"Excuse me, do you need anything?"
Inside the Bounty Guild, the receptionist approached Ash. After more than a month of completing bounty missions, Ash had already made a name for himself as a rising bounty hunter. After all, his very first assignment had been an A-rank mission.
Tasks at the Bounty Guild were categorized as D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. These missions came from private clients, major regions, and even high-ranking figures who offered rewards for dealing with dangerous targets.
"Show me the task list."
Ash leaned casually against the wall as he spoke.
Moments later, the staff returned with a small booklet and handed it to him. Ash flipped it open, scanning for anything that might interest him.
"Oh, right. Give me a Chakra test slip too."
As the attendant turned to leave, Ash pulled out several tens of thousands of Pokédollars and placed them on the counter.
Over the past month, Ash had learned Fireball Technique, but most other jutsu he had practiced were either half-remembered or completely unusable. He had originally considered exchanging for ninjutsu through the system, but without knowing his Chakra typing, buying techniques would be pointless.
Up until now, he had relied purely on physical combat and his Sharingan to handle missions—enough to earn money, but not enough for true power. Soon, the attendant returned and handed him a thin white testing slip.
"So… Fire, Water, and Lightning? Not bad."
As Ash infused Chakra into the paper, the left side burst into flame, the right side became damp, and the center wrinkled tightly.
"System, how many attribute points do I need for the Fire-Style, Water-Style, and Lightning-Style technique compendiums?"
Now that he knew his Chakra attributes, Ash didn't even bother checking the task list. He dropped onto a couch and asked leisurely.
Ding~
"Fire-Style Compendium: 100,000 attribute points.
Lightning-Style Compendium: 100,000 attribute points.
Water-Style Compendium: 100,000 attribute points."
"So expensive? That's nearly the same as upgrading the Eternal Mangekyō…"
Ash frowned. Individual techniques in the system had never been that pricey.
Ding~
"Host may exchange for a Ninjutsu Gift Pack. Upon exchange, the Chakra within the host's body will be elevated to both morphological transformation and nature transformation. Considering the increase in ninjutsu power, the price is justified."
"You're not wrong… Stronger ninjutsu would help. Right now I've got the Sharingan, Shave, and Moon Step, but no real ranged attacks."
Ash nodded to himself. The price wasn't unreasonable if the upgrade significantly boosted his strength.
"Fine. Exchange it."
After a moment of consideration, Ash made his decision. After all, his whole purpose here was to grow stronger—hoarding attribute points was pointless.
Ding~
"Fire-Style, Water-Style, and Lightning-Style Compendiums successfully exchanged.
300,000 attribute points deducted.
Remaining balance: 454,000 attribute points."
Instantly, vast amounts of ninjutsu knowledge flooded Ash's mind, and he could feel his Chakra quality rising sharply. All three of his elemental affinities had advanced to both shape transformation and nature transformation—an achievement almost unheard of for someone his age.
Chakra itself came in stages. First was basic Chakra, sufficient for standard ninjutsu.
Next came shape transformation, which allowed Chakra to carry direct offensive form—like coating a kunai.
Finally, nature transformation, an advanced step that enhanced Chakra's elemental properties, effectively turning ordinary ninjutsu into devastating techniques.
Finally, there was Sage Chakra—the power tied to Ash's imprint.
After completing the exchange, Ash reopened the task list, scanning through the available missions and their reward tiers.
Because so many years had passed, Ash had almost forgotten the storyline of the Naruto world.
He only remembered certain ninjutsu and major events—and back when he first crossed over, Naruto hadn't even finished yet. The last thing he remembered was the arc where the Akatsuki invaded Konoha.
"Mission issued by the Hidden Cloud… target: Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash of Konoha.
Obstruction bounty: 300 million.
Termination bounty: 500 million."
Seeing the entry, Ash raised an eyebrow.
As expected of someone who mastered space-time ninjutsu, Minato's bounty was sky-high. What surprised Ash even more was that shinobi villages were openly issuing missions to outside bounty hunters during wartime.
The war clearly wasn't a joke.
"I'll take this mission. Help me contact the handler."
Ash spoke calmly. With his resentment toward Konoha still burning beneath the surface, accepting this mission felt almost natural—besides, it would be a perfect opportunity to test his newly strengthened spatial techniques.
"Mr. Ketchum, this is an SSS-rank mission—the highest level we offer. Are you sure you want to take it?"
The receptionist stared at him in disbelief after seeing him choose the most dangerous mission on the board.
"It's fine. Just handle the contact. By the way… what's your name?"
Ash's tone was relaxed. His strength had increased drastically, and he held full confidence in confronting Minato. But the name of this particular staff member piqued his interest.
The underground world rarely cared about anything beyond commissions. Their people were cold, transactional, and unbothered. The receptionist's concern was… unusual.
"If—if you insist, sir. My name is Masaka Sakata, though I'm just a small figure here."
Masaka introduced himself quickly, intimidated by Ash's presence.
"Good. From now on, you'll be my point of contact. You'll receive 20% of my commission for every mission."
Ash smiled lightly as he spoke, and Masaka's eyes widened in shock.
...
TN:
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