"You don't understand. That wasn't a fight. It's just one way Tsunade and I show our affection for each other," Obito explained, drenched in cold sweat.
Looks like I'll have to set up a soundproof barrier next time...
"Really? Can I show my affection for you that way, too?" the little girl asked eagerly.
"No, that won't do. That's something I can only do with your big sister Tsunade. Everyone's different. Here, let me feed you some chips. This is our way of showing affection."
"Okay. Then feed me~"
Obito waited until the full 24 hours had passed, then eagerly entered the system.
His first impression was that the page looked much more polished after the update. It had gone from a knockoff browser game to a decent one...
There had only been two options before: Draw and Recharge. Now there were two more, Upgrade and Extract. Was it because he'd complained about there being no upgrade feature? Had the system added one in response?
Obito selected the Upgrade option with his mind, and its details appeared.
"Upgrades are available for character cards and item cards. Obtain duplicate cards, then consume them to upgrade a card."
"Consume one duplicate card to upgrade to 1 star. The card's talent, attributes, and skill effects will increase by 20%."
"Consume 2 duplicate cards to upgrade to 2 stars. The card's attributes and skill effects will increase by 40%."
"Consume 5 duplicate cards to upgrade to 5 stars. The card's attributes and skill effects will increase by 100%."
The maximum number of stars for a card was five.
Item upgrades worked the same way as character card upgrades: consume duplicate cards to upgrade them, up to five stars, for an additional 100% increase in their effects.
Obito exited the Upgrade option and entered the Extract option.
"Extract: Extract any one skill from a card and add it to another card. The original card will disappear after extraction. (Purple quality or higher)"
Well, this update had taken Obito from a feature phone straight to a smartphone!
The addition of the Upgrade and Extract features made the system much more versatile.
Anyone who had played a card game knew that a five-star blue or purple card wasn't necessarily weaker than a gold card. And with the Extract feature, he could pull the most powerful ability from a gold card!
For example, if Obito had two gold Obito cards, he could upgrade them to one star. Obito's strongest skills were the Kamui abilities in his left and right eyes, so he could extract both skills from the two cards.
If he then had another five-star purple card with Kamui, the results would be completely different!
Of course, that was just an example. Obito had noticed one thing: even after upgrading a card, he could only extract one skill!
He'd have to think carefully before making his choice. Otherwise, he'd be wasting his money!
Damn it. He'd thought he had enough money to spend, but now he realized he was nowhere close!
Upgrading a gold card to five stars took 1+2+3+4+5 duplicates. Add the original card, and that made 16 cards in total!
Since crossing over, Obito had spent nearly a billion ryō just to get two duplicate Obito cards. He only had five gold cards in total...
He had to make a fortune, and fast! A five-star Obito could absolutely beat Otsutsuki Kaguya...
A 100% boost to his attributes wouldn't just be as simple as doubling them. With every attribute doubled, the effects in actual combat would be tens or even hundreds of times greater! And the skills would also grow more powerful after an upgrade, which made it even more absurd!
Obito resisted the urge to upgrade Obito to one star right away and exited the system.
He needed to plan things out carefully. The cards he'd drawn had filled his inventory, so he should first figure out what he could get out of them.
He entered the system again. He'd drawn so many cards that he'd basically ignored everything below purple quality without even looking at it. Now that he went through them, he found some good stuff.
[Critical Hit Gloves: 2% chance to deal double damage.]
Upgraded to five stars, the chance of a critical hit would rise to 10%. It didn't seem like much, but paired with equipment or skills that increased attack speed, it could be pretty effective. Upgrade!
[Agility Boots: Increase your Agility attribute by 2%.]
At five stars, they'd increase his Agility by 10%. With Obito's current Agility of 99, that would add nearly 10 points. Upgrade!
He also found a ring that increased Strength. He took it out and put it on! The Critical Hit Gloves were black, fingerless gloves that felt comfortable and didn't restrict his fingers.
The Agility Boots were a pair of black shoes, and the ring was silver-gray with a round band and a few black patterns.
Once he had them on, he could clearly feel that his body was lighter and his strength had increased. He'd have to test the gloves in actual combat.
After the update, Obito felt that his strength had increased by a lot!
The main event was still to come. He couldn't decide whether to upgrade his cards or keep them for extraction later, so in the end he decided to hold on to them and keep both cards.
The main storyline hadn't started yet. With his strength, he could practically do whatever he wanted unless he was actively trying to get himself killed!
There was another major reason: he didn't have any other gold-quality character cards to use! He had a few purple ones, but not enough to upgrade any of them to five stars.
For now, he needed money: recharge, then draw cards!
What a mutated game system. If he wanted to get strong, he had to pay up!
"Big bro~ Big bro~" little Kaguya called from the living room.
"Coming, coming..." Obito put away the Critical Hit Gloves, then left the room with the boots and ring still on.
"Big bro, I'm hungry~ I want you to feed me chips."
Who could say no to an adorable little girl?
"You can't eat too many chips, or you'll get round as a ball. I'll make your favorite carrot cake. Just wait a bit. It'll be ready soon." Obito took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and got busy in the kitchen.
Little Kaguya watched Obito bustle around, a sly glint in her big eyes. She pulled a little notebook out of her pocket. On its cover, the words Thirty-Six Stratagems of Love were written in pink letters, along with the smaller words "Written by Jiraiya"...
The little girl opened the book and began reading with great interest... The human world really did have so many interesting things.
Obito had no idea what awaited him in the not-too-distant future...
As he prepared the food, Obito went over everything he had to do soon. First, he'd go to the Land of Rain and deal with Akatsuki and Nagato.
Then he'd find Madara. If his calculations were right, Madara was about to die, so he might as well give him a hand... Madara's personality was incredibly charismatic. Obito had always admired his haughty, untouchable demeanor...
It would be best if he could get rid of Black Zetsu, the one scheming behind the scenes. Without Black Zetsu causing trouble, Obito could focus on developing the economy according to plan, keep drawing cards and getting stronger, and give the Ōtsutsuki Clan a grand welcome when they arrived!
Before you continue