The Sharingan Gamer

Chapter 9: A Trio of Dungeons

"Hey, hey, Kyosuke! What are we training today?"

"Trap making."

"Aww, why do we have to learn something so boring…?"

"None of your business."

The sounds of two children bickering echoed through the Uchiha clan compound.

The two were, of course, Kyosuke and his new, persistent shadow, Uchiha Nagisa.

Ever since their formal introduction at the Second Elder's house, she had stuck to Kyosuke like glue for days on end. She even followed him when he went to the Military Police headquarters for his training.

It wasn't just Kyosuke who had to deal with her; even Fugaku had to treat the little princess with gentle care. So, Kyosuke decided to just let it be. After all, there was no harm in building a good relationship with the Second Elder's granddaughter.

After spending some time with her, he learned that the little girl had very few friends her own age, aside from a handful of people she got along with. And because of her status, even those few were always cautious and deferential around her. None of them dared to poke fun at her or argue with her like Kyosuke did.

So, it wasn't surprising that she had latched onto him.

Just today, she had ambushed him early in the morning, insisting on following him to the Military Police headquarters. She didn't leave his side even during his training, making it clear that he had no hope of shaking her off.

The Second Elder, for his part, was happy with this arrangement. If nothing else, Nagisa was now training diligently alongside Kyosuke. That benefit alone was worth the trouble. As for any other issues... the Second Elder decided to just let nature take its course.

After a busy day of training, the two returned to the clan compound, still bickering back and forth.

Kyosuke had to admit, his daily life was usually quite suppressive. But with this little tagalong, while she could be troublesome at times, his days had become surprisingly more pleasant. He no longer resisted her presence so much, treating her like a disobedient little sister he had taken under his wing.

That evening, Kyosuke was once again lying on his bed, hidden behind the drawn curtain.

After this period of hard work, his strength had improved considerably. It was time to challenge another dungeon.

After some careful selection, he finally chose a low-level dungeon called "Emergency Rescue."

The objective was simple: in a valley setting, he had to rescue a transport team. According to the system's evaluation, its difficulty was similar to the previous "Transport Goods" dungeon. Both were essentially tutorial levels.

Of course, "tutorial level" was a name Kyosuke had come up with himself.

He could recognize the names of almost all the dungeons above this lowest difficulty. There were dungeons like the "Sasuke Recovery Mission," the "Valley of the End Series," and the "Chunin Exams"—all classic scenarios from the original story.

But even the simplest of those, like "Uzumaki Naruto Arrives!", was far beyond his current ability to clear. So, he had no choice but to continue with his "tutorial battles."

He pulled up the system menu, selected the dungeon, and was instantly transported to a vast valley.

Before Kyosuke could get a good look at his surroundings, shouts and cries reached his ears.

"Go, get 'em! They're not even ninja! Why is it so hard to kill five civilians?" a man with a scarred face and a thuggish demeanor yelled at a group of men.

"But boss, there are a lot of traps up ahead," a weaselly-looking lackey said timidly, staring at the mountain path ahead.

Thump!

The scar-faced man kicked the subordinate, sending him flying. He then picked up a steel shield, roared, "Follow me!" and led the charge forward.

Kyosuke watched the entire scene from a high vantage point. He frowned as he looked at the swarming crowd below. Are these just ordinary bandits this time?

Even so, facing such a large group of bandits, who were equipped for both ranged and close combat, a five-year-old like him wouldn't stand a chance in a direct confrontation. He needed a plan to wipe them all out.

After a moment of thought, he noticed that the lackey who had been kicked was still left behind. An idea flashed in his mind.

"Alright, the enemy is just ahead! Charge!" the scar-faced man yelled, his voice booming. But as casualties mounted, the bandits' morale plummeted.

Just as he was hesitating, wondering what to do, the subordinate he had kicked earlier suddenly came running back.

"It's bad, boss!" he shouted as he ran. "Those five people have escaped through a small path in the valley!"

Hearing this, the scar-faced man strode forward, grabbed him by the collar, and snarled, "Is that true?"

"Tr-true! I took a wrong turn earlier and saw it with my own eyes," the lackey stammered.

"Hmph, useless," the scar-faced man grunted, throwing him to the ground. He turned to his men and shouted, "You heard him, boys! Follow me!"

He then gave the pathetic lackey another sharp kick. "Stop playing dead and lead the way."

And so, under the guidance of their "comrade," the group of bandits charged down a mountain path that was already riddled with traps.

After a frantic ten-minute run, the group finally arrived at the path the lackey had mentioned. However, the area was peaceful, with no signs of anyone having passed through.

Just as the scar-faced man was feeling confused, a kunai was suddenly plunged into his chest.

"Did you enjoy kicking me earlier?" the lackey's grim face now looked particularly menacing.

"Urk..." The scar-faced man's eyes widened in shock, but he couldn't say a word. A few seconds later, he collapsed, dead.

It was only then that the other bandits finally reacted.

But before they could swarm forward and tear the traitor to pieces, the unexpected happened.

Countless kunai, shuriken, and even large rocks rained down on them from all sides. In the most densely packed part of their group, an explosion tag was quietly burning.

BOOM!

The result of the explosion tag was even better than Kyosuke had imagined. He used his Transformation Jutsu to move through the thick smoke, killing bandits relentlessly. This method consumed a lot of chakra, but it was an excellent way to conserve his physical stamina. After all, there were still many enemies left.

After a long battle, the bandit group, now less than a tenth of its original size, finally broke. They scattered, fleeing for their lives.

And just like that, Kyosuke had successfully cleared his second dungeon.

Returning to reality, he immediately checked his rewards.

[Pharmacology Knowledge]

[Trap Making Technique]

[Basic Toxin Theory]

All three were skills that weren't particularly useful to him at the moment. His "Trap Making Technique" was already at Level 2, and a single scroll wasn't enough to level it up again, so he tossed it into his inventory.

However, "Pharmacology Knowledge" and "Basic Toxin Theory" would be very helpful for his future research endeavors. He chose to learn them immediately.

The moment he confirmed his choice, a massive amount of information flooded his mind. It took him a while to recover. He then closed his eyes and focused, finding that the knowledge was now etched into his brain, impossible to forget.

A slight smile touched Kyosuke's lips. He then rolled over and fell asleep.

For the next while, besides his daily training at the Military Police headquarters and occasionally attending classes at the academy, he focused on completing more dungeons.

After numerous attempts and countless deaths, he finally managed to clear two more.

[Kunai Throwing Technique] x5

[Chakra Extraction Technique] x2

[Trap Making Technique] x2

[Shuriken Throwing Technique] x1

This was the sum of all his earnings so far.