Preparation (1)

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the Eternal Spirit Blade had recovered one-quarter of its energy. The spirit grains that had been planted were also sprouting delightful, tender shoots.

"Young Master, time to wake up!"

With Shinozaki Ayumi having completely replaced the alarm clock, Xian Yu grew quite fond of this lifestyle.

Compared to the obnoxious ringing of an alarm, the girl's crisp, silver-bell-like voice left him with absolutely no morning grumpiness.

Without even opening his eyes, Xian Yu felt his way down the stair railing and stumbled into the kitchen: "Mmm... Ayumi, kiss."

"Bang!" Shinozaki Ayumi delivered a light, firm headbutt, speechless. "Hmph, you haven't even washed your face yet, and you're asking for a kiss. Be good. Go wash up, quick."

Rubbing the imaginary bump on his forehead, young Master Xian Yu turned and headed to the bathroom to wash up with teary, misty eyes.

He couldn't have felt more aggrieved.

After breakfast, before heading out, Xian Yu watched Shinozaki Ayumi—dressed in a floral sundress—busily clearing the dishes, and suddenly felt the sensation of raising a young girl from scratch. Even though he himself was still just a little boy.

After a week of testing and patching a few minor bugs, the functions of the mobile phone were basically perfected. Since the first app was a fruit machine, Xian Yu gave the phone a catchy name: 'Fruit Machine'.

With a leisurely and contented pace, he went to the Konoha Bookstore to submit the new manuscript for Journey to the West.

Journey to the West had now reached the stage of 'Scheming to Capture the Ninja Pig'.

In the story, after Sun Wukong was subdued by Sanzang and became his summon, they captured a mermaid ninja beast named 'White Dragon Princess' along the way.

Although White Dragon Princess was male, he was born with a bewitching beauty and a graceful figure; his angelic face made it impossible to tell if he was a man or a woman.

Sanzang himself was just an ordinary person, but he had been taught divine arts by an immortal, allowing him to sign contracts and command multiple ninja beasts far stronger than himself without needing chakra.

On this day, Sanzang rode the white horse transformed from White Dragon Princess, followed by Sun Wukong, who carried his Golden Cudgel on his shoulder, and arrived at a mountain villa called Gao Village.

There was a ninja pig named Bajie who had used the Transformation Technique to turn into a dashing young master; not only did he infiltrate the village, but he even became the son-in-law of the villa owner.

After the secret was exposed, the villa owner hired many ninjas to try and eliminate him, but they were defeated one after another.

It was said that this Bajie, despite being a ninja pig, was the reincarnation of the Tianpeng Immortal from the Heavenly Court in his past life, and had been enlightened by his former friend, the Guanyin Immortal, to wait here for the fated person...

Exiting the Konoha Bookstore, Xian Yu encountered a strange person.

It was a woman in her twenties who, upon seeing him from afar, displayed an expression of surprise, joy, pain, and guilt.

Having reached the level of a newly promoted Chunin in both the quantity and quality of his chakra, and with his sensory perception improved, Xian Yu felt something and turned his head, witnessing this scene, which left him somewhat puzzled.

Seeing she had been discovered, the woman ran away in a panic, not even bothering to pick up the vegetable basket that had fallen to the ground.

"What a weirdo." Xian Yu shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and continued toward the Konoha commercial district.

Today he needed to take over the shop and, while he was at it, order some promotional banners.

This was a ninja tool shop, similar in scale to Aunt Shimura Chikako's shop.

"Young Master Yu, you're here. We've finished cleaning up and have repainted and renovated according to your requirements. Please check if you are satisfied. If there is anything you are unhappy with, I will have someone redo it." When Xian Yu arrived, someone had already been waiting for a long time.

This was a steward from the Shimura branch family named Shimura Ryuichi, who had hired over a dozen villagers with skills in construction to be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the Shimura family's properties—somewhat like property management from his previous life, yet different.

Ya Midie was standing next to Ryuichi; after receiving the notification yesterday, he had risen early today.

"Well done." After observing the place from left to right, Xian Yu gave appropriate recognition.

Although some areas didn't quite reach the standard of the internet cafes from his previous life, it was barely passable. To avoid dampening the enthusiasm of those working under him, appropriate praise was quite necessary.

Shimura Ryuichi breathed a sigh of relief while happily bowing. "It is thanks to Young Master Yu's design drawings; such a decor is definitely the most eye-catching and unique one on this street."

Seeing Xian Yu walk into the shop, Shimura Ryuichi tactfully called his men to pack up their tools and leave.

Ya Midie followed him inside.

"Uncle Ya, from now on, this shop is in your hands. The third floor has a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, with all facilities included. This place needs to be guarded around the clock. You can also have Aunt Ya come over to help. I'll pay you each a monthly wage of ten thousand ryo. In a few days, I will also recruit a few receptionists for you to manage." Xian Yu arranged matters in a measured tone.

Ya Midie's face revealed a look of pleasant surprise, and he quickly agreed: "Don't worry, Young Master, I will definitely do my job well according to your requirements."

He wasn't a particularly powerful samurai; working as a guard for a caravan only brought in seven or eight thousand ryo a month, not to mention the life-and-death risks, and he rarely had time to be with his wife and children to enjoy the warmth of family life.

Even if the Young Master hadn't said anything, he would have planned to have his wife come over to help manage the shop, even without pay. Now that the Young Master had arranged it this way, he was naturally overjoyed.

One had to know that a job with a monthly income of ten thousand ryo was better than some white-collar jobs in Xian Yu's previous life, even in the Naruto World.

And the two of them together would make twenty thousand ryo a month.

After all, there weren't that many companies or employers here; although the purchasing power was similar, such a safe, high-paying job was still what ordinary people dreamed of.

"Is that brat Samo still unwilling to go to the Ninja Academy?" Xian Yu felt quite speechless when he thought of Ya Midie's son; he was another problem child.

Four-and-a-half-year-old Samo Ya had a head of white hair and always liked to carry a wooden samurai sword with him.

When he first saw him, Xian Yu had rubbed his eyes in astonishment. If he hadn't known that Hatake Sakumo was only six and that Sakumo's father had been in the ground for many years, Xian Yu would have suspected that Ya Midie had been cuckolded by the Hatake family... This kid was simply a carbon copy of Sakumo!

"It's all thanks to you, Young Master. I did as you said: I took Samo to the training ground, put the samurai sword and ninja tools on the ground, and if he picked up the samurai sword, I would whack him and not give him food for the day. If he picked up the ninja tools to train, I would praise him and have his mother make him something delicious. After a few days, the kid is now insisting on practicing shuriken throwing every day." Ya Midie looked at his new young master with admiration.

Xian Yu smiled with great satisfaction: "That's exactly how it should be. You have to give him the chance to choose! If you only give him ninja tools, of course he'll miss the samurai sword. When he realizes that the samurai sword brings him pain, he will naturally lean toward the other choice. When he completely realizes that he is powerless to resist and can only silently endure, he will slowly get used to it, slowly start to like the process, and then become proactive."