The Grand Plan to Make Money Takes Shape

"Hokage-sama."

"Oh, Mitsuki. What brings you here at this time? Is there some problem at the Ninja Academy?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Yamada Mitsuki snapped to attention, thrilled beyond measure. He had never expected Hokage-sama to remember his name. As he spoke, he handed over the files he had long since organized.

"I discovered a genius-level civilian ninja among this year's students, so I came to report as soon as I compiled the information."

"His name is Taichi Matsushita. His parents died in the Second Shinobi World War, and he had been living in the Orphanage ever since. Today was his first Chakra training session, and he refined Chakra in less than twenty minutes."

"Oh!" Hiruzen Sarutobi took the files and read through them as he listened to Yamada Mitsuki's report.

When he saw Taiichi's aspiration, his brows rose slightly. "Guardian, huh?"

Clearly, compared to refining Chakra so quickly, the Hokage valued Taiichi's ideals more. That was the difference in their positions. To the Hokage, Konoha had no shortage of geniuses, but geniuses who could uphold the Will of Fire were far more deserving of his attention.

"Very good, Mitsuki. Keep watching this Taichi Matsushita. He has a good chance of becoming one of the village's future pillars," Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Yamada. "And the other children as well. This Might Guy and this girl named Rin Nohara are both quite promising. Make sure to nurture them properly."

"Yes!"

While Yamada reported on this year's students to the Hokage, Taiichi, who had just returned home after a full day of classes, was thinking about something else—how to make money in the shortest possible time.

This concerned more than just buying medicinal ingredients and Ninja Tools for his future training. It also concerned the Orphanage's future and whether Yakushi Nonō could safely break away from Root. In the future, Nonō had originally been able to leave Root, but Danzo, that old scheming bastard, had seized control of the Orphanage's funding and used it to threaten Nonō into carrying out Root missions without end.

If the Orphanage had its own steady source of funding, would Nonō still be subject to Danzo's coercion? Even if there were other factors involved, having one less weakness was still a good thing.

But Taiichi had to consider that he was currently just a little over six years old. Most jobs were simply unavailable to him. As for ninja-related industries, such as Ninja Tool manufacturing or Explosive Tag production, his current knowledge base was insufficient for those as well.

After thinking it over, Taiichi felt that he should combine the knowledge from his previous life and see whether he could invent something to make a little money.

With that thought, Taiichi continued racking his brains, trying to figure out what would be suitable. Food, clothing, housing, transportation—those industries were either too high-end or required too much manpower. He and the Orphanage were too small-scale, and he did not have the time to pursue them either.

After thinking for a long while, Taiichi still could not come up with anything. He was simply too young, and there was too little he could do. When he checked the time, it was already past six, and his stomach was growling. So Taiichi went to the kitchen to make himself some ramen to tide himself over. But as he cooked, he suddenly froze. Looking at the garlic in his hand, Taiichi sank into thought.

Because the Orphanage was short on funds, Taiichi had often gone down to the river to catch fish or climbed trees to catch birds, trying to add something to the Orphanage's meals. But this was the Ninja World. The fish and birds here were no pushovers. If you provoked them, they would not mind taking a bite out of you or giving you a good clawing. And since you were trying to catch them to eat, their resistance was even fiercer.

After doing it often enough, a few bumps and bruises were inevitable. Minor injuries could slowly heal on their own, and Nonō was a Medical Ninja as well. But once, Taiichi had taken some friends to steal bird eggs and was discovered by the mother bird. To cover his friends' escape, Taiichi was viciously pecked by a huge bird with a wingspan of over two meters. His arm was pierced straight through on the spot.

That injury had been far too severe. When Nonō found out, she immediately dragged Taiichi to Konoha Hospital. That treatment was what made Taiichi realize that, at least in Year 42 of Konoha, Konoha's medical standards were still quite poor. Take sterilizing and anti-inflammatory medicine, for example—the effects were barely better than having none at all. If not for Medical Ninjutsu, the casualty count in every Ninja World war would have been much higher.

And when it came to sterilizing and anti-inflammatory medicine, Penicillin naturally came first. But Penicillin was complicated to produce, and the Ninja World might not even have it. There was, however, one thing the Ninja World definitely had: garlic. And where there was garlic, there was Allicin.

Allicin was also a cheap, easily produced antibacterial and anti-inflammatory medicine. And in a Ninja World where world wars broke out every so often, this was precisely the kind of medicine that could sell like crazy.

Thinking of this, Taiichi happily clenched his fist. Now, his money problem could be solved. He hurriedly ate some ramen, then gathered every bit of garlic he could find in the kitchen.

As for preparing Allicin, it was actually quite simple. Taiichi used the Organic Solvent Extraction Method, which had a relatively high extraction rate. First, he found a jar of baijiu and distilled it several times to increase its alcohol content. Then he crushed all the garlic into a paste and soaked it in the high-proof liquor.

Of course, pure alcohol would have been best for soaking and extraction, but he did not have the conditions for that right now, so he could only make do.

Finally, he distilled and purified the extracted solution again. The oily liquid he obtained was Garlic Oil rich in Allicin. Looking at the mere two or three grams of Garlic Oil extracted from one kilogram of garlic, Taiichi felt extremely nervous. Whether it would work depended on the coming test.

Taiichi saw that it was already getting late. He had been tinkering with this all evening and had not done today's training yet. That could not be delayed. He tidied up, placed the hard-won Allicin into a glass container, and stored it in the refrigerator.

Last came today's training.

[You trained in Basic Taijutsu. Related comprehension improved.]

[Your skill Basic Taijutsu improved. Experience +1.]

[You focused on Basic Taijutsu training. Genin profession experience +1.]

...

[You trained in Basic Meditation. Related comprehension improved.]

[Your skill Basic Meditation improved. Experience +1.]

[You focused on Basic Meditation training. Genin profession experience +1.]

Because he now had the additional Chakra Refinement Technique, Taiichi shortened his Basic Taijutsu and Basic Meditation training time, setting aside an hour specifically for Chakra Refinement Technique practice.

Taiichi discovered that as long as he did not refine more Chakra at once than his body could endure, Chakra had an excellent strengthening and restorative effect on the body. However, once Chakra was refined, it continuously dissipated outside the body. How to maintain a certain amount of Chakra within his body at all times was something Taiichi had been pondering ever since he discovered Chakra's strengthening effects.

For now, he could only refine Chakra from time to time to keep the amount in his body at a certain level. As for how to solve it later—whether to make Chakra refinement an instinct that ran silently on its own, or find some way to reduce Chakra leakage—that would have to wait until he had accumulated enough knowledge.

[You trained in Chakra Refinement Technique. Related comprehension improved.]

[Your skill Chakra Refinement Technique improved. Experience +1.]

[You focused on Chakra Refinement Technique training. Genin profession experience +1.]

...

[Congratulations, your Genin profession level has increased.]

[Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1.]

At last, at the very end of his training, his profession level, which had already been close to leveling up, finally rose.

Name: Taichi Matsushita

Profession: Genin Lv2 (0/200)

Talent: Diligence Makes Up for Mediocrity, Academic Overachiever

Age: 6

Constitution: 9

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Spirit: 18

Chakra: 800 (4200) The number in parentheses is the maximum amount of Chakra a person can extract in one day. Exceeding it will cause bodily depletion.

Attribute Points: 6

Skill Points: 6

Skills: Basic Taijutsu Lv6 (124/1000), Basic Meditation Lv6 (765/1000), Chakra Refinement Technique Lv1 (42/100)

Evaluation: A little nobody in the Ninja World. Other than hard work, you have no other choice.

Looking at the Attribute Panel and the clear, measurable progress he made every day, Taiichi found the source of his happiness. It also let him clearly know that he was growing stronger every single day.