A brief, heavy silence descended after Kakashi's direct request for temporary power. Even the omnipotent Shen Mo was momentarily taken aback. The Copy Ninja's analytical mind was proving sharp, cutting straight to the most efficient, and most dangerous, use of the Jar system.
Is Kakashi truly that shrewd?
Shen Mo's business model often relied on the inherent difference between the value of permanent power versus the temporary use of that power. To permanently elevate a ninja to the level of a Third Tier powerhouse demanded investment equivalent to tens of millions of transaction points.
Yet, a single, perfectly chosen, one-time-use technique capable of defeating that same powerhouse might cost only a fraction of that price—perhaps a few hundred thousand points. The cost discrepancy was vast.
The challenge lay in balancing the availability of these one-shot abilities. If left unchecked, every customer would gravitate toward buying temporary, life-saving boosts, undermining the slow-burn, profitable sales of permanent power upgrades. The risk was a market spiraling out of control, where no one invested in lasting strength, only in cheap, desperate survival.
"Kakashi," Shen Mo's voice was measured, a gentle warning woven into his response.
"You must understand that with items of equivalent value, the greater the power, the more profound the accompanying flaw. It is a fundamental cosmic constant. Consider your own Sharingan: it grants you immense power, yet it is a foreign element that taxes your chakra, forces you to keep one eye perpetually covered, and brings you a great flaw."
Kakashi knew this truth better than anyone. His moniker, the "Copy Ninja," and the exhausting reality of his borrowed eye meant he was perpetually operating at a calculated disadvantage—a "50/50" existence he was forced to endure. The power came with a heavy, inescapable tariff.
"My Lord," Kakashi's voice held no hesitation, "in this crucible of fate, the choice is my own. I accept the toll."
"...So be it." Shen Mo's voice carried a theatrical sigh of resignation. "Your fate remains in your hands, Copy Ninja. In that case, the series I recommend for your gamble is: Forbidden."
Just a single word, yet it sent a primal shiver down Kakashi's spine. The shinobi world was already riddled with its own list of terrifying, self-destructive forbidden jutsu. To apply that label to a series of Jars hinted at something far more dangerous than simple chakra exhaustion.
"The Forbidden Jar Series," Shen Mo elaborated, the warning now distinct and unmistakable, "contains a variety of artifacts and abilities capable of dramatically increasing power, but always demanding a terrifying price. Some of these costs are more damning, more crippling, than mere death itself."
"I have made my decision!" Kakashi ground out the words, his jaw set. Since the miraculous return of his friend Rin, the ghost of his past failures no longer haunted him with regret over what he had done, but with the crushing fear of inaction. He would not hesitate again.
"Then..." Shen Mo waved his hand, his voice trailing off, and two hundred Tier One Jars materialized before Kakashi, shimmering ominously.
Shen Mo mentally reviewed the combatants. The victory condition here is truly a toss-up. Kakashi's team possessed immense natural reserves: the borrowed Sharingan, the latent power of Naruto's Nine-Tails, and the rapid evolution of Sasuke's unique Avatar technique.
Zabuza, however, was a battle-hardened killer, and he had the secret ace: the Kempf Bracelet, a massive, unexpected boost initially intended for Haku, now magnifying Zabuza's already lethal attributes.
The outcome was a true coin flip.
Meanwhile, on Zabuza's side of the arena, the Demon of the Mist had also concluded his hasty inventory. He sold a small cache of ninjutsu scrolls—techniques he rarely used—to buy Jars specifically for Haku.
The chosen series mirrored Naruto's initial gamble: Agility. Zabuza's mind, brutally practical, concluded that while strength could break walls, speed was the only way to genuinely bypass the rules of combat.
With barely twenty minutes remaining, both parties plunged into the frantic ritual of the opening.
"Kakashi-sensei, what series did you buy?" Naruto asked, curiosity overriding his tension.
"Just a conventional method to secure a temporary boost," Kakashi deflected, already requesting that Shen Mo route all the audio descriptions of his draws only to his private frequency.
He needed speed. He tore into the first Tier One Jar.
Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was a thin, leather-bound book.
"A technique or a secret manual?" Kakashi wondered, picking it up. He opened it, and as his eye scanned the moving figures on the illuminated page—an artifact from the fantastical world of Harry Potter—his face slowly began to turn a deep, mortified crimson. The book was a product of the Forbidden Series' unexpected, and highly inappropriate, randomness.
Nosebleed. A crimson cascade streamed from the Copy Ninja's face.
"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shrieked, her face flushed as she covertly glanced at the cover. She immediately rolled up her sleeves, her eyes blazing with indignation. "What kind of utterly disgusting jar did you get?!"
Across the huddle, Rin Nohara stared, her hands flying to cover her mouth. Her wide eyes held a look of profound, horrified disappointment, as if she were seeing her innocent, dedicated childhood friend transform into a senile, Icha Icha-addicted pervert right before her eyes.
"I'm innocent! This is a mistake!" Kakashi scrambled, desperately stuffing the scandalous picture book behind his back and stemming the flow of blood. He glared upward at the floating Merchant. "Lord Shen Mo, why on earth did this appear in the Forbidden Series?!"
"...I confess I was unaware of such a specific draw existing in this particular sub-series," Shen Mo's voice echoed, tinged with feigned surprise, audible to everyone in the camp. "Perhaps... it is a reflection of a particularly potent, deeply suppressed willpower within you, Copy Ninja."
Shen Mo, in his private amusement, had once inserted a few genuinely absurd, inappropriate items as placeholders. He never expected Kakashi—the man famously devoted to the Icha Icha series—to be the first to pull one. It was a joke of cosmic proportions, and Kakashi was the perfect, humiliated punchline.
An eerie, judgmental silence descended upon the huddle. They all stared at Kakashi with expressions ranging from pity to profound disgust. Willpower strong enough to draw a magical, moving adult picture book? It was a new, humiliating layer to the Copy Ninja's already complex character.
"This... this is an unfortunate error of the system!" Kakashi stammered, offering a weak, unconvincing explanation, utterly broken by Rin's expression of puzzled betrayal. It felt less like a preparation for battle and more like a public execution of his dignity.
"Hmph. The system error is entirely irrelevant, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke interjected, unexpectedly cutting in to rescue his mortified teacher. "We are wasting precious time. Focus on the Jars."
"Yes! Right!" Kakashi snatched back his focus, breathing deeply. The need for power outweighed all shame. He began ripping through the remaining Jars with ferocious speed, desperately hoping to avoid another scandalous draw.
Fortunately, to his immense relief and disappointment, the remaining Tier One Jars were mundane—a steady stream of experience orbs and small vials of medicine. The one major reward Shen Mo had placed in the Tier One Forbidden Series was a potent, self-destructive Taijutsu move: the Seven Wound Fists.
The classic technique: he who harms others first harms himself. Its power was immense, yet the required bodily sacrifice was reminiscent of Guy's deadly Eight Gates—truly a Forbidden technique.
Kakashi nodded grimly. He was beginning to understand the series' brutal logic.
"Sir, continue the series. Take the remaining points for the next tier."
"As you command."
Immediately, hundreds of larger, more imposing Tier Two Jars appeared before them, bought with the rest of the funds from his relinquished ninjutsu memories. To sell more would be to permanently cripple his own baseline ability, a cost he couldn't afford.
Kakashi's heart hammered—tension, expectation, and a mounting sense of fear warring within him. Tier Two meant exponentially greater power, but the cost, derived from the Forbidden Series, could be truly terrifying.
With a deep breath, he began. On the twelfth Jar, a new, never-before-seen object appeared: a gleaming card.