wasn't the time to wait.
I need to wrap this up fast.
With a flick of his wrist, he opened the system shop and purchased some ninja tools—kunai, shuriken, and smoke bombs.
The battle resumed.
Blades clashed. Energy flared.
Jayden hurled kunai laced with wind chakra, forcing the enemies to dodge. He tossed smoke bombs, engulfing the area in thick mist. What followed was chaos.
Most of the crowd could no longer see the fight clearly. All they heard were screams, explosions, and the occasional "Shadow Imitation Technique: Gotcha."
Inside the smoke, Jayden look at the gorilla-transformed guy frozen place, caught in his Nara bloodline technique. Without hesitation—
"Rasengan Barrage!"
He hammered the gorilla guy's chest with a flurry of Rasengan strikes.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The final blow launched him through several boulders, crashing like a wrecking ball and spitting blood across the field. But he still stood up.
Jayden clicked his tongue. That guy's defense is a nightmare…
The whip guy returned for round two, now
atop his head, a whip thicker than a tree trunk coil like a serpent. Jayden didn't give him the chance.
"Chidori Blade!"
With a crackle of lightning, he sliced clean through the whip again. Before the guy could scream another opera solo—
SMACK!
Jayden slammed a Rasengan into his gut, knocking him out cold.
By now, the crowd saw nothing but smoke. Whispers echoed.
"Are they dead…?"
"Is this still a fight or a warzone!?"
---
Minutes passed.
As the smoke finally cleared, the battlefield was littered with destruction.
Only three remained standing.
Kael, gasping for breath and holding his ribs.
The gorilla-transformed guy, bruised, bleeding, and wheezing like an overworked steam engine.
And finally—Jayden. Calm, eyes glowing crimson, shirt ripped, but still very much standing.
Even his earlier wounds seemed like old scars now.
"Y-You… you monster! There's no way you're Blue Plane!" Kael shouted, backing away.
Jayden didn't reply.
His gaze wasn't even on Kael. It was fixed on something only he could see—
System Quest Countdown: 1 minute 20 seconds remaining.
No time to waste.
With a handseal, he performed a jutsu.
"Water Style: Great Torrent!"
A tidal wave of water exploded outward from Jayden, drenching everything within a 20-meter radius.
"What the hell is he doing!?" Kael said, slipping in the water.
Jayden didn't answer.
He simply raised his hand, chakra flaring with deadly precision.
"Lightning Style: Chidori Stream."
Electricity erupted from his body in a crackling storm. With the field soaked in water, the current surged through Kael and the gorilla guy like lightning through a conductor.
"GRAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
The two screamed as they were electrocuted and roasted in place. Kael flopped down like a wet noodle, his last words incoherent gibberish.
"4/5 Opponents Defeated. Time Remaining: 20 Seconds."
Jayden's eyes snapped to the last one—the gorilla guy, kneeling, barely conscious.
Damn it. Not out yet.
He dashed forward, electricity charging in one hand, wind chakra in the other.
"Just… GET DOWN ALREADY!"
Chidori in the right.
Rasengan in the left.
He slammed both into the guy's chest simultaneously.
CRACK!
Bones shattered. The Chidori pierced skin, electricity frying nerves, while the Rasengan flattened his chest, launching him into the air before crashing into the ground like a dropped boulder.
The gorilla guy let out a scream so loud, half the audience covered their ears. A few passed out from just the sound.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"That… that guy—" one spectator said, shaking. "Was that even human?"
But he wasn't pointing at Jayden.
He pointed at Rictor, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with a bowl of popcorn he definitely didn't have before, wearing the most unholy smirk imaginable.
"Dude's enjoying this like it's morning cartoons," another whispered.
"He's a sadist." The two concluded.
---
10… 9… 8…
The timer on the system flickered in Jayden's vision as he staggered forward, blood trickling from his mouth, his arms numb from the dual-element strike. 7… 6… 5…
"Come on…" he muttered, blinking through sweat and smoke. His Chidori still crackled faintly, but his energy gauge was nearly bone dry. The system kept flashing a single warning:
> [Energy Too Low. Cannot Execute High-Rank Techniques.]
4… 3…
He looked down at the Gorilla Transformer, the last of the six. The guy was twitching, wheezing, but somehow still conscious, his kneecaps shattered, ribs broken, and his face resembling an overcooked dumpling. Still, not out cold.
2…
Jayden gritted his teeth, heart hammering like a war drum. "Just—just go to sleep already!"
Jayden exhaled, relief flooding his system as the system prompt finally popped up:
[Quest Complete: 5/5 Opponents Defeated – Reward: Mystery Box Obtained]
One second to spare.
The gorilla-transformer had finally passed out—barely.
He let his shoulders relax, muscles aching, mind spinning. "I'll check the mystery box later," he thought, turning away from the cratered battlefield.
But the moment he tried to move—
He couldn't.
His body froze mid-step, locked in place like stone.
[System Alert: You are currently restrained by a high-level suppression ability. Energy too low to break free.]
Jayden's heart plummeted like a sinking stone.
He didn't need to guess who it was.
The air had grown heavier, colder—oppressive.
A slow, deliberate voice echoed behind him.
"Had your fun?"
"Now it's my turn."
Jayden's eyes widened. That voice…
Zon.
Of course. The final boss waits until the hero is on the verge of collapse.
Classic.
He turned his head slightly, enough to see Zon standing there, cloak fluttering, eyes glowing with an ominous blue X—the unmistakable mark of his visual prowess fully activated.
Zon didn't speak another word.
He didn't need to.
The look in his eyes—cold, calculating—said everything. He had abandoned the idea of simply crippling Jayden by destroying his core. That was no longer enough.
Jayden had shown too much potential.
Too much defiance. Too much danger.
Zon saw it—the spark that terrified him. The kind of spark that, if left unchecked, could ignite a wildfire strong enough to consume empires. If Jayden was this dangerous now, what would he become in a few months?
Zon wouldn't wait to find out.
He would kill that future before it could ever be born.
With a silent snarl, Zon unsheathed a crimson dagger, its blade humming with powerful essence. He moved—
Fast. Too fast.
Jayden's vision blurred.
He was still trapped. Still powerless.
Still... helpless.
Rictor's face went pale, blood draining from it in real time.
If Jayden dies… I'm next.
He tried to push himself up—once, twice—but his body refused. He'd taken too much damage. His limbs were useless. All he could do was watch.
And so did the crowd.
Their cheers had turned to silence.
To fear.
To the realization that Zon wasn't bluffing.
He was really going to do it.
Jayden's heart pounded.
No... no... how could I have forgotten?
Zon... the main threat never stepped in until now—until I was spent.
He'd played right into it.
Now he was going to die for it.
Zon's dagger descended in a blur of red death.
This is it, Jayden thought. This is—
THUD.
The sound of impact echoed—but there was no pain.
No blade in his chest.
Only dust and rock.
Jayden blinked.
The dagger hadn't pierced him.
It had struck… earth.
A thick wall of solid rock had erupted from the ground at the last second, intercepting the blow. And standing between him and Zon—back straight, arms lowered—was a figure cloaked in black and crimson, his presence radiating silent power.
Jayden's eyes widened.
No... it can't be.
The figure's left hand shimmered, retracting from a hardened earth shield back into flesh. His right hand, however—
Crackled.
Fire and lightning danced across his knuckles, swirling into a coiled storm of fury. Without a word, he struck.
The blast tore through the air, slamming into Zon with enough force to send him hurtling backward—
Through his own throne.
Stone shattered. Dust exploded. A crater bloomed beneath the wreckage.
Rictor's jaw dropped.
All that from just one hit… Who is this guy?!
But Jayden already knew. And his stomach twisted.
His knees almost buckled—not from fear, but from something worse.
Recognition.
The figure turned slowly, face calm, black and red battle robe fluttering in the wind. His eyes locked with Jayden's.
And then—
He smiled.
"Miss me?"
Blake said.
To be continued