"Mabui, you're here too? And that brat, Omoi."
Samui turned her head to look at her companions nearby.
Omoi, with dark skin and a toothpick in his mouth, said discontentedly, "Don't call me a brat. I'm already an official Genin of the Hidden Cloud Village. But I'll admit, this situation really sucks."
Mabui was the Raikage's secretary and possessed strong analytical abilities—just like the Nara clan in the Hidden Leaf Village. She wasn't known for her strength, but for her intelligence.
"I can't sense any chakra, so this probably isn't a genjutsu."
She furrowed her brow slightly and said, "It's very likely a type of space-time teleportation jutsu. But for someone to break through the Cloud Village's barrier team and abduct me right under Lord Raikage's nose…"
Such a terrifying jutsu was unheard of.
The Hidden Cloud Village did have its own space-time jutsu—Heavenly Transfer Technique, which could teleport objects to any location.
However, ordinary ninjas couldn't withstand the bodily strain caused during teleportation. Only someone with a powerful physique, like Lord Raikage, could handle it. Yet just moments ago, she saw many civilians—people who weren't even ninjas—get teleported.
"It's not just us. There are villagers from the Hidden Cloud, merchants who came from nearby towns to issue commissions, and even samurai escort squads who were brought here."
"And also, ninjas from other nations."
Samui nimbly grabbed onto a rooftop edge and climbed to a higher vantage point.
Mabui rubbed her temples and said, "See if there are any of our village's ninja nearby. Gather everyone together and try to avoid direct conflict with shinobi from other villages. Focus on collecting intel."
"I'm Sarutobi Asuma, a Jōnin from the Hidden Leaf."
"This mission is under my responsibility and classified as S-rank. All present shinobi, regardless of rank, are to prioritize intelligence gathering!"
Sarutobi Asuma addressed the gathered Leaf shinobi with a serious expression.
Hyūga Neji nodded and said, "Understood."
He had graduated two years ago and was under the guidance of Might Guy from the Hokage faction, so naturally, he knew who Asuma was.
Yakushi Kabuto obediently lowered his head. "Yes."
Gathering intelligence was certainly important—but not to aid the Hidden Leaf. It was to aid Lord Orochimaru.
Especially after hearing what the mysterious figure said about "eternal life"—even a small piece of intel might earn a reward from Lord Orochimaru.
"Alright!"
Uzumaki Naruto, who hadn't fully grasped the situation, immediately got fired up upon hearing the mention of such a high-level mission. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, will definitely complete the mission!"
Asuma glanced at him and said, "You'll come with me."
Although the mysterious person claimed that dying in the game would simply return one to the real world—
Seeing is believing. No one was going to risk that claim without trying it themselves—especially not with the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
After sensing the remaining players, the white-haired loli said, "All 300 players who logged out of the game were civilians. The remaining 200 players include nobles, guards, merchant caravans, and hired samurai."
Fang Yi nodded and said, "Although game eligibility was distributed outward from the ninja villages, not all players could be ninjas."
Ninja villages also housed many ordinary people—who, in fact, made up the majority.
Even during the previous Great Ninja Wars, the total number of allied ninja forces never exceeded tens of thousands. The standing armies of the major hidden villages weren't large either.
At this moment—
Most of the players who chose to stay in the game had already stepped into polluted zones and started encountering corrupted creatures.
Under Sarutobi Asuma's lead, the group of players was a highly mixed team.
Aside from two Chūnin from the logistics department, there was Hyūga Neji from a prestigious bloodline with the Byakugan, Uzumaki Naruto—Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails—and Yakushi Kabuto, a spy in disguise.
"What a magnificent structure!"
Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed in awe.
They had arrived at the polluted zone of the Ghost Mage, Sharina—the Death Soul Mountains.
The area featured ruined towns and villages, massive castles made of marble, churches, wide roads, beast-shaped statues, and sprawling stone walls.
This fantasy world—once inhabited by knights and mages—possessed tremendous labor power.
Even the destroyed ruins were more prosperous than medieval towns in reality. It felt like a special zone straight out of a game.
The architecture was completely different from that of the Land of Fire—far more grand and majestic.
"Did we really arrive in another world?"
Even Asuma was stunned. He reached out to touch the religious-style ruins before them.
Just then—
A dark gray shadow slipped out from a crack in the structure.
These were the lives slain by Sharina. After her death, she fell into the state of a Ghost Mage, becoming a piece on her own cursed chessboard.
"Enemy incoming!"
Hyūga Neji reacted swiftly. Though he lost the Byakugan's advantage in the game world, his observational instincts allowed him to be the first to detect the Ghost Mage's presence.
A crude short sword appeared in Asuma's hand.
They had found it in their inventory while examining the player interface—an innate beginner's weapon.
It had no stats.
Of course, Fang Yi wouldn't let players go fight monsters with their bare hands. That would be sending them to their deaths.
Five hundred weapons cost 500 reward points.
The white-haired loli said bitterly, "Why are we giving them weapons?"
Fang Yi smiled and explained, "Don't worry about early investments. Just one weapon can improve players' kill efficiency. Why wouldn't we do it?"
A glowing screen appeared before them—like a security room's monitoring system—divided into countless sections displaying players' actions.
Asuma and Hyūga Neji worked together to kill the ambushing Ghost Mage.
Upon the Ghost Mage's death, a wisp of essence dispersed and fused into Hyūga Neji's body, who had landed the final blow.
The white-haired loli said worriedly, "World consciousnesses in the past have also recruited humans to fight off pollution sources. But that method had a huge flaw."
"Essence is a very special substance—the purest form of primordial energy."
"When a corrupted entity dies, its essence instinctively merges with the life form that killed it. Even world consciousnesses can forcibly extract only a quarter of it. Most of the essence remains in the player's body. This causes significant waste."
Fang Yi was surprised. "So players kill pollution sources, and we get to pick up just one-quarter for free?"
The white-haired loli nodded bitterly. "Exactly. That's why past systems adopted 'madness progression' models—with mission failure penalties, death threats, and other mechanisms to force reincarnators to hand over their reward points. Should we do that too?"
"Of course not."
Fang Yi shook his head repeatedly and chuckled, "The free essence we collect is pure profit!"
"As for the essence remaining in the player's body—half accumulates as experience points. Once enough is gathered, the player is prompted to level up. As long as they choose to level up, I can extract that portion of essence and use it to strengthen their body—by giving them attribute points."
"The last portion is dropped as reward points. These can be used to purchase gear and skills from the shop to strengthen themselves. And something that costs me just one reward point to make will be sold in the shop for ten times that."
Since this system was designed to counter the pollution sources through a game, it was not a reckless or impulsive decision.
Fang Yi had many methods to make players willingly hand over their reward points.
The white-haired loli felt dizzy just listening and asked suspiciously, "If the shop prices are too high and players can't afford them, wouldn't that delay clearing pollution sources?"
"You don't understand what drives players at all."
Fang Yi sneered and explained, "The key is that it has to be expensive—so other players can't get it. Some people grind for months just to forge a Dragon Slayer Sword. Others sell their house to buy a pet egg. If everyone could easily get what they want, who'd be motivated to clear the pollution?"
"Besides, bloodline limits, jutsu, and ninja tools from the ninja world—all of that can be exchanged for essence, right?"
"If they don't want to grind, let them become money trees instead—come to me and exchange their valuable items for points!"
Fang Yi's gaze fell upon the players shown on the screen, as if a farmer admiring his lush field of chives.
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