The compound, recuperation area.
Haruma's cottage.
Creepy laughter drifted out from the inner room now and then, echoing through the empty courtyard.
Having finished tallying his earnings, Haruma browsed the store panel before him with a sly grin.
In the upper-right corner of the transparent panel, his balance showed a whopping three hundred million.
Haruma murmured in amazement, "Sure enough, nothing builds a fortune faster than a business with no overhead."
"Three hundred million in a month!"
"I can finally say goodbye to those days of poverty."
Rubbing his chin as he looked at the countless products, Haruma faced a happy dilemma. "What should I buy?"
With three hundred million to spend, there was plenty he could buy!
Upgrading both eyes to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan would only cost a little over three hundred million altogether.
To upgrade his Ōtsutsuki bloodline, he was still two hundred million short.
Considering the changing situation in the village and the weaknesses in his own strength.
After a long time thinking, Haruma finally made his decision.
After a month of secretly learning from others,
the ninjutsu reserves section of Haruma's stats panel was already packed with entries.
Coupled with the talent bonus from his beginner Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
Haruma's overall combat strength on the panel had now risen to Kage level (lower tier).
According to the system panel's definitions, Kage-level strength was further divided into five stages: entry, lower tier, middle tier, upper tier, and peak.
Logically, having already mastered numerous ninjutsu, along with the Mangekyō Sharingan...
And the Body Flicker Technique he had learned from Shisui, which rivaled short-range teleportation... Haruma's strength should have been greater than this.
Especially with his right eye's innate [Absolute Domain]!
Stopping time within a three-meter radius! A bugged ability that practically amounted to a cheat!
But this ultimate move also consumed a staggering amount of chakra.
His chakra quantity, along with his immature practical combat experience.
Had become fatal weaknesses in Haruma's pursuit of becoming an all-round fighter.
Fortunately, they were only temporary.
Before the system, these weaknesses were merely minor problems.
Ultimately, he just did not have enough money.
Not enough chakra?
He could buy a tailed beast directly from the system and instantly become a Super Sai-
Pfft, instantly become a jinchūriki.
The tailed beasts supplied by the system were also far better than those in the Shinobi World.
Absolutely loyal and obedient!
Tell one to stand and it would never lie down; tell one to eat a meal and it would never go eat shit!
A model for the puppet world!
Once he bought all seven tailed beasts, he could also summon...
Pfft! Once he bought all nine tailed beasts, Haruma could directly become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
Then he could wait for that brat Obito to bring out the Ten-Tails and rob the rich to help the poor!
Two Ten-Tails.
One would stay inside his body all year without a break, becoming a super worker! A model employee of the sweatshop!
Contributing an endless supply of chakra twenty-four hours a day!
The other would stay outside as a pet beyond Kage level, attacking wherever he pointed!
Just thinking about it... got his blood pumping!
Wasn't this far more... fired up than Boruto: Naruto Next Generations?
As for his lack of practical combat experience.
The system's built-in training room could solve that too.
It was just a little expensive...
Depending on the strength of the summoned character, the astronomical training fee ranged from five million to fifty million per hour.
Simulated mental combat, similar to training in a dream!
He could summon any character from the Naruto series in the training room to fight him in person!
One-hundred-percent immersive simulated combat to rapidly improve his practical combat experience.
Previously, life had been hard, and he had been too short on money to do anything about it.
Now that he had Shisui and Fugaku, those two suckers...
Haruma's days were looking increasingly worthy of a prison sentence...
"There's no rush for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. My eyesight is still a long way from blindness."
"I should address my low chakra reserves first."
Having made his plans, Haruma swiped the store panel to the tailed beast section.
The cartoon tailed beast portraits in square frames were sealed with black chains.
One-Tail through Three-Tails: price, one hundred and fifty million.
Four-Tails through Seven-Tails: price, two hundred million.
Eight-Tails: three hundred and twenty million.
Nine-Tails: four hundred and thirty million.
Ten-Tails husk: six hundred and sixty million.
The complete Ten-Tails could only be summoned after purchasing all nine tailed beasts and the Ten-Tails husk.
Mobile game developers around the world really were all the same.
If you wanted high combat power, if you wanted to rise above everyone else in the game...
Then whale like crazy!
The sale prices were determined by more than combat strength.
The more popular a character was, the higher the product's price would be.
The difference in strength between One-Tail and Eight-Tails was not that great, but the price gap was obvious.
Unable to haggle, Haruma could only accept it helplessly.
"One tailed beast will be enough for now. I can use the remaining money to buy some god-tier techniques..."
After that murmur, the balance in the upper-right corner of the store panel had fallen to a little over one hundred and sixty million.
Meanwhile, One-Tail's cartoon portrait in the tailed beast section had lit up.
Once the binding was complete.
Haruma could distinctly feel a vast surge of chakra continually flowing from his abdomen into every part of his body.
"Ahhh..."
As though soaking in a hot spring, the warm feeling all over his body made Haruma hum aloud in comfort despite himself.
Coming back to his senses, Haruma narrowed his eyes.
Then he sank into his sea of consciousness, his inner world.
It was unlike the prison and chains surrounding Nine-Tails inside Naruto.
In a spacious courtyard lush with greenery, the enormous One-Tail lay in the center like an obedient golden retriever.
At Haruma's arrival, the tail behind One-Tail wagged happily, stirring up gusts of wind.
Haruma nodded in satisfaction, then instructed One-Tail to diligently refine chakra before withdrawing his consciousness.
"The chakra problem is solved for now.
The remaining funds are enough to buy that technique too..."
He flipped the store page to the forbidden techniques section.
Haruma deftly found the god-tier skill he had coveted for so long.
[Flying Thunder God Technique (S): price, one hundred and thirty million] [Ninjutsu introduction: an S-rank space-time ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. An absolute god-tier technique for offense, defense, and escape.]
After buying it without hesitation, Haruma turned his attention to the sealing ninjutsu in the store.
Although One-Tail inside him was obedient enough and would not clamor to escape like Nine-Tails.
There would be a considerable risk of exposure if Haruma went outside.
For example, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan could discover that he had a tailed beast hidden inside him.
Not to mention that Haruma was currently among the Uchiha Clan, renowned for their dōjutsu.
Carefully reading the ninjutsu descriptions, Haruma searched page after page for a suitable sealing jutsu.
Three minutes later.
[Rotation: Binding Method (A): price, twenty-four million]
The price was right, and the effects were good.
After examining the ninjutsu description, Haruma decisively unlocked the product.
Rather than a ninjutsu for sealing tailed beasts, this sealing method was more like a special method for sealing one's own chakra fluctuations and concealing the flow of chakra within the body.
Its sealing restrictions on tailed beasts were extremely weak.
If the tailed beast inside attempted to escape, this seal could at most serve as an alert; it had no ability to restrain the tailed beast.
That was also why its price was so low.
Useless to others, but just right for Haruma's current circumstances.
With the remaining ten million or so, Haruma once again turned to the ninja tools section to spend lavishly.
After a round of purchases, the balance on the panel plummeted.
Before long, only a rather paltry four-digit sum remained.
Reduced to poverty once more, Haruma could not stop clicking his tongue.
"Getting stronger really isn't easy..."