The exchange catalog continued scrolling across Ethan's mental interface.
Each entry was a stark reminder of just how deep the system's reach went.
[Pair of Rinnegan: 30,000 SP]
[Low-Tier Affinity Fruit: 1 SP]
Instantly grants +2 Affinity to any target.
[Mid-Tier Affinity Fruit: 2 SP]
Instantly grants +5 Affinity.
[Mid-Tier Affinity Amplifier: 20 SP]
Doubles daily Affinity growth up to a cap of 100.
[High-Tier Affinity Amplifier: 40 SP]
Doubles daily Affinity growth up to a cap of 200.
[A Promise of Loyalty: 20 SP]
Generates a randomized high-affinity NPC with 100 Affinity Points.
[Instant Devotion: 600 SP]
Sets target Affinity to 300 within three seconds. Must be used face-to-face.
[Unbreakable Bond: 500 SP]
Raises a woman's Affinity to 200 within ten seconds reduces decay rate by 100×. Face-to-face required.
[Eternal Covenant: 700 SP]
Raises a woman's Affinity to 300 within ten seconds, decay rate ×100 persists across reincarnations. Face-to-face required.
Ethan blinked.
The prices were shockingly low.
The implications hit him like cold desert wind.
This wasn't just powerful.
It was scalable.
If he invested 40 SP into a High-Tier Affinity Amplifier, applied it strategically, and allowed natural interaction to raise Affinity over time...
The resulting gains would generate Skill Points.
Skill Points bought more amplifiers.
More amplifiers generated more Affinity growth.
Which generated more Skill Points?
A feedback loop.
Slow at first.
Explosive later.
He had traded one year of his lifespan for access to what was essentially a self-sustaining growth engine.
In hindsight?
That year looked like pocket change.
He decided to test the mechanics.
Quietly, internally:
"Redeem one High-Tier Affinity Amplifier. Apply to Yashalei."
Redemption successful.
[40 SP deducted]
[Remaining SP: 380]
Item applied
A notification followed.
[Yashalei Affinity +9]
[Total Affinity: 18]
[Affinity Growth Bonus: +9 SP]
Ethan's pulse ticked upward.
Exactly as suspected.
Affinity increases directly converted into Skill Points.
The system rewarded emotional investment.
Play patiently.
Choose targets wisely.
Let the numbers compound.
This wasn't brute force.
It was leverage.
He exhaled and forced his focus back to reality.
War still loomed.
He had read the manga and watched the anime years ago, but foreknowledge wasn't omniscience. Details blurred. Timelines overlapped.
He couldn't rely purely on memory.
He needed practical steps.
Immediate ones.
At the doorway, Yashalei shifted slightly.
She had been standing guard outside during the meeting.
For a brief moment, she pressed a hand to her chest, unsettled by a sudden emotional spike she couldn't explain.
.
.
.
.
The meeting wrapped up within the hour.
Jonin filtered out in clusters, voices low.
Aoki exited last among the louder group, his lingering glance toward Ethan edged with unresolved tension.
Not hostility.
Not yet.
But something calculating.
Ethan waited until Chiyo and Ebizo had departed before rising.
During most of the discussion, he had anchored the strategy around known historical outcomes, adjusting only where necessary.
He wasn't a military logistician.
In his previous life, his expertise had been office schedules and code debugging, not supply routes and battlefield formations.
He understood enough to steer the direction.
Not enough to micromanage tactics.
He knew his limits.
And he preferred not to bluff beyond them.
As he stepped into the hallway, a faint scent drifted beside him.
Subtle.
Warm.
He glanced down.
Pakura walked at his side.
"What is it?" he asked.
She adjusted a strand of orange hair, and for once, a faint flush touched her normally composed face.
Her eyes flicked toward him...then away.
"We haven't shared a meal in a while," she said, tone casual but deliberate.
"Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Ethan registered the context immediately.
Twenty-nine Affinity Points.
The system classified that as a trusted ally bordering on something deeper.
His experience with women had been limited to awkward office exchanges and overworked schedules.
He wasn't exactly smooth.
He hesitated, mentally scrambling for an appropriate response.
Pakura misread the pause.
She crossed her arms, cool humor sharpening her tone.
"You're not declining me, are you… future Kazekage?"
Her lips curved slightly.
"Have I suddenly become uninteresting?"
Heat crept up Ethan's neck.
"N..No... I was just thinking about where to go."
Pakura gave a soft scoff.
"The village restaurants are chaotic. If two Jonin show up together, half the population will stare."
A subtle glance toward him.
"You've never visited my place. It's about time."
A beat.
"I'll cook."
She added lightly, "Consider it… preparation for when you're too busy running the village to eat properly."
The invitation was simple.
Neighborly.
Nothing scandalous.
But Ethan's modern instincts flared with unnecessary caution.
Alone. Private home. Social implications.
His gaze drifted briefly, then snapped back to her eyes.
Pakura's expression softened.
Beneath her disciplined exterior, she was offering trust.
Hospitality.
Connection.
At the office doorway, Yashalei watched.
Her expression tightened subtly as she observed the two of them standing close.
A flicker of disappointment passed through her before she quickly masked it.
She had considered inviting him herself.
But the moment passed.
She stepped back.
Ethan, oblivious to the quiet emotional currents, nodded.
"Sure. Your place sounds good."
They walked down the corridor together.
Pakura's stride was steady and graceful.
Yashalei remained near the doorway for a moment longer than necessary, watching them turn the corner.
No drama.
No confrontation.
Just the subtle weaving of loyalties and emerging feelings in the shadow of political crisis.
Ethan's thoughts, however, were already moving ahead.
Fortify the village quietly.
Stabilize public perception.
Invest Skill Points carefully.
Allow Affinity to compound.
The system had handed him a mechanism.
Now all he needed was discipline.
Time.
And the patience to convert connection into influence...
And influence on survival.
---
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