Konoha Village remained brightly lit, bustling with activity.
Mo Yu emerged from a small tavern, his face betraying his excitement.
He was clutching the wages he had just earned, carefully pulling out an old, tattered wallet from his chest and slipping the money inside.
His cautious demeanor made it seem like he feared someone might snatch it away.
It wasn't surprising. This worn wallet contained his entire fortune.
If someone were to steal it, he wasn't sure if he would have the strength to endure another six years of struggle.
"Finally saved up enough!" Mo Yu clenched his fist, almost wanting to shout out in relief.
But upon seeing the busy crowd around him, he kept his excitement in check.
"I'm going home, time to recharge, and level up!"
Mo Yu hastened his steps, almost wanting to fly back.
"As long as I recharge 10 gold coins, I can immediately become a Genin. Faster, I need to be faster!"
The orphanage was located in a quieter, more secluded part of Konoha, and the streets were becoming increasingly empty and peaceful.
Suddenly, three figures emerged under the streetlight ahead.
"Heh, the useless kid finally shows up. Took you long enough," one of them sneered.
Mo Yu's heart tightened, and when he saw their faces, his frown deepened.
These three were his classmates, who always bullied him.
The speaker was Arima Seiji, with the other two being Asai Tora and Kamejima Shouta.
All three hailed from small ninja families in Konoha, and they were proud of their status, looking down on civilians, let alone outsiders like Mo Yu.
It was hard enough for the local students to tolerate the outsiders, but most just ignored them, neither bullying nor interacting.
A few extreme ones, however, either mocked or bullied the outsiders.
Like these three.
"Bring out your leader, will you? You three lack the guts to stop me here," Mo Yu taunted, deliberately provoking them.
Arima Seiji's expression darkened.
"We don't need your 'big boss' to deal with a useless waste like you. Three of us are enough," he snapped.
Mo Yu raised an eyebrow, his tone calm as he responded, "Oh? If he's not here, then I'm relieved."
"Little trash, what do you mean by that? You think you can escape from us three? Hahaha, what a joke! With your sickly body?" Arima Seiji laughed mockingly.
The other two joined in the laughter.
Mo Yu ignored their taunts and muttered to himself, "If it were before, I couldn't, but now… I was going to wait until I got home to start, but…"
"System, come out!"
Mo Yu yelled inwardly, "Recharge all the money I've got. I'm going to blow up!"
The system's voice immediately rang in his head:
"Recharge 10,000 ryo to get 10 gold coins."
"Recharge completed, reaching the first-level tier. Opening first-level privileges. Granting Genin-level strength and beginning to infuse energy..."
As the system's voice ended, a burst of information entered Mo Yu's mind. With the help of a mysterious force, his brain rapidly absorbed the data, and it felt completely natural.
At the same time, a warm current emerged in Mo Yu's abdomen, rapidly spreading through his meridians, flowing through his limbs.
This heat coursing through his body brought immense comfort, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.
The sight shocked the trio of bullies.
"What's wrong with this kid? Is he having a seizure?" Arima Seiji asked, confused.
The three exchanged glances.
"Whatever, let's just beat him up quickly. The boss is waiting for our report," said Asai Tora.
"Yeah, beat him!" Kamejima Shouta added.
But in the next instant, Mo Yu's trembling body stopped.
He lifted his head, eyes wide with elation.
Mo Yu clenched his fist. He could feel a powerful energy stirring within his weak body.
Chakra!
That's right—the energy flowing through his meridians was Chakra, and it had reached the basic level of a Genin.
Not only that, the information he had just absorbed contained all the battle experiences of a Genin, along with three basic E-level ninjutsu: Substitution Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu, and Clone Jutsu—the foundation of ninja techniques.
"Host's privilege level has reached tier one. Hunter Mode unlocked."
"Hunter Mode: When the host is in combat, all characters marked with a Hunter's Mark can be killed to earn gold coins."
Gold coins? Kill to drop gold coins?
When Mo Yu heard the words "gold coins," his eyes turned bloodshot.
For someone who was obsessed with money and severely lacked it, the system's words sounded like the sweetest music to his ears.
In Mo Yu's vision, over the heads of Arima Seiji and his two companions, the word "KILL" appeared, dripping with blood, bright and glaring.
Without needing further explanation, Mo Yu knew that this was the Hunter's Mark.
"As long as I kill them… I'll get gold coins… kill them… gold coins… gold coins… kill… kill… kill…"
In Mo Yu's eyes, they were no longer people.
They were monsters—monsters that could drop gold coins!
Arima Seiji grew uneasy under Mo Yu's gaze, but remembering his task, he gritted his teeth and charged forward.
Grabbing a prepared club, he swung it toward Mo Yu.
However, Arima Seiji wasn't foolish enough to aim for Mo Yu's head.
Hurting someone and killing them were two different things.
He merely wanted to teach Mo Yu a lesson, not kill him.
So, Arima Seiji swung the club toward Mo Yu's arm.
The other two surrounded him, preventing any escape.
But Mo Yu didn't dodge at all. He let the club hit him.
"Bang!"
At the moment the club struck his body, Mo Yu transformed into a puff of white smoke, and a stone appeared on the ground.
Arima Seiji froze.
"Wait, did I just smash him into dust?"
"That's impossible! This is the Substitution Jutsu! How could he use it so smoothly? He's a trash who can't even form Chakra! How is he using this technique so perfectly? I didn't see any trace of it!"
Arima Seiji's expression twisted with shock.
He knew the Substitution Jutsu, but he never expected it to be so covert.
"Whoosh!"
Before Arima Seiji could react, he heard a whooshing sound by his ear, and then an intense pain exploded in his temple.
"Ah!"
His vision went dark, and he collapsed unconscious.
Asai Tora and Kamejima Shouta had been in a daze since the moment Mo Yu vanished.
"W-What… What's going on?"
The two were stammering, utterly frozen.
They glanced around nervously, as the area in the shadows beyond the streetlights felt eerily quiet.
Thud thud thud!
Footsteps echoed from the darkness, like a death knell.