Chapter 14 Ulterior Motives

Upon returning to the platform, many students immediately took notice of Kadoya's new blue "kimono," the kanji for Water emblazoned on his back.

Like the nosy children they were, whispers and murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Did you see that?"

"That's not what he was wearing before, right?"

"Did he get it from Lady Tsunade?"

Speculation ran wild. Many had already begun to suspect that Tsunade had taken Kadoya as her disciple.

Ignoring the gossip, Kadoya walked past them, making his way toward Minato and Saiguu.

"Have the second-year battles finished?" he asked.

Minato nodded. "The top three spots are decided—me, you, and Saiguu."

He then gestured toward a figure standing at a distance. Nawaki Senju. The boy was glaring at Kadoya, his expression somewhere between frustration and wounded pride.

"His last match was against Saiguu. He forfeited before it even started. Not sure why, but he's been looking pretty miserable ever since."

Saiguu frowned, arms crossed. "Hmph. He looks like the type who'd get blown to pieces the moment he steps onto a battlefield." The disappointment in her voice was evident—having the last Senju in their grade surrender without a fight was nothing short of an insult.

"Was he injured?" Minato asked.

Kadoya barely spared Nawaki a glance before waving him off dismissively. "Ignore him. He just doesn't know how to properly enjoy the embrace and love of an older sister."

At that, Nawaki's glare only intensified.

Minato & Saiguu: "...?"

The two nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Standing at a distance, not only Nawaki but also Jiraiya glared at Kadoya with unmistakable jealousy.

That blue haori with the kanji for Water on the back—Jiraiya knew exactly what it was.

Tsunade's old haori.

How the hell did this Uchiha brat get his hands on something so valuable!?

Jiraiya took a step forward, intending to demand an explanation, but before he could take another, he remembered—he had responsibilities. As one of the supervisors for the third-year battles, he had to stay put alongside Orochimaru. Meanwhile, that damn Uchiha brat was walking off with the Hyuga girl and the commoner boy, looking completely unbothered.

Jiraiya grit his teeth. Lucky bastard.

With time to rest before the next round, Minato still looked pleased about securing third place. Considering how difficult it was to stand out among his peers, it was a solid achievement.

"So what's next? Are the three of us fighting again? Or are we moving on to challenge students from other grades?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Saiguu confirmed. "We're moving into squad battles, grouped by grade. The rankings will be judged by the Third Hokage's disciples based on performance."

She then pointed her thumb toward Kadoya. "We already know this jerk is going to be Tsunade-sama's disciple, so it's best if we get Lord Orochimaru and Lord Jiraiya's attention."

"Well," Kadoya mused, "if I had to pick, I'd say Minato would work best with Jiraiya-sama, Saiguu with Tsunade-sama, and I'd go with Orochimaru-sama."

Both Minato and Saiguu raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? Care to explain?" Saiguu asked, intrigued. Minato also leaned in, interested in his reasoning.

Kadoya smirked. "Jiraiya-sama is free-spirited, which would work well with Minato. Plus, he already seems interested in you."

Minato considered the thought, then nodded in agreement.

Kadoya turned to Saiguu. "With your Byakugan, you can look inside a person's body—perfect for medical work. You could see injuries in ways others would have to train for years to recognize. That gives you a natural advantage as a medical-nin."

Saiguu's eyes widened slightly.

"I never thought of that... Interesting." She murmured, now genuinely considering the idea.

Kadoya continued, "And finally, I like studying and creating jutsu. Orochimaru-sama is the only one who can help me with that."

It was a logical setup—each of them would train under one of the future Sannin, maximizing their strengths.

Of course, in Kadoya's mind, there was more to it.

Tsunade? He could squeeze all her knowledge out of her through a few well-placed bets. He already understood her inside and out.

Jiraiya? He had nothing to offer him. Kadoya could already summon a ninja frog, and as for Sage Mode… he had a complete training method in his mind. The process simply took time—he didn't need to relearn what he already knew.

That left Orochimaru. The only one who could truly help him get stronger.

And strength was the only thing that mattered.

As expected, once the student battles concluded, Jiraiya formed a series of hand seals, deconstructing the smaller earthen platforms used for individual fights. The ground rumbled as the terrain shifted, the stone retracting as if swallowed back into the earth.

Immediately after, Orochimaru followed suit, his hands weaving a different set of seals. Moments later, a new battlefield emerged—this one far larger, towering over the original with an imposing presence.

"Everyone, rest for half an hour," Orochimaru announced in his smooth, yet eerily hoarse voice. "The second round of battles will resume in the afternoon. Students who have been eliminated may return to class if they do not wish to stay and watch."

His gaze lingered on Kadoya a fraction too long for comfort before he vanished in a blur, leaving behind only the faint trace of his presence.

Tsunade, meanwhile, practically bounced away, looking suspiciously eager—most likely heading off to gamble. Before leaving, she made sure to wink at Kadoya, as if deliberately painting a massive target on his back.

The last to leave was Jiraiya. From the stage, he locked eyes with Kadoya, wiggled his eyebrows in exaggerated jealousy before making a haughty expression—one that barely masked his clear envy.

Then, as if suddenly struck by urgency, he sprinted after Tsunade, his movements frantic—like a man who had just spotted his long-lost lover.

Kadoya sighed.

All three of them have ulterior motives.

And somehow, they were all directed at him.

Not that he paid them much attention. His focus was already elsewhere—his eyes locked onto his System Points.

System Point: 6

Ninja Point: 2293

Evil Point: 10106

He narrowing his gaze to one of his latest completed quests.

"Defeating a Sanin (Tsunade)"

Reward: + 1 System Point + Skill: [I am not Drunk!]

[I am not Drunk!] - The user is unable to get drunk from consuming any type or form of alcohol.

He has finished this quest after beating Tsunade in her game of poker and draining her of all her money. Kadoya is pretty sure that if he kept pushing, Tsunade might actually bet the necklace her grandfather gave her. But doing so might harm their future relationship, so he didn't push any further and used her own money to pay for his tuition fee.

Although this quest reward wasn't too exciting like when he knocked out Jiraiya by accident, being unable to get drunk by alcohol now meant he would have more ways to scam- ahem, win more bets from Tsunade.

Hidden Quest: "The Student of the Three Sanin: Act 1 (Tsunade)"

Reward: + 1 System Point + Increase Tsunade Bond Level 

First of all, he didn't know that his system had a Bond Level.

Second, he couldn't find this bond level anywhere, so he just concluded that this reward meant Tsunade's opinion of him had increased.

So he didn't pay much attention to it besides knowing that now if he became the disciple of the other Sanin, that just meant free System Point, and free System Point meant free Gacha Rolls, so to get more Gacha Rolls. Kadoya has made up his mind that he would train under the three Sanin, farming points off of them.

Still now with enough Points to earn him a 10x roll, Kadoya didn't hesitate to turn his 10000 Evil Points into 4 Gacha Points before spending them all on a 10x roll.

Congratulations! [New!] String Attribute Unlocked, [New!] Haori of the Vow, Stamina Potion, [New!] Mother's Scarf, [New!] Safety Rubber Ducky, [New!] Demon King of The Sixth Heaven's combat clothes, [New!] Sharingan: Slashed Dream Cries in Red, [New!] Sage Mode (Spider) Training Method, [New!] Water Style: Water Shuriken, [New!] Metal Plate, [New!] Mera Mera No Mi

Kadoya looked at his rewards, and he couldn't tell whether this was a win or not.

String Attribute and Sage Mode (Spider) Training Method, does this mean he could become Spider-Man now? Kadoya isn't sure, but he is excited for the possibility of becoming one. 

After all, Kadoya found his mischievous personality is a perfect match for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But this world needs someone like Venom instead of Spider-Man. Someone who is willing to kill.

Kadoya knew in this ninja world, he couldn't be the narrow-minded, kind-hearted superhero with a no-kill policy.

Still, with more options in Sage Mode, Kadoya is curious about gaining the unknown ability granted by his Sage Mode Spider Model.

Haori of the Vow is the cyan haori worn by a member of the Shinsengumi, or to put it short, the same haori worn by Okita Souji. The thing is... this is just a simple haori, nothing too special about it. It doesn't carry the additional boost that the other items he gains from his system have. "This feels like a ripoff."

Mother's Scarf is a dark blue scarf with bright cyan stars attached to it. According to his memory, this scarf belonged to Tiamat in Fate Grand Order. The effect is wrapped in mother's love... whatever that is.

Demon King of The Sixth Heaven's combat clothes are the black military clothes belong to Oda Nobunaga, which carry the effect of a 20% boost in all stats as long as the wearer is participating in a war. "Umu! Once the war comes, I'm definitely wearing this."

Water Style: Water Shuriken... he could totally learn this from his Greninja later on, so this is kinda a waste of a roll.

Metal Plate... go into the inventory. He doesn't have Magnet or Metal Release, so this is just a stone slap right now in his hand.

The Safety Rubber Ducky is just a massive yellow rubber ducky that he could use as a boat.

Sharingan: Slashed Dream Cries in Red... Kadoya didn't expect this. Getting a unique Sharingan's ability before getting the Mangekyou Sharingan. Kadoya was a bit afraid of using this ability; his Sharingan Level is still weak if he uses this without unlocking the Mangekyou, and might actually go blind after one or two uses.

And lastly, the Mera Mera No Mi. Umu, a devil fruit, the Flame Flame Fruit in One Piece, with it same orange flame shape used by Ace. Kadoya wants to eat it... But he knew the drawback carried by eating a devil fruit.

He is a water style Ninja, if his weakness becomes water, then wouldn't that be shotting himself in the foot?

So he reluctantly put the Mera Mera No Mi into his inventory.

Sighing, Kadoya narrowed his gaze toward his stats points before spending his Ninja Points on increasing his stats.

System Point: 0

Ninja Point: 17

Evil Point: 106

Sharingan Level 4 (742/2000)

Chakra Level 10 (214/5000)

Taijutsu Level 6 (32/3000)

Throwing Level 4 (227/2000)

Hand Seals Level 6 (0/3000)

Ninjutsu Level 7 (0/3500)

Genjutsu Level 4 (102/2000)

Hamon Level 6 (2145/3000)

Fūinjutsu Level 7 (122/3500)

Wind Attribute Level 2 (0/1000)

Fire Attribute Level 1 (27/500)

Lightning Attribute Level 3 (117/1500)

Water Attribute Level 6 (1682/3000)

Earth Attribute Level 0 (0/100)

Yang Attribute Level 4 (0/2000)

Yin Attribute Level 4 (0/2000)

Ice Attribute Level 3 (468/1500)

Flower Attribute Level 3 (213/1500)

String Attribute Level 0 (0/100)

And like that, all of his saved-up points disappeared in the blink of an eye, which created an uneasy feeling in his stomach, the same feeling Tsunade felt when she lost a bet.

I need more way to get points not more options goddamn it!