Watching Pakkun vanish back to the Summoning Realm, Hayate couldn't help but marvel at the system's complexity.
When he first discovered that Pakkun and the others resided in a dedicated Summoning Realm rather than a static system space, he had Pakkun use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to bring him there. It was an independent world designed by the system to house his summons, with the eight Ninken living together in an area known as Inu-Gami Mountain.
Hayate didn't know exactly how vast this world was; he hadn't been able to explore beyond the mountain yet, likely because he hadn't unlocked other types of summons. For now, it seemed entirely private—accessible only to him and his contracted beasts—though he often wondered if higher dimensional entities or deities in the Marvel universe might one day take notice of it.
Glancing at his nearly depleted Reputation balance, Hayate sighed. Between US dollars and Reputation points, he was always chasing one currency or another. He finished his whiskey and headed to bed.
The next morning.
The first thing Hayate did upon waking was open the system interface for his daily check-in.
Ding! Check-in successful!Reward: 1x Ninja Recruitment Scroll. (Would you like to top up to VIP2 to double this reward?)
Seeing a recruitment scroll as the reward put Hayate in a great mood. As for the "Top-up" prompt? He ruthlessly clicked the "X." It wasn't that he didn't want to; he simply had no idea how to top up. Sometimes he wanted to scream at the system: Just tell me what you want! Blood? Souls? Vibranium? Just name it and I'll find a way!
But the system had no customer service. No guide, no fairy, no AI assistant. He had to figure everything out by his familiarity with the mobile game the system was based on.
He now had five scrolls saved up. Two more months, he thought. Once I hit ten, I can do a multi-draw. He refused to do single pulls; only a ten-pull guaranteed a ninja, and considering he had already used up a lifetime of luck just by reincarnating, he wasn't about to gamble on a "single-draw miracle."
After washing up, Hayate put on one of his custom-tailored bulletproof suits from the Continental and hailed a taxi to his office: The Shiranui Agency, located on 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens.
As he entered, Umino Iruka looked up from the front desk. "Good morning, Master Hayate!"
"Iruka, what's on the mission board today?"
Iruka picked up a few slips. "Finding a lost cat and investigating a case of suspected spousal infidelity. That's all for now."
"I've assigned them to Sasuke and Lee. They should be able to handle them easily."
Hayate felt a wave of helplessness. In the Naruto world, these would be D-rank chores. Still, profit was profit. "Iruka, give me the signed mission scrolls."
Iruka retrieved two scrolls from the cabinet. Hayate opened the system's Mission Center and submitted them. As expected, they were categorized as D-rank.Rewards: 200 Reputation and 5,000 Copper Coins per mission.
"We need to make a bigger name for the Agency," Hayate mused. "The returns on these low-level tasks are just too small. Iruka, do you have any suggestions? What if I send Rock Lee and Sasuke to take contracts from the Continental?"
"The bounties there are excellent," Iruka agreed. "With their skills, ordinary assassination contracts would be no problem. However..."
Hayate shook his head before Iruka could finish. "I've checked. Unless I personally take the Continental contract, the missions you guys complete there can't be submitted to the system's Mission Center."
"I see," Iruka said thoughtfully. "The issue is that the Continental has a near-monopoly on high-end assassination work in the city. We're still relatively unknown. Only clients who can't even afford a single Continental Gold Coin come to us."
Iruka didn't mention the other elephant in the room: both Lee and Sasuke looked very young and were of Asian descent. Without Hayate's personal reputation backing them, many clients didn't take them seriously as elite enforcers.
Hayate narrowed his eyes. I need a seat at the High Table, he thought. And I need it soon. Only as a member of the High Table could he bridge the gap, allowing his Agency to officially process Continental contracts through the system's Mission Center. John Wick, Winston... I hope you don't keep me waiting.
Just then, the door swung open. Hotaru walked in with a bright, sweet smile. "Boss, did I hear you complaining about a lack of big orders?"
Hayate cleared his throat. "Does the Golden Secretary have good news for me?"
Hotaru dropped the humor and looked at him seriously. "Boss, how do you feel about a contract involving the Assassin Brotherhood?"
The name triggered a memory from Hayate's previous life—a movie called Wanted. "The one with the 'curving bullets'?"
Hotaru nodded. "That's the one."
"If the pay is right, we take it."
Hotaru pulled out her phone and made a quick call. "Come in."
A moment later, a middle-aged man with curly hair pushed open the door and stepped into the Shiranui Agency.