Chapter 25: Scam

Chapter 25: Scam

Over the next few weeks, I decided to focus a lot on my Water and Earth Elements. Since I had enough strength in Taijutsu for now.

I decided to pack a lot of rations, in case what was provided was not enough.

Right at dawn, the 5 of us began to move towards our new destination.

We didn't rush there, since we had to preserve stamina, but that being said we didn't move any slowly.

We paced ourselves according to the weakest link which is Sakura.

Eventually as we took our first break and were setting up our temporary camp, Naido sensei walked up to me with a stupid smile on his face.

He passed me the beads that he was wearing and said, "I am glad that you are officially a Buddist Shikomu."

This was the price one had to pay for power I guess.

I had managed to convince Naido sensei to teach me as many Jutsu as I could learn (Beyond the entry level) for the duration of the war.

In return, I had to become an official Buddist.

Not that I cared, since this was just a game…but it still felt a bit weird.

Anyways, knowing Naido Sensei over the past few weeks he would have ended up training us eventually anyways.

But now it's much sooner rather than later.

I also managed to convince him to teach our Genin team mates as well.

Sakura was too tired to train and Sasuke seemed uninterested since he went about doing his own things.

"Let's start with you, Ayumi." Naido sensei said as he passed Ayumi a chakra paper.

Yuki then initiated a private conversation with me, something new initiated by the system. During this, if both parties accepted, NPCs wouldn't be suspicious at all regarding their conversations.

Other players could overhear though.

"Hey man, how did you manage to get so close to Naido Sensei and other Jonins?" He questioned. "Are there any tips for communicating with NPCs?"

I didn't answer his question…there wasn't anything special to be honest…my title simply carried me.

At least, that's what I thought it was. If not, the NPC interactions I have had so far were really too easy compared to other players.

"I just treat them like normal people." I replied to which he nodded, seemingly taking it seriously.

"By the way, how strong are you?" I questioned, to which he replied, "Well over the past 5 weeks I became High-Chunin, I am just a bit from Genin, but I don't have any EXP saved up."

I nodded at that and continued my questioning, "Have you heard about the Personal Quests?"

"Yeah, I am up to date with the Forums. I am planning on selecting a B rank Personal Quest. I have seen some crazy quests for A ranks like killing 10 Jonin or perfecting an A rank Jutsu."

Wow dude if you think that one's hard…well, not like I could tell him which rank I had selected.

B rank didn't seem that bad too, but I just knew it put a massive cap on the upper limit of a player.

While the game probably wouldn't say 'You cannot become a Kage,' it will probably limit players in other ways.

For example, if you don't have a good Bloodline, it might be so that the game gives an absurd EXP requirement to become a Kage, which basically makes it impossible.

Or maybe the subsequent quests would just be too difficult to defeat without a good bloodline.

Either way, suffering now paved the way to success.

Well, that was basically the motto of real life too.

This game, just like life, had an exponential growth. You wouldn't really see your efforts impact anything early on, but eventually everything will compound.

At least that is what I strongly believed, and gaslighted myself into thinking it was true. Since if that wasn't my entire world would come crumbling down.

"That makes sense. But I don't think there is a harm in going for an A rank Quest. If you want, I can help you." I said, throwing out a bone.

There was a thing I had realised recently.

I was not just combating against other shinobi and players. I was fighting against entire factions.

And right now, I am not Madara Uchiha.

Actually, even Madara had his own Faction to help him behind the scenes to bring him back to the real world.

So it didn't harm me to try and help Yuki.

"Why do you know some secrets?" He questioned me.

"Something like that. I just think that taking an A rank is the bare minimum if you truly aim to become strong inside of this game.

Think about it, there are clear restrictions to power in this world. People from non prominent clans can at most reach the Jonin rank.

I know most information about Elite-Jonin are restricted, but there are barely any not from a strong bloodline.

Also based on the setting of this game, It cannot just let everyone become a Kage level Shinobi. There will be roadblocks.

This is probably the first major one."

Seeing that he understood my thought process, I continued, "If you want. I can help you become stronger. In return, I want you to be on my side."

To which Yuki looked up with a questioning look on his face, "Are you from one of the Great Guilds?"

"No." I replied, to which he seemed to have deflated a bit.

Guilds held a lot of sway over the world.

In a world where the Federation micro-managed and controlled everything, gaming and binding content was one of the only ways to kill boredom.

Being a part of the Guilds was a privilege, since it was a sure fire way to living a tolerable life.

That and joining the Federation.

"But I intend to compete against the Great Guilds, and for that I need more allies."

"How would you even be able to fight with the Great Guilds? Those guys have an extensive reach over the Gaming sector. Anyone even remotely good is on their side…"

Which is true.

Anyone with talent would want to go for the great guilds.

What I realised was in this game, a certain requirement of talent was still a requirement. While we barely feel pain, we do still feel a little amount.

To be able to think calmly in pain.

Not panic in a battle.

Basically having a Gamers Instinct.

Sure, it could be trained, but some people were naturally better than others.

But I had an easy way to bridge this gap, and that was my extensive knowledge of this world, second only to the AI controlling this entire world.

"Sure, but I already have my own Faction budding." I lied, "I know information that I am confident the Guilds don't know. If you join my side and prove your loyalty, I will definitely reward you."

Yuki nodded slightly, "So this is kind of like a transaction. I join your side and gain powers from you. In return, I help you if and when required?"

I frowned at the over simplification of the words…I would prefer it to say we work together, but it seems like he saw through what I was saying.

Also, it seemed like he was inclined to join me. Probably because while comparing to the ordinary player base, I seemed to be miles ahead in strength and NPC interactions.

"Something like that." I told him while nodding.

"How many people are on your side?" He questioned to which I had to think a bit…I didn't know what would be a good number after all.

"A couple of tens of us right now. We are spread across the world, so it is hard for us to meet. But we can communicate in the real world." I told him to which he nodded, buying my answer.

"I am inclined to join you." He told me to which I was slightly happy, "What will my position be? VIce- Guild Master?"

Bro…what? You just joined, I am NOT offering you the Vice Guild master position.

I mean, I will be making you do the work of a Vice Guild Master but I will not officially appoint you in such a position, at least for now.

I am going for a typical corporate structure from my old world. Do the work, give others the recognition! And then, I will throw you another bone to keep you loyal.

"No, that position is already taken. How about for now we say you're a team leader? A Manager of sorts, since I intend to unite the Player Base in the Hidden Leaf."

He nodded at that, seemingly not hating the idea.

"Alright then as your first mission." I said, to which he looked at me seriously, "Take an A rank mission."

"..."

"What? You want to eventually reach the Vice-Guild Master level right? For that, you need at least to be in the A rank!"

...

Authors note:

Give me power stones

You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator