If this were a game, whale players' money was crucial, but the main profit came from the collective contributions of ordinary players.
Shen Mo considered many ways ordinary ninja could earn money.
But after much thought…
Aside from Naruto's chakra-selling and a few high-level players developing new ninjutsu, most ninja only had combat.
Ninja, in this world, were each nation's military.
Even rogue ninja, unbound by villages, earned bounties through assassinations and wars.
The prime example: Kakuzu.
With his power and obsession with money, he still had to work as a bounty hunter.
So, the core issue was creating a way for fighting to generate value.
As a game designer, Shen Mo's first idea…
—PVE.
Dungeon grinding.
"In the system, everything's tradable—souls, bodies—so there must be countless worlds with endless monsters to fight," Shen Mo said, excited.
The system offered three types of interdimensional products:
Consciousness transfer for data traversal.
Single-person traversal via a traversal talisman.
Permanent world access for anyone via a World Gate.
Prices escalated accordingly.
For PVE, only the World Gate would do.
Shen Mo hadn't checked before.
Too expensive.
A cursory glance showed even the cheapest was in the billions of transaction points—pointless for him, who couldn't even afford Ikaros back then.
But now, he had to look closely.
"A basic apocalyptic world's World Gate costs four billion transaction points?" Shen Mo nearly spat blood.
Four billion!
Roughly five Ikaroses—enough to destroy a world.
Don't think he was flush with points now.
As players grew stronger, he, his assistant, and even his pet needed to keep up.
That was no small expense.
"Long road ahead," Shen Mo said, a bit melancholic, but rallied.
To expand business and profits, investment was necessary. His margins were already high.
Ikaros dutifully massaged his shoulders.
Shen Mo had uploaded 178 massaging techniques to her, so he felt quite comfortable, focusing better.
"Konoha's running low on new clients," he muttered.
Most major Konoha ninja knew of him, but hadn't started buying cans.
Meanwhile…
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed reluctant to let all ninja buy cans en masse.
This limited profits.
"Gotta push him a bit," Shen Mo said, a grin forming.
The Chūnin Exams seemed a perfect chance.
He bought a custom search service.
Target: Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
In the original plot, Rasa allied with Orochimaru to attack Konoha but was killed by him in the wild.
Now…
Orochimaru was lying in a coffin.
Shen Mo had indirectly saved Rasa.
The search showed Rasa still in Hidden Sand, not yet departed.
"Let's go, Ikaros," Shen Mo said, grabbing her hand, standing with a smile. "I'll show you how to recruit new clients. Watch and learn."
"Recruit… new clients?" Ikaros looked at her held hand, nodding firmly.
With uploaded data, she knew this was important.
If she could do it independently…
She'd meet her master's expectations.
But…
How to recruit new clients?
"Just watch for now," Shen Mo said, seeing her cute confusion, patting her head.
Other tasks followed data.
But recruiting clients wasn't so simple.
"Oh, we need to change your clothes," Shen Mo realized.
He'd been so caught up thinking, he nearly forgot this key detail.
He eyed Ikaros.
Stunning figure, exquisite face.
With that…
Shen Mo snapped his fingers.
Ikaros's tight armor transformed.
"Perfect," Shen Mo's eyes lit up.
If her pink hair and white headband highlighted her cute charm, the black-and-white dress amplified her dreamy aura—noble like a queen, pure like a maiden, all in one.
Yes, he'd given her an elegant maid outfit.
Ikaros looked down at her new clothes.
Unaccustomed, she slowly lifted the lace hem.
"Stop," Shen Mo said, exasperated.
He realized her too-perfect appearance meant, unless cloaked head-to-toe, she'd draw every man's gaze.
But this worked.
"It'll do," Shen Mo said, smiling. "A beautiful companion can highlight a man's stature. Just… be a bit reserved."
"Reserved?" Ikaros searched her database, seeming to understand.
"Alright, tuck your wings," Shen Mo said, chuckling. "Let's go."
"Meow." Hiju leapt onto his shoulder.
The trio vanished.
They reappeared amidst swirling sand.
The Land of Wind, a desert nation.
"Hidden Sand and the Land of Wind aren't on great terms," Shen Mo said, his gaze piercing the sandstorm, seeing the hidden village.
He recalled the Land of Wind kept cutting Hidden Sand's budget.
This weakened the village's combat strength.
Even the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, used his Bloodline Limit: Magnet Release—Gold Dust to mine gold, barely sustaining the village.
His plan to attack ally Konoha stemmed from fear of his village's decline and Konoha's growing strength.