Late at night, Shinji slowly opened his eyes as he rested leaning against a tree trunk.
Today was a special day—he had obtained the System for exactly one week, coinciding with the refresh cycle of the Shop.
Calculating the time in his mind, Shinji raised his hand and summoned the System Panel. As expected, the random items in the Shop had finally completed a new round of refresh:
[Ninjutsu/Taijutsu/Genjutsu Training Acceleration Card (7 days): 600 Points]
[Character Detector (Daily purchase limit: 1): 500 Points]
[Orochimaru's Secret Medicine Formula: 30,000 Points]
[Summoning Beast: Ninja Crow Flock: 2,000 Points]
[Infinite Secret Recipe Stinky Tofu: 5,000 Points]
[Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom (Consumable): 10,000 Points]
The items refreshed in the System Shop always carried an unreliable aura.
What the hell was Infinite Secret Recipe Stinky Tofu? Was it meant to feed him in case he ran out of supplies while deep in enemy territory?
Shinji scoffed and casually clicked to view the details of some items:
[Infinite Secret Recipe Stinky Tofu]
[Type: Permanent Item]
[Description: After use, the host will receive a small portion of finished stinky tofu. It can only be used again after consuming the entire portion. No cooldown time, no usage limit.]
[Note: Smells stinky, tastes delicious. It can also be overturned onto an enemy's head—perhaps not highly lethal, but extremely insulting. Useful for emergencies.]
Shinji immediately felt a pang of toothache.
Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom was a sacred healing medicine, worth buying if he had spare Points.
The most valuable item here was "Orochimaru's Secret Medicine Formula."
He opened the item description information.
[Orochimaru's Secret Medicine Formula]
[Type: Prescription]
[Description: A secret medicine that improves physique. Long-term use can enhance ninja potential and increase maximum Chakra.
[Note: No injections, how can you become stronger! Sasuke used it and said it's good]
This secret medicine formula was likely specially concocted by Orochimaru for Sasuke. Two years after Sasuke defected and reunited with Naruto, his strength far exceeded Naruto's expectations, partly thanks to this medicine.
"Points still aren't enough."
Shinji glanced at the personal information on the System Panel.
[Points: 12,000]
With this amount of Points, he could only afford Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom, but he also needed to exchange for training acceleration cards and stockpile some Character Detectors for emergencies.
"How can I earn more Points?"
"Looks like I can only continue the conquests!"
Just as Shinji was inwardly troubled, a series of notifications popped up in the message bar above the System.
[Kakashi preliminary conquest completed, ambiguous relationship established]
[Host receives first-tier Point Reward: 5,000 Points]
[Bond relationship not yet confirmed. Please quickly advance the relationship, complete bond establishment, and unlock the second-tier reward]
Shinji froze on the spot.
"I clearly didn't do anything, how did I conquer Kakashi?"
His recent interactions with Kakashi weren't many; the only contact was today when he gave him a risqué book.
Wait!
A risqué book?!
Shinji suddenly understood, already having a guess in his heart.
To ensure everyone rested in shifts, night watch duty was arranged. The one currently on watch should be Kakashi.
He slowly stood up, subtly turning his head to look toward the other side of the campfire.
At this moment, Kakashi was sitting alone beside the fire, holding the book that appeared ordinary on the cover but contained hidden illustrations inside.
His eyes shone with an unusual light, occasionally nodding lightly, sometimes leaning closer, examining it with great care.
Shinji, this guy.To think that someone like this would give me a book like this.
"I'll see what secrets this book holds."
Kakashi silently complained in his heart, but his fingers honestly flipped another page.
"Oh, this, this is interesting."
Shinji is a person you can get along with. Him giving me this book is definitely a kind gesture!"
"Does he have similar books?"
He had never encountered such reading material before, but now it seemed like a new world had opened up. The content and illustrations in the book captivated him so much that he was too engrossed to notice Shinji secretly observing him from nearby.
Shinji inwardly chuckled.
He had anticipated Kakashi's secretly passionate personality, unable to resist such a book.
After all, Kakashi was a loyal reader of Jiraiya's "Make-Out Paradise" series. Unexpectedly, just a small book directly advanced his relationship with Kakashi to the first stage of conquest.
Shinji quietly retreated to his original position, leaning against the tree trunk, and reopened the System Shop.
After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and directly purchased Summoning Beast: Ninja Crow Flock and Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom.
Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom was self-explanatory—it could save lives at critical moments, a life-saving trump card.
Ninja Crows had extensive uses.
They could conduct aerial reconnaissance, track targets, serve as clones and Genjutsu mediums, making them a reliable combat power enhancement for him now.
Points instantly depleted significantly. In the item slot lay a lustrous, jade-like Heavenly Fragrant Cardamom and a Summoning Beast Scroll adorned with crow patterns.
Though reluctant to spend points, seeing two practical items, Shinji felt quite satisfied.
Just then, the System Quest Log suddenly jumped, popping up a new notification.
"New quest?"
He immediately clicked to view.
[Side Quest: Keep Up the Good Work]
[Congratulations to the host for completing two preliminary conquests within one week. Efficiency is astonishing. Time to embrace higher challenges!]
[Quest Content: Within fifteen days, conquer five people to reach the first stage]
[Quest Reward: 200,000 Points, S-Rank Gift Box × 1]
"S-Rank Gift Box?"
Shinji froze on the spot.
The previous A-rank Gift Box gave him Medical Affinity talent. This time it was S-rank—perhaps some physique, powerful Ninjutsu, or even a Kekkei Genkai?
For a moment, he wanted to complete the quest quickly.
But this suddenly appearing quest was utterly outrageous.
Conquer five people in fifteen days? He was still on a mission; he couldn't just charge into Iwagakure to conquer enemies—that would be suicidal.
"Keep Up the Good Work—this True Love System really intends for me to follow the 'more the merrier' route."
"Konohagakure might see a True Love Uchiha in the future."
Shinji silently complained a few words in his heart.
Then, he quickly counted the nearby conquest targets:
Currently in the camp, the unbound ones were only Minato Namikaze, Asuma, and Obito.
If including those previously detected by the System, there was also Uchiha Mikoto far away in Konohagakure. At most, there were only seven optional targets.
After careful thought, Shinji steeled his heart, directly consuming the character detector, scanning Minato, Asuma, and Obito one by one, then registering their names on the System interface.
[Bound Target: Nohara Rin (First Stage), Kakashi (First Stage)... Minato Namikaze (None)]
Looking at a string of names on the System Panel, Shinji suddenly had an idea.
This Battle of Kannabi Bridge might just allow him to grind everyone to the first stage at once.
After all, adversity best reveals true feelings.
...
In the gloomy underground space, White Zetsu slowly emerged from the soil, speaking hoarsely and respectfully to the elderly man ahead who seemed on the verge of death:
Lord Madara, the youth you noted has arrived at the designated battlefield."
Madara Uchiha tiredly opened his eyes, his wrinkled, dry skin was especially terrifying, his tone was very indifferent:
When the time comes, bring him here."
White Zetsu nodded in response. The ground wriggled slightly, his body sank back into the soil, disappearing.
Ah~ Are we getting a new companion?"
A special White Zetsu wearing a mask with a rolled face somersaulted down from a height, its tone excited and naive, full of anticipation:
I must ask him if he knows what the urge to defecate is!"
A vein throbbed in Madara's temple as he instantly recalled a friend he both hated and missed, his tone suddenly turning cold and heavy:
Shut up!"
The special White Zetsu stiffened from the roar and obediently shrunk back.
The underground space returned to dead silence, leaving only the silent aura of the Gedo Statue and the unfathomable scheming in Madara's eyes.