"Haa—"
In the early morning, within the quiet park, Hatake Sora stood among the towering trees and slowly exhaled a long breath. A matte-black kunai flickered faintly within the folds of his sleeve.
"Go!"
With a light flick of his wrist, the razor-sharp kunai shot out from his sleeve like lightning.
Bang!
Like a venomous snake, the kunai slammed violently into the tree trunk, burying itself deep inside—more than half the blade disappeared into the wood. And this was solid hardwood. If it were soft flesh instead…
Hatake Sora raised his hand slightly.
The matte-black kunai vanished abruptly from the tree trunk and reappeared in his grasp. Even as a lowest-tier Noble Phantasm, the mystical power belonging to a Noble Phantasm showed no signs of being diminished.
Time flowed like water.
It had already been three full years since Hatake Sora arrived in this world…
Smiling, Hatake Sora slipped the time-space kunai back into his sleeve and turned toward home.
"That'll be enough training for today. Uncle Guy should be back by now…"
Ten minutes later, Hatake Sora returned to the simple, shabby house.
"Sora, you're back?"
Might Guy was squatting on the floor, carefully sorting different medicinal herbs from the basket beside him.
Hatake Sora nodded, but his thoughts drifted.
After several days of living here, he had noticed something—every morning and every night, Might Guy would leave the village to gather herbs. Though he was a ninja, he lived in poverty precisely because of these herbs.
Aside from collecting medicinal plants and training in taijutsu, he had no time at all to take on ninja missions.
Otherwise—even as a mere genin—there was no way he would be living in such financial hardship, given a ninja's pay…
"Uncle Guy," Hatake Sora asked, narrowing his eyes slightly, "what are these herbs used for?"
If his guess was correct, these medicinal plants were likely one of the key reasons behind the Might family's extraordinary taijutsu achievements.
"They're for medicinal baths!" Might Guy answered openly, raising his arm and flexing his muscles with a grin. "After intense training, the body gets extremely exhausted. That's when you absolutely need special herbs to soak in!"
Hearing this, Hatake Sora nodded inwardly.
Just as he suspected.
The primary reason the Might family's taijutsu was so powerful was relentless effort—but without these unique medicinal formulas, effort alone would be nothing more than a castle in the air.
The body simply wouldn't be able to endure it.
"So? Little Sora, do you want to take medicinal baths too?"
After sorting the herbs, Might Guy smiled and lifted Hatake Sora into his arms. "It might be a bit early, but if you want to train in taijutsu, you and little Dai can soak together with me in the future!"
Even Hatake Sora couldn't help but feel moved.
As the saying went—poor scholars, rich warriors. Even in the Naruto world, the same principle applied. Training taijutsu consumed far more resources than practicing ninjutsu.
That was also one of the reasons Might Guy lived in such poverty…
They weren't related by blood, yet Might Guy was willing to let him freely share expensive medicinal baths, diluting their effectiveness.
"I want to learn taijutsu."
Hatake Sora nodded, then quickly shook his head.
"But I'll handle the herbs myself."
This wasn't stubborn pride. One person soaking alone would naturally gain better results than three sharing a bath. Perhaps that, too, was one of the reasons the Might family grew stronger with each generation…
Hearing this, Might Guy said nothing, only scratching his head in confusion.
"Little Sora, buying these herbs isn't cheap…"
"How much do they cost?"
"One hundred thousand ryō."
Hatake Sora nodded slightly. That was indeed a hefty sum. Completing a single B-rank mission might only earn around that much.
Still, Hatake Sora smiled and shook his head.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it myself."
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, a line of text suddenly popped up in his mind:
Survival Quest: Make Money, Ninja!
Quest Description:Even heroes are brought low by poverty. A true man may live without a wife, but not without money. Earn ten million ryō as quickly as possible.
Quest Reward: Unknown (changes over time)Time Limit: Unlimited
A new quest had appeared!
Hatake Sora shrugged with a smile.
"The system really thinks highly of me, huh?"
Ten million ryō…
That was no small number at all.