Might Guy flailed his arms excitedly before pulling a rolled-up paper item from the backpack on his back.
"What's that?" Kakashi and Uchiha Mai asked in unison, curiosity written all over their faces.
Guy carefully unrolled the paper. It was an old poster of Tsunade, slightly yellowed with age, yet still unable to hide the overwhelming presence of the woman depicted on it.
In the image, Tsunade wore the standard Konoha jōnin vest. Her long blonde hair flowed freely in the wind, her features were sharp and beautiful, and her figure was - simply put - outrageous. Her eyes carried a lethal intensity that made one's heart race.
It was the kind of presence that left people breathless.
"My dad says Lady Tsunade is his idol," Guy explained proudly. "When he found out my mission was to bring her back, he gave me this poster he's kept for years and asked me to get her autograph for him."
Ah. That explained everything.
Uchiha Mai finally understood - Might Duy was a celebrity fanboy.
And honestly, it made perfect sense. Both were taijutsu specialists, and Tsunade also possessed… physical assets that far exceeded any reasonable human standard.
What man could possibly resist?
The three of them stared at the poster for quite some time, until the agreed meeting time had passed by more than ten minutes. Only then did Minato finally arrive, walking up at an unhurried pace.
"Sensei, did you get delayed helping someone again?" Uchiha Mai asked, kindly offering him an excuse.
"Well… not exactly," Minato scratched his head awkwardly. "I mean, it was helping someone, technically."
"Kushina heard I was going to Tanzaku Street and gave me a really long shopping list. She said things are cheaper there.
And before I left this morning, she suddenly dragged me out to buy a camera so I could take some 'touristy photos' for her."
The three students fell silent.
Case closed.
Minato Namikaze: full-time ninja, part-time personal shopper.
As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Kushina's movements were heavily restricted by the village. Wanting to experience the outside world was only natural.
With the team finally assembled, they set off toward Tanzaku Street.
Famous throughout the ninja world as a hot spring and gambling city, Tanzaku lay within Konoha's territory, less than a hundred kilometers away - a distance that could be covered in a single day.
Along the way, Minato tirelessly lectured his students, repeating safety tips and reminders over and over again, his sense of responsibility on full display.
Aside from Guy, both Uchiha Mai and Kakashi let everything go in one ear and out the other.
Clearly, Minato still hadn't discovered the correct way to educate a prodigy and a natural cheater.
During lunch, Uchiha Mai casually opened the system interface.
[Style Points: 337]
After beating Kakashi senseless, his Style Points had once again climbed past three hundred - enough for a one-star draw.
Originally, Mai planned to save them. His strength was growing rapidly, and if he developed a few more hybrid techniques, the system might upgrade and unlock a better reward pool.
But plans rarely survive reality.
He hadn't expected Minato to casually accept an A-rank mission - to retrieve Tsunade.
As a major figure in the original storyline, Tsunade was basically a gold mine for farming Style Points.
If he used a one-star draw now, boosted his strength a bit, and then shocked Minato and Tsunade once more, he'd earn those points back in no time.
Money never disappears - it just changes form.
With a firm resolve, Uchiha Mai spent 300 Style Points and initiated a single draw.
To the system's credit, it was surprisingly fair. No fragments, no predatory gacha tricks.
At worst, you'd just get something mildly useful instead of amazing.
A few seconds later, a card popped out of the reward pool.
[Way of the Wallet · ★ Reward]
"No martial art is invincible - except money."
According to rumors, a certain Silicon Valley billionaire, bored beyond belief, used this technique to defeat countless modern combat icons after financing his own vanity film.
John Wick.
Rocky Balboa.
Jason Bourne.
Bruce Lee.
Captain America.
None of them lasted more than a single round.
Active Skill:
By spending wealth, the user increases their fixed combat power for a set duration.
Both the cost and duration can be freely adjusted.
The higher the cost and the shorter the duration, the greater the increase - though diminishing returns apply.
"…What kind of cursed skill is this?" Uchiha Mai muttered.
He knew exactly who that billionaire was - a legendary capitalist, infamous for sayings like "working eighty hours a week builds character" and for turning every personal whim into an obscenely expensive spectacle.
Morally questionable? Absolutely.
Actually rich? Without a doubt.
This Way of the Wallet was clearly a parody of that bizarre short film the man had funded just to prove he could.
"System, explain what you mean by 'fixed combat power,'" Mai demanded.
Moments later, new text appeared.
Example:
If the user's current combat power is 30, spending 10,000 ryō for 1 minute grants a +1 increase for that duration.
Spending the same amount for 5 seconds instead grants +8.
Greater cost and shorter duration yield higher bonuses.
The bonus is independent of the user's base combat power and is affected by diminishing returns.
Uchiha Mai stroked his chin.
Got it. This was an early-game skill - fixed damage, bought with money.
Whether his base power was 100 or 100,000, the bonus wouldn't change as long as the cost and duration stayed the same.
That made it far more valuable while he was still relatively weak.
"What counts as 'wealth'?" he asked.
Currency, gold, silver, and jewelry.
Real estate, property, and business shares cannot be used.
This system was annoyingly specific.
It seemed that, in addition to training and developing techniques, he'd also need to seriously consider making money.
As they continued traveling, Uchiha Mai began plotting possible ways to get rich. After all, getting a new skill and not testing it would be a waste.
By sunset, the group finally arrived at Tanzaku Street.
Minato checked his wallet. The money reserved for Kushina's shopping was untouchable… and what remained was painfully little.
Left with no choice, he picked an old, run-down hotel on the outskirts of the city - the Regent Hotel - and rented a single room for the night.
"It'll have to do," Minato said awkwardly.
Uchiha Mai simply smiled.
The real journey had only just begun.
(End of Chapter)