Inside the room, Haruma lay leisurely on his bed.
He silently called for the system in his mind.
A pure white system panel appeared before his eyes.
[Character name: Uchiha Haruma] [Affiliation: Konoha (changeable)] [Chakra attributes: fire, lightning] [Ninjutsu reserves: (fire) Great Fire Annihilation, (water) Water Dragon Bullet, (lightning) Sharp Spear, (earth) Earth Style Wall...] [Overall combat strength: Jonin]
Although he had quite a few ninjutsu in reserve, all those apart from fire and lightning techniques were grayed out.
The reason was that Haruma's chakra attributes did not meet the requirements for casting other ninjutsu.
Of the many ninjutsu he currently possessed, some had been especially cheap, while others had come from prize draws during game events.
After all, ever since activating the system, Haruma had been swindling and scamming to save money to buy eyes.
Until yesterday, Haruma's overall combat strength had still been rated Genin.
There was no helping it. While his peers were studying diligently, Haruma had been lying low in the recuperation area making money. While everyone else was training hard, Haruma had still been in the recuperation area making money. While everyone else went out on missions to gain experience... making money.
His poor talent was one thing, but the real issue was that this sneaky bastard had never trained properly at all.
Of course, Haruma had his own ideas.
If he had spent his money on ninjutsu and cheaper two-tomoe or Three-Tomoe Sharingan from the start, he could absolutely have become a genius ninja capable of rivaling Uchiha Itachi.
But the consequences of changing his reputation and showing his edge
would be having the Third Hokage and that scheming little bastard Danzo watching him like hawks. They would either find a way to recruit him into the Anbu and keep him close for brainwashing, or constantly send people to monitor his every move.
The fates of Shisui and Itachi, young genius ninja of the Uchiha Clan, were bloody lessons.
So staying low-key and concealed, slowly accumulating strength and developing in the shadows, was the way to go.
Fortunately, now, a year before the night of the massacre, his strength had undergone a leap.
What had allowed Haruma, a mere Genin, to reach Jonin-level strength overnight was entirely this pair of Mangekyō he had carefully selected from the system shop.
He opened the system inventory, where two blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan sat at the top.
[Mangekyō Sharingan (left): bound (awaiting upgrade)] (Ability description: flawless imitation! Dynamic vision and copying ability far beyond the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Any ninjutsu can be perfectly reproduced after a single glance.) Summary: don't use it if you've got the guts. Use it, and I'll steal it! The rising master thief of ninjutsu in the Shinobi World! [Mangekyō Sharingan (right): bound (awaiting upgrade)] (Ability description: absolute domain! Freezes space-time within three meters of the user! Apart from you, who can move, all enemies within the domain will be lambs to the slaughter. Maximum duration: three seconds.) Summary: the legend of the three-second real man will one day resound throughout the Shinobi World!
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan already possessed the ability to copy ninjutsu. A prime example was Kakashi Hatake, hailed throughout the Shinobi World as the Copy Ninja.
Yet Haruma had still chosen this Sharingan with an enhanced ability to steal techniques, because other people could not cast ninjutsu outside their own chakra attributes.
Even if the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan could steal techniques, copying a water or earth ninjutsu would not let you cast it.
But for Haruma, who had the system shop, that was a trivial matter of a few tens of millions.
At that thought, Haruma switched the system panel to the shop tab.
As he looked at the endless rows of assorted goods, a gleam called greed kept flickering in his eyes.
But the available balance in the panel's upper-left corner, "9527," was rather painful to look at.
Kekkei Genkai, which could fuse two chakra attributes for use, and Kekkei Tōta, which could fuse three attributes.
Kekkei Mōra, which could fuse all seven attributes of fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang! (Representative ninjutsu: the Infinite Tsukuyomi cast by Madara Uchiha.)
Byakugan, Sharingan, Rinnegan, Tenseigan...
Shikotsumyaku, Five Senses Control, Dragon Life Reincarnation...
Any ninjutsu that existed in the Shinobi World, any bloodline ability that had ever appeared-the shop had them all!
All manner of deeply hidden divine artifacts of the Shinobi World.
The Totsuka Blade, Yata Mirror, Seven Star Sword, Amber Purifying Pot... every one was listed.
Even the tailed beasts, regarded by the villages as nuclear strike capabilities, could be purchased outright as a package in the system shop.
As long as you whaled hard enough and spent enough.
Even the Ten-Tails, which required the fusion of the Nine Tailed Beasts, was available in stock.
It was just that the price... was hard to put into words.
After finishing his conversation with Fugaku, Haruma had searched by price and found the most suitable item within twenty million.
Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (event item, available for seven days only, special offer!) Original price: one hundred million. Current price: twenty-two million! The bloodline could grow and be upgraded.
Summary: the pure bloodline power of the Ōtsutsuki Clan (basic). Improves ninjutsu talent and grants seven chakra attributes. Continued upgrades grant access to all bloodline abilities.
Without a doubt, the discounted Ōtsutsuki bloodline offered top-tier value and abilities.
Even Hagoromo Otsutsuki, revered as the Sage of Six Paths, an existence who had single-handedly overpowered the Ten-Tails, had merely been born of Kaguya and a human, possessing only a small portion of Ōtsutsuki ancestry.
Although it did not provide much of a combat boost at the initial stage, it could grow and be upgraded.
Even the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, currently hailed as the strongest Hokage and the Professor of Ninjutsu, only had five nature transformations.
The title of strongest Hokage was certainly exaggerated. After all, anyone who could make such an assessment surely had never seen the First Hokage beating the Nine-Tails senseless.
Although that assessment was inflated, Hiruzen Sarutobi still ranked among the best at Kage Level.
And just the basic bloodline granted all seven attributes! If he could keep spending on it, this bloodline alone would be enough to dominate the Shinobi World!
After running through his upcoming plans in his mind once more, Haruma let out a sinister cackle.
His current strength was barely enough to protect himself, so he could make slightly bigger moves in his money-making efforts.
It was also time to trade moves with Konoha's higher-ups. Since you people in Konoha don't want to let our Uchiha Clan play along, let's see who can play dirtier!
Knowing the plot, Haruma honestly did not think much of that sneaky little bastard Danzo or the hypocritical Third.
Although taking them head-on would be a bit of a stretch at this stage, Haruma had countless schemes and plans for striking from the shadows in his head.
With everything planned out, Haruma fell peacefully asleep with a silly grin, looking forward to tomorrow's sunrise.
It was fine weather, with a clear sky, wispy clouds, and brilliant sunshine.
After a wonderfully restful sleep, Haruma got up bright and early.
In an excellent mood, he hummed a tune to himself as he made breakfast in the kitchen.
"Jini's so beautiful~ baby~"
"Jini's really so beautiful~ baby~"
"One more look, and you'll explode~ baby~"
In the courtyard, Shisui felt his way around as he set up the dining table, murmuring softly, "Could Jini be the woman my dear friend loves deeply?"
Just how beautiful did someone have to be to make you explode with a single look?
Even the usually composed Shisui could not help growing a little curious about Jini.
A few minutes later, Haruma came into the courtyard carrying a plate. Ignoring Shisui, who sat at one side of the dining table, he dug into his meal as though no one else were there.
Blind Shisui felt around the completely empty table and asked in confusion, "Haruma, where's mine?"
Having finished eating, Haruma wiped his mouth and said, "All right, all right, missing one meal won't kill you! I'll go see that old bastard Fugaku in a bit, and when I get back, you won't be blind anymore."
"Prices in Konoha aren't low these days. Do you know how much breakfast costs?!"
"That's settled, then!" He casually set his clean plate on the table and said, "It's about time you supported yourself with your own two hands."
With that, Haruma left with a carefree air.
He left blind Shisui alone to silently clear away the dishes.
Shisui's lonely figure somehow had a touch of snowflakes drifting and the north wind sighing about it.