The days passed one after another, until Xian Yu finally found the last Black Iron Treasure Chest in a secluded alley.
However, he was dismayed to discover that he didn't have enough money to open it.
Of the three treasure chests that had appeared in the village, only the Bronze Treasure Chest in the Hokage Building remained. For now, he couldn't get inside to collect it.
He currently had 14 diamonds. After spending 470 ryō treating everyone to ramen, he had 2,530 ryō left from the three thousand he'd started with.
He had to admit, Ichiraku Ramen was incredibly cheap. A bowl of ramen cost only 10 ryō. Extra pork broth cost 5 more, and adding a Naruto Roll cost another 2.
In other words, a bowl of deluxe pork-broth ramen with a Naruto Roll cost just 17 ryō.
Xian Yu hadn't neglected his training during this time, either. Every day, he completed his training regimen at the training ground at home.
However, his progress had been modest.
He'd managed to figure out the extent of Three-Tailed Fox Bai Xiaoqi's abilities, though. Using its innate Charm Eyes—the genjutsu technique that had once taken Fahai down in an instant—it could reach a level somewhere between elite Chunin and Special Jōnin when giving its all. That made it a great help to Xian Yu as he was now.
Unfortunately, Charm Eyes was Bai Xiaoqi's innate ability, not a ninjutsu or secret technique. It couldn't teach it to Xian Yu. That was a real shame.
That night, after finishing his training, Xian Yu took a nice, relaxing bath and slipped into his warm bed.
"Sure enough, you can't get stronger without spending money." Xian Yu was frustrated and furious with himself for being so broke.
The later stages of this damn Treasure Chest System were a bottomless pit. He really needed to figure out a way to make money.
Open a restaurant? I'm no good at cooking...
Open a tavern? Sigh! I don't know how to distill strong liquor, either.
"Wait!" Xian Yu suddenly sat up.
"Wasn't that Jiraiya guy able to climb out of poverty after he became famous for writing Icha Icha Paradise?"
"But... can you really make that much money writing in this world?"
"Hmm... This world's technology tree is all over the place, and people really don't seem to have much in the way of entertainment. Maybe it's worth a try?"
Once the idea occurred to him, Xian Yu didn't feel like sleeping anymore. He grabbed some paper and a brush.
Of course, he wasn't going to stoop as low as Jiraiya and write a smutty book like Icha Icha Paradise. Besides, his drawing skills could be summed up in one sentence:
It's important to know your limits.
So he couldn't create an illustrated book from scratch, either.
And so, thanks to young Xian Yu staying up all night, Journey to the West, a book brimming with Naruto flavor, was born.
In ancient times, before Heaven and Earth had been formed, a great goddess named Kaguya was born from the chaos.
The goddess Kaguya used the SSS-rank divine technique [Amenominaka] to create Heaven and Earth.
From then on, the clear rose to become Heaven, while the murky sank to become Earth.
The seven energies of fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang also began to emerge in the world.
Time flew by, and countless years passed in the blink of an eye. Countless living creatures began to appear across the world.
The first beings to appear were not only incredibly strong, with enough strength to move mountains and fill seas, but also naturally understood all kinds of powerful ninjutsu. They could unleash techniques with a casual wave of the hand, powerful enough to destroy Heaven and Earth.
They called themselves immortals.
The immortals' ninjutsu was simply too powerful. Even a casual Fire Release technique could burn mountains and boil seas, severely damaging the habitats of all living creatures.
The most powerful of them was named Six Paths. To prevent the world from being destroyed in the battles between the other immortals, he led them all into the highest reaches of the heavens, where they built the Heavenly Court and created the Immortal Realm. He also established the rules of the immortals: they were forbidden from descending to the mortal world without permission and disrupting its order.
From then on, the immortal and mortal realms coexisted in peace.
Countless years passed once more. Atop a mountain called Flower-Fruit Mountain stood a massive rock made entirely of chakra.
It had been nurtured by Heaven and Earth and had existed on that mountaintop for an unknowable number of years.
One night, as thunder roared and lightning flashed, the massive chakra stone was struck by lightning and shattered!
A stone monkey leaped out from within...
The story gradually followed the naive little monkey as he became king of the monkeys, then set sail to find Immortal Bodhi and learn from him. By the time Xian Yu reached this part, the sky outside had begun to brighten. He rubbed his aching shoulders.
Sigh, even copying a story's structure, I've written it so badly. If I'd published this in my old world, it would've been a total flop, right? 〒▽〒
Seems I really don't have any talent.
But with so few leisure reads in this world, it should still be possible to sell, right?
Let the foolish natives of this world experience the masterpieces of my great Celestial Empire! At the thought, Xian Yu was practically grinning with delight.
A flop was still a flop, but move it to another world and it became a bestseller. How could he not be thrilled?
"Once I've earned my first pot of gold, I'll think about other ways to make money."
Xian Yu gathered up the finished manuscript and Bai Xiaoqi, who was still asleep, and tucked them safely against his body. He planned to have Shinozaki Ayumi take the manuscript to be printed in a hundred copies, then try consigning them at the Konoha Bookstore.
After washing up, he went downstairs.
"Huh? Young Master Yu, you're up so early today? Wait a moment, breakfast will be ready soon." Shinozaki Ayumi was a ninja, too, and had excellent hearing. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, she called out in surprise.
Living a life where everything was brought to him, Xian Yu felt better and better.
"Yeah. I have a manuscript here. When you have a moment, get a hundred copies printed and find a bookstore to sell them on consignment."
He wasn't much worse off than Princess Tsunade. She had Shizune to look after her, and he had a cute young kunoichi at his side, ready to serve him.
Ninja Academy.
"The Clone Technique creates a controllable, intangible clone. It has no physical form; it's a holographic projection made of chakra. Its essence is [creation]." Teacher Shimura Yuichi was lecturing the class on the theory behind the Three Basic Techniques.
"Hey, hey! Xian Yu, were you out thieving last night? You've been sleeping at your desk all morning." Jiraiya reached over from behind and patted Shimura Xian Yu.
"Damn it, don't bother me!" Woken up in the middle of a good sleep, Xian Yu grumbled irritably. He checked that the book he'd propped up still blocked the teacher's view, then went right back to dreaming.
Murai Anju was a retired Chunin who was well over fifty. He had personally experienced the Warring States Period and taken part in the First Shinobi World War. It was no exaggeration to call him incredibly lucky to have survived long enough to retire. A few years ago, he'd used the savings he'd accumulated over most of his life to open Konoha's first bookstore.
He'd named it the Konoha Bookstore.
Since then, several more bookstores had opened in the village, and business had grown worse and worse over the past two years.
After all, bookstores mostly sold leisure reads, and ninjas were generally very disciplined. Few of them would waste time on such things.
The market was small to begin with, the store relied on selling cheap books in volume, and now the competition was stealing away customers, too. Murai Anju felt that life was getting harder by the day!
With nothing better to do today, he followed his usual routine of sunbathing before heading to his bookstore to see what new books had arrived.
Those damn writers were always sending over old, worn-out material—stories so dull that no one would want to read past the first page. He had to make sure to inspect the quality of every new book!
"Setsuko, are there any new books today?" After entering the store, Murai Anju asked the employee minding the counter.
The young girl at the front desk, fifteen or sixteen years old, Uehara Setsuko, smiled sweetly. "You're here early today, Manager Anju. Three new books came in today. They're already on the usual shelf."
At that, old man Anju walked over to the right side of a row of bookshelves with practiced ease. His gaze fell on three books he'd never seen before.
"Blue Heat Heaven?"
"Passion Heaven?"
He casually flipped through a few pages, then flew into a rage. "What kind of trash is this? Writers these days are so irresponsible. Setsuko, take the two I pulled out and put in the usual spot and send them back later! Don't let these two books anywhere near our store again, got it?"
"Yes, Boss. I'll remember," Uehara Setsuko replied respectfully from the front desk.
"Huh? Journey to the West? What a strange title. I've never seen a book with such a strange name." With a hint of curiosity, Anju opened the peculiar book.
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