Grilled Fish

After catching the fish, they took the few fish beneath the shade of a large tree. It was noon, and the sunlight was scorching.

With the fish prepared, they needed some firewood to roast the six fish.

Firewood was not hard to find here. This was the outskirts of Konoha Village, where countless large trees grew. If they wanted wood, they only needed to pick up a few branches from the ground. If there were none, they could simply climb a tree and break off a few branches.

Xuan Ye looked into the distance and thought, Looks like I won't need to climb a tree to break off branches. There are plenty of small branches scattered all over the ground.

He picked up the fallen branches and returned beneath the large tree from before. This tree was much bigger than the others, and he estimated that it stood no less than twenty meters tall.

For such a tree, its shade covered quite a large area. Sitting beneath it was exceptionally cool, and an occasional breeze would drift past. It would definitely be comfortable to lie here and sleep.

Xuan Ye set up a rack in front of himself, skewered the fish with branches, and placed the six fish-laden branches on top of the rack.

By now, nearly all the preparations were complete. All that remained was to light the fire.

Since Xuan Ye had not yet learned any Fire Style Ninjutsu, he could only circulate his own Fire Style Chakra and attach the active chakra to the branches he had just collected.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The pile of branches beneath the rack quickly caught fire. Although Xuan Ye had not learned any Fire Style Ninjutsu, he possessed Fire Style Chakra. Fire Style Chakra was not as hot as Fire Style Ninjutsu, but it was still enough to set branches alight.

Xuan Ye gradually increased the circulation of his Fire Style Chakra. As more chakra flowed, the branches burned more and more fiercely, and the temperature steadily rose.

After some time, a light breeze blew across his face.

"Mm, smells great."

The fish on the rack had turned golden, and the rich aroma of grilled fish began to waft through the air.

The moment I smelled it, I grew even hungrier, and my mouth filled with more and more saliva. But it looked like they needed to roast a little longer; they did not seem fully cooked yet.

Ten minutes later, Xuan Ye felt that the six fish were more or less cooked. Even if they were not completely done, he was not planning to keep roasting them. The fragrance kept drifting into his nose—it smelled far too good and was making him drool.

But before eating, Xuan Ye first needed to put out the fire. Otherwise, what if the other fish burned while he was eating one of them?

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Xuan Ye kicked the fire out with a few stomps. Once the flames were extinguished, he impatiently picked up two branches with grilled fish on them and, without hesitation, bit into one.

"Ah! Hot, so hot!"

Since these fish had just come off the fire, they were still a little hot.

But I grilled these fish pretty well! Looks like I'm not bad at barbecue. When I'm outside in the future, I can make something for myself to eat.

"In the original anime, Naruto seemed to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu in just one night after stealing the Scroll of Seals. I didn't expect training it to be this difficult for me. Creating one Shadow Clone only raises my proficiency by a little."

Xuan Ye sat beneath the shade of the enormous tree he had chosen, eating the freshly grilled fish in his hand as he sighed.

Strictly speaking, the Shadow Clone was not an especially difficult ninjutsu. Generally, any ninja who reached the jonin rank could learn it.

Even Naruto Uzumaki, the Dead Last who had struggled terribly with the Clone Technique in the original story, could learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu in a single night. Xuan Ye had spent nearly an hour to successfully create a usable Shadow Clone, so his progress should not have been all that slow, right?

At the very least, he could now successfully create one Shadow Clone. As for why he could not create multiple Shadow Clones, it was probably because he was still not proficient with the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, and because his total chakra reserves were not large enough.

"Ah, finally finished. I'm so full."

After eating all six fish, Xuan Ye rubbed his slightly swollen belly. Having just eaten, it was best not to do anything too strenuous. He would simply train his body beneath the shade of the tree, treating it as some post-meal exercise.

After finishing the six fish, Xuan Ye cleaned up all the things in front of him. Once he was done, he prepared to begin his physical training.

"I'll start with push-ups under the shade."

"One, two, three."

Ever since coming to this world, Xuan Ye had always felt a sense of pressure. Perhaps it was because he was so weak in this world, perhaps it was because of the Nine-Tails' Attack two years from now. Whatever the reason, that pressure had always been there.

Xuan Ye also discovered that this world differed greatly from the anime he had watched in his previous life. In the anime, the author always depicted the bright side and endlessly magnified it.

But after truly living in this world, Xuan Ye realized that this was not the bright Naruto world portrayed in the anime. There was still much darkness here, and countless dangers lurked beneath the surface. If he did not hurry and improve his strength, he might find it difficult even to survive in this cruel world.

Take the Nine-Tails' Attack two years from now. At that time, Xuan Ye would only be six years old and would have been in this world for merely five years. He would be nothing but a child, with no power to stop the Nine-Tails' Attack from happening and no way to save his parents.

What would Xuan Ye do then? After the Nine-Tails' Attack, both of his parents would die. What would he do then?

During the Nine-Tails' Attack, his only younger brother, Naruto Uzumaki, would also be born and become the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. How would Naruto Uzumaki live after losing his parents? Would he still be left in the care of the Third Hokage? Xuan Ye could already fully imagine what that scene would look like.

But those were not things Xuan Ye should be thinking about now. What he needed to do most was improve his strength as quickly as possible. Only after becoming stronger would he have the ability to protect his loved ones. Even if he might not reach that level in two years, he still had to work hard.

No matter what, improving his strength was what Xuan Ye desired most now. Even if his parents really did die during the Nine-Tails' Attack, he still had to become stronger, so that Naruto could live a happier life than in the original story and so that he could protect the people he cared about. That would be enough.