Chapter 77
"Holy crap, this is basically a divine artifact! How many system points does this cost?"
"Ding~ [Illusion-Resistant Chakra Crystal] requires 50,000 system points."
Naruto, who had been walking, suddenly froze mid-step before resuming normally. He asked the system: "So… System, why exactly did you tell me about this item's existence?"
"Ding~ Because the host asked."
"Ding~ Can I use it right now? Or… are you going to lend me 50,000 system points so I can buy one first?"
"Ding~ The host can sign a loan contract. After signing, the system will immediately grant the host 50,000 system points."
Hearing this, Naruto became instantly wary and asked: "System… if I borrow 50,000, how much do I have to pay back?"
"Ding~ 70,000."
"System… you're fucking black-hearted. I'd rather let Little Sakyo's Mangekyō torture me to death than take this loan! I'm serious!"
"Ding~…"
Ignoring the system that had suddenly gone silent, Naruto turned his gaze toward Sakyo.
This system was way too shady—50,000 system points turned into 70,000 with a single flip. A clean 40% profit. How shameless could it be to even ask?
"Little Sasuke~ Could you maybe… not graduate early?"
Naruto said to Sakyo with a cheeky grin.
Sakyo gave him a cold glance and didn't reply.
Her meaning was crystal clear—she was definitely applying for early graduation.
Naruto couldn't help feeling disappointed. If Sakyo graduated early, what would happen to him?
If Naruto followed her and graduated early too, they'd be assigned to different teams, and his life trajectory would completely diverge from the original story.
Kakashi might die in the Land of Waves. Sakyo might defect early because her jōnin sensei was useless. Mizuki might not find anyone to steal the scroll from, so he'd hide for years and cause even greater harm to Konoha.
No—this couldn't happen. He had to find a way to stop Sakyo from graduating early.
"Little Sasuke, with your current strength, you really shouldn't graduate early."
Naruto looked at Sakyo with disdain: "You can't even beat me yet, and you want to graduate early? What if some random bandits capture you and do this and that to you?"
Sakyo's face darkened instantly. She said coldly: "What exactly are you trying to say?!"
Sakura, who had been following behind Naruto and Sakyo, hurriedly spoke up: "Um… that… can you two not fight?"
"Graduating early… what's so good about it anyway?"
Honestly, when it came to early graduation, Sakura agreed with Naruto's view.
They were still so young, and this was peacetime—they were living the kind of life that children in wartime could only dream of. Why rush to give that up?
Sakyo shot Sakura a cold glance: "This doesn't concern you!"
Sakura froze: "Uh…"
In her memory, this was the first time Sakyo had ever spoken to her so harshly.
Instantly, Sakura felt a little wronged.
But Sakyo didn't comfort her.
If you don't understand someone else's pain, don't casually judge their decisions.
Naruto turned back and gave Sakura a reassuring look, calming her emotions first.
A girl in the "wanting to fall in love" phase could be terrifying if she really lost it.
Naruto continued speaking to Sakyo: "After you graduate, you'll face a ton of heavy, boring missions. You won't have much time left for training."
Sakyo frowned and studied Naruto carefully, as if trying to spot something unusual about him. Unfortunately, she couldn't.
Naruto wasn't wrong—those missions really were heavy, boring, time-consuming, exhausting, and thankless.
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