Lottery System

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have completed a special mission: foil Sunagakure's scheme and suppress Gaara, the One-Tail."

"Ding! Special mission rewards are being calculated."

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received the following rewards:

Wood Release: Wood Human Technique Experience Card ×1

Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique

Gold Coins ×2,000"

The moment he successfully suppressed the One-Tail, system notifications began ringing one after another.

At that moment, the system's cold mechanical voice sounded like the most beautiful music in the world to Lin Mu.

"Yesss!"

Lin Mu was beside himself with excitement. After all that effort and so many grueling battles, he had finally completed the mission!

But on the surface, Lin Mu remained as steady as a rock, perfectly calm as he ran at the front of the group with Naruto Uzumaki on his back.

Although Lin Mu had been through several battles in just a few short hours that day and had exhausted his chakra just moments ago,

he had already recovered quite a bit, and his condition was still the best of everyone's.

"Just as I thought!"

Lin Mu couldn't help feeling secretly pleased with himself.

"Now I'm the real chosen one! The mere One-Tail? One palm was all it took to suppress him!"

He stole a couple of glances behind him. Naruto Uzumaki was still unconscious, lying obediently on his back.

Uchiha Sasuke was also extremely weak after overusing his Cursed Seal.

Only Lin Mu was still full of energy!

That made him feel even more pleased with himself!

"The Hokage-to-be and Sasuke are both just kids compared to me now!"

But his smugness didn't last long before his brows suddenly furrowed.

According to the usual plot, after the Chunin Ninja Exams, Naruto Uzumaki would spend three years training away from the village with Jiraiya, while Uchiha Sasuke would leave the village and train under Orochimaru.

Those three years would be a period of explosive growth for both of them!

"Ugh—"

Lin Mu drew a sharp breath, feeling a headache coming on.

His Naruto Template System had only just activated. He'd have to study it carefully if he wanted to increase his strength quickly.

Increase his strength?

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Lin Mu, and he thought of a shortcut.

He could draw prizes in the System Shop!

If he happened to get a top-tier Wood Release technique like the Wood Human Technique or the Wood Dragon Technique, he'd be set.

Lin Mu focused his thoughts and opened the Lottery System with anticipation.

Ever since he'd obtained system currency, he'd been caught up in intense battles and hadn't had time to examine the lottery feature in the System Shop.

Now that all the fighting was over, he could use this spare moment to take a look.

"Ding! Welcome, host, to the Naruto Template System's Lottery System."

"Ding! We've detected that this is your first time using the Naruto Template System's Lottery System. You've been granted three free draws. After those are used, each draw will cost 100 Gold Coins."

Lin Mu was surprised by the system's explanation.

"This system's perks aren't bad! There's no beginner's gift pack, but I still get three free draws."

Not bad, not bad!

Delighted, Lin Mu opened the lottery screen.

The screen had a silver-white background, with a huge golden wheel in the center.

The gold and silver were interwoven with many strange patterns, making the two colors blend together harmoniously.

Not bad, not bad!

It was grand and impressive, understated yet luxurious!

Just the lottery screen's design alone was enough to satisfy Lin Mu!

"Tsk, let's see what kind of rewards this Lottery System has."

Lin Mu rolled his shoulders, hoisting Naruto Uzumaki higher when he started to slip down his back, then looked at the wheel again.

Healing Pills, Chakra Pills, Military Ration Pills...

Body Refining Pills, Refreshing Pills, Strength Pills...

There were pills of every effect, price, and grade.

But the more Lin Mu looked, the more his brows furrowed.

What was going on?

Most of the prizes in this Lottery System were low-grade pills that could be bought in the shop for just fifty Gold Coins.

A few were pills and weapons worth two or three hundred Gold Coins in the shop.

Unconvinced, Lin Mu continued examining the lottery screen closely.

Was there really nothing in the Lottery System tempting enough to make him take a gamble?

Suddenly, Lin Mu's gaze settled on the two smallest sections at the very edge.

Random Wood Release Ninjutsu ×1

Senju Hashirama Template Fragment (5%) ×1

Those two prizes were certainly tempting.

But something still seemed off. Was the System Shop really this lousy?!

Perhaps sensing what Lin Mu was thinking, the system's notification rang out again.

"Ding! The Lottery System is currently at the beginner level. The host may spend 300 Gold Coins to refresh it once, or spend 1,000 Gold Coins to upgrade it to the intermediate level."

"I..."

Lin Mu felt a lump of frustration lodge in his chest, as if it were about to burst him apart.

I knew it!

This system had made me wait three years before officially activating. How could it possibly let me have an easy time after that?

His excitement was instantly extinguished. He fell silent, carefully considering what to do.

First, he'd earned 2,000 Gold Coins for completing the special mission. He'd also killed nine Otogakure ninja earlier, earning fifty Gold Coins for each one.

That meant he had a total of only 2,450 Gold Coins.

If he used his current Gold Coins to upgrade the Lottery System...

That actually might work...

But Lin Mu thought of how hard he'd worked to kill nine enemy ninja, only to earn 450 Gold Coins. That wasn't even enough to refresh the lottery wheel twice!

He really couldn't bear to spend 1,000 Gold Coins on upgrading the system.

But if he didn't upgrade the Lottery System and spent 100 Gold Coins on a draw, he might get one of those low-grade pills.

That would be a huge loss!

What a rip-off! This Lottery System was a total rip-off.

Lin Mu felt his heart bleed as he gritted his teeth.

Upgrade!

He suppressed his reluctance and opened the upgrade button.

But just before pressing it, he hesitated again.

"I still have three free draws. Should I try my luck first? It'd be a shame if the system upgrade refreshed the random number of people and the Hashirama fragment!"

With that, Lin Mu stopped hesitating and clicked the draw button.

Whirr—

The glittering golden wheel began spinning rapidly.

Lin Mu stared intently at the red pointer in the center of the wheel.

"Ninjutsu! Fragment! Ninjutsu! Fragment! Ninjutsu! Fragment!"

I waited three years just to get these three free draws. I have to win something good!

"Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received an Intermediate Chakra Pill ×1."

Lin Mu was silent for three seconds, then opened his inventory and took out the Intermediate Chakra Pill.

Whirr—

Space rippled faintly, and a light-blue pill the size of a dragon's eye appeared in Lin Mu's hand, its surface covered in beautiful, strange patterns.