Nano Core 2

Samu Kokaze sat cross-legged in the wooden tub for an hour. Only when the murky medicinal broth turned clear again did he open his eyes, a flash of silver glinting in their depths.

He rose and gave himself a light shake, sending every drop of water clinging to his body onto the floor. Not a trace of dampness remained on him.

It had been over a year since he obtained the Nano Core, and Samu Kokaze had gained a fair understanding of its abilities. The rapid absorption of the medicine's properties from the broth just now had been accomplished through the Nanobugs within his body.

When he was not using the Nano Core, they scattered throughout his body as tiny insect-like robots. Through his absolute control over the Nanobugs, Samu Kokaze's control over his own body had reached a level ordinary people could scarcely imagine.

Just like how a single shake had flung every water droplet off his body.

After putting on thick clothes and cleaning the room, he got up and headed outside.

Creak...

He gently pushed open the door, and freezing air rushed into the room. The rising heat turned into white mist and billowed out through the doorway. Samu Kokaze quickly shut the door, stopping any more warmth from escaping.

Seeing people beginning to appear on the street, a cute smile appeared on his handsome little face.

"Yo, Feng, you're up as early as usual! If I had a daughter, I'd definitely marry her to you." Uncle Okamoto, who ran a breakfast business across the street, teased Samu Kokaze through the window as he came out.

"Uncle Okamoto, aren't you up just as early?" Samu Kokaze walked over with a smile, completely unconcerned.

"Well, it's different for me. Your Uncle Okamoto is already an adult, so I get up this early to support my family. But you, little guy, do it every day to train your body. You're far more impressive than this old man." Uncle Okamoto, busy at work, turned around and praised him before asking Samu Kokaze as he entered, "What do you want to eat today? The usual?"

"Mm." Samu Kokaze nodded with a smile. "The usual is fine. Thank you, Uncle Okamoto."

"Coming right up!" Hearing the childish voice behind him, Uncle Okamoto answered readily. Before long, Samu Kokaze's table was covered with food.

The food in the Naruto World was not too different from Japanese food in his original world. Samu Kokaze's usual breakfast consisted of rice, natto, eggs, and a bowl of miso soup.

However, compared to the appetite of other ordinary children, Samu Kokaze ate at least ten times as much. Even though Uncle Okamoto was already used to it, his mouth still fell open in surprise every time he saw it.

"It's only because you're so skilled at carving, Feng. You can earn enough to support yourself. Otherwise, an ordinary family couldn't afford to raise you!" Uncle Okamoto could not help saying as the food on the table rapidly vanished.

Hearing Uncle Okamoto's words, Samu Kokaze looked up with his mouth stuffed full of food and flashed a smile before continuing his assault on the food before him.

In truth, he could have eaten even more. For Samu Kokaze, who possessed the Nano Core, anything he ate would be digested into energy within seconds with the aid of the Nanobugs in his body.

If not for the fact that everyone had a limit to how much energy they could absorb each day, Samu Kokaze could have eaten even more.

"Ah! I'm full! Uncle, your cooking is as delicious as ever!"

Giving a thumbs-up, the well-fed Samu Kokaze stood and patted his completely flat stomach, thanking Uncle Okamoto beside him.

"Haha! Of course it is! Your Uncle Okamoto's cooking has been passed down through the generations!" Uncle Okamoto readily accepted Samu Kokaze's praise.

"Okamoto, you only dare brag like that in front of Feng!" the other customers sitting inside teased after hearing their conversation.

"Hey! What do you mean I'm bragging? What Feng said is clearly the truth!" Hearing their doubts, Uncle Okamoto waved his spoon in dissatisfaction.

Samu Kokaze stood there, smiling as he watched the daily exchange before him. Looking at the group start bickering over such a trivial matter, he thoroughly enjoyed this atmosphere. So long as it did not harm his interests or his dreams, Samu Kokaze was willing to give for these people.

"Well then, Uncle Okamoto, everyone, I'll be going now!" Running to the shop entrance, Samu Kokaze greeted everyone inside as mist escaped his mouth in the frigid air.

"Go on!" Uncle Okamoto replied with a smile, waving the spoon in his hand.

"What a good child. If I had a daughter, I'd definitely make him my son-in-law." Watching the small figure gradually run away, Okamoto could not help saying.

"Haha, Okamoto, stop dreaming! The little princess of the Yamanaka Clan has had her eye on him for ages. Besides, even if you had a daughter, with so many of us here, what makes you think you'd get a chance?" The customers nearby burst into laughter at his words.

"You bunch of..."

Hearing the conversation behind him as he ran through Konoha's streets, Samu Kokaze smiled and slightly picked up his pace.

Huff... Huff...

His faint panting echoed through Konoha's streets, white vapor continuously spilling from the running figure's mouth. Looking at the land before him, seemingly draped in silver, Samu Kokaze's mood improved even further.

He loved this time of day when he went on his morning run—the feeling of not having to think about anything, merely venting the boundless energy in his body.

He took a deep breath of the freezing air, instantly feeling refreshed. Seeing the sun already rising in the east, he spread his arms wide and embraced it.

As a man with a cheat, ever since experiencing the despair of placing his fate and life in someone else's hands, laziness had been completely erased from Samu Kokaze's mind.

Ever since obtaining the Nano Core at the age of five, he had risen without fail at four every day to train. He spent an hour each morning carving wooden sculptures, an hour refining chakra, half an hour eating breakfast, then two hours jogging around Konoha.

From being able to run only one-fifth of the way around Konoha at first, to now being able to cover half the route, Samu Kokaze's strength had risen dramatically over the past year.

Based on his current strength alone, without counting his trump cards, he was already about as strong as an ordinary Ninja Academy student who had just graduated.

If he counted the trump cards he had developed through the Nano Core, then even against a genius like Sasuke, Samu Kokaze was confident he could utterly crush him.

Huff...

He exhaled a long breath, sending out a trail of mist half a foot long. Lowering the arms he had used to embrace the sun, he turned and headed back toward the shop.

"What gift should I give that little girl Ino tomorrow?" He rubbed his chin with one hand, a troubled expression appearing on his cute little face.

As he walked, snowflakes drifted down from the sky. Feeling the moisture on his face, he raised his head and looked toward the heavens.

"Is it snowing?"

"What was that sound?"

A burst of harsh mocking laughter came from the distance. His body, enhanced by the Nano Core, possessed senses far beyond those of ordinary people. Wiping the snowflakes that had already melted into water from his face, Samu Kokaze headed toward the source of the sound.