Preparing to Head to the New World

When Shen Mo left Kumogakure, he did not hurry back. Instead, he hovered high in the sky and let out a long breath.

He looked down at the world beneath his feet.

His time here had actually been very short, less than two months.

Especially during the past week, when too many things had happened.

Still, the first-stage objective had basically been completed. Aside from some old relics who had already died, nearly all the promising figures in this world had become his customers.

The world had already changed greatly.

Shen Mo estimated that, for a long time to come, the entire Ninja World would slowly begin testing this completely different world.

They needed to grow accustomed to it and adjust.

Just as Minato Namikaze had said last time, they were unsure how much use ordinary ninja who had not opened Jars would still have on such a battlefield. They also did not know how the Stage of Fate would change the way wars were fought, nor did they know what Jars the others had opened, what abilities they possessed, or what trump cards they held.

In other words.

This was a period when the players would begin exploring the game.

Shen Mo did not know what kinds of strategies they would create or what sparks would fly when they clashed. That was the wisdom of the players. He only needed to keep watch and update the version rules when appropriate.

Of course, he was no longer making money as quickly as he had in the beginning.

Shen Mo glanced at his current Trading Points.

—1.6 billion.

The largest amount had still come from Konan’s 450 million Trading Points.

Over the next period of time, the transaction volume in this world would continue to rise rapidly for a while. After all, if the finances of each village and nation were squeezed hard enough, they could still scrape together quite a bit of money.

In the end, it would probably stop at around 3 billion, then settle into a slow and steady stream.

The exact growth rate depended on this world’s productivity.

For a world with only several tens of millions of people, one constantly drained by war, its current purchasing power was about as much as could be expected.

If he wanted to earn more.

What he could make use of was the combat strength of these tens of thousands of ninja, sending them to apocalyptic worlds to farm monsters.

However, the current level of competition alone was not enough to mobilize everyone.

Shen Mo had to consider whether they would remain content to obey the Merchant Guild’s rules, whether they might suddenly reach an agreement while competing with one another, lose their drive, turn into slackers, and even unite to keep their eyes on him.

When that happened, not only would dungeon monster farming become impossible, but even raising productivity would lose its meaning.

"Competition must be everywhere."

Shen Mo murmured, the corners of his lips curving upward.

Letting players turn into slackers was the failure of a game designer.

In Shen Mo’s plans.

The Merchant Guild was the official operator of a game spanning countless worlds. The people of those worlds were the players, competing with one another as individuals, groups, and even entire worlds. There would never be any chance for them to become slackers.

The Naruto world had already taken the lead.

Other worlds had to catch up as well. If he delayed any longer, they might not be able to keep up.

After all, the Naruto world had never been weak to begin with.

He needed to choose another world.

But—

"Ikaros." Shen Mo turned around and looked at Ikaros, who hovered behind him with her wings spread. "I want to give you a difficult task. Stay here by yourself for now. Your main job will be to sell Jars to anyone who comes looking for us. Can you do that?"

This world did not yet have an agent, so he could not leave no one behind.

And Ikaros was the only one at his side.

Ikaros seemed to understand what her master meant. Her eyes clearly revealed her reluctance to part.

"If this is an order…" she said softly.

"It isn’t an order." Shen Mo reached out and rubbed the top of her head with a smile. "I’ll give you an ability that lets you contact me and see me anytime. How about that? Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s fine too."

For the all-powerful system, as long as he had money, traveling between worlds was as easy as eating and drinking.

What Shen Mo wanted to buy was an ability called Single-Person Targeted World Travel.

It cost only about one-tenth of the Trading Points required for a World Gate. It allowed one person to travel freely back and forth between worlds, and came with a small space capable of storing living creatures. Bringing a few people along would not be a problem either. It was practically an essential cheat ability for protagonists of Infinity stories.

"I can see Master?"

Ikaros blinked, then finally nodded and said:

"If I can see Master, I won’t feel uneasy."

"Take this opportunity to train yourself properly." Shen Mo smiled. "And this doesn’t really count as a separation. If you want to see me, just say so. I can come back anytime."

Ikaros was an assistant he wanted to cultivate carefully.

He could not possibly make her an agent.

This time was only temporary.

After solving the issue of selling Jars while he was away, Shen Mo did not immediately rush off to another world.

Instead, he stayed for a while longer.

Just as expected.

Intelligence that Shen Mo had appeared in three Ninja Villages in a single day quickly spread.

But for Konoha, the worst development was still the Intelligence Series on the Akatsuki Organization sent back by Itachi Uchiha.

The old leader had died, and a new leader had appeared—someone seemingly ambitious and capable, who had also purchased a large number of Jars.

The plan to attack the Akatsuki Organization had no choice but to be put on hold for the time being.

They began investigating Intelligence Series with all their strength.

Soon after.

News suddenly came from Otogakure, where Orochimaru was located, confirming its alliance with Sunagakure.

This made Konoha even more reluctant to act rashly.

However, they also announced their alliance with Kirigakure, stating that they would open trade routes, develop their economies together, and expressing their desire to coexist peacefully with others.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure also seemed unwilling to be outdone. Their contact with each other suddenly became much closer.

The entire Naruto world carried the feeling that a storm was about to break.

Yet every faction remained extraordinarily cautious.

This included the three ordinary people Shen Mo had first sold Jars to.

They had formed an alliance among themselves as well, carefully concealing their identities and not daring to reveal that they were Chest Openers.

Of course, they were also trying to grow stronger.

At this point.

Shen Mo could finally confirm that, just as he had expected, the entire Naruto world had entered a period of small-scale competition and testing.

There was temporarily nothing for him to do.

He could finally leave with some peace of mind.

He opened the system and continuously searched through it.

He found a name.

For a New World, this one was indeed the most suitable.

"Then, Ikaros, take good care of the house."

Shen Mo looked at Ikaros, who was somewhat reluctant to part with him. He could understand how she felt.

But she was different from Hikari.

Hikari was meant to be a cute pet, while Shen Mo had always looked forward to Ikaros’s growth.

Just as he was preparing to leave.

"Master." Ikaros suddenly took two steps forward.

"Hm?" Shen Mo froze.

"Head pats." Ikaros lowered her head and bumped it against Shen Mo’s chest.

"…"

Shen Mo suddenly had the urge to take her with him as well.

But he held himself back.

He could return whenever he wanted, and they could talk every day or even meet. If that still was not enough, then Ikaros would be no different from Hikari.

I spent too much time refining the outline today. Let’s see whether I can finish the first update of the New World. T-T