The Little Secret of the Ninja World

The next day.

Dawn light filtered through.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke arrived together at the village gate, waiting in silence.

Though Wang Yan had set the time for 8 o'clock, they'd left half an hour early.

If they got on his bad side by being late, it wouldn't be worth it.

After all, Wang Yan wasn't just their squad's jonin instructor now—he was also their "benefactor."

Maybe because their strength was too pathetic, the Main God hadn't even bothered to give the three of them novice Reincarnator tasks. Instead, it had irritably outsourced their training to Wang Yan, this morally skewed Dark Lord.

On this training trip, if Wang Yan thought they performed well, there'd be plenty of Reward Points to go around. If he didn't approve, all their efforts would go down the drain.

As they walked, each of them silently pondered the future.

After a short wait, Naruto Uzumaki broke the silence first: "Sakura-chan, what are you gonna exchange for once we get Reward Points?"

Once he'd opened the topic, he quickly got hyped. "I saw so many awesome abilities! The Thunder Fruit—just eat it and your body turns into lightning element, super strong! And there's this Saiyan Bloodline—every time you get beaten to near death and recover, your Combat power shoots way up!"

Hearing that, Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a glance, both visibly moved.

The Thunder Fruit was one thing—they'd both seen similar items on the Exchange List.

It fell under the Devil Fruit category. Anyone who ate one could gain immense power, even awaken the fruit's abilities through self-development and gain the capacity to rewrite the world. But they'd also be hated by the sea, turning into a land-lubber.

If they exchanged for that ability and ran into a Water Release Ninja, they'd be completely countered.

Sure, there was a Main God-enhanced Devil Fruit Plus Enhanced Version that removed the water weakness, but the price was way higher—definitely not cost-effective.

As for the Saiyan Bloodline...

That was a steal.

A tough physique, fierce fighting spirit, massive physical potential, plus that terrifying racial trait Naruto mentioned—it almost felt like this bloodline was born for conquest and battle.

After reading the Book of Prophecies, both of them knew just how insane Naruto's recovery was.

Getting pierced by Chidori, and he'd heal up fast...

The Saiyan Bloodline and him...

A perfect match!

"After thinking it over, I'm gonna pass on the Devil Fruit."

Naruto's words made his two teammates look at him with new respect.

But his next sentence dragged him right back down: "The Exchange List says Devil Fruits taste like crap... No way I'm trying that!"

Sasuke's eyes flickered, thoughts churning.

So it was just the taste that made him dodge a bullet by luck...

He forced a stiff smile. "Naruto's choice is pretty good. Looking forward to sparring with you then."

Sasuke remembered Wang Yan's "lesson" crystal clear—students who knew how to leverage resources and momentum would earn Wang Yan's favor.

Naruto, Sakura...

These two teammates were huge potential assets, resources worth using! Hell, their very existence was a kind of "momentum"!

The first was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, reincarnation of Asura Chakra, owner of a Sage Body. The second had no special abilities, but if she'd been chosen as a protagonist of This world, she had to have something outstanding.

Maybe she was even the darling of the World Will.

Especially after carefully studying "that ability," Sasuke understood—there were no coincidences in the world, only inevitability.

Too bad Sasuke was casting pearls before swine.

To his overture, Naruto just stuck out his tongue, made a funny face, and said in a grating tone, "Your smile's so fake..."

The moment those words left his mouth, a vein bulged on Sasuke's forehead, like a spark dropped into a powder keg—instant explosion.

"Damn dead-last! One day I'll kill you!"

Face red with mortification, Sasuke tackled Naruto to the ground.

All his resolve, all his changes—gone. His eyes and heart held only the annoying Little Blonde beneath him.

"Damn it! I'm not losing to some smug punk like you! Take a look at my training results!"

Naruto shot back, not backing down.

"Hey... Sasuke, don't be mad. We're a team..."

Sakura suppressed her true nature, forcing herself into the role of a Good wife and loving mother, coaxing the two apart with soft words. "I was really into Vector Manipulation at first, but it's too expensive and needs crazy calculation power—you'd have to exchange for a bunch of support abilities to use it well. So I picked two others instead. Help me decide, okay?"

The separated Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other, then both snorted, like a squabbling couple.

Sakura gave a dry laugh and went on, "They're two class inheritances: Fire Mist Warrior and Dragon Slayer Mage of Flame. After reading the descriptions, I think they've got good cost-performance and high growth potential..."

The clueless blockhead Naruto was still sulking, but Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"Huh? I think I've seen those abilities... They're not as versatile as what I chose, but they're still decent exchange options with good potential."

Just as he was about to speak, a figure materialized from nothing, slowly appearing before the three of them.

"Not bad. Everyone's punctual."

Wang Yan swept a faint glance over the three of them. "Then let's set out."

"Yes!" The three genin of Team 7 answered at once.

From Konoha to Sunagakure, if it were just Wang Yan alone, he could activate his Telekinesis at full power, particleize his body, and arrive in a few minutes.

But now, with three little tagalongs in tow, the journey stretched out.

Wang Yan floated in the air, maintaining a pace the Team 7 genin could barely keep up with, and yawned out of boredom.

A moment later, he tucked his hands into his pockets and turned around without stopping his flight.

"Since we've left Konoha, let me share a little secret of the ninja world..."

That mysterious tone instantly perked up the three genin, who were panting and sticking out their tongues from exhaustion.

Wang Yan's voice drifted faintly to their ears: "In almost every class, most graduating genin teams deliberately have one useless and impulsive idiot ninja placed among them."

"Why?" Naruto, true to his Uzumaki name, had more stamina than Sasuke or Sakura and still had the energy to think.

He pursed his lips, and the fox whiskers hidden under his concealer cream poked out again. "How could that be possible? That makes no sense at all—it's obviously fake just by hearing it!"

"No, there's some basis to it."

Wang Yan gave Naruto an ambiguous half-smile. "The existence of such an idiot is to boost the team's morale, so that the other genin can still hold onto their resolve, charge forward bravely, and give twelve out of ten when facing extremely difficult missions."

"What kind of secret is that! Sensei's lying again!"

Naruto glanced at Sakura, then at Sasuke, and didn't spot any teammate matching that description.

(Sakura thought Vector Manipulation was great because it could reflect ultraviolet rays and let her skin turn white. However, poor as she was, she couldn't afford it at all.)