Chapter 16 — Gold Card Member
The three of them reached the gates of Konoha and waited for the routine inspection by the village guards.
Yami had already steeled himself—if there was even the slightest risk of the scrolls hidden on him being exposed, he would immediately pawn them through the system.
However, the sentries merely glanced at them indifferently and waved them through without a word. It was obvious they had already received instructions from the Hokage Tower.
Just as they entered the village, an ANBU ninja suddenly appeared and blocked their path, causing Yami's newly settled heart to leap again.
"Namikaze Yami, Namikaze Minato—you have rendered meritorious service by rescuing Konoha shinobi Uzumaki Kushina. Submit a mission report tomorrow. This operation will be recorded as an A-rank mission completed jointly by the two of you."
"Also," the ANBU added, almost casually, "those Cloud Village ninja have already been 'escorted' back to the Land of Lightning overnight, per the Hokage's orders."
He gave the two of them an approving look. In his eyes, their actions had undoubtedly helped Konoha save face.
At this point, it was Yami who felt a little lost.
He had already prepared himself to be questioned or reprimanded. After all, even though Kushina had been rescued, he had expected the best outcome to be merits and faults canceling each other out. He hadn't anticipated Sarutobi Hiruzen pulling out yet another round of generous "reward diplomacy."
Glancing at Minato and Kushina beside him—both wearing excited expressions and brimming with admiration for the Hokage—it became clear that this reaction was exactly what Hiruzen had intended.
With his message delivered, the ANBU ninja didn't linger, turning and disappearing back into the search teams. Tonight, Konoha was destined to be a sleepless city.
As for Yami, he could only offer a silent apology. Perhaps, he mused, when Konoha's future "Golden Legend" finally took the stage, he'd make it up to everyone by giving them a proper break.
The three parted ways and returned to their respective homes without incident. The moment Yami stepped inside his room, his attention immediately shifted to the true "spoils" of the night.
When he opened the system interface, he found it had undergone a notable change.
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Universal Rare Pawnshop
Host: Namikaze Yami (Gold Card)
Current Pawn Points: 2910
Note: Cumulative pawn value has exceeded 6000. Level upgraded automatically. New functions unlocked.
Universal Credit (New): Current limit — 1000
Redemption (New): Pawned items can be redeemed. Fee: 5 points per item
Exchangeable Items:
… (collapsed) …
---
Staring at the dazzling system interface, Yami found himself torn between satisfaction and pleasant frustration.
Not only had the system delivered a pillow right when he was drowsy, this upgrade had also given him far more room to maneuver. And if there was a Gold Card tier, didn't that imply further upgrades down the line?
Using the newly unlocked features, he pawned the items he'd been carrying to eliminate any lingering risks. Only then did he finally lie down to sleep in peace.
After days of meticulous plotting and mental strain, he truly needed a proper rest.
While Yami—the mastermind behind it all—slept soundly, Konoha's turmoil raged on through the entire night.
To preserve the village's reputation, even the Uchiha Police Force was fully mobilized, conducting an overnight sweep of the streets.
Unfortunately, it was destined to be a fruitless effort. The clues left behind were simply too few; even after turning the village upside down, they found nothing.
At dawn, Yami was jolted awake by the noise outside his house.
Almost acting on muscle memory, he groggily cleaned up, changed into loose training clothes, and once again headed to the training grounds with Might Duy.
Having exchanged for the Kaguya clan's bloodline the day before, Yami could clearly feel a dramatic increase in the strength of his bones and muscles. Today's training felt unusually effortless—so much so that even Might Duy was stunned, loudly proclaiming Yami a once-in-a-generation taijutsu prodigy.
Yami himself, however, was unimpressed.
"Genius is just the entry requirement," he thought. "I'm not just a genius—I'm a genius with cheats."
Even when Might Duy deliberately cranked up the intensity, Yami kept pace with ease, all while calmly planning his next upgrade.
---
Exchangeable Items:
Uzumaki Clan Sealing Techniques — 4000 points (can be redeemed in parts)
Forbidden Technique · Flying Thunder God — 200 points
Forbidden Technique · Edo Tensei — 200 points
Uchiha Bloodline Derivative (Three-Tomoe Sharingan) — 100 points
(Note: Without the corresponding bloodline, full power cannot be exerted, and it cannot be deactivated.)
Senju Clan High-Concentration Bloodline Tissue (trace amount) — 20 points
(Note: Quantity insufficient to redeem a bloodline.)
Remaining entries folded…
---
"Tch."
Unable to use the Sharingan, unable to redeem the Senju bloodline—Yami couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
In a world known as "the legend of eyeballs and village-scale brawls," chakra reserves determined the lower limit, but bloodlines defined the true upper ceiling.
"Kind of makes me want to go grave-robbing…"
If a mere scrap of flesh was worth twenty points, he didn't even dare imagine what kind of astronomical number Senju Hashirama's corpse would fetch.
Of course, that was just idle fantasy. From what he knew of future events, Hashirama's cells were practically everywhere—bloodlines sold wholesale.
He had strong reason to suspect that the so-called God of Shinobi had long since been diced up by the innately evil Senju Tobirama and stuffed into laboratories.
"Deep Blue, add—no, wait…"
"Redeem Flying Thunder God, Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, Water Severing Wave, and Great Fire Annihilation."
The system points were deducted at lightning speed—320 points gone.
[Current Pawn Points: 2590]
Danzo truly lived up to being the Second Hokage's so-called "disciple."
The Root headquarters' collection had far exceeded expectations—nearly every signature technique of Senju Tobirama was accounted for.
What a pity that Danzo himself was nothing more than an old trend-chasing fossil, utterly incapable of carrying these techniques to greatness.
As streams of jutsu comprehension flooded his mind, Yami felt momentarily inflated with confidence—so much so that he almost felt like donning a black robe and striding across the shinobi world.
Though itching to test the legendary Flying Thunder God Technique immediately, he restrained himself. Now was not the time—especially with no certainty whether Sarutobi Hiruzen might be peeping through a crystal ball.
Suppressing his excitement, Yami parted ways with Might Duy around noon, ending the day's training early.
After more than half a month of intense conditioning, his control over his body and chakra had improved dramatically. At this point, standard training was yielding diminishing returns.
Leaving the training grounds, he grabbed a quick bite to fill his stomach before heading to the Ninja Academy to pick up Namikaze Minato.
Minato, already excused from class and waiting, rushed over the moment he spotted Yami.
"Yami-nii, why are you so late? Hurry up—we're going to the Hokage Tower!" Minato complained the instant they met.
"Going early won't get you paid extra."
The two had already agreed the night before to submit their mission report together.
For Minato—a student who hadn't even graduated yet—having 'participated in an A-rank mission' added to his record was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Even with his calm temperament, Minato couldn't help but feel thrilled. Coupled with the fact that his relationship with Kushina had taken a step forward, he'd been so excited that he barely slept the night before.