Sting Operation

This was a very ordinary shop. There were many tanks inside, each stocked with different kinds of aquatic products: grass carp, mandarin fish, bass, as well as crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, and more. The selection was quite complete.

Since it was afternoon and the busiest hours had already passed, there was only an elderly woman with half-black, half-white hair in the shop. It was unclear whether she was asleep. Her eyes were closed as she lay in a reclining chair, with an orange cat in her arms. It looked like it had been petted nearly bald, which was rather pitiful.

This should be Grandma Qiu. She was small in stature, and the sunlight shining through the glass made her face look especially kind. She matched Hai Yi's description fairly well. She should be an easygoing old lady.

"Um... Grandma Qiu?" Xing Ran softly called out to test whether she was truly asleep, as though afraid of waking her.

Xing Ran knew that many elderly people liked to pretend to nap when they were not actually asleep, so he asked quietly. If she was asleep, he should not wake her, and he could wait a while longer. If she was not, then he could hurry up and ask her to teach him.

The oxygen tubes in the fish tanks occasionally released strings of bubbles. There were no other sounds in the fish shop. Grandma Qiu was evidently asleep.

Xing Ran shrugged and found himself a place to sit. Since he was here to become her apprentice, he needed to know his place. Waking a sleeping old woman was a serious loss of points. What if this old lady had the Morning Temper skill? That would be troublesome.

One minute, two minutes, ten minutes... Half an hour passed quickly. Even the orange cat in Grandma Qiu's arms had opened its eyes to look at Xing Ran several times, yet Grandma Qiu showed no sign of waking, leaving him helpless.

With nothing else to do, Xing Ran recalled the training method Hai Yi had mentioned. Rather than waste time waiting around, he might as well practice the Mind Body Switch Technique, use up his Spiritual Power as quickly as possible, and experience what it felt like to enter a meditative state after becoming completely exhausted.

No sooner said than done. Xing Ran was like someone who had just obtained a new skill in a game. Even if the skill was terrible, he still wanted to use it as soon as possible to see what it could do.

"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Xing Ran casually targeted a bass. That thing had been staring at him with its dead fish eyes for quite a while.

Including the hand seals and the time needed to activate the technique, Xing Ran had reduced the preparation time to under three seconds. For a Genin of the Yamanaka Clan, that was already very fast. After the strange sensation of his soul leaving his body, the world before his eyes changed. It was his first time viewing the world from underwater, and it felt novel.

It was his first time controlling a fish, and the body was extremely uncoordinated. He wanted to swim forward, but no matter how hard he tried, he only spun in place. After struggling for a while, he finally adapted to the fish's body, then quickly grew bored. It was just a small tank packed with bass. The space was so cramped that the experience was terrible.

Xing Ran estimated that, with his current Spiritual Power, controlling this fish for half an hour would not be a problem at all. Of course, it could not be compared to controlling a ninja, who would put up fierce resistance with their willpower. He had no desire to stupidly remain in this tank for half an hour, admiring his handsome original body sitting outside the water as though lost in thought.

After releasing the Mind Body Switch Technique, Xing Ran looked at the clock on the wall. Only five minutes had passed. Letting his life go to waste like this was not his style. His eyes shifted as an idea came to him, and he turned to look at the orange cat in Grandma Qiu's arms with an increasingly mischievous gaze.

He could use the Mind Body Switch Technique on the orange cat, then have the cat wake Grandma Qiu. Even if she had morning temper, she would take it out on that bald-patched cat. It had nothing to do with him.

"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Bang!

"Where did this brat come from? You're not buying fish, so why are you here to play around? Meow!"

Xing Ran had just been immersed in the sensation of his soul leaving his body, like he was about to ascend, when he suddenly felt himself crash into something. Then he was kicked back into his own body. This attempt at the technique had clearly failed.

At the same time, a meowing voice—no, a sharp, mean voice—suddenly rang out in his mind. Once Xing Ran came back to his senses, he saw the orange cat crouched before him with its fur standing on end, looking as though it would call for help if he came any closer.

"Was that you just now?" Xing Ran stared at the orange cat, his mind racing. Was this a Ninja Beast? Grandma Qiu's Summoning Beast? A spiritual-type one? It could actually resist the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique.

"No, that was me." A low voice suddenly sounded, interrupting Xing Ran's thoughts. Grandma Qiu, who had been pretending to be dead in the recliner moments ago, was now standing. She looked even shorter than before, likely because old age had left her hunched over.

"Ahahaha, hello. You're Grandma Qiu, right? Hai Yi asked me to come..." Xing Ran's powerful brain finally caught up. You know the Mind Body Switch Technique, so what was strange about an old lady whom even Hai Yi called a senior knowing it too? No wonder the technique failed. It turns out that orange cat's body was so lively. And this old lady had probably been watching me for a long time, right? Damn it, she ignored me the entire time.

"Is that so? Hai Yi's adopted son, huh? What a shame. You're not here to steal fish." Once the old woman learned that Xing Ran was a clansman who had come to become her apprentice, she looked completely uninterested and muttered something rather alarming.

Xing Ran had Super hearing. Ordinary people might not have caught that muttering, but he heard it crystal clear. So this old lady's fish shop was not for selling fish at all—it was a fishing sting operation? There was even a clearly written sign at the entrance: stealing fish would result in a fine and triple compensation.

Xing Ran's face flushed red as he swallowed his anger, but the old woman acted as though she saw nothing. She wore a warm, kindly smile like a neighborhood grandmother, then viciously told Xing Ran to get lost. She did not take apprentices here.

"No, Grandma, we're from the same clan. Please take me in for the sake of an aspiring young man." Xing Ran could no longer hold it in. She would not even accept an apprentice from her own clan? It seemed becoming a master-apprentice pair in this ninja world was far from as simple as it looked in anime. Adjust your breathing and steady your mindset. I am now an apprentice without human rights. I can think about getting revenge for insulting my master and betraying my clan later. Learning real skills is what matters.

"What does being from the same clan have to do with anything? I hate clansmen the most, and I hate aspiring young men even more. Get lost!" Grandma Qiu somehow produced a broom and, without another word, drove Xing Ran outside.

Xing Ran stared blankly at Grandma Qiu's shop. You hated clansmen? How was it that Hai Yi had said she was a kindly senior?

And what was this nonsense about hating aspiring young men? The entire Naruto story was about friendship, hard work, and victory—such a positive mindset. Why was your style so different?

Looking at Grandma Qiu guarding the entrance with her broom, looking imposing yet occasionally gasping harshly as though she might drop dead at any moment, Xing Ran did not dare act rashly. If she collapsed to the ground, should he help her up or help her up?