Daily Life

Actually, if he completely devoured Naruto Uzumaki's entire body, there would be no need for so much trouble. The moment Nanobugs devoured his entire body would also be the moment his genes were fully analyzed.

Unfortunately...

Setting aside whether Samu Kokaze could bring himself to do such a thing.

It was simply impossible under Konoha's layers of surveillance.

More importantly, the Nano Core itself had limitations.

If the Nano Core wanted to devour an object, it could only choose something without energy containing an individual will.

If it wanted to devour a ninja, it had to kill them first and wait until the chakra in their body had completely dissipated before it could proceed.

Otherwise, the Nanobugs would be unable to devour the chakra within a ninja's body that contained their personal will. Even if they were unconscious, it would not work.

And killing a chosen one like Naruto, who could suddenly explode with power at any moment? Samu Kokaze was not that arrogant.

Shaking his head and abandoning that delusion, Samu Kokaze issued a command to the Nano Core within his body.

The Nanobugs scattered throughout his body surged in response to the command. As they devoured every trace of chakra in his body, the tiny silver-white Nanobugs trembled violently within him.

Before long, the Nanobugs distributed throughout his body split apart one after another amid the trembling, doubling their total number.

Feeling the sudden increase in processing power within his mind, Samu Kokaze sighed.

It was a good thing that the Nano Core had grown stronger, but Samu Kokaze had paid a considerable price for it as well.

Although he had long been mentally prepared for this, the emptiness in his body still felt awful.

He gave his body a slightly awkward shake, took off his shoes, and ran over to the bed.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, his body trembled faintly, and silver flashes occasionally flickered across the exposed skin.

After a while.

Samu Kokaze opened his eyes and muttered to himself in surprise, "Has the increase in Nanobugs greatly improved the training effect on my body as well?"

Clenching his nearly exhausted right hand, excitement flashed through Samu Kokaze's eyes.

His usual morning runs were merely for others to see, as well as to temper the willpower he had once possessed as nothing more than an ordinary person.

His true physical training relied on his absolute control over the Nanobugs.

By making the Nanobugs vibrate every cell in his body, pushing every part of his body to the maximum it could withstand—this was Samu Kokaze's real training.

And this sudden doubling of Nanobugs had increased the training effect by more than fifty percent.

But that was roughly the limit of the training effect. Previously, he had been unable to train to the limit because there were not enough Nanobugs in his body. Now that their number had doubled, the Nano Training Method he had named himself was nearing its limit as well.

Even if the number of Nanobugs surged again, it would only marginally improve the training effect. There would never again be an increase as drastic as this one.

Getting down from the bed, Samu Kokaze rubbed his stomach, which was filled with intense hunger, curled his lips, and headed for the kitchen.

Samu Kokaze's kitchen was very different from other households'. Not only was the floor piled with food, but it was also raised much higher than ordinary kitchen floors. Looking closely, one could see that a half-meter-thick layer of logs had been laid over the ground.

After all, Samu Kokaze was still young and only so tall. If the floor had not been raised, he would not have been able to reach the kitchen tools at all.

He skillfully picked up the ingredients laid on the ground and placed them on the cutting board. The blade in his hand flashed repeatedly, and in only a moment, neatly cut ingredients—every piece the same uniform size—were placed into the pot.

He added firewood to the stove beneath the pot, put in various seasonings, and once everything was ready, Samu Kokaze stood silently in the kitchen and waited.

As time slowly passed, the food in the pot began to bubble faintly, and a distinctive fragrance wafted from it.

"Smells amazing!"

Standing to one side, Samu Kokaze took a deep breath, and his stomach rumbled.

He swallowed, looked at the food still not fully cooked in the pot, and his little face could not help but scrunch up.

Knock, knock, knock...

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Samu Kokaze glanced regretfully at the boiling food in front of him, then reluctantly walked toward the entrance.

Creak...

Samu Kokaze opened the door and froze slightly at the figure before him.

"Ino? What is it?"

Before opening the door, he had thought that Naruto had come running over. He had not expected Ino to be the one visiting.

"Your face!" Ino cried out from outside.

"Who hit you? Tell me, and I'll get Shikamaru and Choji to help you get revenge!"

Wrapped in a scarf and standing outside like a sprite amid the snow, Ino looked at Samu Kokaze's swollen face. Her delicate little face filled with anger, and she jumped up with a shout like an enraged cat with its fur standing on end.

Looking at the furious Ino, Samu Kokaze raised a hand and rubbed her head, warmth flickering through his heart.

In truth, it would have been simple to remove the swelling from his face. He only needed to have the Nanobugs repair it.

But without a Kekkei Genkai or medical ninjutsu, how could he heal the injuries on his face so quickly?

With Konoha's higher-ups likely watching him right now, Samu Kokaze would not do anything that might arouse suspicion.

"Don't worry! It's nothing serious. I only took a couple of punches, and I already got my revenge! No need to worry!" Samu Kokaze said with a cheerful smile as he stood in the doorway.

"Who'd worry about a guy like you!" Feeling the warmth from his hand on her head, Ino turned her head away with a blush and spoke softly.

"Yes, yes! Our Lady Ino certainly wouldn't worry about me." Samu Kokaze lowered the hand resting on Ino's head, propped his chin on it, and teased, "So then, what brings our Lady Ino here? Don't tell me you came to remind me again that tomorrow is your birthday!"

"You jerk!"

Standing outside, Ino snorted with a flushed face. "What, can't I come see you unless I have a reason?"

"How could that be?" Samu Kokaze said with a laugh. "Of course you're welcome anytime you want to come. It's pretty boring being home alone, anyway!" He paused, then added, "Come inside first. It's too cold out here."

Following Samu Kokaze into the house, Ino wrinkled her cute little nose and asked curiously, "It smells so good. What are you making?"

"Something delicious, naturally!" Samu Kokaze, walking ahead toward the kitchen, asked without turning around, "Have you eaten? Want to try my cooking?"

His cooking! Ino, walking behind him, looked at Samu Kokaze's back. Her cute little face reddened, and who knew what she was thinking.

"What is it?" Having received no reply from behind him for a while, Samu Kokaze turned to look at Ino.

"Ah! Nothing!" Ino shook her head with a blush after her thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Her flustered appearance was quite adorable.

"Hehe! Girls in the Naruto World really do mature early!" Samu Kokaze thought somewhat speechlessly as he looked at Ino's reddened cheeks.