Rare items typically cost 100,000 to 200,000 trading points.
Their probability, around 3%, was higher than true grand prizes.
But getting a rare item in the first Level 3 can? Shen Mo hadn't expected that.
Was Hiruzen, who seemed so luckless before, saving up his fortune for this moment?
"What's blue-level?" Hiruzen asked, his face slightly flushed.
Could he have hit a grand prize in a Level 3 can?
If so…
He'd struck gold!
A Level 3 can grand prize!
"If Level 1 cans are for experiencing, Level 2 for setting a series foundation, then Level 3 cans mark the start of true power," Shen Mo said, scanning the group before fixing on Hiruzen. "So, Level 3 cans contain real treasures, graded as blue rare, purple epic, and gold legendary. Higher tiers aren't possible in Level 3. That blue dragon you saw signifies a rare treasure."
As he spoke, the blue energy dragon gradually dissipated.
Lingering blue wisps swirled around the can's rim.
Hiruzen's excitement surged.
Though blue was the lowest rare tier…
This was a Level 3 can!
A Level 2 grand prize could be a trump card—how powerful would a Level 3 one be?
"Hokage, quick, what's inside?" Shikaku Nara urged, as eager and thrilled as the rest.
Hiruzen slowly reached in.
He pulled out a jet-black inkstone.
The moment it emerged, a killing aura surged, dotted with marks like dried blood. Holding it, Hiruzen felt as if he gripped a peerless demonic blade, its glare almost blinding.
"This is a literary treasure," Shen Mo's voice explained. "The demon dragon blood on it is one reason it's deemed rare. This is a true literary treasure, containing a highly potent war poem."
"War poem…" Hiruzen thought of the scroll in his arms, heart racing, and looked closely.
Indeed.
The inkstone bore two finely carved lines.
From the renowned Song of Jing Ke's Assassination of Qin.
"Winds howl mournfully…" Hiruzen channeled a tiny bit of Scholar energy, reciting just four characters before his face changed.
His Scholar energy surged uncontrollably into it.
No!
His current Scholar energy might not even finish one recitation.
"This war poem isn't a buff type," Shen Mo chuckled lightly. "With your current Scholar energy, you're far from activating it. It represents a one-way, lethal strike, draining Scholar energy wildly, but its power is immense."
"I can't use it?" Hiruzen felt a pang of frustration.
Finally, a powerful treasure, yet unusable.
"No rush," Shen Mo said, eyeing the remaining cans. "If your resolve is strong enough, one of these ten should hold a class item. If you succeed in changing class, you can cultivate your own Scholar energy."
"Right, a class item…" Hiruzen turned to the remaining cans.
His fists clenched unconsciously.
Resolve?
He had it! Whatever the cost, he'd keep Konoha and the Will of Fire burning brightly.
He had to get it!
The others knew these ten cans were the most critical for the Third Hokage.
Everyone held their breath.
By now…
Their emotions were fully tied to Hiruzen, to these cans deciding his strength.
Hiruzen kept opening.
The second can held another exam paper.
Then, experience orbs, Scholar energy orbs, scholar commentary books, more books…
Hiruzen opened faster.
No class item? He eagerly opened the next.
At the second-to-last can…
His hands trembled. He'd faced countless battles and crises in his life, but even facing death, he'd never been this nervous.
Finally…
He took a deep breath, opening the last two at top speed.
From one, black and white rainbow lights shot out, intertwining in the air, blending into each other, forming a Taiji diagram. An ineffable mystic aura spread.
"The Yin-Yang School, the Way of Taiji," Shen Mo said, gazing at the pattern. "Frankly, Hokage, your chance of succeeding in this class change is under 10%."
"Yin-Yang School…" Hiruzen's expression shifted.
He'd absorbed plenty of experience orbs.
He knew of the Yin-Yang School.
Its knowledge was obscure and hard to grasp but profoundly mystical. From his partial inheritance, powerful Yin-Yang scholars could birth all things, akin to ninja's five elemental attributes.
Was this why he drew this class?
"Mr. Shen Mo, what's the Yin-Yang School like?" Hyuga Hiashi asked, the others curious too.
A class item was new to them, but it sounded like turning an ordinary person into a ninja—a chance to wield otherworldly power.
"The Yin-Yang School," Shen Mo said, hands behind his back, head slightly raised, as if reminiscing.
Among all works, the Qin-era Yin-Yang School left the deepest impression.
While the system's Scholar Series Yin-Yang School differed, it shared similarities.
"This school's core lies in the changes of heaven, earth, sun, moon, day, and night—dividing all things into yin and yang," Shen Mo explained slowly. "Thus, it splits Scholar energy into yin and yang energies. At its peak, it can reshape heaven and earth, birthing all things."
Except for Hiruzen nodding slightly, the others looked puzzled.
Ninja knew yin-yang concepts.
But yin-yang energies birthing all things?
"Let me demonstrate," Shen Mo said, shaking his head with a smile. His staff transformed into a large brush.
His eyes turned black and white, flowing slowly, radiating mystic light.
After a low chant…
He wrote in the air, reciting:
"Ten thousand leaves flow, orchids bloom on flat ground."
His voice, though from his mouth, seemed to blend with the heavens, echoing with a wondrous cadence. As he finished writing and flicked the brush, countless leaves surged like a tidal wave, sweeping over everyone. On the ground, autumn orchids sprouted rapidly, their petals mingling with the leaf sea, dazzlingly splendid.
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