The sun set in the west.
Another day had passed.
Naruto finished his last strengthening exercise, did some arm stretches, and a happy smile appeared on his face.
After a year of training, he no longer felt the full-body soreness he experienced after a day of training when he first started.
Indeed, effort pays off.
"Naruto, starting tomorrow morning, you won't have to do these strengthening exercises anymore." At this moment, the system's voice echoed in Naruto's mind.
Upon hearing this, Naruto's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "System, can I… can I finally learn that body-hardening technique?"
"No,"
Naruto's eyes dimmed.
Then he heard the system say again:
"Although a year of strengthening exercises has made your body less frail than it was a year ago, it is still weak, and you still cannot practice that overbearing body-hardening technique."
"If you force yourself to cultivate it, you might bleed to death."
"Be patient, Naruto. You are currently in the most important foundational stage. As the saying goes, a tall building starts from the ground up, and laying the foundation is crucial. Once the foundation is solid, practicing the body-hardening technique in the future will naturally yield twice the results with half the effort."
Then, the system explained to Naruto that the strengthening exercises were just the first step in laying the foundation, and the next was the transitional second step.
As for the specific content of the second step, the system did not elaborate.
However, Naruto noticed a faint, almost imperceptible hint of joy in the system's usually kind and gentle tone when it spoke of the second step.
Naruto couldn't help but feel a chill.
But for my friends, I, Naruto, will take on anything!
The next day, Naruto was woken by his biological clock. He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, then ate breakfast. Following the system's instructions, he took all the money from his house and went out onto the street.
After a year, Naruto was on the street again.
This time, however, Naruto wasn't wearing a mask.
"Isn't that the Nine-Tailed Fox brat? He's been gone for a year, where did he hide?"
"He must have been up to no good. Look at him, a six-year-old boy, so tall and big. He must have been stealing food."
"Stealing food? Now that you mention stealing food, I remember! Keiko next door said her chickens always mysteriously disappear. He probably stole them to eat, didn't he, the Nine-Tailed brat?"
"Hehehe, a nine-tailed fox eating chickens, that's an eternal truth."
Indeed, once people dislike someone, even if that person does nothing, everything they do is seen as wrong.
Although Naruto had anticipated this situation before leaving home, when it actually happened and he was in the midst of it, he still felt a deep sense of sadness.
He clenched his fists in indignation, wanting to shout at those who were maliciously gossiping about him, "I didn't do anything, I'm not a bad kid!"
But he eventually let out a sigh, said nothing, and walked on in silence.
The system sensed Naruto's sadness and comforted him, "Calm down, Naruto. You have to remember, these people will all become your friends in the end!"
Listening to the system's sinister comfort, Naruto felt a surge of determination in his heart, clenched his fists tightly, and nodded heavily to himself, "System, you're right, I can't be angry with my friends."
Having calmed his emotions, Naruto asked in his mind, "System, why did you tell me to bring so much money out? What are we going to do?"
At this point, Naruto felt a pang of heartache. After all, this was the little money he had saved by being frugal for five or six years. Was it about to leave him now?
"We're going to buy medicine."
"Buy medicine? What for? I'm not injured?" Naruto was puzzled.
"You will be soon." The system's steady voice carried a hint of excitement.
"I'm going to get injured?" Naruto was even more confused. How could I get injured out of the blue? Who would hit me?
He looked at the people around him who disliked him, thinking that these people would only attack him verbally; physical attacks had never happened.
As for hitting himself, Naruto considered it, but quickly dismissed the absurd idea.
Hit myself?
I'm not stupid!
"Naruto, get all the medicines on this list." A prescription suddenly appeared in Naruto's hand.
Naruto looked at the prescription. It contained names of herbs. He recognized the individual characters, but he didn't know what the combined names of the herbs meant.
Holding the prescription, Naruto entered a pharmacy.
The owner of the pharmacy was a middle-aged man with a full beard, looking fierce. At this moment, he was sitting on a chair behind the counter, idly fanning away flies.
"Boss, I want to buy medicine."
"Alright, customer, what do you want to buy..." When a customer arrived, the middle-aged man quickly stood up to greet him, but halfway through, he saw the face of the person buying medicine. He immediately changed his tone:
"I'm sorry, I don't have the medicine you want to buy here."
This attitude made Naruto feel very wronged. Wasn't it said that the customer is God?!
"Boss, but you haven't even looked at the prescription yet, how do you know you don't have the medicine?" Naruto raised his head and asked stubbornly.
The middle-aged man waved his hand, saying impatiently, "I said I don't have it, so I don't. Go on, go on, don't block my business." He shooed Naruto away as if he were chasing a plague god.
It's not that he doesn't have the medicine, is it?
It's because I'm Uzumaki Naruto!
Naruto, knowing full well the reason, left the pharmacy.
Afterward, Naruto went to several other pharmacies, but no one was willing to sell him medicine.
Naruto returned home dejected and empty-handed. He said to the system apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm really useless, I can't even do this simple thing well."
"No, Naruto, you've done very well. Look, when the first pharmacy refused you, you didn't give up, but continued to the next pharmacy. And when you were refused again, you still didn't give up, visiting all the pharmacies in Konoha."
"Naruto, this incident shows that you've grown a lot. Before, you would have definitely given up! Now, Naruto, you are a person of great perseverance."
Hearing the system's generous praise, Naruto's face reddened, and he scratched his head in embarrassment, "Am I really that outstanding?"
"Of course, you are the future ultimate master of body-hardening, a great figure who can suppress even the Hokage with a flick of his hand!"
"But I didn't buy the medicine..." Thinking of this, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little disheartened.
"Don't be disheartened, Naruto. If we can't buy it, we can go gather it ourselves," the system said.
"Oh, right!" Naruto's eyes lit up. How could he not have thought of this method? But if I don't know herbs, how can I gather them?
Just then, a book fell into Naruto's arms.
The book cover was exquisite.
It was a copy of the Compendium of Materia Medica, published by Posts & Telecom Press in 2016, authored by Li Shizhen.
Naruto picked it up and saw that it contained Chinese characters he didn't recognize.
"System, what does this say?"
The system acted as his translator.
"Compendium of Materia Medica?"
"Li Shizhen?"
Naruto murmured. So it was a medical treatise. It would be useful for his training, otherwise the system wouldn't have taught him to read and recognize words.