Should Be Fine

Should Be Fine

"The things created through Transformation Jutsu are real, not illusions."

"Only the hands, feet, and torso can transform. The head cannot be changed."

"For now, the transformation is limited to things whose structures and relevant knowledge I understand. Size cannot be changed."

"It lasts ten minutes, much longer than Clone Technique, and consumes slightly less chakra."

"However, once the transformation ends, it cannot erase any damage sustained. That needs special attention."

Lin Ke spent some time summarizing the applications of Transformation Jutsu. His strange Transformation Jutsu was pretty powerful, wasn't it? Compared with the original version, it was ridiculously strong.

But it had probably lost its ability to fool others. Even when he transformed into a real animal, it still had his own head on top, making it look like the stitched-together creation of some mad biological scientist.

It was both bizarre and sanity-draining.

It had quite a few restrictions, but its practical effects were decent. At the very least, after transforming into sufficiently sturdy weapons, both his offensive and defensive power improved significantly.

Just like the Clone Technique from before, it was strange, but far more powerful than the original version.

Could this be my cheat ability?

"Grrr~"

Lin Ke came back to his senses and rubbed his rumbling stomach. Chakra was refined by mixing Body Energy and Mental Energy, so using it inevitably came with a major drain on physical stamina.

Ninja rarely exhausted all their chakra or wasted too much of it. Once all their strength was spent, they could only be at the mercy of others.

He had only just reached the required physical standard, yet after using the Three Body Technique seven or eight times, he already felt hungry. It was clear that his current chakra reserves were extremely low.

"I'm so hungry." Whether it had been the panic of his ninjutsu acting strangely or the delight and exploration after discovering his cheat ability, he had completely ignored his stomach.

Now that his emotions had settled, hunger instantly took over his mind. He even felt so weak that every breath seemed to make him tremble.

Of course, that was really just an illusion caused by massive physical exertion. He had experienced it many times during previous training and had developed considerable endurance.

"I've decided. I'm going for ramen."

Rubbing his stomach, Lin Ke picked up his little wallet and toddled out on his short legs.

After all, he was only seven years old this year and barely over 1.2 meters tall. He was not some unusually developed child. Even if he could now be called a ninja, that did not change the fact that he was still a child.

Leaving the apartment and stepping onto the bustling street, he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the dazzling sunlight. He was in a good mood today, so he decided to reward himself with a bottle of happiness water.

With that thought, he bought a bottle of cola from a roadside vending machine and drank as he walked toward Ichiraku Ramen.

If he was going to eat ramen, how could he miss Ichiraku Ramen?

As Konoha's most famous ramen shop, its popularity was not simply due to its delicious flavor. More importantly, it was cheap and generous with its portions, and even the drinks were affordable. A regular bowl of Tonkotsu ramen cost only sixty ryo, an incredible bargain. Paired with a fifteen-ryo serving of rice, it was immensely satisfying.

Note: According to Kishimoto's own setting, one ryo in the Naruto World equaled ten yen. This came from when Naruto and Jiraiya were searching for Tsunade, and Naruto had thirty thousand ryo in his wallet. Kishimoto said that was roughly three hundred thousand yen.

Since Konoha's commercial district was not particularly large to begin with, and his physical ability was already beyond that of an ordinary person, Lin Ke soon arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Yo, little Lin Ke. Good afternoon." It was not the peak dining hour, and the owner, Teuchi, greeted him with a cheerful smile.

"Good afternoon, Uncle Teuchi." Lin Ke returned the smile. It was cheap, filling, and plentiful—perfect for replenishing the severe physical exhaustion after training.

Not everyone could be like Uzumaki Naruto, eating instant noodles and drinking milk for three meals a day while still having absurdly abundant energy. A violent profession like being a ninja required plenty of high-quality protein.

As an orphan, Ichiraku Ramen was naturally a place he visited often. It had nothing to do with whether he checked in or not. He placed his order with practiced ease. "One bowl of special char siu ramen and one serving of rice, please." Then he opened his little wallet, sat at the counter, and paid.

After taking the money, Uncle Teuchi went inside to get busy.

The shop was fairly quiet right now. Only one bearded ninja wearing the classic green undersuit and flak jacket sat in the corner, drinking and eating ramen. It was the afternoon, after all.

Lin Ke rummaged through his little wallet and felt a headache coming on. He was running low on money.

After his father died, he had left him an inheritance of roughly fifty thousand ryo and a Ninja Apartment. After becoming an orphan, if he did not wish to enter an orphanage, Konoha provided a subsidy of two thousand ryo.

In truth, two thousand ryo was only barely enough to survive. Even if he ate just one bowl of ramen a day, it would cost eighteen hundred ryo per month. What about all his other expenses?

And if he wanted to become a ninja, physical training naturally required more nutrition and more food. Not every ninja was a huge eater, but their appetites were definitely much larger than ordinary people's, and they ate more frequently. That was why such a vast commercial district could support so many different food establishments.

He only had seventeen thousand ryo left in savings, and there were still half a month before the next subsidy payment.

Now that he had become a ninja, he would definitely practice casting ninjutsu more in the future and increase the intensity of his training... Just thinking about it, the expenses would not be small.

"Special char siu ramen with rice. Please enjoy." While he had been thinking, Teuchi had already brought over the food.

"Then I'll dig in!" Lin Ke slurped up his ramen.

Since this was authentic Japanese ramen, the broth was incredibly salty. Some people could completely ignore the excessive salt content, but he could not, so eating rice alongside ramen for the carbs was perfectly normal.

He wiped out the enormous bowl of ramen and all the rice. He even forced himself to drink more than half the soup despite the saltiness, showing just how hungry he really was.

"Burp~"

Full and satisfied, Lin Ke rubbed his round belly and leaned back comfortably in his chair while drinking ice water.

No matter what, he had finally become a ninja. He could cast ninjutsu, and he had his own slightly strange cheat ability. The future was at least a little worth looking forward to.

That said, could Three Body Technique like mine pass the graduation exam and the Genin Certification Exam? He felt somewhat confused. Then, after thinking it over, it should be fine, right? After all, the admission requirement was only to cast ninjutsu; it did not require the technique to be successfully performed. His Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu were indeed a little strange...

All right, they were very strange, but passing the entrance test should not be a problem.

Even Might Guy and Rock Lee, who could not cast ninjutsu, had been admitted because of their extraordinary stamina and physical qualities. Ninja Academy admissions had always leaned more toward the examiner's subjective judgment than entirely rigid standards.

Even if his ninjutsu was strange, as long as he could cast it, admission should not be a problem, right?

He used three consecutive "should not be a problem"s to strengthen his confidence.

There was no helping it. If he could not enter the Ninja Academy this year, he could only voluntarily become an ordinary genin without a Guidance Jonin or teammates, with absolutely no channel for learning ninjutsu. Then his cheat ability...

Sigh, he could only hope it worked out.