After the battle ended, Nawaki checked his accumulated points—only to find that they hadn't increased by much. Barely over eight thousand.
Tsunade and Orochimaru had gained around four thousand each—just enough to exchange for four A-rank jutsu scrolls. And that was it.
"How could it be this low?" Nawaki was stunned. After some quick mental math, the reason became clear.
Of the more than two thousand Sunagakure ninja in that force, the majority were Genin, with only a small portion being Chunin or Jonin.
In the recent battle, fewer than twenty Jonin were killed, and no more than three hundred Chunin. Even between Orochimaru and Tsunade, they had taken down at most ten Jonin and a hundred Chunin.
At 100 points per Chunin and 600 per Jonin, the total reward barely reached sixteen thousand points. After splitting it up, Nawaki ended up with just over eight thousand.
Subtract the one thousand he had promised to give Orochimaru, and Nawaki had barely 7,300 points to his name.
Not even as much as Orochimaru had earned from uploading a single jutsu to the system.
And this was after wiping out an entire Sunagakure battle force!
"This world is just too small. The population too low. Even if I killed every single Chunin and Jonin, it wouldn't be enough to exchange for a god-tier bloodline. Pure slaughter isn't a sustainable point-gaining method... I was clearly misled by all those power-trip novels I used to read."
Nawaki massaged his temples and sat up from bed.
He'd spent an entire day lying around—aside from eating and going to the bathroom—and his body was starting to ache.
Those brain-dead unlimited flow novels always started the main character in some zombie apocalypse, rewarding them tons of points for every kill... Once they had a nest egg, they'd buy some OP power and start steamrolling everything.
But now that it was his turn, the pacing had completely shifted.
Still, this was a valuable lesson.
There was no need to assign missions that revolved purely around killing for its own sake. Missions needed purpose.
For example, he could have the Legendary Sannin work together to assassinate Hanzo the Salamander within a time limit—failure resulting in forced erasure.
Even with the advantage of surprise, it would still be a terrifying challenge. But it would push their limits, unlock their potential, and award Hanzo's high-value bounty points.
With enough strength, they could attempt increasingly difficult missions, building upon each other...
Grinding weaklings would never lead to growth.
Yes—the true path is life and death combat! Only when someone teeters on the edge between life and death can their potential be truly unlocked.
And it's far more efficient, too. No wasted resources.
As for concerns about Kage-level enemies being too rare in the Shinobi World...
What was the Reincarnation Talisman for?
Kage-level might be elite here, but in the wider multiverse of anime? It's nothing!
Above S-class, there's: S, S+, SS-, SS, SS+, SSS-...
Nawaki was getting excited just thinking about it. He nearly pulled out a sheet of paper to jot all this down.
Fortunately, he restrained himself. Writing it down could risk exposing his identity.
"No wonder the Lord Gods in all those stories loved tormenting Reincarnators—keeping them dancing on the razor's edge between hope and despair. It's the most profitable model."
"Now that I've stockpiled some points, I can start formally developing the System. And I'll need to refine the rules of the Lord God. Even I should follow these rules publicly, to maintain the image of an all-powerful, impartial, and emotionless entity."
"Missions should be issued on a schedule—at the start of each month. All Reincarnators receive a new batch of tasks. These will be split between regular missions... and Death Missions."
Regular missions help them gain experience and strength. Once they reach a bottleneck, they'll receive a Death Mission—designed to push them to their limits and unlock breakthroughs.
And of course, there will still be random missions—useful for when I need something done quietly, and don't want to do it myself. That's what Reincarnators are for—free labor!
"Actually, Jiraiya might make a good candidate for a Reincarnator. He's loyal to Konoha, right? Then let's toss him into another world to complete missions. There shouldn't be any complications."
"If I assign him tasks that earn over a thousand points, the cost of the Reincarnation Talisman pays for itself."
"I can also purchase a Private Space—turn it into the Reincarnation Plaza. Before each mission begins, all Reincarnators can be summoned there to trade, socialize, and form teams. But this would require teleportation functionality… more points to spend."
"To prevent any Reincarnator from growing beyond my control, I'll include a failsafe: if they develop rebellious intent and become too powerful, I'll assign them to a guaranteed-death world—a one-way ticket."
"Later, I'll even exchange for something to enhance intelligence—maybe not monstrous levels, but at least something capable of controlling an entire Reincarnation team."
Nawaki pondered for a long time before finally closing his system notebook, fully satisfied.
While he couldn't write it down physically, he could record it in the system's internal log.
That's all he had planned for now—he could always add more later.
After all, unlike fully automated Lord Gods, Nawaki had the mind—and flaws—of a real human being. Mistakes were inevitable. He would grow by making and learning from them.
"...Damn it. After all that, I still don't have enough points!"
He suddenly opened his eyes with a bitter smile.
His plans would require a massive point investment. Even with the ten thousand points he had just accumulated, he was once again strapped for resources.
Building a Lord God Space really was a money pit.
Still, once he finished laying the foundation, the Reincarnators would begin generating points steadily.
It was a snowball effect. The early game would be the hardest.
As long as Tsunade and Orochimaru completed their mission, he'd have enough to upgrade the Lord God Space again and summon the next batch of Reincarnators.
Ten at a time. Five thousand points.
Speaking of which, he'd been planning for a while now—Tsunade and the others should be facing this mission's final boss, Hanzo the Salamander, right about now…
---
Land of Rain
The sky hung heavy with clouds, a constant drizzle cloaking the land in gray.
What was once the Land of Wind's Sunagakure encampment had become a dead zone.
Scattered everywhere were motionless "corpses." Though still alive, their lips were tinged an eerie blue—clearly poisoned. Without antidotes, they wouldn't survive long.
These were Konoha's ambush troops, now disabled by poison.
At the center of the ruined camp, four figures stood opposite one another. The most imposing of them stood atop a giant black salamander, arms folded across his chest. A gas mask covered his face as he spoke in a deep, thoughtful tone.
"In every generation, prodigies emerge. You three are impressive—so young, yet already so capable. Perhaps one day, you'll become legends... the Sannin."
"Heh, you're talking big a little too early," Tsunade replied.
Rain trailed down her cheek like a silver stream, dripping from her chin as she supported the nearly unconscious Jiraiya. But her expression was one of defiance and unwavering resolve.
"You've paralyzed over a thousand Konoha ninja with poison. Now you face three opponents alone. Your chakra must be running low. If you were confident in killing us, would you really be wasting time chatting?"
"Oh? And in your condition, you still want to fight?" Hanzo chuckled lightly.
"We're not here to fight," Tsunade said coldly.
"We're here to defeat you."
She glanced sideways. "Orochimaru, you've been holding back, haven't you?"