The Prestige Exchange System

Shouts of alarm and screams rang through the street, throwing the busy district into chaos.

The tall, thin ninja had already collapsed to the ground, flames blazing across his body. He was dead. The explosive tag had detonated and the blast had struck his head, killing him.

"Murder!"

"Run!"

"It's him! The dual-colored eyes, that Rain Ninja rogue!"

"He actually... killed someone in the middle of the street!"

Everyone near Li Tong fled in a flash. The vendors on both sides of the street even abandoned their stalls, scrambling to get as far away as possible. The stretch of the busy district was left deserted.

A cold blade was already pressed against Li Tong's neck. Chen He leaned out from behind him, the eyes beneath his mask gleaming with a piercing chill. In a low voice, he asked, "You dare kill someone?"

The other three Anbu Ninjas had also arrived, surrounding Li Tong in a triangular formation.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Whirlwinds rose around them one after another as Konoha Ninjas appeared in quick succession. They had all been nearby and had come to see what was happening after hearing the commotion.

"Anbu business. Bystanders, move along!" Chen He looked up and barked at the onlookers.

"Let's go."

"This has nothing to do with us."

The Konoha Ninjas who had arrived quickly moved away again, but they didn't actually leave. Instead, they joined the crowds along either side of the street and watched.

"Kid, I'll give you a chance to explain." Chen He looked at Li Tong again, his voice low.

Li Tong glanced sideways at Chen He, then at the sharp blade pressed to his neck. Keeping calm, he said, "He put that explosive tag in my pocket. I just tossed it back to him. As for it exploding... that wasn't my fault."

Chen He's gaze shifted as he recalled the events. He had watched Li Tong the whole time and vaguely remembered the man who had been killed by the explosive tag brushing past Li Tong and bumping his shoulder earlier.

"Check him," Chen He said, tilting his head.

Among the three ninjas surrounding Li Tong, the one with the Anbu codename Ximu stepped back two paces, sheathed his blade, and darted over to the burning corpse. He joined his hands and formed Hand Seals!

"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"

Ximu sprayed a stream of water from his mouth, completely dousing the flames on the corpse. Then he crouched and began to examine it.

Li Tong was looking at the corpse too, but his attention wasn't on the body itself. It was on the three glowing orbs floating above it, each containing a card!

Sprite, do I get cards when I kill people? Li Tong asked inwardly, unconsciously clenching his hand.

"Ding! In response to the host's question." The Card Emperor Sprite's voice rang out in Li Tong's mind. "Cards drop only when the host kills a malicious target. The stronger the target the host kills, the more cards the target drops, and the better their quality."

"So this really is a damn game!"

Li Tong muttered, his eyelid twitching. He stared intently at the three floating cards, eager to see what they contained.

Sprite, what can cards produce? Or what kinds of cards are there... and what can I get from them? Li Tong asked again.

"Among other things, they can contain Ninjutsu, secret techniques, Summoning Technique, Sealing Jutsu, Kekkei Genkai, weapons and equipment, and one-time-use potions," the Card Emperor Sprite explained. "There's also a chance of dropping Reputation Cards."

"I see..." Li Tong's eyes glimmered faintly. He asked, "What exactly is reputation? I can see a ninja's reputation, and I can earn reputation too?"

"A target's reputation is determined by a combination of strength and status, with strength being the primary factor. The stronger a ninja is, the higher their reputation. Genin have between 5 and 1 reputation points; Chunin have between 1 and points; Jonin have between and 8 points; Elite Jonin have between 8 and 15 points; Peak Jonin have between 15 and 5 points; and Kage-level ninjas have between 5 and 5 points."

"Kage-level, between 5 and 5 points... Doesn't that mean White Fang—" Li Tong wondered about the reputation of Anbu Captain Hatake Sakumo. When he'd checked earlier, White Fang's reputation had been as high as 7,556 points!

By these standards, White Fang, who was only in his twenties, was a Kage-level figure!

"Ding! A reminder to the host: status reputation is also included in the total. There may even be special cases where a target has no strength reputation, only status reputation. For example, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has reputation comparable to the Hokage, despite having no personal strength."

"Then White Fang..."

"White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, built his current status through his strength, so most of his reputation comes from his strength. The host can use the standards to assess White Fang's abilities."

"Then how do I earn reputation? And how do I use it?" Li Tong asked inwardly.

"The host has now unlocked the Prestige Exchange System. The host can exchange reputation for cards within this system. More ways to use reputation have not yet been unlocked. Please explore them yourself."

"Where's the Prestige Exchange System?"

"Please silently repeat 'Prestige Exchange.' This exchange interface is visible only to the host. Please use it without worry."

"Prestige Exchange!"

Whoosh!

As Li Tong thought those four words, a flash of light appeared before his eyes, and a translucent screen materialized. Several entries were listed vertically, showing the items available for exchange and their prices.

Rank-level Ninjutsu, Fire Style: Flame Bullet Card — requires reputation points.

D-rank Ninjutsu, Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique Card — requires 1 reputation point.

S-rank forbidden Taijutsu, Eight Inner Gates Card — requires 6 reputation points.

B-Rank Ninjutsu, Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique Card — requires 15 reputation points.

E-rank Ninjutsu, Body Flicker Technique Card — requires 1 reputation point.

A-rank Ninjutsu, Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame Card — requires 5 reputation points.

Yin Release Kekkei Genkai, Sharingan Card — requires 8 reputation points.

Special Trait Weapon, Frost-Drifting Blade Card — requires 1 reputation point.

Spirit Enhancement Card — requires reputation points.

Advanced Healing Card — requires 16 reputation points (special price).

There were only ten exchange items in total. Their prices ranged from a minimum of ten reputation points to a maximum of 360,000. They included Ninjutsu Cards, Kekkei Genkai Cards, Weapon Cards, and Special Item Cards.

Li Tong also saw his current reputation in the bottom-right corner of the exchange interface: only 1 point! He had earned it as a system reward after completing the counterkill scenario just moments earlier.

While Li Tong spoke with the Card Emperor Sprite and examined the exchange interface, Chen He remained behind and to one side of him. He had already put away his blade and was simply watching Li Tong. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Anbu Ninja Ximu was examining the corpse, which had been burned beyond recognition.

Ximu still hadn't found anything on the corpse that could prove its identity.

The interface floated in front of Li Tong.

But only Li Tong could see it.

His gaze swept up and down the list. The more he looked, the stranger it seemed. The available card exchanges were not only seemingly random, but there were only ten of them! Never mind anything else—the Naruto world should have at least thousands of Ninjutsu. Why could he exchange for only these few?

Sprite, why are there only ten? Can I exchange for only these ten? Li Tong asked inwardly.

"That is not the case. A reminder to the host: the cards available in the Prestige Exchange System are recalculated starting at midnight each day and refreshed once every twenty-four hours. Special-price cards may also appear. In other words, at midnight tomorrow, the ten cards available in the Prestige Exchange System will be randomly refreshed and replaced with ten new cards."

"I see... So I can only exchange for these ten cards today?"

"Yes!"

"Let me see these ten... Oh, right! Didn't I just get a B-Rank Ninjutsu Card as a reward? It was the reward for killing an enemy of a higher level."

"It was a B-Rank Ninjutsu Random Card. It has been placed in the host's Item Space."