Prince of the Land of Fire

Morning. The first rays of sunlight streamed through the glass window and fell across Li Chuan's face, and he slowly opened his eyes.

He turned his head to the side—Wanda was no longer beside him.

He slipped on his pajamas, left the bedroom, and made his way down the golden European-style spiral staircase to the first floor. Soon, he heard a clattering noise coming from the kitchen.

"Honey, you're awake! I'm making you crispy potato pancakes—just wait a moment!"

Wanda poked her head out of the kitchen, a frying pan in one hand and a knife in the other.

"Thanks, but I thought you said you couldn't cook and that your brother did all the cooking at home?"

Li Chuan's sharp eyes caught sight of a few shattered pieces of dishware in the kitchen trash bin.

As if sensing his gaze, Wanda's fingers twitched slightly, and those broken shards seemed to grow legs, quickly hiding behind the trash can.

"I asked my brother for some tips a few days ago. I think I've got the hang of it now."

Wanda lifted her chin slightly, looking full of confidence.

Li Chuan was outstanding, handsome, kind, gentle, and wealthy—while she was just an orphan working at a convenience store, her heart filled with hatred. She didn't know why Li Chuan had fallen for her, or why he had persistently pursued her for three years, making her feel what "true love" meant again.

But she knew that this happiness hadn't come easily. She had to cherish it and take on the responsibilities of a wife.

So, despite having no talent for cooking, she had recently been asking her brother for advice, though small accidents kept happening.

"Then I appreciate the effort!"

Li Chuan smiled, went down to give Wanda an encouraging hug, and then headed off to wash up.

Ten minutes later, Li Chuan picked up a piece of crispy potato pancake with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and then a strange expression crossed his face.

"Honey, how is it?"

Wanda sat beside him, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Not bad!"

Li Chuan looked at Wanda and smiled. The flavor was a bit too salty, but still within what he could tolerate.

It was already much better than the first time Wanda had cooked for him.

He remembered six months ago, when Wanda had tried cooking for the first time. She had made the simplest dish—steamed crab. Back then, he had sworn he would eat it no matter how terrible it tasted. In truth, steamed crab was hard to ruin.

But when he lifted the lid and reached his chopsticks toward that big red snow crab, the crab clamped down on his chopsticks.

It turned out Wanda had been so nervous that she'd set the wrong burner, and the snow crab she'd bought was naturally reddish anyway, so it had turned into a comedy of errors.

When two people are together, one person being willing to change for the other is already no small thing.

Life can't always be about nitpicking.

"One serving definitely isn't enough for you—I'll make another!"

Hearing Li Chuan's answer, Wanda's face bloomed like a flower. She grabbed her spatula and bounced back into the kitchen like a little girl.

"Oh?"

Li Chuan shook his head with a smile and picked up a second piece of potato pancake with his chopsticks. But this time, a strange look flickered in his eyes again.

Because this time, it wasn't salty at all, and the overall flavor had improved by several levels.

Then he thought of Wanda's ability and felt relieved. Altering reality—this wasn't the first time something like this had happened since he'd been with her.

After breakfast, Wanda, still wearing her apron, waved her spatula at Li Chuan and said:

"Honey, come home early tonight. I'll make Asturian stew for you!"

"Alright, I'll leave work a bit early."

Li Chuan kissed Wanda's forehead, flashed her an encouraging thumbs-up, then picked up his briefcase and left.

In the villa's courtyard, an elderly man in his fifties saw Li Chuan approaching and smoothly opened the car door for him.

"Good morning, young master."

"Good morning, Uncle Li."

Li Chuan nodded and got into the car.

"Anything going on lately?"

"Young master, we've tracked down the shadowy force that's been targeting our group. It's Bavie from Raymond Pharmaceuticals. How should we handle it?"

Uncle Li drove the car slowly out of the villa as he reported to Li Chuan.

Li Chuan's expression turned cold. "Tell Xiao Wu he can go out to sea and feed the fish again."

In three years, the Li family's company had risen from a third-rate enterprise to the top. It wasn't because Li Chuan had any extraordinary business talent—he was a bare-knuckle brawler who knew nothing about running a business.

There were two main reasons.

First, Li Chuan would take some of the body-strengthening ointments and pills he got from completing side quests and give them to the company's scientists to study, resulting in many best-selling new products.

Second, he was ruthless. When it came to competitors who liked to trip him up or engage in malicious competition, he never showed mercy.

Besides spending heavily to hire assassins on the Dark Web, he sometimes acted himself and even personally trained a group of underlings to handle such matters.

Anyway, over these three years, most of those who opposed him ended up being thrown into the sea by his men to feed the fish.

Of course, on the surface, he was Sokovia's youngest genius entrepreneur and a recognized philanthropist. The charitable foundation he established had helped many poor people whose families were shattered by war over a decade ago, earning him deep affection from the local people of Sokovia.

At the company, after handling all the affairs, Li Chuan took a deep breath and opened the virtual panel in his office.

"It's time to enter the Minor World."

"Your Highness the Prince, Your Highness the Prince, it's time for lunch."

In a daze, Li Chuan was awakened by a voice, and a surge of memories not his own flooded into his mind.

"Kino, I understand."

Yuan Chuan, twenty years old, nephew of the late younger brother of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Prince of the Land of Fire. He held no real power in the Land of Fire, but his status was noble and his family wealth was considerable.

This was the identity arranged for Li Chuan upon entering the Naruto World.

The woman before him, named Kino, was the steward of the Prince's Mansion, responsible for Li Chuan's food, clothing, and daily needs, as well as managing the entire mansion.

He had just been sunbathing in the mansion's courtyard and had fallen asleep from the comfort.

Rising, he finished a lavish lunch served by Kino and other servants, then instructed her:

"Prepare the horses. This afternoon, I'm going to the Fire Temple."

Li Chuan hadn't come to the Naruto World to enjoy himself. As a wealthy magnate from the modern world, if he wanted luxury, why would he need this backward world?

His sole purpose in coming to the Naruto World was to learn ninjutsu and grow stronger.

Of course, if he could acquire some special technology from this world to help expand his conglomerate back in the main world, that would be a nice bonus.

Within the Land of Fire, there were two places where one could systematically learn ninjutsu: one was the strongest ninja village, Konoha, and the other was the Land of Fire's temple, the Fire Temple.

Most of the other Rogue Ninjas and ninjas hired by the Nobles lacked real strength and had no impressive jutsu to offer, so they weren't on Li Chuan's radar.

The Fire Temple's legacy was certainly inferior to Konoha's, and its current strongest member was only the Elite Jonin-level Chiriku.

But it was safe. No messy, dirty dealings like in Konoha, no scheming old foxes like Danzo and the Third, no infighting among the major clans. Plus, with his status as Prince of the Land of Fire, it was definitely the top choice for starting to learn ninjutsu.

Most importantly, even if he took the risk to study at Konoha, they wouldn't actually teach him any powerful jutsu. At best, they'd give him some perfunctory lessons out of respect for his rank.

The relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire wasn't as harmonious as one might imagine.

"Yes, Your Highness the Prince!"

Though Kino was a bit surprised by Li Chuan's order, she still nodded respectfully.

The Prince was a cold-natured person, not fond of socializing and rarely attending noble events. His sudden desire to go to the Fire Temple outside the city was indeed unexpected.

But as a noble Prince, he could go wherever he pleased. As a servant, she just needed to follow orders.

The Prince's Mansion had its own carriage and coachman, so soon Li Chuan, attended by Kino, boarded the luxurious carriage and, accompanied by a retinue of servants and samurai guards, set off toward the Fire Temple.