Honestly, when Maya saw the price tag on this Diamond Lv. 1 sealing jutsu, she kind of blanked out.
Not because it was too expensive. Fifteen thousand? No—150,000 was cheap. Way too cheap.
As the system's designer, Maya knew her shop's pricing followed a clean pattern.
The Bronze roulette cost 10 points per spin. Bronze items ranged from Lv. 1 to Lv. 10, with prices fluctuating between 10 and 100 points—basically a level multiplier of the roulette cost.
Silver roulette: 1,000 per spin. Gold: 50,000. Diamond: 200,000.
Items at each tier were priced within a predictable band. Medic bandages, Bronze Lv. 4: 450 points. Ichiraku ramen, Bronze Lv. 7: 800 points. Shikamaru's Shadow Bind, Gold Lv. 1: 10,000 points. The price floor for any item was the cost of one spin at its tier's roulette. The ceiling? Unlimited—could be several times that floor, or over ten times.
You might say, Shadow Bind is only 10,000 points—just a fifth of the Gold roulette's 50,000. But Shadow Bind was only one technique from the Nara Clan's arsenal, which included many more. The ones Maya used most—Shadow Touch, Shadow Escape—would've cost well over 50,000 combined. Madam President had reverse-engineered those herself from Shadow Bind, using pure talent and deduction.
Same story with the Hansen Three-Body Technique—she'd derived it from the theory of universal wave oscillation. The prices weren't low because the items were weak. A certain President was just that gifted.
But the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was different. This wasn't the Third Hokage's incomplete version, or the Fourth's. It wasn't even Orochimaru's complete version. This was the original Uzumaki Clan exclusive—uncut, uncorrupted, the real deal.
(For reference: most fans know the Third and Fourth's versions. Orochimaru also knew the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, though he never used it offensively. He obtained the Uzumaki Clan's Shinigami Mask, freed the souls of the past Hokages, and in the process, restored his own sealed arms.)
The gap between those versions was like the difference between Sasuke's Fire Style, Obito's Fire Style, and Madara's Fire Style.
(P.S.: Sasuke's primary offense was Lightning Style. Obito, on the other hand, relied on Fire Style from childhood and was stronger with it than Sasuke. As for Madara—his Fire Style was just absurdly overpowered.)
By Maya's reckoning, Diamond Lv. 1 was a fair rating. After all, this was a mutual-destruction jutsu—powerful but awkwardly niche.
But an Uzumaki exclusive version? Even at 1.5 million, Maya would've called it reasonable. Because this thing was broken. A general trading lives with another general was one thing. But a colonel dragging a general down with him? That was a whole different equation.
(The Dead Demon Consuming Seal uses the caster's soul as a sacrifice, dragging the enemy into mutual annihilation. But the power gap can't be too large. The Third Hokage proved this—after sealing away the First and Second Hokages, he no longer had enough strength left to seal Orochimaru as well.)
So seeing this absurdly low price actually made Madam President suspicious. Was there a catch she was missing?
Regardless—this was a must-buy. Non-negotiable.
"Ding-dong! 150,000 Influence Points deducted. Acquired: Diamond Lv. 1 Uzumaki Clan Exclusive Top-Tier Sealing Jutsu—Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
"Ding-dong! Congratulations on being the first player to spend 100,000 Influence Points in this shop! Reward: Gold-tier Targeted Refresh Card ×1! Keep up the great work—reach for even greater heights!"
"Ding-dong! Player has spent a cumulative 200,000 Influence Points in this shop! Reward: Silver-tier Targeted Refresh Card ×1!"
"Note: Targeted Refresh Cards can only refresh items of the corresponding tier in the Black Shop. They specify the category but not the specific item."
"Friendly reminder: Hey there, valued customer~! You've now spent a cumulative 250,000 Influence Points in our shop! Spend just 50,000 more and you'll earn another Silver-tier Targeted Refresh Card! You can do it—ganbare!"
Watching her Influence Points plummet from the hundreds of thousands down to 55,205, President Maya's heart bled. The shopping high that had seized her brain evaporated instantly, replaced by crystal clarity.
At least her hunch about the system was confirmed. When she'd designed the spending milestones, she'd built in Targeted Refresh Cards as cumulative rewards—this was a gacha system, after all. The whole point was to incentivize whaling.
Even the hardcore grinders? I'm squeezing a few drops of oil out of them!
And now Maya had gone full whale.
Under two months and she'd blown 250,000 points. She never could have imagined it. All those years of schoolyard dominance—bullying kids for Influence Points—had netted barely 30,000-something total. Then she'd started cosplaying as Spider-Man, heading out to farm street mobs, and suddenly she was pulling in several hundred a night. With Matt's assist, tonight's haul alone had exploded to three or four thousand.
And if she kept occasionally fleecing Tony—that walking headline generator—was a monthly income of 100,000 really just a dream?
At this thought, Madam President's pallid little face finally flushed back to a healthy pink.
"Mm, the future is bright! Matt, sorry buddy, but you're pulling all-nighters with me from now on. Not that it affects me—that's a Shadow Clone up there, not the real Madam President. My beauty sleep is untouched. As for you, Matt... you wear sunglasses every day, so nobody can see your dark circles anyway. No problem, daijoubu!"
A certain unscrupulous President was now scheming how to work her sole underling half to death. And she needed a way to make Matt want to join the all-nighter cult.
The Chrysler Building, built in 1928, stood as one of Manhattan's most iconic landmarks, every bit as famous as the Empire State Building.
The time was 11 PM. Matt huddled in a corner atop the building, neck tucked into his collar, shivering at 300 meters (985 feet) above the street. In his hands was a battery-powered long-wave radio, and between chattering teeth, he periodically reported block coordinates and incidents.
"M-Maya, I—I'm c-cold. I—I w-want to go home. To s-sleep! I—I c-can't—can't keep going!"
The Shadow Clone sailed between buildings mid-leap. "Hang in there, Matt! You've got this! Think about all those New Yorkers who need us. We're doing good—we're superheroes! Tell you what, I'll swing by a store and grab you a blanket. You know how it is—this radio's range is garbage and it picks up interference like crazy. Your position has to be high up. The Chrysler's top floor at least has a windbreak, and it's right in Midtown—perfect location! Stay strong. Think about your hero dream!"
"I—I d-don't want—to be—a hero. I want—to go—home—and sleep!"
"Just a little longer! You've got your own room now, separate from your dad. I pick you up through the window every time anyway—what would you even do if you went back this early? No school tomorrow, either. Everyone's going to Central Park for the spring field trip. Don't worry about it!"
The Shadow Clone was racking up Influence Points like crazy—no wait, was so absorbed in saving people that she simply couldn't stop. Why would she send Matt home now? Without him, who was going to be her human radar?
Meanwhile, a store owner was calmly handing Spider-Man a hot dog and a carton of milk. In honor of Spider-Man's service, he threw in two extra egg tarts free of charge.
According to the owner, he'd been watching Spider-Man zip east and west all night, and the hero looked pretty worn out. Whether this was Tony Stark himself or Tony Stark's bodyguard, Spider-Man was a bona fide hero doing good work in the dead of night. The extra tarts were a gesture of appreciation.
Too bad it was all for Matt. Shadow Clones didn't eat.
As for where the Shadow Clone got the money?
Well... while rescuing a mugging victim earlier, she'd helped herself to an "Alexander."
(Alexander Hamilton, first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. His face is on the ten-dollar bill.)