Chapter 6: Function of the Golden Finger
The next day, by the time Masahiro woke up, it was already noon.
Sure enough, minors shouldn't drink.
Masahiro shook his groggy head, and after a quick wash, he lay down on the bed and began studying the system.
Yesterday at the clan academy, he hadn't fully figured out the system's specific functions before Takashi interrupted him.
As a result, there were many things he still didn't understand. Since there was still some time before class started, it was the perfect opportunity to thoroughly study this system that resembled *allogene* yet wasn't quite it.
Once he started studying it, time flew by.
Bang, bang, bang—
Masahiro was once again interrupted by Takashi's knocking.
But it didn't matter; fortunately, he had thoroughly researched the system.
While Takashi wore an expression that clearly said, [You didn't just wake up now, did you?], Masahiro engaged in casual conversation with him while rapidly organizing the system information in his mind.
First, the system only had the functions of Character Cultivation, Inventory, Gacha, and opening chests in the Open World.
In the Character Cultivation section, there were no Exclusive Weapons or artifact, leaving only four sections: leveling up, breakthrough, Talents, and Constellation.
There were only three passive Talentss.
He checked, and the Talents he started with was [Hagoromo's Bloodline]: All Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu are mastered immediately upon learning.
The latter two Talentss required reaching level 41 and level 61, respectively, to unlock, so he couldn't see them yet.
As for leveling up and breakthrough, the changes were minor.
He tested it, and besides using the drawn item [ninja experience], refining Chakra himself could also increase the experience bar and level him up.
Breakthroughs could be previewed, and they hadn't changed much from the original.
There was one breakthrough at level 20, one at level 40, and subsequent breakthroughs at levels 50, 60, 70, and 80.
The attribute gained from breakthrough was Chakra volume. Masahiro was very satisfied with this, as he wouldn't have to worry about becoming a unit of measurement like Kakashi later on.
Regarding these breakthrough levels, apart from the game mechanics, Masahiro felt they might be linked to the power divisions in the *Hokage* world.
This was because these levels corresponded perfectly to the Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, Kage, Super Kage, and Six Paths tiers in the original work.
As for breakthrough materials, only two remained: lily of the valley and proof of strength. lily of the valley was a gathering material, and proof of strength was only needed starting with the level 40 breakthrough, so there was no rush yet.
In this way, leveling up felt much simpler than in the game.
Although the required lily of the valley materials were ten times that of the game—for instance, breaking through to level 21 only required 3 lilies of the valley in the game, but he needed 30 in reality.
However, lilies of the valley were quite common; if he saw them, he could just pick a few and stockpile them. As for the other material, proof of strength, he had no clue about it.
Finally, the Open World and Gacha complemented each other.
Although the Naruto World didn't have puzzles for him to solve, according to the system's feedback, various chests of different levels were scattered across the world, waiting for him to open them.
This was his only way to acquire resources for Gacha.
Gacha still cost 160 Primogems per pull, with a guaranteed purple item every ten pulls.
It wouldn't yield characters; Ninjutsu and ninja experience would take their place.
Blue items corresponded to E- to C-rank Ninjutsu.
Purple items corresponded to B- to A-rank Ninjutsu.
Gold items corresponded to S-rank Ninjutsu.
It still featured the familiar 90-pull guaranteed drop, and any Ninjutsu that had appeared in *Naruto* was in the pool, but what he pulled was entirely random.
If he pulled a duplicate Ninjutsu, he could use it for refinement.
Refinement 2 (R2) effect: Ninjutsu release speed reduced by 20%.
Refinement 3 (R3) effect: Chakra consumption reduced by 20%.
Refinement 4 (R4) effect: Ninjutsu effectiveness increased by 20%.
Refinement 5 (R5) effect: Casting without hand seals.
Holy cow, this was better than an Exclusive Weapon!
As for the Constellation section, just like the Talentss, he couldn't see the specific effects before unlocking them. They needed to be unlocked using byproducts generated from Gacha pulls.
Every pull, regardless of duplication, only yielded one Starglitter. Collecting 100 Starglitter could unlock 1 Constellation, for a total of 6 Constellations.
Thinking of how stingy the game was, Masahiro couldn't help but let out a long sigh of despair.
100 Starglitter just to unlock 1 Constellation? He only got 10 from yesterday's 10-pull! When would he ever save enough?
Why didn't I play honkai: star rail back then? The benefits were much better!
"What 'Rail'?" Takashi looked at Masahiro confusedly. Why had he been so absent-minded these past two days? And why was he constantly spouting strange words?
Ah? Did I say that out loud?
Masahiro was startled and scratched his head awkwardly: "I was wondering if there was a flower shop on the Blacksmith Shop street."
"Central Street? No, there isn't."
Takashi looked at Masahiro as if he were an idiot: "Didn't we go there yesterday when we bought groceries?"
"Besides, nobody would open a flower shop inside the clan territory, right? Who has the time to buy flowers? It's better to buy more exploding tags for self-defense."
Once Takashi started complaining, he wouldn't stop nagging.
Masahiro felt a headache coming on and quickly cut him off: "You're right, you're right. I didn't rest well yesterday, I'm a bit confused."
"Why are you looking for a flower shop?"
"Uh—I suddenly took a liking to lilies of the valley recently and wanted to buy some."
"lily of the valley?" Takashi frowned and thought for a moment: "If it's the lily of the valley I know, aren't they just at the training ground?"
"What?" Masahiro had just said it casually, but who knew the know-it-all Takashi actually knew about it: "The training ground from yesterday?"
"Yup."
"Why didn't I see them?"
"Some people, their eyes were stuck up in the sky yesterday because they were so proud. It's not strange that they didn't see them."
"Hehe." Masahiro scratched his head sheepishly.
————
Arriving at the training ground, Masahiro eagerly scanned the area for lilies of the valley.
Unexpectedly, just as Takashi had said, clusters of pure white lilies of the valley were growing in an inconspicuous corner. Without thinking, Masahiro excitedly rushed toward them.
"What are you doing? When I said next time, I didn't mean now! Wait until I learn a new Ninjutsu before we compete again—"
Retsu watched Masahiro rushing toward him and frantically assumed a defensive posture. However, Masahiro completely bypassed him and headed straight for a cluster of small white flowers behind him.
"1 flower, 2 flowers—why are there only 17?" Just as Masahiro was muttering and picking flowers, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something wooden behind a thicket of branches.
"No way? Seriously?"
Masahiro quickly pushed aside the crisscrossing vines and indeed found a mahogany chest inlaid with gold edges: "Haha, such good luck, and a valuable one too."
Suddenly remembering something, Masahiro quickly looked back and saw only Retsu staring at him blankly, terrified, with an expression that said, 'Don't come near me.'
Only I can see it? That makes things easier.
Masahiro decisively reached out, and the moment he touched the chest, the system notification popped up.
[Obtained Primogem*5]
[Obtained ninja experience*3]
[Obtained Substitution Jutsu*1]
Masahiro immediately refined the Substitution Jutsu to R2, and then instantly used the experience books.
Unexpectedly, he only leveled up twice this time.
Well, if one experience book could grant a level, wouldn't he be able to reach the moon right away?
Masahiro curled his lip internally, only able to comfort himself this way.
Seeing Retsu still frozen in place, Masahiro, who was in a good mood, patted his shoulder: "It's fine. I'm in a good mood today. We'll compete again next time you've mastered a new Ninjutsu."
"O-of course. I will definitely defeat you then!"
Masahiro paid no attention to Retsu's shouting behind him.
With the system, his speed of growth would be terrifyingly fast, and the number of people defeated by him would only increase.
These people would only be able to watch his retreating figure, growing more desperate the harder they tried. Because eventually, they would realize they couldn't even see his shadow.
"Good afternoon, Zensuke."
Masahiro, holding a bouquet of lilies of the valley, greeted Zensuke: "How's it going? Have you managed to refine any Chakra?"
"Not yet." Zensuke lowered his head, his voice low: "I tried all night, but I didn't feel anything at all. I really don't have Talents like Big Brother."
Masahiro patted Zensuke's shoulder, encouragingly saying: "Don't be discouraged over something so small. If once doesn't work, try twice. If one day doesn't work, try two days."
"Mhm, I will work hard." Looking at the flowers in Masahiro's hand, Zensuke asked curiously: "Big Brother, do you really like this kind of flower?"
"That's right, I love them. They're called lilies of the valley. If you see this flower in the future, remember to bring some to me!"
The young man held up the pure white lilies of the valley, his smile bright and radiant.
"Mhm, I remember!" Zensuke nodded.
Takashi, standing nearby, stared silently at the bouquet of white flowers, merely pushing up his glasses.
.
.
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