Is This the Ninja Academy?

Spirit Hall... Branch Hall

Even the smallest branch hall, the Spirit Hall in Nuoding City still occupied the best location. Inside, it was decked out in gold and jade, steeped in the decadent air of feudal religion.

Through sheer force of will, Naruto, a communist warrior, actually held firm against the temptations of the officials in charge. After a few strained "I'll think it over," he managed to escape the den of iniquity.

Once outside the Spirit Hall, Naruto clutched his chest and gasped for breath.

Terrifying!

The Spirit Hall had actually tried to corrupt a successor to socialism like him with money?

If they'd offered just a little more, he might already have fallen into depravity!

Naruto thought darkly as he fled into the crowds. He'd grown adept at controlling the seal, and immediately split his attention, sending his consciousness into the Sealing Space.

Bibi Dong was reclining against a Soul Power sofa, deep in thought.

"Had your fill of looking?"

Naruto said irritably,

"Your Holiness, you've been enthroned for five years already~"

Jiang Naruto had come to the Spirit Hall entirely because Bibi Dong had insisted. Luckily, his Innate Soul Power was level six, so the burly-bearded Spirit Master had patiently broken down the current state of the Spirit Hall and explained it all to them.

Remembering the disappointment on the bearded Spirit Master's face, Naruto felt a little embarrassed. He complained, "Did we really have to come all the way here just to confirm it? I get it now—you just don't believe me!"

Bibi Dong said nothing, still lost in thought.

Seeing this, Naruto pressed his advantage, firing off words like a string of cannonballs. "I swear, every single thing I told you was true, but you? You didn't believe me! Is this how you treat my sincere feelings?"

Ignored...

Bibi Dong paid no attention to Naruto's fussing, shutting out the noise.

Comparing the historical timeline with her own memories, she found that all the Spirit Hall appointments and dismissals matched. She had merely traveled back in time. Bibi Dong tried not to dwell on the unknown effects that changing history might have on the future.

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

She only needed to lift a finger to crush Tang San as he was now, but... Bibi Dong raised her eyes to survey this dead, dark, damp Sealing Space—and the incessantly complaining Naruto.

She was sealed...

To get out, Bibi Dong lowered her gaze to Naruto and opened her mouth. Before she could voice the words turning over in her throat—

"Little Ming! Come on, come on!"

In the real world, Naruto had been wandering aimlessly around Nuoding City, hoping to get lucky and trigger a system tag. Hearing the familiar call, he came to his senses and withdrew from the Sealing Space.

Following the voice, he realized he'd arrived at the market he often visited. Amid the dense crowd, a plain-looking woman selling vegetables was waving at him.

"Sister Liu, why have you gotten even thinner lately?"

Naruto immediately changed his tune, beaming as he went over to her.

"Oh, really?" The ordinary vegetable seller chuckled at his teasing. "You think so too? I heard you had your Martial Soul Awakening recently, and even have Innate Soul Power? That's wonderful news!"

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

"Here! These are for you!"

Naruto looked embarrassed and went through the motions of refusing three times before finally accepting them shamelessly. The same thing kept happening all the way along.

One moment, he was calling one person "Uncle,"

the next, he was calling another "Sister."

Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was in some clan marketplace, surrounded by a sprawling family whose elders were looking after the younger generation. In reality, he was just a six-year-old orphan who'd found another way to get by over the past six months.

Being sweet-tongued cost nothing, and he got to freeload. Why not?

[In Konoha, Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was scorned by the villagers. Loneliness defined Naruto's childhood. Would that childhood shape a hero—or a demon?]

The system's electronic voice suddenly rang out. Naruto's hands paused, and he could only answer with silence. This Silly System was beyond saving. It really had turned into the legendary life of "Naruto"!

His hands were growing more and more full. Thanks to yesterday's Martial Soul Awakening, Naruto had come away with far more than usual today.

"What are you doing?"

Bibi Dong finally couldn't hold back any longer. Her words were full of confusion.

"Scoring free food and drink. What else?"

Naruto's reply was as matter-of-fact as ever. Sure, it was a miserable way to live, but as a young orphan who could only live off his inheritance until it ran dry, this was the best solution he'd come up with in the past six months.

Of course, once he became a proper level-ten Spirit Master and could collect his monthly allowance from the Spirit Hall, things would naturally be different.

"How can you bring yourself to call them that?"

That wasn't all Bibi Dong was bothered by. She had watched Naruto call a white-haired, wrinkled old woman "Sister."

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

"You shamelessly accepted being called 'Big Sister' earlier, you old lady. Why can't she?"

"What did you say!?"

Bibi Dong's brows shot up, and her voice rose.

The more beautiful a woman was, the more she cared about her age—especially Bibi Dong at this moment. She could have been five hundred, five thousand, even fifty thousand years old, but no—she was fifty.

Naruto didn't care that he'd hit a sore spot. He raised the fish in his hand.

"At least when I called Sister Ren Wang 'Sister,' she gave me a fish. Unlike a certain old lady who still hasn't shown any gratitude after I saved her life..."

"You!"

Bibi Dong's face was covered in black lines, but she couldn't come up with a reply.

Today's victory belonged to Naruto.

He'd gathered enough food to live well for several days, and Naruto knew when to quit while he was ahead. He squeezed out of the market with the busy, noisy crowd.

Once the number of passersby had dwindled, Naruto's consciousness inside the Sealing Space suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead. A little booklet made of Soul Power bounced off his head and fluttered down in front of him.

Naruto hurriedly caught it, his face lighting up with delight. He waved at Bibi Dong, who stood behind him with an unreadable expression.

"I got your return gift."

With that, Naruto gathered his thoughts and buried himself in reading. Time passed in the Sealing Space, which had once again fallen silent, until someone finally finished preparing herself mentally.

"Y-young friend..."

After stammering out those two words, Naruto surfaced from the sea of knowledge. His eyes narrowed, and his tone turned mocking. "So now I'm a young friend again? You were just making fun of how I acted a moment ago."

"You!"

Bibi Dong pointed at Naruto and stood up from the Soul Power sofa.

Before Bibi Dong could fly into a full-blown rage, Naruto waved a hand and added, "And don't call me 'young friend' or whatever. Just call me Naruto. It's awkward for you to say, and awkward for me to hear."

"Agreed!"

This time, Bibi Dong answered quickly. She looked much more at ease without having to use that awkward form of address.

For her sake, Naruto didn't point it out.

Sitting back down on the Soul Power sofa, Bibi Dong returned to the main subject and asked seriously, "How much do you know about the future?"

"I only know what I'm supposed to know." Naruto brushed off the question, then glanced at Bibi Dong, whose interest was clearly piqued, and dashed cold water on her hopes. "I also know what you're thinking right now. No matter what you say, I'm not going to undo the seal. That's my bottom line!"

"So, as long as we respect that bottom line, we can still negotiate."

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

"I understand." Bibi Dong nodded, her narrowed eyes studying the changes in Naruto's expression. "If I help you, how can I be sure you'll keep your promise?"

"..."

The Sealing Space fell silent again.

Their gazes clashed for a long time before Naruto finally shook his head.

"There's no guarantee."

Bibi Dong's gaze turned cold as she stared at Naruto, but he remained unmoved. "Even if I swore an oath here, I doubt it would mean anything. I can use the seal to restrain you, but you can't restrain me. This was never an equal trade—or, rather, an equal negotiation."

"That's just the truth. It can't be changed. Are we supposed to rely on so-called trust... bonds... and other empty words to guarantee it?"

"But you don't have any other choice, do you?"

"Think it over."

In the end, the two didn't reach any conclusion. Or perhaps they had, but Bibi Dong wasn't willing to admit it.

After all, burying your head in the sand was a way of coping, too.

Naruto didn't care. He withdrew his consciousness from the Sealing Space, and his stiff body immediately regained its fluid movements. Then he headed home.

Bibi Dong's reaction wasn't unexpected. What disappointed Naruto was that after wandering around for so long, he hadn't triggered a single new system tag.

Was this system really that useless?

Could it only make up fake history?

Naruto cursed inwardly. After making up that fake history just now, the system had gone quiet again. Just as he was thinking that—

[Ding~]

An electronic chime sounded in his ear. Naruto froze in the middle of the bustling crowd, standing out like a sore thumb.

[Witness the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony?]

Huh?

What Ninja Academy?