Can stealing be called mercenary business? That's acquisition!

As expected, Uchiha Genba successfully evaded Kakuzu's pursuit once again.

After leaving Kakuzu far behind, he headed straight for the black market in the Empty District.

In this territory, which was outside the jurisdiction of the Leaf but maintained close ties with the Uchiha clan, Genba's arrival carrying two corpses naturally drew the attention of many rogue ninjas.

Along the way, several groups of mercenaries pointed at Genba and whispered, some of their eyes even betraying envy or jealousy.

Genba, however, paid them no mind, swaggering into the hall of the Bounty Exchange with the corpses slung over his shoulders.

A receptionist in the hall saw that Genba had made another haul and couldn't help but tease, "Yo, little Genba, did you steal another bounty target that some other mercenary worked hard to hunt down?"

Upon hearing this, Genba immediately struck a righteous pose and retorted loudly, "Hey, hey! How can you slander an innocent person like that? For us mercenaries, taking a bounty target that a peer has already hunted down isn't called stealing; it's called acquisition! Can what a mercenary does really be called stealing?"

As soon as his solemn, sophistical declaration ended, the receptionists in the hall burst into laughter, filling the entire room with a cheerful atmosphere.

Genba couldn't be bothered with their laughter and walked straight to the counter where the manager sat. With a thud, he dumped the two corpses on the floor and said arrogantly, "Ten million ryo for one, twenty million for the other. Settle the bill, quickly!"

The manager looked down at the two corpses and couldn't help but pause in surprise.

Under normal circumstances, given Genba's current strength, it would be nearly impossible for him to take down these two high-bounty targets.

But then, he realized that this kid had always been good at fishing in troubled waters; he had probably used some underhanded method to reap the rewards of someone else's labor.

Seeing the shock on the manager's face, Genba felt secretly smug.

Earning thirty million ryo in one go with just a little trick—this feeling was truly exhilarating!

To Genba, making money was of the utmost importance.

Although he was just an Uchiha commoner with no talent for ninjutsu, he possessed a unique Effort Upgrade System (Pay-to-Win System).

The meaning of the "Effort Upgrade System" was simple: as long as you were willing to put in the effort (spend money), your strength would skyrocket!

To other ninjas, money wasn't everything.

But to Genba, money was practically omnipotent.

With the Effort Upgrade System, he could not only add points to his base attributes but also spend money to strengthen any ninjutsu he had learned.

While the manager was busy verifying the corpses, Genba was already calculating how to spend the money in his mind.

Before long, the manager confirmed the corpses were legitimate, readily took out thirty million ryo in banknotes, and handed them to Genba while signaling his subordinates to move the bodies away for safekeeping.

Genba took the thick stack of banknotes, the corners of his mouth curling upward, and without lingering in the Bounty Exchange, he turned and strode away.

Next up was his favorite time: meal-snatching time!

Walking along the paths of the Empty District, he could see ninja cats strolling leisurely everywhere.

But Genba had no time to pet cats; he couldn't wait to pour the thirty million ryo he had just acquired into his "career."

As he hurried along, he shouted in his mind, "Brother System! I want to pay-to-win! Hurry up and deposit thirty million ryo for me!"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the familiar system notification chimed in his head.

[Ding! Deposit successful! Current balance: 30.068 million ryo!]

Genba quickly pulled up his system panel to check his current attributes:

[Name: Uchiha Genba]

[Age: 18]

Four-dimensional attributes:

[Stamina 500: Your stamina can't even compare to one of Kakuzu's hearts, let alone the five he possesses.]

[Strength 2013: Your strength is terrifyingly high; if Kakuzu were to arm-wrestle you, he would definitely lose.]

[Speed 3102: Your speed is astonishing; even if Kakuzu ran until his legs broke, he wouldn't be able to catch you.]

[Spirit 451: Spend some money to get checked at the Leaf Hospital; the system suspects you might have neurasthenia.]

Abilities:

[Leaf Whirlwind Lv9: Execute a high-speed whirlwind kick to attack the enemy.]

[Three Body Technique Lv9: Your Transformation, Substitution, and Clone techniques have reached a state of perfection.]

[Body Flicker Technique Lv9: Under normal circumstances, Kakuzu can only smell your exhaust fumes.]

Genba's system interface was simple and crude, and it allowed him to designate a reference object as a unit of measurement for his attributes.

The reference object he currently chose was Kakuzu, so all the attribute evaluations provided by the system used Kakuzu as a comparison.

In the Pay-to-Win System, one attribute point cost 10,000 ryo.

His current speed attribute was worth over thirty million ryo.

Meanwhile, the bounty price for Sarutobi Asuma on the black market was 36 million ryo.

In other words, the money he had spent on his speed attribute was almost enough to buy an Asuma.

Aside from adding points to ninja attributes, the Pay-to-Win System could also upgrade ninjutsu.

When the Pay-to-Win System upgraded a ninjutsu, it cost 10 million ryo per level.

His Leaf Whirlwind taijutsu was currently valued at 90 million ryo.

However, he hadn't spent money to level up this ninjutsu; it was one of his starting skills.

The moment he acquired the Pay-to-Win System, he had mastered the Body Flicker Technique, the Three Body Technique, and the Leaf Whirlwind taijutsu at level 9 from the beginner's gift pack.

There was no cap to adding points to his attributes using the Pay-to-Win System; as long as he had enough money, he could become infinitely stronger.

There was also no limit to upgrading ninjutsu with the system, and every 10 levels, the ninjutsu would manifest a special effect.

His Leaf Whirlwind was currently at level 9, and once he raised it to level 10, this taijutsu would gain its first special effect.

After staring at his system panel for a moment, Uchiha Genba decisively began adding points and upgrading.

Only by becoming stronger could he earn more commissions.

That's right—commissions, not just any money.

Uchiha Genba's Pay-to-Win System only recognized commissions earned from completing missions; money obtained through other channels was almost meaningless to him and could not be deposited into the system at all.

[Spent 10 million ryo, your Speed attribute has increased from 3102 to 4102! Current balance: 20.068 million ryo!]

[Spent 10 million ryo, your Strength attribute has increased from 2013 to 3013! Current balance: 10.068 million ryo!]

[Spent 10 million ryo, your Leaf Whirlwind taijutsu has increased from level 9 to level 10! Current balance: 68,000 ryo!]

After a flurry of operations that were as fierce as a tiger, Uchiha Genba realized he had become poor, but he had also become stronger!

Money could be earned again, but the increase in strength was immediate.

He could clearly feel waves of mysterious power surging within his body; with every breath, he grew a fraction stronger than the second before.

Ignoring the pain of losing his fortune, Uchiha Genba hurriedly opened the system interface again to check his latest stats:

[Name: Uchiha Genba]

[Age: 18]

Four-dimensional attributes:

[Stamina 500: Your stamina can't even compare to one of Kakuzu's hearts, let alone the fact that he has five.]

[Strength 3013: Your strength is terrifyingly high. If Kakuzu were to arm-wrestle you, he would definitely lose.]

[Speed 4102: Your speed has stepped into the threshold of Kage-level. Next time Kakuzu tries to hunt you down, he'll only be left eating your dust from far behind!]

[Spirit 451: Spend some money to get checked at the Konoha Hospital; the system suspects you might have neurasthenia.]

Abilities:

[Leaf Whirlwind lv10: Your Leaf Whirlwind taijutsu has gained a special effect, "Whirlwind Fierce Kick." Whirlwind Fierce Kick: When you execute this move, you can kick out a powerful whirlwind capable of blowing away even Kakuzu!]

[Three Body Technique lv9: Your Transformation, Substitution, and Clone techniques have reached the pinnacle of perfection.]

[Body Flicker Technique lv9: Under normal circumstances, Kakuzu will only be able to smell your exhaust fumes.]

Looking at the updated system panel, Uchiha Genba couldn't stop grinning.

He had long known that every 10 levels of ninjutsu would bring a qualitative change, but he hadn't expected the power after the upgrade to be this fierce.

His speed was now so fast that Kakuzu probably wouldn't even be able to see his taillights.

And his signature taijutsu, "Leaf Whirlwind," now carried an effect comparable to the Six Paths tool, the Bashosen.

A single kick could unleash a whirlwind that could blow even Kakuzu away!

He couldn't help but sigh; it was truly a powerful ninjutsu worth the hundreds of millions of ryo spent, and the power was well worth the price.

After finishing his upgrades, Uchiha Genba was brimming with excitement, happily pondering where to get more commissions so he could continue paying to win and growing stronger.

Just as he was thinking, he arrived at the door of a familiar little house—Granny Cat's Weapon Shop.

Granny Cat's Weapon Shop had a very distinct appearance: it was a cat-head-shaped building with long ears, and a statue of a beckoning cat without a bell was placed at the entrance.

As a shameless professional freeloader, even while his mind was occupied with system upgrades, Uchiha Genba's body had instinctively and familiarly slipped into Granny Cat's house, ready to begin his daily routine of cadging a meal.

He had arrived right at mealtime, and sure enough, Granny Cat was just preparing to eat.

Inside the room, an elderly woman with gray hair and black cat-ear hair accessories was placing cooked dishes onto the table.

Although Granny Cat was quite old, she still loved wearing cat ears, which made her look both kind and a bit playful.

Seeing Uchiha Genba poking his head in, Granny Cat smiled helplessly. "Little brat Genba, are you here to freeload a meal at my place again? Haven't you been earning quite a bit of money lately? Why do you still keep coming here to mooch off me?"