Magicians have strong mental resilience because many high-risk magic tricks require such a powerful mindset!
Facing White Fang, Haruto Saito showed no flaws. Magicians are, after all, legal deceivers; he excelled at deception. If he said the assassin drowned, then the assassin drowned. Whether White Fang believed him or not was irrelevant—he could still say it with a straight face.
White Fang stared at Haruto for a long moment before finally speaking. "Drowned?"
"Yes, absolutely! He couldn't hold his breath underwater as long as I could, and his swimming skills were inferior. I seized the opportunity when he choked on water and killed him." Haruto blinked innocently at White Fang.
White Fang's brows furrowed tightly.
Haruto's ability to lie so blatantly was something to behold.
Even an idiot wouldn't believe such nonsense, yet Haruto delivered it with unwavering sincerity!
"It seems I've underestimated you," White Fang said in a deep voice, as if implying something.
"I swear, I'm telling the truth!"
"Hmph!"
White Fang snorted coldly before vanishing.
Haruto immediately turned to look out the window. As expected, White Fang had appeared by the lakeshore, speaking in hushed tones with Shenhe before disappearing again. Shortly afterward, Shenhe and the other Anbu members left, taking the corpse with them.
"Hatake Sakumo… He's definitely going to report this to Hiruzen Sarutobi," Haruto speculated.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was regarded as the greatest Hokage in Konoha's history. A master of all five nature transformations, secret techniques, and sealing arts, he was known as the 'Professor of Ninjutsu.'
Looking at the history of the Hidden Leaf, Hiruzen Sarutobi was undoubtedly the village's greatest legend.
Haruto had been in Konoha for over half a month but had yet to meet him. He knew that he was still a minor character. Even if Sarutobi was paying attention to him, he could simply delegate matters to his subordinates without needing to summon Haruto personally.
"I wonder if news of me killing a Jonin-level assassin will spread?" Haruto suddenly felt concerned.
It wasn't impossible—it was highly likely!
Any significant event concerning Haruto always spread through Konoha at an eerily fast rate. It had happened too many times already.
The more he thought about it, the more he sensed impending trouble. Eventually, he decided to stop worrying—strengthening himself was more important.
If soldiers come, you fight; if water rises, you block it. As long as he was strong enough, any trouble would be nothing but a passing cloud.
Shaking off his thoughts, Haruto reopened the Reputation Store interface.
After quickly scanning through it, he found nothing particularly appealing. There were A-rank jutsu and some forbidden techniques, but they were either too expensive or required massive amounts of chakra—neither suited Haruto at this stage.
He immediately pulled out the Reputation Store Refresh Card and, without even asking the system, bit into it.
"Ding! The Reputation Store has been forcibly refreshed!"
With the system prompt, the translucent floating interface flashed, and ten new exchange options replaced the previous ones.
The very first option made Haruto freeze in shock—it was Sage Mode! Priced at a staggering 1,800,000 reputation points! He counted the zeroes twice just to be sure.
That was something he could only dream about for now.
He continued scrolling down.
As before, most options were either too expensive or wouldn't provide a significant improvement at this stage. But when he reached the seventh item, his eyes lit up.
"Exchange for Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
"Exchange complete."
The C-rank jutsu Fire Release: Flame Bullet only cost 200 reputation points, yet it would grant Haruto a massive boost.
Because he had already consumed three Flame Bullet technique cards, this would be his fourth. According to the stacking rules, once consumed, the technique's power would multiply eightfold!
At that level, it would be comparable to high-tier B-rank fire-style techniques like Great Fire Dragon Jutsu. However, unlike a true B-rank jutsu, Haruto's version wouldn't require as much chakra—just a little more than usual to unleash eight times the power!
"An eightfold power increase… It should cover at least a ten-meter radius," Haruto muttered as he retrieved the card from his inventory and bit into it.
He continued scanning the list.
The last three exchange options were:
Special Weapon: Tremor Blade – 36,000 reputation points.
A-rank Ninjutsu: Lightning Release Chakra Mode – 56,000 reputation points.
A-rank Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique – 8,000 reputation points.
He skipped the first two since they were too expensive and focused on the last one.
Mystical Palm Technique!
An advanced medical ninjutsu requiring high chakra control, notoriously difficult to master. In the original story, only a handful of elite medical ninjas in Konoha's medical corps could use it.
After considering it, Haruto asked, "Why is there such a large price gap between A-rank jutsu? I saw Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation before, which is a high-powered A-rank fire jutsu, but it only cost 5,000 reputation points. Yet Mystical Palm costs 8,000, and Lightning Release Chakra Mode is 56,000?"
"The Reputation Store follows a unique pricing algorithm, considering factors such as attack type, support capabilities, close or long-range effectiveness, and area of effect. Attack and defense jutsu are generally priced lower, while support abilities have specialized effects that make them more expensive. Lightning Release Chakra Mode is particularly costly due to its difficulty in mastering—at its peak, it is an S-rank technique bordering on an ultimate art."
"Understood," Haruto nodded.
The high price of Lightning Release Chakra Mode made sense. In the original series, it was demonstrated in terrifying ways.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode, also known as Ninja Taijutsu: Lightning Cloak, was mastered by the Third and Fourth Raikage. The Third Raikage possessed a nearly indestructible 'strongest shield' and once fought ten thousand Iwagakure ninjas for three days and nights. The Fourth Raikage was known for his extreme speed, rivaling teleportation.
"I'll exchange for Mystical Palm," Haruto decided.
Healing cards were precious; he needed to conserve them. Learning a powerful medical ninjutsu would make his life much easier and save him a lot of trouble.
After consuming the Mystical Palm technique card, he checked his remaining reputation points—4,800. Then he closed the Reputation Store interface.
Half an hour later.
Now clean and dressed in fresh clothes, Haruto appeared in the bustling streets of Konoha. It was already mid-morning, and he hadn't had breakfast yet.
Just as he was about to step into the Ichikawa Flavors restaurant, he suddenly felt a firm grip on the back of his neck.
Before he could react, his vision blurred. The next moment, he was no longer in the market district—he had been taken to a small forest nearby. Standing next to him was someone incredibly strong, someone who had transported him instantly with sheer speed.
Haruto immediately leaped to the side, putting some distance between them before turning to see his captor.
The man wore a black robe and a mask, his presence exuding an eerie, cold authority. He looked incredibly mysterious.
But Haruto could see his information clearly.
——
Name: Danzo Shimura
Identity: Fire Country's Hidden Leaf Village Advisor, Leader of the 'Root' Anbu Special Forces.
Reputation: 49,136
Relationship: Neutral
——
Danzo!
Haruto was startled. It was him!
Why had he suddenly sought him out?
"The Hokage wants to see you," Danzo rasped.