However, looking at the silly smiling Naruto right now, Akali had no idea that she had already been upgraded to a godmother in Naruto’s heart.
The efficiency with which Naruto made money from the photo shoots was just too fast, and during the process, Naruto himself would also provide emotion points.
Thus, Akali was not about to give up on Naruto.
Looking at Naruto, Akali continued to ask, “So, what do you think? About this approach?”
“Let’s put it this way, Naruto, are you still willing to continue?”
“This…”
When the question of whether to continue was asked, it indeed stumped Naruto.
To be honest, he was unwilling.
After all, to Naruto, the greatest attraction was Ninjutsu.
But Akali also came from a civilian background, so it was impossible for her to endlessly give him Ninjutsu.
If she really gave them endlessly, she wouldn’t just be a godmother—she’d be his real mother!
So if it was purely about money, Naruto didn’t really care.
He didn’t have a great need for money.
The hundred thousand Ryo from Akali was currently enough for him to get a set of good equipment and prepare for his upcoming Ninja career.
Most importantly, transforming himself into a woman and posing in all those seductive ways…
was just too embarrassing!
Besides, this was different from the Sexy Jutsu.
The Sexy Jutsu was him actively teasing the other party as a prank.
Taking photos, on the other hand, was the other party paying to buy his pictures.
The Ninja career Naruto wanted was a cool one, to be a hero like the Fourth Hokage who saved Konoha, not some “teacher” everyone praised!
Looking at the silent Naruto, Akali also roughly understood his thoughts.
Naruto had no need for the things she was offering.
Without a need, he naturally wouldn’t be moved by her words!
But it didn’t matter.
If there was no need, she would just create one!
Akali tapped her toes, passing by Naruto like a gust of fresh breeze.
By the time Naruto reacted, Akali had already slipped his Kunai out of his Ninja tool pouch, spinning it continuously with her slender finger slipped through the ring at the end of the handle.
Seeing this, Naruto got a bit nervous.
“What are you doing?”
Could this Akali be planning to beat a confession out of him because he wouldn’t agree?!
Instead of answering, Akali brought up something else.
“You want to defeat Sasuke, right? Do you think you can beat him?”
“Of course!” Naruto nodded.
Mentioning Sasuke immediately diverted his attention.
However, in response to Naruto’s confidence, Akali merely curled her lips into a mocking arc.
The curve was so obvious that Naruto could see it even through her mask.
Akali stopped spinning the Kunai and placed Naruto’s Kunai between the two of them.
“Take a look at this Kunai, Naruto!”
“What?” Naruto didn’t quite understand what Akali meant.
“I mean, you are just like this Kunai. From afar, it looks fine, but if you look closely…”
Akali held the Kunai right in front of Naruto’s eyes.
Under the light of the sun that had not yet set, the tiny chips and scratches on the Kunai’s blade were so glaringly obvious!
Even the sharpest tip of the Kunai had long since chipped and dulled from excessive, repeated use!
Then, before Naruto could take another look, Akali tossed his Kunai upward!
His eyes following his Kunai, Naruto looked up.
At the same time, Akali whipped out a system-produced Kunai at lightning speed and slashed heavily!
“Clang!”
A crisp metallic clash rang out!
In Naruto’s shocked eyes, his Kunai was sliced clean in half as easily as a hot knife through butter!
Akali’s voice continued, “You are just like this Kunai. From afar, there seems to be nothing wrong, but up close, one can see it is covered in scars and has long since ceased to be of any real use.”
“With just a gentle strike, it snaps effortlessly!”
“Naruto, you say you want to defeat Sasuke? But the Uchiha have the Ninja Cat clan specifically responsible for forging their Ninja tools. The quality of the Ninja Cats’ Ninja tools is world-famous, and the ones provided to him are the finest of the fine!”
“A Kunai like yours can’t even withstand my cheap item. Do you really expect to fare well against Sasuke’s high-quality Kunai?”
“In fact, if we’re being honest, Sasuke even being willing to fight you in close combat is doing you a favor!”
“How many Kunai do you have in your pouch? Five? Six?”
“But Sasuke can fill his pouch with Ninja tools, with at least twenty or more!”
“He doesn’t even need close combat; he can take you down just by throwing Ninja tools from afar!”
“Do you understand, Naruto? This is the power of money!”
“And I won’t even mention the medicated meals Sasuke eats and the medicinal baths he takes every day!”
“Of course, you can say you have a bit of money now, but do you know the cost of living?”
“One explosive tag costs two thousand Ryo, a Fuma Shuriken costs three thousand Ryo, and a Ninja Blade costs five thousand or even over ten thousand! The basic average price of shuriken and Kunai is between three hundred and five hundred Ryo, while high-quality ones cost eight to nine hundred.”
“I won’t even mention Military Rations Pills, Storage Scrolls, and armor.”
“With a hundred thousand Ryo, how many times can you replenish your Ninja tools?”
Akali’s words were incredibly blunt: “Naruto, how are you going to bridge the gap against the power of money?”
“This…” Naruto fell silent once more.
It happened to be dinner time.
A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the faint aroma of cooking from the houses.
Sweat beaded on Naruto’s forehead, and he felt as if he were in a different world.
Indeed, although Sasuke was an orphan, he had inherited the Uchiha clan’s massive wealth from birth.
Compared to a real young master like him, how could an orphan like Naruto, who relied entirely on subsidies to survive, even compare?
Thus, under Akali’s words, Naruto’s resolve was severely shaken!
There was one point that he couldn’t put into words to anyone else.
Naruto, of all people, absolutely did not want to lose to Sasuke!
So, Naruto looked at Akali with a rare expression of seriousness:
“Then, if I have money, will I be able to defeat Sasuke?”
The corner of Akali’s mouth beneath her mask curled up slightly, a teasing smile appearing on her face.
“Of course not.”
“Huh?” Hearing Akali’s response, Naruto was dumbfounded.
Wait, why wasn’t she playing by the rules?!
[Ding! emotion points from Naruto +999!]
Fortunately, Akali did not continue to tease Naruto.
“Money equals power, but at the same time, it doesn’t. Otherwise, why would Ninjas even train? Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just went into business?”
“Many wealthy merchants, despite having wealth that could rival nations, don’t necessarily understand how to convert money into power!”
“But while they don’t, I do! I know how to convert money into power!”
“Only by having money, combined with knowing how to convert that money into strength, can you defeat Sasuke!”
“Do you understand?”
“…”
Akali’s voice was calm, yet it carried boundless confidence.
A gust of wild wind swept by, unable to bend her eternally straight spine, only playfully scattering the hair at the young girl’s temples.
The young girl raised her slender hand, tucking her hair behind her ear, every single movement so natural.
Looking at Akali like this, Naruto suddenly understood!
With such confidence, even things that seemed impossible would probably be accomplished by Akali!
And so, looking at Akali, Naruto slowly nodded.
“I understand!”