After two provocations, any further attempts would yield minimal points.
As it turned out, skilled opponents were far more rewarding.
Raj glanced up at Konan.
The girl was strikingly beautiful and skilled in origami.
'Hmm, she clearly has untapped potential,' Raj mused, pondering how to squeeze more points out of her.
A quick check revealed it already had over twelve thousand points-enough to exchange for the Reverse Summoning Technique.
But it had no intention of wasting points on that.
Too weak, ridiculously overpriced.
It was better to save up for the Flying Thunder God Technique, which cost twenty thousand points.
That was a hefty sum, but when you thought about it, it wasn't that much.
Black Cat figured it only needed another eight thousand points, easily obtainable with a bit of effort.
There was no point wasting points on trash like summoning techniques.
Decision made.
To reach that eight thousand-point goal sooner, it would need to figure out how to start farming points from Nagato.
Nagato possessed the Uzumaki Bloodline and the Rinnegan, making him an invaluable asset to the system.
The only question was his temperament-would he contribute enough points?
After their injuries were treated, the Amegakure Ninja immediately resumed their operations.
Rin looked exhausted.
She still had some Chakra left, but with no immediate movements from Sunagakure or Iwagakure, Minato decisively ordered her to rest after they regrouped.
By nightfall, Raj still hadn't found a way to approach Nagato.
The man was too solitary, rarely interacting with anyone except Konan and Yahiko.
Late at night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Raj quietly slipped out of the room where Minato's Team was sleeping, intending to check on Nagato's situation.
But as it rounded a corner, it saw someone emerging from Nagato's room.
Nagato!
Even
In the complete darkness, he seemed to see Raj clearly.
His gaze pierced through the gap in his drooping bangs.
"What do you want?"
"Meow saw a mouse."
This was awkward.
Raj froze, unsure what to say.
It could only blurt out the 'mouse' excuse, uncertain whether Nagato believed it, but at least it convinced itself.
Nagato clearly didn't buy it.
He shot Raj a cold glance and warned in a low voice, "Stay away from here when we're resting."
'He's so guarded,' Raj thought.
It didn't dare advance further.
Fortunately, at that moment, the sound of a mouse scurrying below them actually echoed through the area.
With no nearby residences and the forest so close, mice and snakes were common occurrences.
It swiftly darted under the wooden hut, and within moments, using the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, it had captured the rat.
Nagato frowned.
A few seconds later, he saw the cat's agile paw emerge from beneath the hut, presenting him with a black rat.
'What's this supposed to mean?'
"Meow! Goodie for you!" Raj declared, adopting an affectionate posture as he extended his claw toward Nagato, using his size-altering ability to stretch it closer.
Nagato froze, his movements stiff as he reached out hesitantly, wavering between accepting and refusing the offering.
After a long moment of hesitation, he finally endured his disgust and took the rat.
Raj promptly scurried away after delivering the rat.
Konan emerged, glanced at the rat, and chuckled softly.
"They say cats only give rats to children. This might mean it's fond of you and wants to protect you."
"Really?"
Nagato would have dismissed such a claim from anyone else, but he trusted Konan's judgment.
Still, he couldn't decide what to do with the rat - throw it away or keep it for now?
After a moment's thought, he decided to keep it for now.
He could always discard it later once the cat was gone.
As the two were about to head back inside, a strange sound echoed from outside.
Swish, swish.
"What's that sound?" Konan asked curiously.
Nagato walked a few steps down the corridor, rounded the corner, and saw Raj crouched in a corner below, using Water Release to spray water and clean its paws.
He fell silent, glancing at the mouse he had strangled into unconsciousness.
He took a deep breath.
'Don't get angry! Don't get angry. There's no point in getting angry at a cat.'
Nagato turned, his face expressionless, and hurled the mouse violently into the forest.
Then, he performed the Water Release hand seals and used the Water Release technique to create water and wash his hands.
Konan's lips twitched, unsure what to say.
'Normally, a cat bringing prey to someone would be considered a sign of friendliness. But this cat was such a bastard - it had clearly brought the mouse just to disgust them. I shouldn't have treated this cat like a normal one.'
"Let's go. Time for bed," Nagato said flatly, then retreated into the house.
Yahiko appeared to be sound asleep, but they knew he had woken up earlier and simply hadn't come out.
Raj turned and glanced at his system panel.
'Whoa, nearly a thousand points in an instant!'
Though Nagato hadn't yet reached his later peak strength, his Rinnegan still made him formidable.
Judging by the point surge, he must have been absolutely furious.
'I'm really pushing my luck, but hey, it's all for the money.'
Raj quietly slipped back into his room, only to find Obito snoring soundly while the other three sat upright, staring at him with strange expressions.
"Go to sleep. It's late," Raj said.
Minato smiled faintly at Raj, then gestured to Rin and Kakashi - mainly Rin.
Kakashi didn't care what the cat had done or whether it would get punished; as long as it wasn't dead, it was all the same to him.
Rin, however, was different.
She worried about whether the cat had done something wrong again, whether it would upset their partner and jeopardize their cooperation.
But since their teacher had told them to sleep and made a shushing gesture, she didn't press the matter.
Neither Konoha nor the Akatsuki trio fully trusted each other, and everyone slept poorly.
Before going to bed, Raj glanced at his system panel and saw his points slowly ticking up.
'Someone's still thinking of me this late... I wonder who it is... Let's just assume it's Nagato.'
Raj felt a pang of guilt for deceiving such an innocent boy with a rat.
'Nagato, Nagato, when you turn evil later, don't come after me... I guess I should do some good deeds to make up for this. I can't keep acting like a monster forever.'
With the points secured, the fever in its head subsided, and the cat immediately felt a bit cowardly.
'With the Rinnegan - the ultimate equipment - in hand, if I really went all out, even Hanzo and his crew would have to flee for their lives. Let alone a mere little cat like me. Getting cocky is a dangerous game.'
Still, those thousand-plus points were undeniably tempting.
Only Nagato could be this generous.