Danzo

Magicians had strong nerves because many dangerous tricks required them to be exceptionally brave!

Facing White Fang, Li Tong showed no sign of a flaw. Magicians were basically legal con artists, and he was good at fooling people. If he said the man had choked on water, then he had choked on water. Whether you believed him was your business, but he could say it anyway.

White Fang stared at Li Tong. It took him a while to speak. "He choked on water?"

"That's right, absolutely true. He couldn't hold his breath underwater as long as I could, and he wasn't as good a swimmer. I took the opportunity to kill him when he choked." Li Tong looked at White Fang with wide, innocent eyes.

White Fang's brows knitted together.

He'd seen firsthand how shameless Li Tong could be with his lies.

Even an idiot wouldn't believe it, yet Li Tong had said it—and sounded completely serious!

"Seems I underestimated you," White Fang said in a low voice, as if there was more to his words.

"I swear, it's true!"

"Hmph!"

White Fang snorted and vanished in a flash.

Li Tong immediately turned to look out the window. White Fang had indeed appeared on the lakeshore. He quietly said something to Chen He, then disappeared again. Chen He and the others left the lakeshore soon after, taking the body with them.

Hatake Sakumo... He'll report this to Hiruzen Sarutobi, won't he? Li Tong wondered.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire, was widely regarded as the greatest Hokage since Konoha's founding. He was capable and resourceful, and in the original story, he led Konoha for more than forty years. He had exceptional skill in the five nature transformations, secret techniques, and Sealing Jutsu, earning him the title "Professor of Ninjutsu."

Looking back over the history of Naruto, Hiruzen Sarutobi was Konoha's greatest legend!

Li Tong had been in Konoha for more than half a month, yet he still hadn't met him. Li Tong also knew he was just a minor character. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi was paying attention to him, he only needed to send a trusted subordinate to handle things. There was no need to summon him yet.

Will word get out that I killed an elite jonin? Li Tong suddenly worried.

It wasn't just possible—it was highly likely!

Important information about Li Tong always spread through Konoha at an oddly abnormal speed. It had happened many times already.

Li Tong thought it over for a long while, and the more he thought, the more he felt trouble was coming. In the end, he simply stopped. There was no point worrying about it; improving his strength was what mattered.

When the soldiers came, he'd block them; when the water came, he'd dam it. With enough strength, every problem was just a passing cloud!

Composing himself, Li Tong opened the reputation interface once more.

He quickly scanned through it. There wasn't much he wanted. There were A-rank ninjutsu, as well as some forbidden and secret techniques, but they were either too expensive or required too much chakra to use. They weren't suitable for Li Tong at his current stage.

He immediately took out a Reputation Shop Refresh Card. Without even asking the Card Emperor Sprite, he bit down on it.

"Ding! Reputation Shop forcibly refreshed!"

At the notification, the translucent floating interface flashed, and ten new exchange options replaced the original ten.

Li Tong was stunned the moment he saw the first option at the top. It was Sage Mode! It cost a staggering 18 reputation points! He carefully counted the zeroes. It would take 1.8 million reputation points to redeem.

All he could do was look.

He continued down the list.

The situation was the same as before. The options were either too expensive or wouldn't improve Li Tong much at his current stage. When he reached the seventh option, his eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Redeem this one, Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

"Exchange complete."

The C-rank ninjutsu Fire Style: Flame Bullet cost only a small number of reputation points, yet it would give Li Tong a tremendous boost.

He had already consumed three Fire Style: Flame Bullet cards. This was the fourth. Once he consumed it, according to the card-consumption rules, the power of his Fire Style: Flame Bullet would reach eight times its base level!

With that kind of power, it would definitely measure up to a B-rank ninjutsu of the same type. It might even surpass ordinary B-rank Fire Style attack techniques, rivaling the more powerful B-rank ninjutsu, such as Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

However, although Li Tong's eightfold-powered Fire Style: Flame Bullet was as powerful as a B-rank ninjutsu, it didn't consume the chakra required for one. He only needed to use a little more chakra than usual to unleash a Fire Style: Flame Bullet with eight times the power!

"Eightfold power should be enough to hit everything within a ten-meter radius, right?" Li Tong muttered. He took the card he'd redeemed out of Item Space, bit down, and swallowed it.

He looked farther down.

The final three exchange options.

Special weapon Earth-Quaking Blade Card—requires 6 reputation points.

A-rank ninjutsu Lightning Style: Chakra Mode Card—requires 56 reputation points.

A-rank ninjutsu Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique—requires 8 reputation points.

He skipped the first two because he couldn't afford them and looked at the last one.

Mystical Palm Technique!

An advanced medical ninjutsu, it required exceptional chakra control and was extremely difficult to master. The original story recorded that very few medical ninja in Konoha's Medical Department knew this technique.

Li Tong considered it, then asked inwardly, "Why is there such a big difference in the prices of A-rank techniques? I saw Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation before. It's one of the more powerful A-rank Fire Style attack techniques, yet it only cost five thousand reputation points. Mystical Palm Technique costs eight thousand? Lightning Style: Chakra Mode costs fifty-six thousand?"

"The Reputation Shop system has its own unique rules for calculating the cost of exchange options. Attack or support, close combat or long range, large-area attacks—these are all factors that affect the price."

"Generally speaking, offensive and defensive ninjutsu cards have lower exchange prices, while support techniques cost more because of their special functions. As for Lightning Style: Chakra Mode, the greater the degree of mastery, the more difficult it becomes to train, so it is extremely expensive! Training Lightning Style: Chakra Mode to its final stage is as difficult as an S-rank technique, approaching an ultimate art."

"Understood!" Li Tong nodded.

He could understand why Lightning Style: Chakra Mode was so expensive. In the original story, this technique had been shown to be absurdly powerful.

Lightning Style: Chakra Mode could also be called Nintaijutsu: Lightning Release Armor. In the original story, the two ninja proficient in it were the Third Raikage and the Fourth Raikage. The former possessed the "Strongest Shield," which could be called an absolute defense. During the Third Shinobi World War, he relied on this ability to fight tens of thousands of Iwagakure ninja for three days and three nights.

The latter was known for his speed, moving faster than the limits of the human eye. He was one of the fastest people in terms of pure physical speed.

"Redeem Mystical Palm Technique," Li Tong decided.

Healing cards were precious, so he ought to save them whenever possible. If he mastered a powerful medical ninjutsu, it would be convenient and save him a lot of trouble.

After consuming the Mystical Palm Technique card, Li Tong checked his reputation once more. He had four thousand eight hundred left, then closed the Reputation Exchange Interface.

Half an hour later.

Dressed in new clothes and feeling refreshed, Li Tong appeared on a busy street in Konoha. The morning was already half over, and he still hadn't eaten breakfast.

Li Tong arrived outside Jiangchuan Flavor and was about to go in.

Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on the back of his neck.

Before Li Tong could react, his vision blurred. The next moment, he found himself in the woods near the busy street. Someone was beside him—a powerful Konoha ninja who had brought him straight to the woods in a flash!

Li Tong immediately darted to the side, putting some distance between them, and only then took a closer look.

The man wore a black robe and a mask. His presence was cold and restrained, and he looked extremely mysterious. Yet Li Tong could see his information.

--

Name: Danzo

Identity: Hokage's advisor in Konohagakure, Land of Fire; leader of the Konoha Anbu's special operations unit, Root.

Reputation: 4916

Relationship: Neutral

--

It was Danzo! Li Tong was startled as soon as he saw the information. It was actually him! Why had he come to him out of nowhere?

"Lord Hokage wants to see you," Danzo rasped.