Purple Goldwood

The next day.

Early morning.

As usual, Samu Kokaze had gotten up at dawn and was now rummaging back and forth through his family's storeroom.

"Ugh, there's so much dust! I should never have put it so far inside."

Standing in the storeroom, Samu frowned as gray clouds of dust rose at the slightest rummaging.

Today was Ino's birthday. Having already decided what to give her last night, Samu was searching the storeroom for a piece of wood for carving. After all, aside from wood carving—one skill he could actually show off—he had little else he could give.

The piece of lumber he was looking for had come from a Land of Fire noble. When the noble visited Konoha and saw the exquisite carvings Samu had displayed outside his shop, he had rushed home on horseback to retrieve a precious piece of wood he had kept in his collection for years, then asked Samu to carve a life-sized wooden statue of him.

At the time, Samu's carving shop had only recently opened, and he had not yet made a name for himself. He accepted the huge commission without hesitation.

After all, a noble was a noble. The carving fee alone had been a full one million ryo.

In terms of ninja missions, that was equivalent to the price of posting an S-rank mission in Konoha.

Of course, the noble was no fool and had extremely high demands for the carving, but such things were trivial to Samu, who possessed the Nano Core.

"Hmm! Is it here?"

Spotting the wood buried underneath everything else, Samu pulled it out and gently blew away the dust on its surface, revealing its violet-gold hue.

Samu's warehouse was not far from his shop, only a few steps away.

The small warehouse was completely packed with all sorts of valuable lumber, leaving only a narrow path to walk through.

Ever since that Land of Fire noble had brought Samu's life-sized carving back to his country for display, it had caused a massive stir among the nobles of the Land of Fire.

As a result, nobles and wealthy merchants planning to visit Konoha would deliberately bring their own precious lumber to Samu for carving. Between the leftover materials and the gifts those nobles gave him, the lumber in his warehouse alone was worth over ten million ryo.

If not for how profitable his carving shop was, honestly, an ordinary family could never afford Samu's daily expenses.

Carrying the roughly one-and-a-half-cubic-meter piece of violet-gold lumber back to the shop, Samu looked at it, and a trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes.

His hesitation was not because he hated to part with the wood. The dust-filled warehouse was proof enough that Samu did not care much about such things. For someone with the Nano Core, raw materials were practically inexhaustible.

After all, Nanobugs could completely analyze anything they devoured, then use similar materials to transform other objects into something they had previously consumed.

For example, they could turn poplar into willow, but they could not turn metal into wood.

Of course, the Nanobugs' material conversion currently took a long time and was inefficient. With wood, they could only convert an amount the size of a fingertip in an hour, making it largely useless. But that was only natural; Nanobugs were still scarce.

That was why Samu had risked being captured and interrogated by Konoha's higher-ups in order to obtain Uzumaki Clan blood from Naruto.

Calling it interrogation might have been an exaggeration. Still, being taken away for questioning was quite possible. Even if the Anbu or Root really did take him away, Samu was confident he could get out. Not to mention that he could use the Nanobugs to alter his own surface memories.

To the nobles of the Land of Fire, Samu, a master carver, still had considerable value. Helping him gain a favorable impression at little cost was an excellent bargain. Besides, Samu had an agreement with an influential noble in the Land of Fire.

Looking at the violet-gold lumber on the floor, Samu sighed. He could tell that Ino genuinely regarded him as her best friend. Perhaps because she had matured early, she might even harbor a little girl's crush on him.

Although, as someone mentally grown up already, he had no feelings for a little girl and only regarded her as a mischievous younger sister.

Still, over the past year they had spent together, leaving aside the fact that she had been his favorite female character in the anime in his previous life, his affection for her during their time together was genuine.

For her birthday gift, Samu wanted to carve it with his own hands instead of having the Nanobugs instantly finish it.

"Forget it. So what if my morning run is a little late today? Let's see where I should make the first cut."

Muttering to himself, Samu sat on the floor as a silvery-white liquid seeped from his hand. It slowly formed into a carving knife before ceasing to flow and solidifying into shape.

Holding the carving knife made of Nanobugs, silver glints occasionally flashed through Samu's eyes as he memorized every grain in the wood before him. After a series of calculations determined the best place to cut, his hand blurred.

The Nanobug carving knife was incomparably sharp, slicing through the wood as easily as tofu. In mere moments, it had carved the lumber into a rough shape.

As the violet-gold lumber was cut open, a faint fragrance wafted into his nose, instantly refreshing his mind.

The people of the Naruto World called this wood Violet Goldwood. Its noble color and intoxicating fragrance made it universally beloved by the upper classes of every nation.

Violet Goldwood lived up to its name. Like its color, its current market price was nearly equal to gold of the same weight. Even then, it was nearly impossible to buy.

The piece before Samu alone would sell for at least one million ryo.

It was said that Violet Goldwood had not been particularly scarce in the past. But after humans discovered it, extensive logging had made growing Violet Gold Trees almost impossible to find, with perhaps only a few remaining deep in the mountains and ancient forests.

Thus, the Daimyo and upper classes of every nation took pride in owning a full set of furniture carved from Violet Goldwood. Using it as the main material for Ino's birthday gift was truly a lavish expense.

Time slowly passed. More and more wood chips accumulated on the floor, while the faint fragrance in the air grew richer. As the final cut fell, a lovely young girl appeared before him.

The wooden carving was violet-gold throughout. Rather than diminishing its appeal, the wood's natural grain had been perfectly incorporated through superb craftsmanship, making it even more charming.

Samu nodded in satisfaction. Looking at the carving, which was nearly as tall as he was, he could guarantee that Ino's figure differed from it by no more than a hair. Yes, he swore it on the Nano Core.

He gently carried the carving into the inner room, then gathered up the wood chips scattered across the floor. The larger pieces could still be carved into small items, while even the scraps could be wrapped into sachets and would appeal to some people. After all, this was Violet Goldwood, worth its weight in gold.