Might Duy's Little Scheme

Fortunately, his original body's parents had left behind a small wooden house. Otherwise, he would not even have had shelter from the wind and rain.

He washed the ingredients and simmered them over high heat.

A pot of bone broth was quickly ready, and Qian Yun enjoyed a hearty meal.

After eating, he lay on the plank bed, fiddling with the entry system that had only two pages, hoping it would issue a mission and grant him some miraculous rewards.

Half an hour later, Qian Yun got up in disappointment.

The original owner had waited at home for a miracle to happen, only to starve himself to death in the end.

He needed to go out and look around. Maybe he could find work. At worst, he could rummage through trash cans.

At the very least, he had to settle dinner first.

He headed out.

His first stop was the medicinal herb street. It was never short of customers, and its turnover was even several times higher than in peacetime.

The Nara Herb Shop had the best business. Before he even entered, he saw someone selling tiger bones.

Qian Yun thought that the original owner's pig brain had really led him astray. Rather than looking for work, he might as well sell medicinal herbs.

During his year at Konoha Hospital, he had not learned nothing.

For example, he could make soldier pills and healing pills, as well as cultivate plasma. He had basically handled all the simple tasks on his own.

The people at the hospital claimed that, as an errand boy, he ought to take on every dirty and tiring job.

Treating the wounded was not something an errand boy like him needed to worry about.

He entered a herb shop and bought ten golden-rimmed ground beetles, spending a full ten ryo.

It hurt to spend that much.

But this kind of insect was a classic healing medicine, and demand far exceeded supply on the market right now.

Next, he went to a roadside stall and spent another thirty ryo on a copy of the Ninja Insect Taming Art.

He even got cursed at for haggling.

He would not give that bastard any business next time.

Afterward, he went to the food street to rummage through trash cans, hoping to find some bloody beef bones.

The moment he reached the entrance of a butcher shop, he spotted a deer head stripped clean of hide and flesh in a trash can.

Qian Yun reached in and fished it out, only to suddenly see a white entry fall from the deer head.

[Danger Perception Talent]

Qian Yun looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, calmly stored the entry in the system interface.

He fused with it immediately.

In an instant, Qian Yun sensed many invisible auras around him.

The butcher shop owner had a pale red aura with a radius of around half a meter.

A vest-wearing ninja passed by on the street. He also had a pale red aura, but its radius reached five meters.

Everyone else's auras were faint, almost nonexistent. One person's aura was even black.

That man's expression looked gloomy, and his forehead was faintly darkened.

Was this what they meant by a darkened forehead?

Whatever. He needed to get home and cultivate his medicinal ingredients first. Time waited for no one.

Qian Yun had walked less than a hundred meters when a commotion broke out behind him.

Looking back, he saw that the man who had been emitting a black aura had collapsed in the middle of the street, while his black aura slowly dispersed.

A bystander checked for breath and said that the man no longer showed any signs of life. It seemed he had died after being plagued by a serious illness.

Qian Yun watched for a full minute before carrying the deer head and continuing home.

After returning home, he found an old wooden bucket and caught a rat. He used the rat's blood to draw a curse seal, then activated it with chakra.

The Soul Growth entry was incredibly useful. In the past, he had tried thousands of times without successfully inscribing a single useful curse seal.

This time, he succeeded on the first try.

It felt damn good.

To make the deer head regrow its flesh faster, Qian Yun caught two more rats and threw them into the bucket.

The more energy there was, the faster the curse seal took effect.

Qian Yun suddenly realized that activating curse seals had previously been quite difficult for him, and using sealing techniques had made his head spin. Now, it all seemed effortless.

It still felt damn good.

Once he was done there, he found another bucket, filled it with dirt, and began cultivating ninja insects. The hand seals were extremely simple.

Midnight.

A White Zetsu quietly sneaked in. It was very curious about Qian Yun's wooden buckets.

It leaned closer to inspect them, then reached out and touched the deer head.

Hiss!

In an instant, the White Zetsu was sucked into the bucket. The deer head rapidly grew flesh, and even its antlers began to regrow.

The next day, at dawn.

Qian Yun got up and suddenly found a white entry beside the bucket.

[Wood Release Talent]

He fused with it immediately. Qian Yun only felt a faint connection to the wooden boards beneath his feet. As for Wood Release, that was complete bullshit.

At dawn the following day, Qian Yun got up and found another white Wood Release entry. He figured the bucket was responsible.

Three days later.

Qian Yun cheerfully carried a pair of deer antlers and a jar of healing pills out to sell. Life now felt full of hope.

When he arrived at the Nara Herb Shop, there were unexpectedly two lines.

One line was for buying finished pills, while the other was for selling medicinal herbs.

Qian Yun joined the line. Half an hour later, he sold the fresh young deer antlers for eight hundred ryo.

But they would not accept his homemade healing pills.

The clerk said that pills made solely from golden-rimmed ground beetles did have healing effects, but both their taste and their hemostatic properties were poor.

Qian Yun left helplessly, but the moment he stepped out of the Nara Herb Shop, he was stopped by someone with incredibly thick eyebrows.

"Hehehe... If you don't mind, sir, you can sell these healing pills to me. But I'll only pay one-third of the price!"

With that green jumpsuit and those bushy eyebrows, it was none other than the father of Konoha's Azure Beast, Might Guy—Might Duy.

"Young man, it's not like we can't negotiate!"

When Might Duy saw that Qian Yun was not speaking, he immediately grew a little nervous. He was afraid Qian Yun would leave without bargaining. He truly could not afford the healing pills from the Nara Herb Shop.

Qian Yun smiled and handed over the medicine jar with both hands.

Might Duy was overjoyed, but after carefully counting the pills, he realized he could not afford that many.

A spark of inspiration struck him, and he pulled out a scroll from the ninja tool pouch behind his backside.

"This is a scroll I brought back from the battlefield. Its owner was a Hidden Mist jonin, so there must be something good sealed inside!

No need to be polite, young man. I'll be going, then!"

After saying that guiltily, Might Duy quickly handed over half a stack of money and the scroll, then immediately ran off, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Passersby cursed and grumbled, but Qian Yun smiled.

Might Duy probably had no idea how to use sealing techniques. He likely could not even retrieve items from the scroll.

Inside the scroll were standard ninja supplies such as healing medicine, shuriken, kunai, and fresh water. There were even some medical books and medical ninjutsu scrolls. Finally, there were over ten thousand ryo in paper currency.

A medical ninja from Hidden Mist?

Forget it. He would compensate that big brute next time. After all, he still had to worry about food and shelter right now.

He turned around and went to the herb shop across the street to buy a handful of agrimony. This stuff could stop bleeding, so he would add some to his healing pills next time.

Then he headed to the ninja tool street.

Qian Yun felt that he had no talent for becoming a medical ninja. Perhaps he could start with the Three Basic Techniques and try to become a combat genin.

At the very least, he needed to learn how to protect himself.

Konoha Village was not an absolutely safe place.

What if, one day, some dumbass came along and asked you how many floors a bag of rice could carry?

How would you answer?

He entered a scroll shop, where two boys were selecting scrolls.

What a coincidence. He had just met Might Duy, and now he had run into the young Guy Emperor.

That green jumpsuit was truly... truly a bit hard on the eyes.

Then he looked at the white-haired, masked boy beside him. Wasn't that Lord Kakashi?

He needed to find a way to form a bond with them. Maybe he could learn some real skills.

Qian Yun made his decision in an instant.

"Boss, can't you lower the price of this Lightning Release ninjutsu scroll by another three hundred ryo?"

The masked boy spoke, but the shop owner simply shook his head with a stern expression.

"Boss, if I do a backflip for you, will you sell this Lightning Release scroll to Kakashi?

He's my eternal rival!"

Might Guy was about to perform it right there in public when Kakashi said helplessly, "Guy, don't do pointless things. We can come back after we get our next mission rewards!"

Kakashi turned to leave after speaking, but Qian Yun suddenly stepped forward.

"Boss, I'll take that Lightning Release scroll!"

Qian Yun took out the money directly, completely unconcerned about spending ten thousand ryo.

Whether he could safely keep his head down and develop in Konoha Village would begin with getting close to Kakashi.

The transaction was completed in an instant. Qian Yun took the scroll and turned to leave the shop.

Might Guy used the Body Flicker Technique to block Qian Yun's path. Qian Yun slowly adjusted his breathing and forced himself to remain calm.

"Classmate, I'm Might Guy from fourth grade. May I ask what grade you're in? Would you be willing to accept my challenge?"

Kakashi came up behind Qian Yun, as though afraid he might run away.

Qian Yun smiled. "I'm just a commoner. I never attended the Ninja Academy!"

"How is that possible?" Might Guy was incredulous.

Kakashi cut in, "Any child of a Konoha ninja can attend the Ninja Academy. Weren't your parents ninja?

You're not a ninja, yet you bought a ninjutsu scroll. You must have been targeting me on purpose, right?

Could you be a spy from another ninja village?

Speak! Were you the one who has recently been slaughtering young prodigies in the village? Was the boy from the Kurama Clan also your handiwork?"

Might Guy was shocked, then assumed a fighting stance.

Qian Yun shook his head. "My parents were Konoha ninja, but they died during the Second Ninja World War!

Children of commoner ninja can't attend the Ninja Academy without a recommender!

This isn't a secret in Konoha. Why don't you two know?"