The Bounty Station

As Haku made his way to the nearest Black Market bounty station, he thought about the last thing Uchiha Yu had said to him before they parted.

[There seems to be something wrong with your body. It feels like some kind of power is building up, but your cells don't seem able to support it. It's strange. Keep a close eye on yourself.]

[System!]

[Host, what do you need?]

At that moment, Haku felt that his system intelligence had known something all along but had never told him.

[Hah!]

Haku slowly let out a breath, then asked the system whether it knew anything about his body.

[Host! Because you have been refining Chakra all this time, your body has actually been in a constant state of hunger. Chakra is formed from a combination of physical and spiritual energy. Put simply, your body converts the other energy you consume into Chakra, then releases it through ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and other means.]

[It's not that you can't sense ki, Host. It's just that whenever you sense even a little of it, your cells automatically absorb it to repair the damage to them.]

[In other words, as long as you keep refining Chakra, you still won't be able to sense ki properly.]

Reading the information the system had provided, Haku lowered his head and thought. That meant if he kept using Chakra, he would never be able to sense or use ki.

Do I really have to give up Chakra? After all, the Dragon Ball world has a higher ceiling.

As if it had sensed Haku's thoughts, the system intelligence appeared again to offer a suggestion.

[The system advises the Host not to give up Chakra. Your current strength comes entirely from the Chakra system. If you abandon Chakra, your Combat Power will drop to 20 based on your physical abilities alone, below the minimum Combat Power of 50 required to train in ki.]

[The system recommends that the Host first fully refine the Eight-Tails Seed and complete the cultivation of the Eighth Palace of the Nine Palace Seal, transforming it into a Dantian. Then, use Eight-Tails Chakra in place of the Chakra you refine yourself before beginning ki training.]

While discussing ki and Chakra with the system, Haku arrived at a Black Market bounty station near the border of the Land of Rivers.

[Hey! Boss!]

The bounty station's owner was an ordinary man. Seeing the masked visitor enter, he could tell from the voice that they weren't very old. But as an ordinary person running a bounty station in a world that was so hostile to ordinary people, the owner naturally knew better than to judge a visitor's strength by their appearance or age.

[What can I do for you, sir? And how should I address you?]

[Knock! Knock! Knock!]

The masked Haku tapped the table rhythmically with the Kunai in his hand. After waiting a moment, he finally spoke.

[Give me a copy of your bounty list. And bring out whatever jobs you have available, too. I'd like to take a look.]

Hearing what Haku wanted, the owner relaxed and took two scrolls from behind the counter.

[This one's a list of people with bounties in this area. Bring their bodies to any bounty station, and you can claim the reward.]

The owner pointed to one of the scrolls.

Then, after seeing Haku put it away, he pointed to the other scroll.

[This one lists all the jobs currently available at the bounty station. It's updated every 24 hours.]

[If you want to take a job, register for it on the scroll. Once you've completed it, write down what you did or any information you found on the back. Someone will verify it. If you've completed the job, a completion mark will appear beside it. Take the scroll to any bounty station to collect your reward.]

Listening to the owner's explanation, Haku immediately thought the system was quite advanced. The Naruto World had a high level of technology, but it seemed they'd put their skill points into the wrong things instead of developing technology.

[That's pretty good. Give it to me!]

[Wait, sir! These scrolls are hard to make, and I'm only allowed to hand out five. This is my last one.]

[If the number of completed jobs on the scrolls I hand out doesn't meet the requirements, I'll be punished by my superiors. So you'll have to demonstrate your strength first before I can give you the scroll, sir!]

Seeing Haku about to take the job scroll, the owner hurriedly stopped him.

[Hmm!? How do I prove it?]

Looking at the owner, Haku had no intention of giving him a hard time. He had already learned about these bounty stations from Orochimaru.

They seemed to be run by the Black Market, but the Five Great Nations stood behind them. Causing trouble here would have unpleasant consequences.

The owner cleared his throat, preparing to speak. In truth, he'd been a little worried that Haku might attack him just now. Even with powerful backers, someone would avenge him if anything happened—but he only had one life.