The Shinobi World

Early the next morning, Naruto struggled out of bed.

Three straight days of rest had nearly made Naruto forget that he was still a ninja. In this world without cell phones, where computers were too expensive to afford, there was hardly any entertainment.

Naruto could not make sense of it either. The Naruto world clearly had electricity. And it was not electricity generated by people using Lightning Release, but actual civilian power.

That proved this world's technological level had already entered the electrical age. Utility poles were everywhere in Konoha, along with televisions, refrigerators, even air conditioners, washing machines, and dryers.

Naruto was currently an orphan living on welfare payments. No background, no money, and barely any ability—a genin with nothing to his name.

The old refrigerator at home had broken down ages ago. Naruto scratched his head for ages without figuring out how to fix it, so on his first day after transmigrating, he had ended up with several bottles of expired milk.

Still, Naruto's allowance was fairly generous. As long as he did not buy anything major, it was enough for a normal life.

Normally, the payments would stop the moment Naruto became a ninja. After that, he would have to support himself by taking on missions.

After living in this world for nearly half a month, Naruto had gained a rough understanding of its technology. Technological development here was weak, as though the tech tree had gone in a completely skewed direction.

The emergence of ninja had driven technological advancement, yet chakra's absurdly powerful energy had also hindered technological progress in certain respects.

For instance, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, possessed all five chakra natures. She never needed a lighter to light a cigarette, and she only needed a crystal ball to spy on someone.

The power and convenience of ninjutsu had drawn people's attention toward territorial disputes and slaughter. Ever since the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, founded Konohagakure, no one knew how many Shinobi World Wars had already been fought.

Under the shadow of war, technology found it difficult to develop rapidly. Since ninja were the protagonists of this world, technological research naturally revolved around their needs.

Thus, there were communication devices within each village for convenient contact, but cross-border and even cross-village communication systems remained extremely outdated due to the sensitivity of intelligence.

When necessary, technology would also give way to ninjutsu.

What concerned Naruto even more than this world's warped tech tree was its level of weaponry.

Ninja almost all used traditional cold weapons. At the highest end, there was no more than the Chakra Short Sword once wielded by Kakashi's father, the Konoha White Fang.

Or weapons transformed from Summoning Beasts, such as the Third Hokage's Ninja Beast Enma. Beyond that were the Seven Ninja Swords wielded by Kirigakure's cursed Seven Swordsmen.

On the other hand, divine artifacts such as the Kusanagi Sword and the Ten-Tails Sword, as well as the Heavenly Dew Spear, Golden Rope, Seven Star Sword, and Red Gourd left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, seemed somewhat lackluster.

By the time they appeared, they could no longer defeat the bloodline-cheat freaks roaming everywhere.

But what about firearms?

It seemed that, aside from Sasori, the Akatsuki Organization member from Sunagakure who possessed formidable firepower, there was only the Asura Path made by Pain through Puppet Master techniques, with all sorts of tracking missiles and even laser cannons flying about.

The development of modern weapons seemed entirely dependent on Puppet Masters. Though high-tech weapons like Chakra Armor had appeared in the distant Land of Snow, along with airships and steamships bearing the characteristics of the steam age, geographical limitations meant that large Kunai Launchers, centered around cold weapons, still remained.

The Sky Ninja Village even possessed aircraft, aerial fortresses, and Carrier Strike Groups. Even if those Carrier Strike Groups were not nuclear-powered, they still carried a certain deterrent force.

Overall, up to this point, the world's major ninja villages had accumulated conflicts for far too long because of war, making peace difficult to achieve.

Under those circumstances, ninja, as the main force actively preparing for war, naturally held a higher status than technology. Technology could not yet develop independently from ninja and remained heavily constrained.

The emergence of ninja had changed the world's structure, while the world order under this cold-war state had also restricted technological development.

After washing up, Naruto looked at his bleary-eyed reflection in the mirror and could not help yawning. He tossed his toothbrush into the cup, ending his wild thoughts in the bathroom.

After getting dressed and heading out, he arrived at the Ninja Academy to find that many people were already in the classroom. Naruto's late arrival drew some attention, but no one came over to greet him.

Everyone was discussing who their upcoming teammates might be and which Jonin would lead them. Ninja squads were formed in groups of three.

After the Second Shinobi World War ended, Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin and a medical ninja, had her role in a team recognized by the higher-ups.

To a certain extent, having one female medical ninja in a team greatly increased the squad's survival rate and mission completion rate. From then on, the tradition of two men and one woman forming a team was retained.

That was Konohagakure's public explanation, but Naruto understood it was only part of the story. The more pressing reason was that after years of war, Konoha had nearly run out of people.

A ninja village was itself a militarized camp, and war meant indiscriminate charges and killing. It was clearly unrealistic to equip every three-person squad with a female medical ninja.

Therefore, when Tsunade proposed the idea of two men and one woman forming a squad, Konoha's higher-ups had not been moved. Some had even believed it was an overly idealistic notion born from Tsunade's grief after the death of her younger brother, Nawaki.

But years of war eventually forced the higher-ups to accept Tsunade's proposal. The casualty rate had become so high that Konoha had almost no one left to send to the battlefield. In the end, even children barely in their teens had to go to war.

If they still did not assign medical ninja, then before long, even the elderly, the weak, and women would have to take up kunai and head to the battlefield.

"Naruto, aren't you curious what kind of people your teammates will be?" Choji asked, nudging Naruto, who was staring blankly with dead-fish eyes.

"Not curious. I'm not curious at all." Naruto rested his arms behind his head, looking utterly bored. "Even if everyone else is nervous, why are you three joining in?"

As he spoke, Naruto's gaze swept over Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino.

"You three are Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho combination. If I were Lord Hokage, I definitely wouldn't split you up."

At that, Ino clicked her tongue and complained.

"Teaming up with those two? So annoying!"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"Hehe." Choji looked rather happy. Perhaps this way, he would not have to be separated from the childhood friends he had grown up with.

Perhaps because they had grown up together, Shikamaru and Choji had never treated Ino as a girl.

And Ino seemed to have always had her eyes on Sasuke. With her carefree personality, she was like a little boy.