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[Ding—Congratulations, Host! You have received a random reward: Space Ring.]

"Oh my god, a Space Ring!"

Torifu stared fixedly at the silver-white ring in the gift box, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face!

He never would have expected a random gift box to give him something this good!

Torifu immediately took out the ring. The moment it left the box, the box dissolved into motes of light and vanished.

But Torifu didn't care how it had disappeared. He was focused on examining the Space Ring.

The ring was silver-white all over, engraved with unfamiliar characters. At its top sat an exceptionally pure, sparkling, colorless gemstone.

Torifu eagerly slipped it onto his finger. Just like in the fantasy novels he'd read in his previous life, he immersed his mental energy into the ring and, sure enough, sensed the space within it.

"I... holy crap." No words could describe Torifu's feelings better than those two.

He couldn't see the boundary of the ring's space! Unsure whether it worked the way he suspected, Torifu immediately ran to the clan's storeroom!

He stored the items inside one by one in the Space Ring!

But when the last scroll had been stored, Torifu was positively buzzing with excitement!

"This Space Ring seems to have no limits! It can store an infinite amount!"

Torifu could hardly believe how incredible the system's gift was!

Then again, perhaps the ring's storage space was simply so huge that Torifu hadn't managed to fill it yet.

Either way, the ring would be a tremendous help to him!

"I'll never have to eat Military Ration Pills again!"

His spirits soared. He never would have thought that the system, which he'd been cursing all this time, would give him such a treasure for free!

Luck had certainly played a part, but Torifu decided he wouldn't curse the system for the next three days.

That was the best he could do!

Although the system had made him stronger, his peaceful days had disappeared along with them.

For days now, he'd done nothing but fight, train, and carry out missions—or fend off enemies coming for his life!

He really missed the days when he could lie on the grass and listen to the stream burble by.

But Torifu was good at managing his emotions. He wouldn't let a bad mood get the better of him, and a little melancholy now and then could soothe the soul and keep him from getting depressed.

Coming back to himself, Torifu looked around the empty storeroom and put everything he'd stored in the ring back where it belonged.

For one thing, he'd already learned most of the ninjutsu in there. The scrolls wouldn't take up space in the ring, but they'd make it messy.

Also, if anything happened to him, they could serve as his estate. Leaving them to the village would be a gift in its own way.

Torifu left the storeroom. It was still early, and there was no need to sit alone in a quiet house.

After leaving the clan grounds, Torifu wandered the streets of Konoha. Most people had finished eating by now, and it was time for a stroll.

As he passed near the Ninja Academy, he spotted three familiar figures.

They noticed him, too, and called out loudly, "Hey, Torifu!"

Torifu waved to the three of them. It had been ages since he'd seen Kosuke, Shinku, and Ikkaku.

Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two ran up to Torifu and gave him a few light punches.

"We haven't seen you at school in ages! Where have you been?"

Shinku chimed in, "Yeah! We thought you'd been expelled. We asked Teacher Mizunari, but he wouldn't tell us anything."

Hearing their complaints, Torifu remembered that he really hadn't seen Kosuke, Shinku, or the others since that practical lesson.

He hadn't had time to explain back then; he'd been summoned to the Hokage Office.

After that, he'd been training with his master and Lord Tobirama, and hadn't gone back to school.

"Sorry, Kosuke, Shinku, Ikkaku. Actually, after that day, Lord Hokage took me on as his disciple, so I stopped going to school."

As soon as he said it, Torifu noticed that his three friends had fallen silent. He regretted bringing it up.

Maybe he shouldn't have said it like that. He wondered if it might hurt their young hearts.

After a moment, Shinku, usually the most composed of them, asked hesitantly, "Torifu, are you... really Lord Hokage's disciple now?"

Torifu took a deep breath and nodded.

Now that he'd said it, trying to hide the truth would only make him look small-minded.

Maruboshi Kosuke patted Torifu on the shoulder, a smile spreading across his face.

"Phew! You scared me! I mean, it's a real shock that you became Lord Hokage's disciple, Torifu, but at least now we know you're okay. We don't have to worry anymore."

Umino Ikkaku nodded, offering Torifu his most heartfelt congratulations on becoming the Hokage's disciple. After all, they were good friends!

Torifu felt relieved. He'd worried that the news would upset Kosuke and the others, but it seemed he'd been fretting over nothing.

Then Torifu told his friends about what he'd seen over the past few days, opening the eyes of the kids, none of whom were even shinobi yet.

They couldn't believe Torifu had become so strong that he could fight alongside Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others! And from the sound of it, he got along with them quite well!

That only made them yearn more and more for the life of a shinobi.

Torifu didn't tell them about the cruelty of being a shinobi so soon. Crushing someone's dream was a terrible thing to do.

After picking and choosing what to share from his mission, Torifu told the three of them about what he'd learned regarding Chakra and training in ninjutsu.

They hadn't started learning ninjutsu yet, but they would be able to use the advice sooner or later.

After they'd chatted for a while, Maruboshi Kosuke suddenly remembered that they still had something to do, and hurried off with the others.

Torifu watched them run off with a faint smile, then continued wandering around the village.

Although he looked like a six-year-old child, Torifu's soul had been shaped by two lifetimes, and he was nearly thirty.

Yet, strangely enough, he could still get along with children his actual age. Maybe it had something to do with his personality in his previous life.

Back then, his friends often teased him, saying that even though he was in his twenties, he still acted like a child.

But Torifu felt it was mostly because he saw everyone here as real people.

He didn't treat them all as NPCs just because he'd crossed into the Other World and watched a few episodes of anime, nor did he think he was the chosen one of this world.

Because he'd seen the anime, Torifu understood all the more deeply that everyone here was working hard for their families and their village.

From the Hokage down to the children just starting at the Academy, everyone was doing the same.

Torifu hated being transported to this era, because wars broke out constantly and human lives were treated like grass.

But he also loved being transported to this era, because he could witness for himself what the future of a Konoha with him in it would look like.