New Ideas

New Ideas. Two and a half hours later, Barbecue Q.

"Phew~"

Lin Ke lay back against the wall, rubbing his belly.

"Boss, want some more?" Yuan Wei asked generously.

He had invited them to Barbecue Q today to thank his boss for his guidance. Since he was treating, they could eat as much as they wanted, until they were full.

He was no millionaire or rich second-generation kid, but he did have both parents and support from home. No matter what, he was far better off than his boss. Treating them to one barbecue meal was nothing.

Lin Ke waved a hand without speaking. The scent of grilled meat seemed to still linger beneath his nose, and the sizzling of fat rang endlessly in his ears. Unfortunately, he could no longer eat that much.

When he said nothing, the three people at the table fell silent again.

Mostly because he usually maintained the image of a cool guy with a cold expression. He had no particular hobbies. Aside from caring a little about food, all he did was train, train, and train some more.

His two teammates had no idea what he liked or disliked. Whenever the three of them were together, they were either carrying out missions or handling serious business. Now that they were sitting together during their free time, they all felt somewhat at a loss for how to start a conversation.

Lin Ke gradually realized the problem as well. But he had never been an outgoing person before crossing over, and he was carrying a stomach full of secrets after arriving here. He also did not want to form any ties, so he became even more steady and reserved. Still, they were treating him today. Wouldn't it be strange if he said nothing?

After pausing for a moment, he took the initiative. "You... do you have any other questions?"

Sigh, somehow it always came back to training.

He truly had no idea what to talk about! It was not that he had social anxiety; he simply did not enjoy idle chatter and always felt like he had no topics. But for the sake of his persona, he still needed to build a good relationship with his two teammates.

Xia quickly said, "About chakra control..."

As they exchanged questions and answers, the atmosphere warmed slightly. Back at the Ninja Academy, she had either bullied others with her girlfriends or arranged flowers and played around. Yet after graduating, she had not only swiftly become a qualified ninja, but also had to serve as the team's mediator. Wasn't that a little too ridiculous? She sighed inwardly. When she saw her girlfriends again, those girls would probably fail to recognize her now.

Yuan Wei gradually joined the conversation. After the three discussed training for a while, their two teammates' joint efforts soon steered the topic toward other daily matters.

For example, which movies had recently been released, which author's novel was particularly popular, and the romantic scandals among the Land of Fire's higher-ups.

It had to be said, the children in the Naruto world really matured early.

Lin Ke could offer a few comments on some topics, while on others he could only listen. Gradually, he learned more about his two teammates.

Yuan Wei loved reading all kinds of novels, liked sweets, and dreamed of becoming a powerful ninja.

Xia was very fond of gossip and deeply interested in all sorts of rumors. She was skilled at makeup and flower arranging, disliked fighting and killing, and wanted to work at a hospital.

"Mm, why didn't you attend the Medical Ninja seminar a while back?" Lin Ke asked curiously.

Xia spread her hands helplessly. "I'm already familiar with the content of the Medical Ninja seminar. It's just that my chakra control and chakra reserves are a bit..." She smiled sheepishly before continuing, "Besides, I never thought I could become a Medical Ninja. Being able to work at a hospital would be enough."

She was quite realistic.

Becoming a Medical Ninja was indeed far too difficult. It was not something ordinary people could even attempt.

Lin Ke smiled. "It's fine. I think after training for a while longer, you'll be able to enter the hospital." He was not saying it blindly. The requirements for entering a hospital were truly not that high. As long as she could control her chakra well enough to perform treatment without wasting it, that would be enough.

She was not trying to become some famous doctor. An internship would absolutely not be a problem.

Konoha Hospital had two kinds of doctors: ordinary doctors and Ninja Doctors. Ordinary doctors had higher knowledge requirements, while Ninja Doctors had higher requirements for chakra control and chakra reserves. It was not especially difficult for a genin to become a Ninja Doctor.

Konoha Hospital: A major hospital staffed jointly by ordinary doctors and Ninja Doctors, as well as a place for researching medicine and ninjutsu.

Xia was still growing. If she improved her chakra control now, then in a year or two, once her chakra reserves were sufficient, entering the hospital to study would not be difficult at all.

"Mm!" Hearing her boss say so, she perked up as well.

The conversation seemed to be nearing its end. Thinking that he ought to start another topic, Lin Ke casually asked, "What do you think you're most familiar with?"

In truth, he had simply voiced his own worry. He was troubled by the lack of a direction for developing the Transformation Jutsu, and in front of his two teammates, who could barely be considered friends, the thing troubling him slipped right out of his mouth.

After saying it, he felt it was somewhat inappropriate. As a topic, the question was too awful. He added, "I was just asking casually. Don't mind it."

"If it's what I'm most familiar with..." Xia fell into thought.

Yuan Wei, however, answered without hesitation, "Of course it's my own body." He flexed his biceps and chuckled, livening the atmosphere.

My own—

Body?! Lin Ke's expression abruptly froze.

That was right. No matter how familiar he was with external objects, how could they compare to his familiarity with his own body?

How did that saying go? The wise seek strength within; only the unwise seek it outside.

I just need to transform into myself...

The things he transformed into had all sorts of limitations, but the Transformation Jutsu could directly ignore the principles behind how a body functioned. In other words, when transforming, things like energy circulation, meridians, the heart, liver, spleen, and lungs simply did not matter.

Other than his head remaining unchanged, his body could directly transform according to the amount of chakra supplied, maintaining forms that exceeded his original size for varying lengths of time, and operating in an utterly unscientific manner.

How had he even felt a long sword as if it were his own arm? How did a body transformed into wood or paper breathe? None of that needed consideration. He only needed to transform. The Transformation Jutsu had many things to consider.

Because he had no idea how the transformation process worked, he had to treat the target of the technique as a whole—fingers, palms, arms, the entire body. He could not perform transformations on a microscopic level.

But conversely, if he could transform as long as he was sufficiently familiar with something, then transforming would pose no difficulty at all.

What could he possibly know better than his own body? "Boss? Boss?" Yuan Wei looked at the suddenly dazed Lin Ke. The smile on his face froze, then slowly faded as he asked softly.

"Hmm?"

Lin Ke came back to himself. "Sorry, I have something to do. Please excuse me for now. See you at the Seventh Training Ground later." He stood up, rushed out of Barbecue Q with an extremely serious expression, and vanished down the street before long.

Developing ninjutsu was what mattered. Things like maintaining his persona or chatting a little longer were secondary.

Watching him run off, Yuan Wei and Xia exchanged slightly awkward looks.

"Um..." X2 "I..." X2 "You..." X2 "I'll get going first. See you this afternoon." Xia took the lead and stood up.

The two of them truly had nothing to say to each other. Their interests, hobbies, and aspirations did not overlap at all. If not for Lin Ke, they probably would not have exchanged another word for the rest of their lives.