A month later.
The back mountain.
"Precept-Breaking Blade, Form Thirty-Six!"
"Falling into the Mortal World!"
A flash of green swept past as the wooden sword struck the tree trunk.
Crack—
The sound of the wood splitting was crisp and clear.
Guy looked at the half of the wooden sword left in his hand and sighed.
"Ah, it broke again."
He tossed the broken half aside and plopped down on the grass.
This was the twelfth wooden sword he'd broken this month.
He'd started with rough branches, then moved on to wooden swords he'd carved himself, making them a little more presentable.
Then yesterday, he'd had a reinforced version specially made by a carpenter in the village.
They'd all broken.
Not one had survived three rounds of the Precept-Breaking Blade Technique.
Guy glanced at the number on his system panel, his teeth aching a little.
[Precept-Breaking Blade (Medium-grade): 12 (Just Beginning to Grasp the Basics)]
This was the latest technique he'd gotten from the Random Ultimate Skill Pack!
Guy now knew how he could keep obtaining the 72 Shaolin Arts.
Once he mastered one technique, he'd receive a new skill pack.
Master another.
Get another pack!
And so on.
His new technique, the Precept-Breaking Blade, had forty-nine forms.
More precisely, it had forty-nine cuts.
Completing all forty-nine cuts in one smooth sequence would raise his proficiency by one point.
Although after finishing one round, Guy would be exhausted for quite a while.
Still, given how quickly his body recovered,
practicing once in the morning, afternoon, and evening wouldn't be a problem.
That would give him three proficiency points a day without disrupting his other training too much.
It wouldn't take long to master it.
But a month had passed, and he'd only reached twelve proficiency points.
The reason was simple: he didn't have a blade!
A mere wooden sword couldn't withstand the power of the Precept-Breaking Blade.
Even the reinforced version was practically ruined after one round.
He'd already spent several hundred ryo on wooden swords alone.
And a decent blade would cost at least ten thousand ryo!
"I'm broke."
Guy looked up at the sky, his expression utterly despondent.
A month ago, after they sold the Ninja Bear, he'd received fifty thousand ryo.
At the time, it had seemed like a lot.
Now—
It was gone.
Every last bit of it.
Where had it all gone?
It hadn't been spent on blades.
The main reason could be summed up in one word.
Food.
After his Yijin Jing reached the consummate stage, his body had become a bottomless pit.
Every morning, he woke up so hungry he could have chewed through the bed frame.
One bowl of rice? Not enough.
Two bowls? Barely a snack.
Three bowls? Just enough to stop feeling hungry.
If his training was especially intense, he could polish off three days' worth of food in the house in one sitting.
Dai looked at the empty rice jar, his eyes red—but this time, it wasn't because he was moved.
"Guy... am I not able to feed you anymore?"
Guy had been speechless.
What could he say?
Dad, don't panic. I'll go kick another bear and sell it?
The problem was, there weren't bears around every day.
All fifty thousand ryo had gone down the hatch this month.
How much was left?
He fished the last few coins out of his pocket.
He counted them.
"Forty-three ryo."
Guy stuffed the coins back into his pocket and lay down on the grass.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across his face.
It was a little too bright.
He raised a hand to shield his eyes.
Suddenly, two words came to mind.
Get a job!
Guy sprang upright.
His eyes lit up.
That was it!
The Blacksmith Shop!
He'd get a job at the Blacksmith Shop!
Whether he was swinging a hammer or working the bellows, both were physical labor, weren't they?
Swinging a hammer—build arm strength.
Working the bellows—build endurance.
And he could earn money!
Maybe he could even get his hands on a discarded, defective Ninja Blade!
Perfect!
Guy slapped his thigh.
"Youth! This is Youth!"
He jumped to his feet, full of energy.
But as soon as he stood up, he froze.
The problem was...
Where could he find a blacksmith shop?
He knew Konoha well enough, but the places he knew were the training grounds, the back mountain, and the routes between home and school.
He'd never paid attention to places like blacksmith shops.
As he wondered about it, footsteps sounded in the distance.
Obito dashed out of the woods, panting, his face drenched in sweat.
He'd just run a lap around the back mountain.
Guy looked at him, and an idea suddenly struck.
The Uchiha Clan.
One of the most famous clans in the world of Naruto.
They were famous for the Sharingan, but they were also one of Konoha's top blacksmithing clans.
The Uchiha Clan's heirloom ninja tools were among the best in the entire Shinobi World.
Obito might be a dead-last, but he was still an Uchiha.
"Obito."
"Hm?"
"Do you know anyone at a blacksmith shop?"
Obito blinked and straightened up.
"A blacksmith shop? Sure. My second uncle works at the clan's blacksmith shop. Why do you ask?"
Guy didn't beat around the bush. "I want to get a job."
"A job?!"
Obito's jaw dropped as he stared at him in shock.
"You? Get a job?"
"Yeah."
"Are you short on money?"
"Yeah."
Obito paused, then suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, didn't you just get fifty thousand ryo last month? You've already spent it all?"
Guy nodded.
"Spent it all."
Obito's eyes widened even further.
"Fifty thousand ryo! In one month! What did you spend it on?"
Guy thought for a moment and answered honestly.
"Food."
"..."
Obito fell silent.
He looked Guy up and down.
Same green outfit, same bushy brows, same old look.
But Obito's expression slowly changed.
He was looking at Guy like he was some kind of strange creature.
"You... spent fifty thousand ryo on food in a month?"
Guy corrected him. "Not a month. Twenty-three days."
Obito: "..."
He suddenly understood why Might Duy worked so hard on missions.
With a son like that to feed, he had no choice but to work himself to the bone.
"Fine." Obito scratched his head. "I'll ask him when I get back. But my second uncle's a bit odd-tempered, so he might not agree."
Guy nodded.
"Then let's go now?"
Obito blinked. "Now?"
"Yeah." Guy grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "We have to train today anyway. One day sooner or later makes no difference. We can't waste our Youth!"
Obito looked at his bright white teeth, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"You sure know how to make the most of your Youth..."
The two of them gathered their things and headed out of the back mountain.
After a couple of steps, Obito suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. Kakashi sent a letter a few days ago."
Guy paused.
"What did he say?"
"He said he got assigned to Minato Namikaze's squad and that he's being worked to death every day. And he also..." Obito curled his lip. "He said we two dead-lasts were probably still slacking off."
Guy laughed.
"Next time we see him, we'll show him what a dead-last can do."
Obito laughed too.
"Yeah! Let's show him!"
The two of them left the back mountain and headed toward the Uchiha district.