Ninja Tools

After leaving the Contribution Office, Yichen eagerly headed toward the Exchange Office.

Yichen had visited the Exchange Office once before. After buying a sheet of Chakra test paper, he had been thrown right back into poverty overnight.

But back then, he had been broke. Now, he was a wealthy man carrying 1,100 points. This time, he was definitely going to take a good look around.

There were not many staff members at the Exchange Office. Perhaps because of the war, every department was short-handed. But there were truly a lot of items. Yichen had originally worried that he might not be able to buy Ninja tools during wartime.

Once inside, he realized he had overthought it. There were all kinds of Ninja tools here—ones Yichen had seen and ones he had not, ones he had heard of and ones he had not.

The prices were probably a little higher than they would be in peacetime.

In truth, there would definitely be no shortage of Ninja tool supplies during wartime. Otherwise, the war could not have continued.

Moreover, the Contribution Office was a shop specifically established for Ninjas who had contributed to the village. How could it possibly run out of stock?

Ninja tools purchased outside with ryo might be out of stock, but there was no way that items exchanged here with Contribution Points would be unavailable.

Yichen was not in a hurry to pick out Ninja tools. Instead, he first looked through everything, planning to broaden his horizons before choosing.

After making a full round, Yichen discovered that there were actually not many things he could use. He was too young. The Contribution Office's goods were prepared for official Ninjas, so many items were not sized for him.

Take the Wind Shuriken, for example. Yichen measured one against himself and found that it was not much smaller than he was. It might even weigh more than him.

In the end, after picking through everything, only a few small bladed tools suited Yichen. He selected some senbon and Shuriken, but did not even choose any kunai.

It turned out that the wooden practice kunai used at the Ninja Academy were not made at a one-to-one scale with real kunai. They were much smaller than normal kunai, tools specifically designed for children.

Shuriken, on the other hand, were already much smaller than kunai. They felt awkward in Yichen's hands, but he could adapt to them.

Then Yichen picked out a short sword. It was only called a short sword from an Adult's perspective. For Yichen, calling it a longsword might have been more fitting.

He had not yet figured out how to use it. The Ninja Academy did teach swordsmanship, but only the basics. As things stood, Yichen had no way to train in swordsmanship.

More importantly, his physique was not suited to becoming a taijutsu-type Ninja who used a blade.

Finally, Yichen bought three Exploding Tags and five Soldier Pills. He had wanted to buy some protective gear as well, but the staff said they did not have anything in his size, so he had no choice but to give up.

Besides combat items, the Exchange Office also had plenty of miscellaneous goods, such as Weighted Training Gear for taijutsu practice.

This kind of weighted gear should not be underestimated. Ninjas could not simply wear weights however they pleased during training; that could have harmful effects on the body. Weighted gear had to be properly designed before it could be used.

There was quite a bit of weighted gear suitable for children. Perhaps Ninjas often bought it for their own children.

Yichen chose the lightest set, with a total weight of only five kilograms. He decided to slowly adapt to that weight first, then increase it later.

The senbon and Shuriken cost Yichen only 50 points. The Exploding Tags cost 100 points each, immediately using up 300 points. The short sword was the most expensive as a weapon, costing 500 points. Soldier Pills were 10 points each, while the weighted gear, being the lightest type, was also the cheapest at only 30 points.

Altogether, he spent 930 points.

Yichen used the remaining 170 points, along with what he had left from copying books before, to buy medicinal pills. The pills from the Exchange Office were better than those sold outside. Yichen decided that as long as he had enough Contribution Points, he would make all future purchases here.

Yichen did not feel the least bit distressed about spending all his Contribution Points. They had been an unexpected windfall to begin with.

Besides, he still had a 100,000-ryo banknote on him. Not in a hurry. Not worried at all.

Yichen went straight home, carrying the short sword in one hand and a large pile of things on his back.

He had originally wanted to buy a Ninja Tool Bag, but the price of those things was outrageously high.

A Ninja Tool Bag with only half a cubic meter of space cost upwards of 3,000 Contribution Points.

There were smaller ones too, but they could only hold a small number of kunai, senbon, Shuriken, Soldier Pills, Exploding Tags, and the like. They could not even fit a normal-sized scroll, much less the short sword in Yichen's hand.

This type of blade pouch was also the most common in the Ninja world, but even one of those cost 500 points.

Yichen decisively pretended he had not seen them. This was his line of work now. He believed he would learn to make Ninja Tool Bags sooner or later. When that time came, he would secretly make one for himself.

After returning home, Yichen first put on the weighted gear. From that moment on, unless he encountered a real battle, he would not take it off again.

Then he modified several sets of clothes, adding places to store senbon, Shuriken, Exploding Tags, and Soldier Pills.

Once everything was in order, he headed back to school. Today, Yichen had only gotten half a day off from Teacher Ishikawa after receiving the notice. It was nearly noon now, so he had to hurry back.

When Yichen returned to school, his classmates immediately surrounded him, all curious about the short sword in his hand.

Some of them used unsharpened short swords at home for practice, but Yichen was the first to bring one directly to school.

Yichen had not expected this and did not know what to do for a moment. He did not want to leave the short sword at home. That night had left him with too terrible an experience. Without a weapon in hand, he could not feel at ease.

Fortunately, there were some well-informed students in the class. One of them had an elder working at the Contribution Office and had heard about a Ninja Academy student killing an enemy Chunin.

He had not realized before that the person his elder had mentioned was Yichen. But upon seeing Yichen now, a shocking thought appeared in his mind.

His elder had said that the person would go to the Contribution Office today to collect his Contribution Points. Looking at Yichen's appearance now, he had clearly collected his points that morning and exchanged them for a set of equipment.

The student blurted out, "Yichen, that Ninja Academy student who killed an enemy Chunin... that wasn't you, was it?"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire place fell silent. Even Ikura, who like everyone else had not understood why Yichen had brought a short sword to school, stared at the speaker in shock.

He truly was the strongest person in the class. His overall strength had already reached the standard of a Genin. But directly killing a Chunin was still far beyond him.

After a brief silence, the classroom immediately erupted. Several people at once began asking the student who had spoken what exactly had happened.

That student directly told them everything he knew. In truth, he did not know much. First, although no one had demanded secrecy, nobody had deliberately spread the news either. Second, when his elders had spoken of it, he had assumed the student was from a higher grade and had not been interested in the first place.

After hearing his account, the classmates who still did not understand the full story all looked at Yichen expectantly. It was supposed to be lunchtime break, but nobody seemed to have any intention of resting.

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "How about we talk on the training field? We shouldn't disturb the other classes while they're resting."

His classmates readily agreed. One after another, they packed up and headed for the training field. There was not much lunch break left anyway, and they would soon have practical combat class there.

Once they reached the training field, Yichen said, "Actually, the main reason I was able to kill that Chunin was because he underestimated me, along with a bit of luck."

As he spoke, Yichen carefully described the details of what had happened. He also hoped that these classmates, with whom he had already formed a certain bond, could grow stronger sooner. He hoped his experience could give them some lessons to learn from.

After Yichen finished speaking, everyone began discussing animatedly what they would have done, and what they should have done, if they had encountered such a situation.

Yichen liked this atmosphere very much. It felt as though sharing his experience had truly been helpful to everyone.

At that moment, Ikura walked over and asked Yichen, "Can you tell me what it feels like to fight a Chunin?"

Yichen nodded, then thought for a moment before saying, "Strong. Very strong. The biggest reason I survived was that he did not take me seriously. Otherwise, the instant he undid his Transformation Jutsu, he could have killed me."

Then Yichen began describing how it had felt at the time, mainly the fear in his heart, as well as the all-or-nothing madness that came after realizing he had been driven into a desperate situation. There was also the desperate will to survive that had forced him to calm down amid that madness, analyze the situation, and search for a way to live.

Everyone listened intently. They had been enrolled for nearly three years already and had learned many Ninja skills.

Students two grades above Yichen and the others had entered school one or two years older than them. Although they had only studied for nearly four years, they were about to graduate and soon face the battles of Ninjas.

After hearing Yichen's words, Ikura pondered for a while before saying, "I understand now. I understand what I still lack compared to a real Ninja."

Yichen froze, then realized that what Ikura lacked was precisely the kind of will Yichen had comprehended that night.

"You mean..."

"That's right. Will. My strength has already reached the standard of a Genin, but every time I've fought an official Ninja, I've lost, even when many of their qualities were inferior to mine."

With a serious expression, Ikura said, "Now I understand. I also know how I should surpass myself. Thank you, Yichen. Once I truly find the will that a Ninja possesses, I will challenge you."

"In the past, I was always the one walking ahead of the class. Now, you have taken my place and walked ahead of everyone."

"But it won't be long before I catch up again."

After saying that, Ikura did not wait for Yichen to respond. He turned and headed directly off the training field.

Yichen guessed that Ikura was probably going to ask Teacher Ishikawa for leave. He was likely going to do practical combat training.

He hoped Ikura would succeed. As for sparring with Ikura, Yichen had no such intention for the time being.

He had a very clear understanding of his own position. Although all kinds of factors had combined to let him successfully kill a Chunin, his true strength was actually only around the middle of the class.

Take Shinohara, for example. If he had been placed in Yichen's position that day, he might not have had any chance of surviving no matter what.

But if Yichen fought Shinohara, Yichen would still only end up suffering a complete defeat.

The reason was that Ninjas had different focuses. Yichen focused on ninjutsu, so his methods were varied and unpredictable.

To put it simply, he was flashy. When facing stronger opponents, he could pull off a few tricks.

Someone like Shinohara focused on taijutsu. He was helpless against stronger opponents, but when facing Yichen, his advantage was decisive.