New Side Quest

Shinji, who had been resting against a tree trunk, slowly opened his eyes in the middle of the night.

Today was a special day. It had been exactly one week since he obtained the system, and it happened to be time for the System Shop to refresh.

After calculating the time, Shinji raised a hand and summoned the System Panel. Sure enough, the random items in the shop had finally completed a new round of refreshes:

[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]

[Unlimited Special Stinky Tofu: 5,000 Points]

[Amomum villosum (Consumable): 10,000 Points]

The items produced by the System Shop always carried an air of unreliability.

What the hell was Unlimited Special Stinky Tofu? Was it specifically feeding him to keep him from starving if his supplies ran out deep in enemy territory?

Shinji clicked his tongue and casually opened the details for several items:

[Unlimited Special Stinky Tofu]

[Type: Permanent Item]

[Description: After use, the host will receive one small serving of prepared Stinky Tofu. The next use is only available after the entire serving has been eaten. No cooldown. No limit on the number of uses.]

[Note: It smells foul but tastes delicious. You can also dump it upside down over an enemy's head. Its damage may not be high, but the humiliation is extreme. It is fairly useful in an emergency.]

Shinji immediately felt his teeth ache.

Amomum villosum was a holy medicine for treating injuries. If he had spare Points, he could buy it.

But the most valuable item here was "Orochimaru's Secret Medicine Formula."

He opened its description.

[Orochimaru's Secret Medicine Formula]

[Type: Medicine Formula]

[Description: A secret medicine that improves one's physique. Long-term use can increase a ninja's potential and raise their Chakra limit.]

[Note: How can you grow stronger without taking medicine! Even Sasuke says it's good.]

This secret medicine formula was likely something Orochimaru had specially prepared for Sasuke. When Sasuke reunited with Naruto two years after defecting, his strength had far surpassed Naruto's expectations, and this medicine had certainly contributed to it.

"I still don't have enough Points."

Shinji glanced at the personal information on the System Panel.

[Points: 12,000]

His current Points were only enough to buy Amomum villosum at most, but he still 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 keep winning people over!"

Just as Shinji was quietly worrying, a string of notifications suddenly popped up in the message bar above the system.

[Kakashi has been initially won over. An ambiguous relationship has been established.]

[Host has received the first-tier Points reward: 5,000 Points.]

[Bond relationship not yet confirmed. Please advance the relationship as soon as possible, complete the bond, and unlock the second-tier reward.]

Shinji froze on the spot.

"I clearly didn't do anything. How did I win Kakashi over?"

He had not interacted much with Kakashi recently. Their only contact had been when he gave him a Little Yellow Book today.

Wait!

The Little Yellow Book?!

Shinji suddenly understood, and a suspicion formed in his heart.

To ensure everyone could rest in turns, they had arranged rotating night watches. The one on watch at the moment should have been Kakashi.

He slowly rose to his feet, casually turning his head to look toward the other side of the campfire.

At that moment, Kakashi was sitting alone by the fire, holding the very book whose cover looked like an ordinary novel but concealed illustrations within.

There was an unusual glint in his eyes. From time to time, he nodded slightly, then occasionally leaned closer, reading with exceptional care.

Shinji... that guy is actually this kind of person. He even gave me a book like this.

Let's see what secrets this book holds.

Kakashi silently complained to himself, but his fingers honestly turned another page.

"Whoa, this... this is kind of interesting."

"Shinji's a good guy. He definitely meant well by giving me this book!"

"I wonder if he has any similar books?"

He had never encountered this kind of reading material before, yet now it was as though the door to a whole new world had been thrown open. The contents and illustrations gripped him completely. He was so engrossed that he failed to notice Shinji secretly watching him from nearby.

Shinji chuckled inwardly.

He had known it all along. With Kakashi's repressed personality, there was no way he could resist this sort of book.

After all, Kakashi was a loyal reader of Jiraiya's Paradise of Intimacy series. Shinji had never expected that a single little book would push his relationship with Kakashi straight into the first stage of winning him over.

Shinji quietly returned to his spot, leaned against the tree trunk, and reopened the System Shop.

After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and directly purchased the Summoning Beast: Ninja Crow Flock and Amomum villosum.

There was no need to say much about Amomum villosum. It could save his life at a critical moment and was a trump card for survival.

The Ninja Crows, meanwhile, had a wide range of uses.

They could conduct aerial reconnaissance, track targets, and serve as mediums for clones and genjutsu. For him right now, they were a solid and reliable boost to his combat strength.

More than half his Points vanished in an instant. In his inventory lay a lustrous, jade-like Amomum villosum seed and a Summoning Beast scroll covered in crow patterns.

Though the loss of Points hurt, Shinji was still quite satisfied as he looked at the two practical items.

Just then, the System Task Bar suddenly flickered, and a brand-new notification popped up.

"A new mission?"

He immediately opened it to take a look.

[Side Quest: Keep Up the Good Work]

[Congratulations to the host for completing two initial conquests within a week. Your efficiency is nothing short of astonishing. It is time to face an even greater challenge!]

[Mission Objective: Within fifteen days, win over five people to the first stage.]

[Mission Reward: 200,000 Points, S-Rank Gift Box ×1]

"An S-Rank Gift Box?"

Shinji froze on the spot.

The last A-Rank Gift Box had given him the Medical Affinity talent. This time, with an S-Rank one, perhaps it would contain some kind of physique, a powerful ninjutsu, or even a Kekkei Genkai?

For a moment, he was eager to complete the mission as quickly as possible.

But this mission that had suddenly appeared was simply absurd.

Win over five people within fifteen days? He was still in the middle of a mission. He couldn't exactly charge into Iwagakure to win over enemies, could he? That would be suicide.

"Keep up the good work... Is this True Love System really planning to make me take the 'the more, the better' route?"

"Maybe Konoha will end up with a True Love Uchiha someday."

Shinji silently complained to himself a few times.

Then, he quickly counted the potential targets around him:

Among those in the camp who had yet to be bound, only Namikaze Minato, Asuma, and Obito remained.

Including Uchiha Mikoto, whom the system had detected earlier and who was far away in Konoha, there were only seven possible targets at most.

After thinking it over again and again, Shinji made up his mind. He directly used the Character Detector to scan Minato, Asuma, and Obito one by one, then registered each of their names on the system interface.

[Bound Targets: Nohara Rin (First Stage), Kakashi (First Stage)... Namikaze Minato (None)]

Looking at that string of names on the System Panel, an idea suddenly occurred to Shinji.

This battle at Kannabi Bridge might be the perfect chance to raise everyone to the first stage in one go.

After all, adversity was where true feelings showed themselves most clearly.

In the deep underground space, White Zetsu slowly emerged from the earth. Facing the decrepit old man ahead, he spoke in a hoarse yet respectful voice:

"Lord Madara, the boy you have been watching has arrived at the designated battlefield."

Madara Uchiha wearily opened his eyes. His wrinkled, withered skin looked especially horrifying, and his tone was utterly indifferent.

"When the time comes, bring him here."

White Zetsu nodded in acknowledgment. The ground squirmed faintly as his body sank back into the earth and vanished.

"Eh~ Are we getting a new companion?"

A special White Zetsu wearing a spiral-faced mask flipped down from above. His voice was eager and innocent, filled with anticipation.

"I have to ask him whether he knows what the urge to poop is!"

A vein throbbed on Madara's forehead. He instantly thought of a certain friend he both hated and missed, and his voice abruptly turned cold.

"Shut up!"

The special White Zetsu stiffened from the shout and obediently shrank back.

The underground space returned to dead silence, leaving only the dormant aura of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the unfathomable schemes in Madara's eyes.