One-Star-and-a-Half Prize Pool

"The five enemies have all been dealt with. These are their corpses."

As he spoke, Master Minato reached for his Storage Scroll to let Tsunade verify the kills, only for Uchiha Mai to grab his hand.

Brother, you really shouldn't show that.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot."

Minato tapped his head and gave a sheepish smile, nearly slipping up again.

"Since the enemies are taken care of, let's head back to the village. I can't wait to find a soft bed and get some sleep!"

Tsunade manipulated her chakra, gathering it into a stream of water so the group could wash their faces. With a wave of her hand, she set the course for the four-man squad.

The five of them set off at a leisurely pace, chatting and laughing along the way, encountering no further surprises.

By sunset, the four finally reached the gates of Konoha, where the two gatekeepers, Izumo and Kotetsu, were still on duty.

After verifying their identities, Minato announced, "Phew, the first mission of our squad has finally come to a successful conclusion.

There were a few minor hiccups along the way, but the results were good.

It's getting late, so hurry home to let your families know you're safe and get some rest. There won't be any missions for the next few days, so everyone can take it easy.

I'll finish the mission report and head to the Hokage to submit it and collect the bounty. The total bounty is 800,000 ryo. Half will be split equally among the four of us, and the other half will be distributed based on contribution.

I'll start with my proposed distribution: Kakashi and Might Guy, for your meritorious service in guarding Lady Tsunade, will each receive 150,000 ryo.

Mai is the one who deserves the most credit for persuading Lady Tsunade to return, and he also killed one Chunin and one Jonin during the pursuit. He gets 280,000 ryo.

As captain, and having killed four ninja, I will take 220,000 ryo.

If there are any additional rewards from the village, we can discuss how to split those later. Does anyone have any objections?"

"What?" Kakashi and Might Guy were stunned, looking at Uchiha Mai in disbelief.

"That Jonin who ambushed us... was actually killed by Mai?"

The two had no complaints about Minato's distribution—in fact, they felt a bit guilty taking 150,000 ryo for doing so little—but they were shocked because they had subconsciously assumed Narita Daisaku had been killed by Namikaze Minato.

That was a Jonin!

Might Guy's father, Might Duy, had spent his whole life as a Genin.

Captain Namikaze Minato, Kakashi's father Hatake Sakumo, and even Tsunade were all officially classified as Jonin.

Their strength certainly surpassed that of a Jonin like Narita Daisaku, but Konoha didn't have a "Kage-level" rank.

Even if everyone knew some Jonin were as strong as the Hokage, they would only say they had "the strength to rival a village Kage" or were "experts who surpassed the Jonin rank."

In Konoha's official files, the rank remained Jonin.

Killing a Jonin at eight years old was a terrifying feat.

This is an eight-year-old? .jpg

Not to mention Kakashi and Might Guy, even Tsunade cast a sidelong glance at Uchiha Mai. This kid is something else. I thought he was only good at playing cards.

Furthermore, it was predictable that once Minato submitted the mission report, Sarutobi Hiruzen would exclaim about his "outstanding talent," "rarity," and "terrifying potential."

Tsunade understood that Uchiha Mai couldn't possibly have killed Narita Daisaku in a head-on fight, but a kill was a kill. This was a world that only cared about results.

"Just a bit of luck, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

Uchiha Mai smiled slightly, having won his teammates' trust.

I earned that kill with my own ability, and even Master Minato acknowledged it, so why wouldn't it count as my kill?

Damn it!

Kakashi and Might Guy clenched their fists. Might Guy, in particular, felt a complex mix of emotions: shame, motivation...

To see a worthy person is to wish to emulate them.

They had all graduated together, yet Mai was already participating in battles between Jonin and even killing them, while he had done nothing but liven up the atmosphere.

The two exchanged a silent look and nodded, their thoughts perfectly aligned.

Train. Train until they dropped.

They would work hard in silence and let their success make all the noise!

"Does anyone have any objections to the bounty distribution?" Master Minato asked again.

"It's too much."

"None."

The three shook their heads. No one felt they deserved more, and they had no real objections.

"Then head home. Get some good rest over the next few days. I'll bring the bounty to your homes once it's issued."

With that, Master Minato said his goodbyes and left first; as captain, he still had to finish the mission report and report to the Hokage.

After whispering to each other, Might Guy and Kakashi turned to Uchiha Mai and invited him, "Mai, we're planning to do some special training over the next few days. Do you want to join us?"

"Better not. I plan to get a good day's rest and then ask Lady Tsunade for some pointers on taijutsu," Uchiha Mai politely declined.

Stabbing a brother in the back for a pair of big tits, or stabbing a pair of big tits for a brother—anyone can make the right choice between a bro and some big tits.

"Alright then."

Might Guy and Kakashi looked slightly disappointed.

Uchiha Mai's strength had always been steadily improving, especially recently, which could only be described as an explosive spurt.

Might Guy had originally wanted to spar with Uchiha Mai to confirm just how large the gap between him and his teammate really was.

Uchiha Mai remembered his promise to her, and Tsunade was very satisfied.

She took her wallet from her waist, pulled out a slip of paper, handed it to Uchiha Mai, and said, "Kid, this is my home address. Don't forget to come find me. Also, you are not to teach your gambling techniques to anyone else in Konoha."

"Understood."

Uchiha Mai took the slip of paper, glanced at it, and committed it to memory.

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, the group dispersed and headed home.

Being born into a large clan certainly meant there were many things one didn't need to worry about, though the daily trivialities were unavoidable.

Upon returning to the clan compound, Uchiha Mai first went to Fugaku's house; Uchiha clansmen were required to report to the clan head after returning from high-level missions.

Konoha's security captain Fugaku hadn't finished his shift yet, so Uchiha Mai chatted with his aunt Mikoto for a bit and teased the infant Itachi before finally heading back to his own home.

After dinner and washing up, Uchiha Mai lay on his bed and casually opened the system to check his status.

[Style Points: 478]

A single mission had allowed him to interact with Tsunade, kill a Chunin head-on, steal the kill on a Jonin, and pull off plenty of cool stunts.

Harvesting over four hundred points—not bad at all.

Now, it was time for a satisfying round of gacha. As Gorky once said, the cheat code is the ladder of human progress.

Uchiha Mai opened the lottery interface, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

Beside the original half-star and one-star prize pools, a new one had appeared.

[One-and-a-half-star prize pool, each draw costs 1000 Style Points]

When did this open?

This dog system is truly a dog; such a big event and it didn't even "ding" once. Trash.

I have modeled the protagonist's rate of progress after Kakashi; the transition from Genin to Chunin is fast, while the span from Chunin to Jonin takes much longer.

The leveling speed will definitely be faster than Kakashi's, and he will level up roughly every 10 chapters, but the Chunin stage won't be skipped over in an instant.