Is This Ninja Academy?

Spirit Hall... Branch Hall

Even as the smallest branch, the Nuoding City Spirit Hall occupied the most prime location, its interior gilded and resplendent, reeking of decadent feudal religious atmosphere.

As a communist warrior, Jiang Naruto relied on his indomitable will to endure the temptations of the presiding officials. With a few "I'll consider it" remarks, he managed to struggle his way out of the den of iniquity.

Once outside the Spirit Hall, Naruto clutched his chest and panted repeatedly.

Terrifying!

The Spirit Hall actually wanted to use money to corrupt a successor of socialism like him?

If they had offered just a little bit more, he feared he might have already fallen!

Naruto thought to himself as he fled into the flow of street traffic. Having mastered the control of his seal, he immediately split his focus, casting his consciousness into the seal space.

Before him, Bibi Dong was reclining on a soul power sofa, lost in thought.

"Had your fill of looking?"

Naruto retorted irritably, "Your Holiness the Pope, you've already been on the throne for five years~"

Jiang Naruto had only come to this Spirit Hall because of Bibi Dong's forceful demands. Fortunately, his innate soul power was at level six, and the bearded soul master had been patient enough to break down the current situation of the Spirit Hall and explain it to the two of them.

Recalling the disappointment on the bearded soul master's face earlier, Naruto felt a bit embarrassed and began to complain, "Did we really have to come to this Spirit Hall to confirm it? I get it now, you just don't trust me!"

Bibi Dong remained silent, still not having emerged from her deep contemplation.

Seeing this, Naruto pressed his advantage, his words spilling out like a machine gun, "I dare swear that every word I said to you earlier was the truth, but you? You actually don't believe me? Is this how you treat my sincerity?"

Ignore...

Bibi Dong paid no heed to Naruto's clamor, shielding herself from the noise.

Comparing the historical events with her own memories, the personnel appointments and removals throughout the Spirit Hall all matched up; she had simply traveled back in time. Bibi Dong tried not to dwell on what unknown effects altering history might have on the future.

She only knew one thing—this year! Her great enemy Tang San was only six years old!

She only needed to lift a finger to easily crush the current Tang San, but... Bibi Dong raised her eyes to look at this dead, dark, and damp seal space, and then at the incessantly complaining Naruto.

She was sealed...

If she wanted to get out, Bibi Dong lowered her gaze to look at Naruto and opened her mouth, but before the words swirling in her throat could come out—

"Little Naruto! Come here, come here!"

In reality, Naruto, who had merged into the crowd, was just wandering aimlessly around Nuoding City to see if he could trigger the system's entry tags by luck. Hearing the familiar call, he snapped back from the seal space.

Looking toward the sound, he had arrived at the market he frequented. Amidst the dense crowd, a simple vegetable-selling woman was waving at him.

"Sister Liu, how have you gotten so thin lately?"

Naruto immediately changed his expression, greeting her with a beaming smile.

"Oh my, really?" The ordinary vegetable vendor was amused and chuckled, "Do you think so too? I heard your spirit awakened recently, and you even have innate soul power? That's a huge happy event!"

As she spoke, she stuffed some wrapped vegetables into Naruto's arms.

"Here! Take this!"

Naruto looked embarrassed, performing a show of declining three times before accepting with a thick-skinned grin. For the rest of the journey, the same thing happened repeatedly.

One moment he was calling this uncle, The next he was calling that sister.

Those who didn't know better would have thought he was in some family market, where a flourishing clan's elders were doting on a junior. In reality, it was just a six-year-old orphan finding a way to survive over the past half-year.

Being sweet-talked didn't cost money and allowed him to freeload; why wouldn't he do it?

[In Konoha Village, Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, suffers from the discrimination of the villagers. Loneliness defines Naruto's childhood. Can such a childhood shape a hero, or will it shape a demon?]

The system's electronic voice suddenly rang out. Naruto's hands paused, and he could only respond with silence. This brain-dead system was beyond saving; it had truly turned into the legendary life of "Naruto"!

With more and more items in his hands, and thanks to yesterday's spirit awakening, Naruto's harvest today far exceeded the past.

"What are you doing?"

Bibi Dong in the seal space finally couldn't hold back, her words filled with bewilderment.

"Begging for food and drink, what else?"

Naruto's response remained matter-of-fact. Although it was hellish, as a young orphan who could only live off his inheritance, this was the best method he had devised over the last six months.

Of course, once he became a proper level-ten soul master and could collect a monthly stipend from the Spirit Hall, the situation would naturally be different.

"How can you even say that?"

It wasn't just that which bothered Bibi Dong; she had seen with her own eyes Naruto calling a white-haired, wrinkled old woman "sister."

Following Bibi Dong's gaze, Naruto understood what she meant and rolled his eyes, "Ah? Sister Ren Wang isn't even fifty yet; for all you know, she might be younger than you."

"You old auntie were able to shamelessly accept the title of 'good sister' earlier, why can't she?"

"What did you say!?"

Bibi Dong's brows shot up, her volume rising.

The more beautiful a woman is, the more she cares about her age. Especially for Bibi Dong right now; she could be five hundred, five thousand, or even fifty thousand years old, yet she happened to be fifty.

Having struck a nerve, Naruto didn't care in the slightest, raising his hand to gesture at the fish in his grasp.

"Ren Wang called me 'little brother' and even gave me a fish, unlike some old aunt who saved someone's life but hasn't shown a shred of gratitude to this day..."

"You!"

Bibi Dong's forehead was covered in black lines, yet she was left speechless.

Today's victory belonged to Naruto.

Having swindled enough to live comfortably for a few days, Naruto knew when to quit while he was ahead, squeezing his way out of the busy, noisy market.

As the number of pedestrians around him thinned, Naruto's consciousness within the seal space suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and a booklet made of soul power skipped through the air like a stone on water, fluttering down before his eyes.

Naruto hurriedly caught it, his face full of joy, and waved at the gloomy and uncertain Bibi Dong behind him.

"I've received your return gift."

After saying that, Naruto focused his mind and buried himself in reading. In the deathly silent seal space, time passed, and eventually, someone finally steeled their resolve.

"Little... little friend..."

Stammering out the two words, Naruto snapped back to reality from the ocean of knowledge, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke in a mocking tone, "It's 'little friend' now? You were just mocking my face a moment ago."

"You!"

Bibi Dong pointed a finger at Naruto and stood up from the soul power sofa.

Before Bibi Dong could fly into a complete rage, Naruto waved his hand and added, "Don't bother with the 'little friend' nonsense. Just call me Naruto. It's uncomfortable for you to say, and it's uncomfortable for me to hear."

"It's a deal!"

Bibi Dong responded quite quickly this time. Not having to use that awkward form of address made her look much more at ease.

For the sake of someone's pride, Naruto didn't point it out further.

Sitting back on the soul power sofa and returning to the main topic, Bibi Dong asked sternly, "How much do you know about the future?"

"I only know what I should know." Brushing the question aside, Naruto glanced at the clearly tempted Bibi Dong and poured a bucket of cold water on her, "I also know what you're thinking right now. No matter what you say, it is impossible for me to break the seal. That is my bottom line!"

"In other words, as long as we stay within that bottom line, we can negotiate."

Bibi Dong grasped the key point in Naruto's words, and Naruto nodded, "Of course. Mutual benefit—you help me, I help you. It's that simple."

"I understand." Bibi Dong nodded repeatedly, her narrowed eyes observing the changes in Naruto's expression, "If I help you, how can you guarantee that you will keep your word?"

"..."

The seal space returned to silence.

The two locked gazes in the air for a long time, and finally, Naruto shook his head slightly.

"There is no guarantee."

Bibi Dong's gaze grew cold as she stared at Naruto, but he remained unmoved. "Even if I were to swear an oath here, it would likely be useless. I can use the seal to restrict you, but you cannot restrict me. This is inherently an unequal transaction, or rather, a negotiation."

"This is the truth, and it cannot be changed. Do you expect me to rely on so-called trust... or bonds... those empty, high-sounding words for a guarantee?"

"But you have no other choice, do you?"

"Think it over yourself."

The two didn't reach any real conclusion in the end, or perhaps the result was already there, but Bibi Dong was unwilling to admit it.

After all, burying one's head in the sand was also a method of coping.

Naruto didn't care. He withdrew his consciousness from the seal space, and his previously stiff movements immediately regained their fluidity as he walked toward home.

Bibi Dong's reaction wasn't unexpected. What disappointed Naruto was that after wandering around for so long, he hadn't triggered any new entry tags.

Is this system truly useless?

Could it only fabricate unofficial histories?

Naruto grumbled in his mind. Just as he was thinking that the system had gone silent again after fabricating that bit of history, it spoke up.

[Ding~]

An electronic sound rang in his ears, and Naruto froze on the spot, appearing particularly conspicuous amidst the endless stream of people.

[Will you witness the entrance to the Ninja Academy?]

Huh?

What Ninja Academy?