Another Day Ends

"Zhou Cheng, thank you!"

Kakashi's form of address for Zhou Cheng had already changed.

He had come to view Zhou Cheng as his equal.

"I've gained half a year's worth of chakra!"

Whoosh!

The entire crowd erupted in an uproar!

A single fruit was worth half a year of cultivation!

Good heavens!

Everyone wore expressions of envy.

This kind of fruit, equivalent to half a year of training, meant directly pulling ahead of one's peers by six months.

With those six months, plus one's own training, one would be even further ahead of everyone else!

In the ninja world, strength represented everything!

Zhou Cheng smiled faintly. Thank me?

If you knew that the rewards I received were even greater than yours, and that I was also breaking the shield, you might take a blade and hack me to death!

"No need for thanks. The rule established from the beginning was that dealing damage to me earns a reward!"

"This is what you deserve!"

Kakashi nodded gratefully. "I will continue to challenge the arena tomorrow!"

With that, Kakashi stepped off the stage, left the crowd, and disappeared around a corner.

It wasn't until he had been walking for several minutes that he remembered he had forgotten something.

Damn it, I actually forgot about the books he promised me!

He slapped his own face, filled with regret!

Those were the other volumes of Make-Out Paradise!

What a massive loss!

But with so many people at the arena, he didn't have the face to go back and ask for them!

He shook his head with a bitter smile, composed himself, and continued walking forward.

At the arena, most of the crowd had dispersed. The setting sun was slanting westward, and they all needed to go home to prepare dinner.

Itachi, Shisui, and Uchiha Izumi had also left the arena.

After Kakashi left, a small number of people still went up to challenge the arena.

However, not a single one could deal damage exceeding the white grade.

When night fell, Zhou Cheng also stepped down from the arena!

"For those who didn't get a turn today, please come early tomorrow!"

"I will still be setting up the arena here!"

After saying this, Zhou Cheng left Uchiha Plaza.

He walked to the street, found a restaurant, ate a simple dinner, and returned to his hotel.

Standing there and letting people hit him all day was exhausting!

He lay in the bathtub, waiting quietly for it to fill with warm water.

During this time, he opened his System Space.

He reviewed today's harvest.

He first took out a fist-sized Giant Chakra Fruit and ate it as a post-dinner snack.

A few seconds later, he felt a warm current surge into his meridians, and his chakra levels began to rise rapidly.

It increased by an amount equivalent to a full year of cultivation!

He looked at his palms; he had never felt so good!

This was power. No wonder some people were seduced by it, resorting to any means necessary to obtain it!

This feeling was truly wonderful!

My chakra level is now at the half-step Chunin level.

He decided to strike while the iron was hot, taking another Giant Chakra Fruit from the System Space and eating it.

Another warm current, and another year's worth of chakra gained!

In terms of chakra volume alone, he was already at the Chunin level!

Zhou Cheng nodded, but this still wasn't enough. A Chunin could only serve as a small squad leader in any ninja village.

Yet, they remained nothing but ants!

Without breaking the shield, one is ultimately just an ant!

Even if the shield were broken and one obtained the body and power of the Sage of Six Paths, one would still need to be cautious when facing the Otsutsuki clan.

After all, the chakra in this world also originated from the Otsutsuki!

It was just a pity that no rewards capable of evolving the Sharingan had been drawn today.

He took the Genjutsu Manual out of the System Space and began to read.

The first genjutsu was the Mist Servant Technique, a D-rank, non-distance auxiliary type.

It created black phantom images to intimidate enemies; if attacked, it would split, though it possessed no offensive power of its own!

Zhou Cheng was merely reading out of curiosity and had no intention of learning genjutsu. With the Sharingan, he was naturally resistant to such techniques, making genjutsu nothing more than a nice-to-have addition.

However, he was astonished to discover that once he finished reading the hand seals and precautions for the technique, the page would vanish into thin air, and everything regarding that genjutsu would manifest in his mind.

It was as if he had already cast this technique countless times.

Damn, is this some kind of "enlightenment-style" teaching?

This is a bit insane!

Zhou Cheng opened his mouth in surprise and turned to the second page!

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, a D-rank, close-range auxiliary type.

It allowed the target to see their deepest fears, striking at their spirit and providing the caster with an opportunity to attack!

After he finished reading all the content, the paper containing it vanished into thin air.

Everything about the genjutsu appeared in his mind, with his proficiency maxed out!

Hiss!

Zhou Cheng gasped!

As expected of a system product!

On a whim, he continued to flip through, looking only at the names of the genjutsu without reading the content, only to find that the C-rank genjutsu following the D-rank ones had names, but the pages were blank.

Is my strength insufficient?

Could it be that I need to become a registered Chunin of the Hidden Leaf before I can see the subsequent content?

I'll set that aside for now!

He searched his mind for the brewing method for "Six-Grain Spirit."

Hiss!

Zhou Cheng shook his head with a bitter smile; the method was simple, but the ingredients were not easy to find!

If he could brew more Six-Grain Spirit, he could quickly build rapport whenever he encountered drunks like Tsunade in the future!

He could check the Hidden Leaf market when he had time!

His gaze fell upon the books in the System Space, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.

He had just stepped out of the bathtub and donned a bathrobe.

After freshening up, he lay on the bed and took out a book to read.

The first page was filled with provocative content and illustrations, making Zhou Cheng's eyes go wide!

This book had been modified by the system; he wondered what the original content was like.

That peeping tom Jiraiya certainly had some tricks up his sleeve!

He wondered what kind of expression Jiraiya would have if he saw this revised version of Make-Out Paradise?

Would he get addicted after one sip of "Six-Grain Spirit"?

Zhou Cheng closed the book; he couldn't keep reading, or he would get carried away!

He leaned back against the bed, reflecting on the events of the day.

After today's shield-breaking, the news of me setting up a ring and seeking death will surely spread to more people's ears.

There will definitely be more people coming tomorrow.

However, there are only so many hours in a day, and the number of people who can line up is limited.

I hope to attract more strong individuals; one hundred ordinary people are only worth as much as one kick from Tsunade!

I don't expect everyone to be a powerhouse; ten famous, named experts a day would be enough!

I should find Shisui in private and ask him to attack me in secret.

I'll find a secluded place and have him unleash a full-power Susanoo attack; the damage would surely be considerable!

The rewards would also be substantial; perhaps I could even draw a reward to evolve the Sharingan.

Kakashi must have been sent by the Third Hokage to scout for information.

I hope he reports back truthfully; it would be best if I could lure him here!

The Professor of Ninjutsu, master of over a thousand techniques!

Tsk tsk, just thinking about it is thrilling!

Itachi and Shisui will also report today's events to the clan's higher-ups; I hope they send even more experts to break this shield!