Money-Making Plan

In the summer of Konoha's forty-third year, the air was scorching and the cicadas deafening. Eight-year-old Kyohaku Uchiha sat beneath the eaves of his small home, a tiny ledger spread open before him, his brows slightly furrowed.

His fingertip traced line after line of numbers. His father's pension: one hundred thousand ryō. Five hundred thousand ryō remaining after selling the old house and buying this one. Three years of daily expenses, training equipment, and especially the costly Nara Secret Medicine he took once every half month... Even though he had been living as frugally as possible, his savings continued to dwindle at an alarming rate.

"Living off savings..." he murmured, his tone carrying a gravity that did not belong to someone his age.

At Konoha Hospital's Animal Training and Rehabilitation Class, Hana Inuzuka, the Special Jonin responsible for guiding him, had indeed taken good care of him. Seeing how diligent, serious, and gifted he was, she had specially secured him an official position as a registered intern, allowing him to receive a small monthly salary. But that money was nothing more than a drop in the bucket compared to his steadily rising training expenses.

Money. He needed money. A lot of money. Not merely to sustain himself and purchase medicine—future ninja equipment, more advanced training gear, and even special medicinal ingredients or knowledge he might need would all require substantial financial backing.

He could not wait any longer.

He closed the ledger and looked toward the old tree in the yard, his gaze turning sharp and calm. It was time to begin the money-making plan he had been preparing for so long.

After careful consideration, he clearly identified his advantages and the feasible path before him:

Advantage: extraordinary chakra control. This was the core. After three uninterrupted years of physical training and nourishment from secret medicine, the amount of chakra he could refine was still far below that of talented children his age, but it had steadily reached the level of an ordinary Genin. His quantity was lacking, but his "quality" and control were exceptional.

Feasible path: making Explosive Tags.

Explosive Tags were one of the basic tools used by ninja. They were consumed in large quantities, and market demand remained stable. Their principle was to seal highly compressed, extremely active fire-nature chakra into specially made paper and set a trigger condition—usually a slight chakra impact or tearing motion. The difficulties lay in three areas: first, precise mastery over the nature transformation of fire-nature chakra; second, extremely delicate chakra control to ensure the energy was compressed and sealed stably without exploding prematurely or failing; third, a solid foundation in drawing Fūinjutsu formulas.

And those three points happened to play right into Kyohaku's hands.

Fire-nature chakra transformation? He had long since studied the Fireball Jutsu and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique scrolls left behind by his father inside and out. Though his body prevented him from actually casting large-scale ninjutsu, his understanding of the form and nature of fire-nature chakra far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Chakra control? That was his greatest asset.

Basic Fūinjutsu formulas? He had already devoured the introductory books on Fūinjutsu in the library's basic section. Drawing stable energy-guiding and restraining runes was no difficult task for him.

The only difficulty was the materials. Special Explosive Tag paper and dedicated sealing ink were both expensive, and they were controlled goods. Buyers had to register their intended use, which posed a problem for a child like him.

The next day, Kyohaku returned to Konoha Hospital's Animal Training and Rehabilitation Class. After completing his daily work, he went to find Hana Inuzuka.

"Teacher Hana." Kyohaku looked up, his face carrying just the right amount of a child's excitement and nervousness at wanting to do something "big."

"Hmm? Little Kyohaku, what is it?" Hana Inuzuka was a woman in her early twenties, cheerful in personality and possessed of the Inuzuka Clan's distinctive affinity with animals. She was very fond of Kyohaku, the quiet and hardworking child.

"Teacher... I-I want to practice chakra control... I heard... making Explosive Tags requires very high-level control..." he said quietly, his eyes full of "eagerness to learn." "I want to buy some of the lowest-grade paper and ink to try it... but the shopkeeper said I need to register my purpose..."

Hana Inuzuka paused, then laughed. "Oh my, is our little medical ninja planning to become a ninja tool craftsman?" She patted Kyohaku's head. "Making Explosive Tags is very dangerous, you know, and it costs a lot of money. The success rate is very low."

"I know..." Kyohaku lowered his head and fiddled with the hem of his clothes. "I just want to try... It's fine even if I fail. I can treat it as chakra control practice... And, and if I succeed, maybe I can sell them for some money and help cover my expenses..." He said the last sentence especially softly, with a hint of embarrassment.

Looking at the child, Hana Inuzuka thought of his family circumstances and the independence and determination he had always shown. She immediately understood, and a trace of pity rose in her heart. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Practicing with the lowest-grade materials is fine. It really can improve your control. How about this? I'll write you a certificate saying they're auxiliary materials for the medical class to practice fine chakra manipulation. But you must promise me that you'll practice in an absolutely safe place, and for the first few times, either I or another teacher must be there to watch!"

"Really? Thank you, Teacher Hana!" A delighted smile immediately bloomed across Kyohaku's face. He repeatedly promised, "I'll definitely be careful! Thank you, Teacher!"

With Hana Inuzuka's guarantee, purchasing the materials went smoothly. Kyohaku used the small amount of salary he had saved, along with part of his savings, to buy a batch of the poorest-quality, cheapest tag paper and basic ink—materials with even less room for error, making them perfect for honing his skills.

Over the following days, his backyard gained another activity alongside physical training and ninjutsu practice.

He cleared out an absolutely safe area in one corner of the yard and laid down fireproof stone slabs. Then, calming his mind, he dipped his finger into special ink mixed with chakra-conductive material and began drawing the basic Fūinjutsu formula that he knew by heart onto the tag paper.

The first step was to steadily outline the energy channels. His fingers were as stable as stone, the lines smooth and precise without the slightest tremor.

The second step was to inject highly compressed fire-nature chakra. This was the most crucial and dangerous step. Holding his breath, he injected a thread of pure fire-nature chakra into the center of the formula, extremely slowly and evenly, sensing the active, violent energy being forcibly compressed and solidified under the restraints of the sealing formula.

"Pfft..." A soft muffled sound rang out. The tag paper gave off a wisp of green smoke, and a small portion of it blackened. The chakra had been injected too quickly, causing the energy to leak.

Failure.

Expressionless, he tossed aside the ruined tag and picked up the next one.

"Pfft..." Another tag was ruined. His chakra output had been unstable, causing a localized overload.

Failure.

He did not lose heart. Instead, he became even more focused. With every failure, he could clearly sense where the problem lay. Was it the chakra flow rate, the compression ratio, or a minute deviation in the drawn runes? His extraordinary control and forensic-like analytical ability came together perfectly at that moment.

Hana Inuzuka came to check on him twice. Seeing that he was exceptionally cautious and followed proper procedures, and that although his failure rate was high there was no danger, she set her mind at ease. She merely gave him a few reminders before leaving.

Day by day, a small stack of ruined tag paper accumulated. But his movements became increasingly fluid, and his success rate began rising at a visibly rapid pace.

Finally, one evening as the sun set, he completed the final rune. With great care, he injected the last thread of fire-nature chakra and sealed it perfectly.

The tag paper in his hand grew faintly warm. The vermilion runes on it were stable and clear, faintly emitting a dangerous yet steady pulse of energy.

He had succeeded.

He took the homemade Explosive Tag to a soft target in the distance, stuck it onto the target, retreated to a safe distance, and formed the simplest detonation hand seal.

"Explode!"

Boom!

An explosion, not particularly loud but clear enough, rang out. A small scorched patch appeared on the soft target.

Its power was average, somewhere between military-grade equipment and civilian firecrackers, but it was undeniably a functional Explosive Tag!

Kyohaku Uchiha looked at the wisp of green smoke and slowly exhaled. Sweat had soaked his bangs, but his clear black-and-white eyes gleamed with calm, sharp light.

He had finally carved out a viable path to making money through great difficulty. They were only the most basic Explosive Tags, and his success rate still needed improvement, but this meant he now possessed the ability to turn his own advantages into tangible resources.

He turned and returned to the workbench, his gaze growing even more focused as he looked at the remaining materials.

He still needed more practice, a higher success rate, and more consistent quality. Only then could he consider how to exchange them for the money he desperately needed.

Night fell, and the lights in the little courtyard came on once more, illuminating a small yet incomparably determined figure.