Hayate Shiranui began by taking a bath and changing his clothes. He inspected the bathroom, then moved to the center of the living room. He lit candles on the floor and laid out several gold bars. Surrounding the candles, he placed offerings of delicious ramen, burgers, fried chicken, and cola.
Placing his left hand over his heart, Hayate began to chant: "The Fool who does not belong to this era; The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog; The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck... please listen to my prayer. I beseech thee to grant my wish and bring me a powerful ninja."
With the ritual complete, Hayate's consciousness dived back into the System Space.
"Ninja Recruitment, Ten-Pull... Start!"
The whirlpool symbol of the Land of Eddies appeared before him, glowing with a strange radiance. After a flash of brilliant light, the recruitment results manifested before his eyes.
- Ding! Obtained B-Rank Ninja, [Shippuden] Tenten Shard x1!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Naruto Shard x1!
- Ding! Obtained A-Rank Ninja, Hidan Shard x4!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Ninja Student Naruto Shard x2!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Shizune!
- Ding! Obtained A-Rank Ninja, Kurotsuchi [Boruto] Shard x1!
- Ding! Obtained B-Rank Ninja, Young Kakashi Shard x4!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Kamatari Temari Shard x2!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Saku Orange Shard x1!
- Ding! Obtained C-Rank Ninja, Tayuya Shard x1!
Watching the text pop up on the screen, he saw the announcement of the successful recruitment of the C-Rank Ninja, Shizune. The image displayed was the Jonin Shizune in her classic Japanese kimono. Although Shizune was categorized as a C-Rank in the mobile game, in this world, she was a genuine Jonin.
More importantly, she was an exceptionally skilled medical ninja—someone he wouldn't trade even for a B-Rank.
Hayate opened her details to check her skills:
Shizune (C-Rank Ninja)
- Skills: Ninja Art: Poison Mist, Hidden Weapon: Needle Shot, Return of the Swallow: Tonton's Dance.
- Poison Mist: Converts chakra and exhales it forward; it turns into a massive toxic cloud upon contact with air, eroding enemies.
- Needle Shot: Leaps backward and fires a volley of poisoned needles. Weak enemies die instantly; stronger ones suffer continuous damage.
- Tonton's Dance: Summons Tonton to charge and knock back enemies, followed by rapid slashes with a Chakra Scalpel.
Seeing the Chakra Scalpel mentioned in her ultimate, Hayate knew his search for a medical ninja was over. Following the "wax bath" era, he finally had a professional—the future head of the Medical Department who studied under Tsunade for years.
Hayate was satisfied. While he hadn't pulled a top-tier powerhouse, the medical gap in his team was filled. A research-type ninja would be the next goal—perhaps Orochimaru, Sasori, or even Deidara—but since those were A or S-Rank, he wasn't holding his breath. It seemed the "Lord of Freebies" (the Fool) had some level of influence; maybe next time he'd try praying to the "Heaven Worthy of Fortune and Honor."
With one more ten-pull, he would trigger the guaranteed S-Rank shard bonus, which boosted his confidence.
Upon claiming the ninja, the chakra in Hayate's body surged once more. Shizune's three active skills were etched into his mind. He could now use the Chakra Scalpel himself, though he still lacked deep medical knowledge. He also gained enough chakra for three more Chidori uses.
Looking at the shards, he saw another "explosion" for Hidan. Combined with his previous four, he now had 8 shards—one-fifth of the way to the 40 required for recruitment. Even the Young Kakashi shards Pakkun had been pining for appeared in a set of four.
The ten-pull netted 17 shards total (5 A-Rank, 4 B-Rank, 8 C-Rank) plus a full medical ninja. This was a win.
Collecting everything, he checked his Ninja Roster. It now showed four ninjas: Umino Iruka, Rock Lee, Uchiha Sasuke [Sharingan], and Shizune.
However, Shizune was currently "Off-duty." When he tried to deploy her alongside the other three, a prompt appeared:
Ding! Would you like to use 1,000 Gold Coins to unlock a deployment slot?
The first slot cost 100, the second 500, and now the third was 1,000. With only 22 gold coins left, Hayate felt the crushing weight of poverty. The mission to obtain the "Dragon Bone" (Dragon Vein) was now urgent. He needed items to convert into gold to unlock that slot without benching his current fighters.
Exiting the System Space, Hayate looked at the mess of food and burnt candles. He blew out the flames, stored the ramen in his inventory, and began devouring the burgers and chicken. Since the "God of Poverty" hadn't taken the offerings, he'd have to finish them himself.