The Game Merchant Who Started from the Ninja World

Chapter 47: The Impact of Soul Potential

The disappearance of the young Hyuga from the Main House had already passed five days. What started as an internal clan issue soon escalated to the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi promised to send the ANBU to investigate.

However, with nobles from all nations already in the village awaiting the Chūnin Exams, there was no way to conduct a full-scale operation. A conclusion would have to wait until the exams were over.

During this period,

Fang Yi spent more reward points and summoned 2,000 new players into the game.

Most had white or green-tier soul potential—average. Only two stood out.

One was Yugito Nii from Kumogakure, jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, who had purple-tier soul potential.

The other was Xiangling, a girl with Uzumaki bloodline who was being used as a living battery in Kusagakure when she was summoned. She too had purple-tier soul potential.

Fang Yi remarked, "When players are low-level, it's not that noticeable. But later on, players with higher soul potential have far stronger combat ability at the same level. Without some miraculous twist of fate, most players will just end up as cannon fodder."

The silver-haired loli was surprised. "Master, it looks like the players are scheming something."

Fang Yi sat on a bumpy carriage, clearly uncomfortable.

He spent five reward points to buy a special metallic suspension system from a sci-fi world, making the carriage smooth as a modern ride.

As a well-known charitable noble, he had been invited to Konoha to watch the Chūnin Exams.

He had nothing else to do—

and it was the perfect chance to gather more reward points where the ninja had assembled.

"Scheming is what villains do. We're the good guys—just intelligent and well-prepared."

He flicked her forehead and glanced at the crowd of players.

Led by the two major alliances and the Iwagakure squad, countless players were gathered, discussing how to deal with the Wraith Sorceress Sarina.

The first Wraith Beast horde had been completely wiped out.

The follow-up Wraith Cavalry were stronger, but they too had been worn down by waves of player revivals.

Now,

the battle had reached a stalemate.

Four Wraith Generals had mobilized, splitting into four armies to surround the Novice Village, forcing players to scatter their forces.

The village wall took constant damage, slowly losing durability.

But the players were stuck inside, unable to gather materials to repair it. If this continued, the village might be breached.

"We can't keep this up," said Mei Terumi, her expression grim. "Everyone should realize by now that if the village is destroyed, all of our progress will be lost."

This hit higher-level, better-geared players the hardest.

Fang Yi had posted a new announcement:

[If the Ninja Novice Village is destroyed, all player rewards will be wiped.]

Kirigakure had invested over ten billion yen into the game. That was a loss Mei could not accept.

Kumo and Iwa were in the same boat—major investments had been poured into the game. Losing it all would be more than economic—it would be a fatal blow to their prestige.

"We need to bypass the Wraith armies and hunt down the Wraith Sorceress directly!"

Mei glanced toward the Kumo players. "But I'm worried the same thing will happen as with the Wraith Generals. Kirigakure did most of the work, and others stole the kill credit."

Mabui replied blandly, "Without Kumogakure's help, you might not have killed the Wraith Generals at all."

"Enough arguing. Let's focus on how to hunt the Wraith Sorceress."

Iwagakure's Kurotsuchi banged the table. "We've all noticed the Reincarnation Game has first-kill bonuses."

"The first kill of a boss drops significantly better loot and more reward points."

The Wraith General at the Ruined Castle, though similar in strength to the current commander-class monsters, had yielded far greater rewards.

That was the first-kill bonus.

Granny Chiyo, one of Sunagakure's veteran strategists and current senior advisor, nodded. "Indeed. If we manage the first kill on a lord-tier boss like the Wraith Sorceress, the rewards will be unprecedented."

Sunagakure was desperately short on funds. They had few high-level players, and most lacked decent gear. Soloing the boss was nearly impossible.

So cooperation was their best bet.

Though old, Chiyo's mastery of poisons and puppets meant she didn't rely on youthful reflexes. Her battle instincts, honed over decades, kept Sunagakure competitive in the Novice Village.

Thanks to the [Monster Siege] event, all of Sunagakure's players had upgraded their gear to blue sets, massively increasing their power.

Meanwhile, Konoha's forces were now the weakest among the five great ninja villages.

"I agree."

A soft voice joined in. A woman with a paper flower in her hair.

Even Mei, whose Kirigakure forces dominated the village, looked warily at her.

Despite joining later than everyone else, this woman's power had rapidly caught up through sheer spending.

It was rare.

The Reincarnation Game had no shortage of whales, especially among the nobility.

But most noble players—even after dropping massive amounts of money—were weak in combat, lacking both instincts and awareness.

Most only unlocked Tier 0 classes like Mage Apprentice or Rogue and couldn't advance to more powerful classes.

"Is it luck… or talent?"

Mei's emerald eyes flashed with doubt.

As players leveled up, the hidden mechanics of the game began to surface.

Like Mei herself.

Upon hitting level 10, the game prompted her to become a Tier 1 Blazing Flame Mage.

To unlock other classes, she would have needed to buy class scrolls from the shop.

Most of her alliance members got no prompt and had to rely on scrolls.

The failure rate was high.

Even those who managed to unlock Tier 1 would only open four skill slots. To learn class skills, they had to purchase materials.

If they failed, the materials were lost.

Mei had learned two skills with ease: Blazing Groundfire and Blazing Chains.

But ordinary players failed over and over. It often took multiple tries just to learn a single weak skill.

"To forget a bad skill, you need to buy a Forgetting Drop from the River of Oblivion. Then you can try again."

"Worst of all, unlocking the fifth and sixth skill slots requires expensive materials and… gambling on chance."

Mei felt her head ache.

Gifted players grew stronger rapidly. Their class skills didn't even require reward points to level—just practice.

For the rest, the game's systems were a punishing series of traps.

Even if Kirigakure pooled all its funds, it might not be enough.

Moving forward,

the gap between players would only grow wider.

Whales might keep up by brute-forcing purple or silver gear with money.

But the average player?

Their growth would be forever capped by low talent. Even if they reached high levels, their stats would fall far behind gifted players.

It was like the corrupted monsters themselves.

A level 15 Wraith General was vastly stronger than a level 15 Wraith Soldier.

Soon, every faction would change their recruitment strategy.

Cast a wide net.

Then identify talented individuals and invest heavily—elevating them as elite players with generous pay and rewards.

Kirigakure couldn't afford to fall behind!

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