Fifty Thousand Taels, You Spent It All in a Month???

One month later.

Behind the mountain.

"Precept-Breaking Blade, 36th Form!"

"Falling into the Mortal World!"

A green shadow flashed by, and the wooden blade slammed into the tree trunk.

Snap—

The sound of the wood fracturing was exceptionally crisp.

Guy looked at the half-broken wooden blade in his hand and sighed.

"Sigh, it broke again."

He tossed the broken half of the blade aside and plopped down onto the grass.

This was the twelfth wooden blade he had broken this month.

From the crude tree branches he started with, to the decent wooden blades he whittled himself.

And finally, the reinforced version he had specifically commissioned from the village carpenter yesterday.

They all broke.

Not a single one could withstand three rounds of the Precept-Breaking Blade technique.

Guy looked at the number on his system panel, his teeth aching.

[Precept-Breaking Blade (Mid-Grade): 12 (Novice)]

This was the latest skill he had pulled from his random 72 Shaolin Arts gift pack!

Guy now understood how to continue acquiring the 72 Shaolin Arts.

He had to train a skill to perfection, and then he would receive a new skill gift pack.

Perfect it again.

Receive another!

It was a cycle.

The new skill, Precept-Breaking Blade, consisted of 49 forms in total.

To be precise, 49 strikes.

Completing all 49 strikes in one go granted one point of proficiency.

Although Guy would be left exhausted for quite a while after finishing a single round.

Given his body's recovery speed, however.

Practicing once in the morning, afternoon, and evening was not a problem.

That meant 3 points of proficiency per day, without significantly hindering his other training.

It wouldn't take long to master it.

Yet, a month had passed, and he only had twelve points of proficiency.

The reason for this was simple: he had no blade!

A mere wooden blade could not withstand the power of the Precept-Breaking Blade.

Even the reinforced version was practically scrap after one round.

He had already spent hundreds of taels just on wooden blades.

And to buy a decent blade, it would cost at least ten thousand taels!

"I'm broke."

Guy looked up at the sky, his face filled with despair.

A month ago, after selling the Ninja Bear, he had received fifty thousand taels.

At the time, it felt like a lot.

Now—

It was gone.

All gone.

Where did it go?

It wasn't spent on blades.

The main reason could be summed up in one word.

Food.

After his Yijin Jing broke through to the level of Pure Perfection, his body had become a bottomless pit.

Every morning when he woke up, he was so hungry he could gnaw on the bed frame.

One bowl of rice? Not enough.

Two bowls of rice? Barely enough to get between his teeth.

Three bowls of rice? Just enough to keep the hunger at bay.

If the training intensity was a bit higher, he could polish off three days' worth of the household's food supply in one sitting.

Dai looked at the empty rice jar, his eyes turning red, though this time it wasn't out of being moved.

"Guy... is Daddy unable to afford to raise you anymore..."

Guy was silent at that moment.

What could he say?

Tell his father not to panic, that he would go kick another bear to sell?

The problem was that bears weren't around every day.

This month, fifty thousand ryo had all gone straight into his stomach.

How much was left?

He fished the last few copper 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, shining on his face.

It was a bit blinding.

He raised his hand to shield his eyes.

Two words suddenly popped into his mind.

Part-time job!

Guy sat up abruptly.

His eyes lit up.

That's right!

The blacksmith shop!

Go work at the blacksmith shop!

Whether it was swinging a hammer or working the bellows, weren't those both feats of strength?

Swinging a hammer—trains arm strength.

Working the bellows—trains endurance.

And he could earn money!

Maybe he could even snag a discarded, defective ninja sword!

Perfect!

Guy slapped his thigh.

"Youth! This is youth!"

He sprang to his feet, full of energy.

But as soon as he stood up, he froze again.

The problem was...

Where could he find a blacksmith shop?

He was familiar with Konoha, but only the routes to the training grounds, the back mountains, his home, and the academy.

He had never really paid attention to a place like a blacksmith shop.

Just as he was thinking, the sound of footsteps came from afar.

Obito rushed out of the woods, panting heavily, his face covered in sweat.

He had just finished running a lap around the back mountain.

Guy looked at him, and his heart suddenly stirred.

The Uchiha clan.

One of the most famous clans in the ninja world.

Famous for the Sharingan, but also one of the top forging clans in Konoha.

The ninja tools passed down through the Uchiha clan were ranked among the best in the entire ninja world.

This guy Obito, even though he was a dead last, was still an Uchiha after all.

"Obito."

"Hm?"

"Do you know anyone at the blacksmith shop?"

Obito blinked, straightening his back.

"The blacksmith shop? Yeah, I know them. My uncle works at the clan's shop. Why do you ask?"

Guy didn't bother hiding his intentions, stating directly, "I want to get a part-time job."

"A part-time job?!"

Obito's jaw dropped, and he stared at him in utter shock.

"You? A part-time job?"

"Yeah."

"Are you short on money?"

"I am."

Obito paused, suddenly remembering something.

"Wait, didn't you just get fifty thousand ryo last month? You spent it all that fast?"

Guy nodded.

"Spent it all."

Obito's eyes widened even further.

"Fifty thousand ryo! In one month! What did you do?"

Guy thought for a moment and answered truthfully.

"Ate it."

"..."

Obito fell silent.

He looked at Guy, scanning him from head to toe.

Still the same green jumpsuit, still those same Bushy Brows, still the same guy.

But his gaze slowly shifted.

It was like he was looking at some kind of mythical creature.

"You... you ate fifty thousand ryo in a month?"

Guy corrected him, "Not a month. Twenty-three days."

Obito: "..."

He suddenly understood why Might Duy worked so hard on his missions.

Raising a son like this, you had no choice but to work yourself to the bone.

"Fine." Obito scratched his head. "I'll go back and ask for you. But my uncle has a bit of a weird temper, so he might not agree."

Guy nodded.

"Shall we go now?"

Obito was stunned. "Now?"

"Yeah." Guy grinned, flashing a thumbs-up. "I have to train today anyway, so it doesn't matter if I start a day early or late. Youth cannot be wasted!"

Obito looked at those gleaming White Fang-like teeth, his mouth twitching.

"Your youth... is really something else."

The two packed up their things and headed out of the back mountain.

After walking a few steps, Obito suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, that guy Kakashi sent a letter a few days ago."

Guy paused in his tracks.

"What did he say?"

"He said he got assigned to Minato Namikaze's squad and is being worked to death every single day. And he also said..." Obito curled his lip, "that the two of us dead-lasts are definitely still slacking off."

Guy laughed.

"Then next time we see him, let's show him the power of the dead-lasts."

Obito laughed too.

"Right! Let's show him!"

The two walked out of the back mountain and headed toward the Uchiha compound.