Li Fan stared at the interface before him, and in the span of a few seconds, his emotions shifted from surprise to pure ecstasy.
At the same time, he worked hard to keep his expression neutral, hiding any trace of joy.
Even with his head lowered—making it reasonable to assume no one could see his face—this was still the ninja world. No one could guarantee there wasn't some shinobi watching him through strange means.
Li Fan silently tested in his mind: System?
A few seconds passed. No voice answered.
But Li Fan wasn't disappointed. Instead, he simply kept tapping at the mental interface in his mind.
As he did, the display shifted rapidly. Then a voice—flat, emotionless, impossible to tell if male or female—spoke directly into his thoughts:
"The Super Favorability System is attempting to activate. This will require one year of the host's lifespan. Do you agree?"
Li Fan felt no change in his face as he kept his head bowed, but inwardly, he relaxed.
One year of life? A trivial cost. Well worth the price.
Silently, he replied in his heart: I agree.
He braced himself for some kind of physical reaction… but nothing came. Instead, the same neutral voice informed him:
"The host agreed within one second. Standard met. One year of the host's lifespan has been extracted. The system is now officially and perfectly activated."
Li Fan's thoughts tangled for a moment. So if I'd hesitated, I wouldn't have unlocked the perfect activation?
He brushed aside the speculation and focused on the updated interface before him.
Three icons appeared:
Host
Character Favorability
Exchange
Suppressing the excitement rising in his chest, Li Fan tapped the Character Favorability icon first.
"First-time access to Character Favorability grants the host a random item: one Mid-grade Favorability Doubling Fruit.Use this fruit to double a designated person's favorability once per day, up to a maximum of 100."
As the voice spoke, detailed information about the fruit poured into his mind.
Li Fan's eyes almost lit up. Though his head stayed down, his breathing quickened involuntarily.
With something this heaven-defying… could I really achieve the harem dream I've buried deep inside, without lifting a finger?
The thought thrilled him. He clicked further into the Favorability section. Immediately, a new prompt appeared: You have one distributable Favorability Point.
Ignoring that for the moment, he studied the list before him—a complete ranking of every individual who felt positively toward him.
Nineteenth on the list was Ye Cang, whose favorability toward him sat at just seven points.
Before Li Fan could even think to ask, the system explained automatically:
"Zero points means strangers. One point means you've heard of each other. Five points means you occasionally nod in greeting. Ten points means ordinary friends…"
Li Fan instantly grasped the difference between his system and the ones in the novels he'd read.
In those stories, 50 points was "ordinary friends," anything lower was dislike, and favorability dropped at the slightest misstep.
His system was the opposite. Below zero meant dislike. Forty points meant friends willing to live and die together. And once a number rose, it was hard to bring down.
For example, a good friend with 20 points wouldn't be upset over a careless comment—they'd just laugh it off. The higher the number, the more forgiving they became, even going so far as to justify his mistakes in their own minds.
In short, it was a supercharged version of the "love-struck brain" during the passionate stage of romance.
And unlike normal relationships, this passion wouldn't fade over time—it would deepen and reinforce itself.
Better yet, it wasn't an illusion. When the system raised someone's favorability, the emotion was genuine, from the heart.
With that understanding, Li Fan's worries melted away.
This world didn't have many strong women, but there were some. If he could max out their favorability, he could turn the tide of any situation. And he still hadn't checked the Exchange function—there could be combat-oriented items too.
Li Fan made up his mind: Distribute that Favorability Point to Ye Cang, and use the Doubling Fruit on her.
"Assignment successful. Ye Cang's favorability increased to 8 points.""Favorability Doubling Fruit used successfully. Ye Cang's favorability increased from 8 to 16 points.""First-time allocation: gained 1 Skill Point.""First-time item use: gained 30 Skill Points.""Favorability increased by 9 points: gained 9 Skill Points."
Listening to the steady stream of system prompts, Li Fan exhaled in relief and returned his attention to reality.
Fortunately, the others in the office were still murmuring to each other. Spending twenty seconds with his head down might draw a few glances, but nothing more.
Skill Points… Likely the system's currency. And it seemed every increase in favorability earned him more. If the exchange rate was good, he might have a perpetual motion machine on his hands.
"Master Li Fan, are you all right?"
The sudden cold, feminine voice at his side carried genuine concern.
Li Fan turned to see Ye Cang leaning slightly toward him, her lithe figure tense, her normally cool and beautiful face softened with worry.
He knew immediately this was thanks to the 16 favorability points. According to the system, that already made them above-average friends.
Li Fan gave her his usual gentle smile, shook his head slightly, and replied softly: "I'm fine."
Ye Cang studied him, puzzled. Somehow, she felt they were already good friends. But that didn't make sense—they'd met only a handful of times, and those were just polite greetings.
Her thoughts tangled for half a second—then suddenly smoothed. Wait, what am I thinking? We've always been friends! True, we haven't talked much, but we clicked right away.
If anyone had known about the shift in her mind, they'd have been horrified. Her thoughts had been altered by some unseen force, yet she felt nothing amiss.
She gave a self-deprecating smile and simply looked at Li Fan quietly. Friends were rare for her, and Li Fan had just become one of her more important ones.
Li Fan, however, wasn't paying attention to her. He was already planning his next move.
System or not, he still needed to correct the grave mistake the Sand Village was about to make. That would buy him time to raise his combat ability and secure his own survival—only then could he think about anything else.
Chiyo had been listening silently as the whispers in the room grew into open discussion. Finally, she spoke:
"You are all the backbone of the village who remain here now. What do you think?"
Her voice was old and hoarse, barely louder than a whisper—yet the moment she spoke, the room fell silent. Such was her authority.
After a pause, a cautious middle-aged man in his forties said:
"Master Chiyo, with the Third Kazekage missing, we should immediately mobilize all forces and search the village from top to bottom."
It was the logical response, and most of the jonin clearly agreed.
Chiyo nodded slightly, then turned to Li Fan.
"Li Fan, what do you think?"
She had been observing everyone's reactions since the news was mentioned, and only Li Fan's composure stood out. He looked less surprised than prepared.
Li Fan met her gaze and said firmly: "Master Chiyo, I don't think that's possible."
The room's attention swung toward him instantly.
"Master Chiyo, you know my master's nature. He would never leave the village with his guards without a word. If we rule that out, there's only one possibility—he may have been killed. Most likely here in the village."
Chiyo's half-closed eyes snapped open, fixing him with a sharp stare.
Before she could reply, the man who had spoken earlier shot to his feet, outrage written across his face.
"Li Fan, watch your tongue! The Third Kazekage is the strongest in our history—how could he be killed in the village?"
Others quickly joined in:
"That's right! He's always guarded by two elite jonin.""To kill him and his guards without anyone noticing? Impossible!""You'd have to do it in under a minute without alerting a single shinobi—no one could pull that off!"
The accusations and glares of a dozen hardened jonin didn't shake Li Fan. He simply looked back at Chiyo and asked:
"Master Chiyo, as someone who's lived through the First and Second Ninja World Wars, would you place my master in the top five among the Five Great Ninja Villages?"
Chiyo stayed silent, but sadness flickered in her expression.
She knew all too well what his words implied. The Sand Village had long been weaker than the other four, and only the Third Kazekage's presence had lifted morale. Admitting he might have been killed—here, no less—would shatter that fragile confidence and invite chaos.
But Li Fan's blunt statement left no room for self-deception.
The room grew heavy. Several jonin who had leapt to their feet earlier sat down again, exchanging uneasy glances. No one needed Chiyo's answer—they already knew.
The Sand Village's "strongest Kazekage" was only strongest within the village. Compared to the other great powers, he was still half a step behind.
The office fell into a strained silence.