A Hero Brought Down by a Penny

Miwa Masayo's appetite had also increased. Compared to before she mastered Senjutsu, she ate at least three times as much.

It was only because Uchiha Yu's appetite had increased tenfold, even twentyfold, that the Tabby Cat did not seem quite so outrageous. She had even overlooked the strange fact that her body had not grown at all.

Cat Castle had a small amount of trade with Mount Myoboku and Ryūchi Cave. Cat Castle sold daily necessities, seasonings, construction materials, and similar goods, while purchasing rare ores and plants.

As they interacted over time, the Ninja Cats could not learn Senjutsu, but they gradually came to understand its signs. For instance, once toads and snakes successfully cultivated Senjutsu, their appetites would suddenly increase, followed by explosive growth in size.

Maoyu, the Ninja Cat from Cat Castle who had muddleheadedly mastered Senjutsu, was also the largest Ninja Cat.

Miwa Masayo cultivated Sage Chakra, but under Uchiha Yu's influence, her development leaned more toward elevating her own life level. There had not been much change in her size.

Since her body had not changed, and Miwa Masayo was a muddleheaded cat, she forgot to report it to Cat Granny. As a result, no one at Cat Castle knew she had cultivated Senjutsu.

Uchiha Yu was very pleased with this. Growing as large as a leopard would not really have been a problem, but with a body that big, how could anyone look forward to Miwa Masayo transforming into a catgirl?

Could it be that Rika-chan would become a gorilla catgirl in the future, the kind whose arms were thicker than Uchiha Yu's waist?

Absolutely not.

Catgirls were supposed to be tiny, soft, and fluffy.

Uh, if—if she was not a gorilla catgirl, but a seductive dark-skinned leopard girl, or a domineering mature tiger girl...

Slurp...

That would not be entirely unacceptable.

Still, Miwa Masayo's question really was a problem. Uchiha Yu had run out of money.

The 120,000 ryō reward for a B-rank mission had originally been quite substantial.

The most expensive bowl at the newly opened Teuchi Ramen stall, chashu ramen, cost only 450 ryō. Even eating three meals a day, he could keep that up for three months.

What was more, Uchiha Yu cooked for himself. It took some effort, but the cost was truly low. A filling meal for one person and one cat cost less than 150 ryō, and 120,000 ryō would have covered more than half a year of expenses.

But now, with one person reaching Foundation Establishment and one cat cultivating Senjutsu, their appetites had skyrocketed. In just ten days, Uchiha Yu's wallet had been emptied, and even his savings were nearly gone.

A single coin could stump even the greatest hero.

More than once, while looking at his wallet, Uchiha Yu had considered going hunting in the Forest of Death. Catching any random wild boar would be enough food for two days.

Unfortunately, he could not do that.

Every inch of Konoha's land, along with everything on it, belonged to someone. Even a tree or a wild rabbit belonged either to some clan or to the Hokage of the ninja village.

They were all private property.

Children under the age of ten could capture and gather things freely without concern, because that had been an agreement between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara.

An adult ninja like Uchiha Yu could at most pick up fallen branches for firewood. Hunting would definitely get him fined, and it would cost far more than buying meat at the market.

That was feudalism for you.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll go to the mission center and see whether there are any suitable missions."

"That's the spirit, but what if there aren't any suitable missions, meow?"

"If it comes down to it, I'll take one even if it isn't suitable. As long as I leave Konoha, it'll be easy enough for a ninja to get some meat."

"That's right, meow. Then I'll go with you."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Although every inch of the mountains, forests, river valleys, and swamps outside Konoha in the Land of Fire also had owners, those owners were nobles of varying ranks. They had no ability to discover what ninjas did on their land.

Even if they saw ninjas roasting meat in the wilderness, the nobles would not dare say anything unless they wanted to die.

Ninjas were contradictory like that. In ninja villages, in public, or when bound by a mission, they followed the rules.

But in the wilderness, with no third party around and no mission restraining them, they truly had no taboos.

Nobles who did not understand that did not live long.

The next day, Uchiha Yu ran two and a half laps before returning home, only to find a letter in front of his door. The sender on the envelope was none other than clan head Uchiha Fugaku.

Thinking the clan had a mission for him, Uchiha Yu hurriedly opened it.

"What? Uchiha Itachi has already been born, and the day after tomorrow is his one-month celebration!"

"Fuck!!"

"How did I forget about that?"

Uchiha Yu was immediately filled with regret. If he had paid more attention earlier, could he have done something to make that bastard miscarry?

Seriously, without that brain-dead lunatic Uchiha Itachi, whether it was Shimura Danzō or the Third Hokage who wanted to wipe out the Uchiha clan, neither of them would have had a suitable blade to wield, much less a convincing enough scapegoat.

They would definitely have hesitated and wavered because of it. No matter how powerful Uchiha Obito was in the shadows, he could not carry out a clan extermination plan alone within Konoha.

The Uchiha clan might have held on until the Third Hokage became abandoned by all, and the Fifth Hokage rose forcefully to power. The crisis of extermination would then have vanished without a trace.

If he could find another opportunity to kill Obito, that would make things even safer.

Uchiha Yu suddenly felt as though he had missed out on a fortune. A beautiful life of leisure and comfort had slipped alive through his fingers just like that. His heart ached!

No, something is wrong with my emotions!

Uchiha Yu suddenly became alert. Ignoring the discomfort of sweat soaking through his clothes, he immediately assumed a standing meditation posture and sensed the state of his Heart Monkey.

The monkey in his mental world no longer retained even the slightest trace of a Golden Snub-nosed Monkey. At some point, it had become a white-furred gibbon with arms hanging to the ground.

The moment Uchiha Yu saw the gibbon, the Heart Monkey saw him as well. Knowing that its death was at hand, it immediately began a desperate final struggle.

So getting anxious and angry over money can also nourish the Heart Monkey. But what is the difference between this white gibbon and that red silverback gorilla from before?

What kind of heart-fire did I have before that produced that crazed, arrogant Sun Wukong?

Uchiha Yu could afford to let his thoughts wander because the white-furred gibbon's resistance was weak. In addition, tempering his body for Foundation Establishment had strengthened his will, while the vibrating force of his Dantian had become more powerful.

The white gibbon's desperate resistance barely had any effect. After only a few exchanges, it let out a shrill "screech" and turned into white fur that filled the sky.

In the end, only a Golden Snub-nosed Monkey remained. It looked exactly the same as before, but Uchiha Yu felt that its eyes had become increasingly lively, as though it had grown smarter.

Looks like it'll get more and more cunning in the future. Interesting, truly interesting.

"Dangkang, Dangkang."

A strange cry suddenly rose from the white fur covering the ground. The illusory fur was blown high into the air by the sound, sending chills down Uchiha Yu's spine.

What is this? In the mental world, could there be animal manifestations other than the Heart Monkey and Will Horse?

As the white fur was consumed, the shape of a round little piglet emerged. Though its body was only the size of a fist, a pair of white tusks longer than its body protruded from its mouth.

The auspicious beast Dangkang—this is the mental manifestation of the earth-element spleen!

Sign of Abundance. Very good, very good.