Chapter 2

When Ren was one year old, he discovered this Three Thousand Trash Station. At the time, a considerable amount of trash appeared, but unfortunately, it all came from an urban world. Although Ren could not make sense of it, he saw elementary school textbooks among some torn books and knew it was trash from an urban world on Earth. Though he did not obtain any powerful treasures, he did gain quite a few Tokyo Hot videos.

Tokyo Hot might have been the most valuable thing among that first batch of trash. Ren's grandfather confiscated them and gave them to Konoha's pervert, Jiraiya, earning quite a bit of Jiraiya's friendship in return.

Ren also figured out that the timing of the trash was unpredictable and beyond his control. However, it appeared at least once a year.

When Ren was two, another batch of trash appeared. That time, the haul was rather good. There were actually quite a few electronic products, and Ren found an old laptop among them. Though it looked somewhat outdated, it contained many novels. This delighted Ren, since there were even some Naruto fanfictions among them, giving him at least some reference material.

When Ren was three, trash appeared again. This batch was extremely spectacular, as if an entire building had collapsed. The structure had been incomparably magnificent, resembling an imperial palace. Within those ruined halls, Ren found many ancient books. These books confirmed that it had actually been the Epang Palace of the Qin Dynasty, burned by Xiang Yu. Part of it had then become trash and been taken into this Three Thousand Trash Station. Most of these ancient books were incomplete, but some medical texts had been preserved intact, bringing Ren considerable gains!

When Ren was four, the trash that appeared still came from an urban world. However, this urban world was different. From some torn newspapers, Ren discovered that this world was actually The Legend of Bruce Lee. Though it was an urban world, it contained Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, Nunchaku... While these could not compare to those powerful worlds, it was still a plane with martial arts. In particular, there was a copy of Selected Jeet Kune Do among the trash. Though it appeared to be a printed edition, the fighting techniques it described, such as how to strike, excited Ren for quite some time.

This year, Ren was five, yet the trash had been delayed for a long time. He had not expected it to finally appear today.

Ren gazed at the trash in the distance and said, "This is the fifth time. From the useless trash at the beginning to the martial arts world that appeared last time, it seems the worlds producing the trash are becoming stronger each time. This time, a wuxia plane might even appear!"

Ren spoke calmly, but his eyes were filled with excitement.

Every year, Ren looked forward to the sensation in the center of his brow. It was the sign that trash was about to appear. He wondered what would show up this time.

Just as Ren was lost in thought, a rumble echoed through the silent space.

Boom...

Boom...

The space overhead twisted, and then piles upon piles of trash came crashing down.

Dust filled the air, along with some charred branches.

Ren frowned. "What world did this trash come from? Couldn't it appear properly? And what's with a huge burned tree appearing here?"

Ren was displeased, but as he stared at the trash in the distance, he still hoped to find something good.

The Lost Tomb Trash

Bang... Bang...

The great tree gave off the smell of burning, and faint flames still raged across it.

Ren frowned as he walked up to the tree. "What world's trash is this?"

Speaking of which, Ren did not know whether the Three Thousand Trash Station lacked intelligence. He had no idea what worlds these pieces of trash came from and could only rely on his own guesses.

Before long, under the influence of the Three Thousand Trash Station, the raging flames had already vanished, leaving behind only a faint burnt smell.

Ren finally saw the tree in its entirety. It was an ancient tree that had lived for an unknown number of years. Judging from its rings, it was at least a thousand years old. Yet there were actually shattered pieces of jade embedded within it.

Ren gently picked up a shard of jade and said strangely, "No way? Could it be that world?"

Ren was already somewhat certain, but his foot then struck a small jade box.

He picked it up gently and saw three pitch-black wooden chunks inside, giving off a strange fragrance.

With only a light sniff of the aroma, he could feel a warm current flowing through his body, and his mind became much clearer.

Ren already had a guess in his heart. He squatted down and looked at some words carved in Small Seal Script. "This should be trash from The Lost Tomb, and from Prince Lu's Tomb at that!"

The Jade Burial Suit before him, along with this great tree, clearly came from a scene in The Lost Tomb. The flames had also been caused by an explosion. It was obvious that the explosion had turned a perfectly fine tomb into trash, which then fell into this Three Thousand Trash Station and benefited Ren.

Ren stared at the jade box in his palm. The three black objects inside, which looked like chunks of wood, should be Qilin Resin, a special medicinal ingredient from The Lost Tomb. It was a precious medicinal herb, and the longer it was kept, the more terrifying its effects became. It could cure all diseases, and after consuming it, the scent emitted from one's body could drive mosquitoes and insects away.

Ren chuckled. "I wonder whether, after using Qilin Resin, the Aburame Clan's insects will ignore me in the future."

Ren put away the Qilin Resin and continued searching through the area. Since it came from the world of The Lost Tomb, there should naturally be some extraordinary treasures. However, Ren had also confirmed his guess: the trash appearing in the Three Thousand Trash Station should become better each time, or perhaps it appeared in accordance with Ren's growth.

Perhaps once Ren became an adult, trash from powerful worlds would appear.

Suddenly, Ren stepped on an ancient longsword. His eyes narrowed. "A bronze sword?"

This longsword could be considered an antique. If it were on Earth, it would certainly be worth a great deal of money. However, no matter how ancient this bronze sword was, it was worthless in the Naruto World. Still, it was sharp—definitely sharper than ordinary Kunai.

He gently picked up the bronze sword, then gathered the jade fragments scattered across the ground.

Though he found it strange that Tie Miansheng from within the Jade Burial Suit was nowhere to be seen—after all, the suit concealed a corpse that could breathe—not seeing the corpse was probably a good thing.

Before long, Ren had cleared away all the trash from The Lost Tomb. There was a large pile of jade fragments, a bronze longsword, and three pieces of Qilin Resin.

These three items were the most valuable treasures he gained from this batch of trash. Aside from them, only that enormous tree was somewhat valuable.

An ancient tree that had survived countless years could still be used to make some ornaments.

Ren put away the three treasures, turned around, and left the silent Three Thousand Trash Station.

Ren could enter and leave the Three Thousand Trash Station freely, but each entry seemed to consume mental energy. At present, he could enter at most three times a day. Still, this could be considered an invincible ninjutsu. At the very least, if he could not defeat someone, he could hide in the Three Thousand Trash Station, and no one could do anything to him. It could be considered a special spatial ninjutsu!

Leaving that aside, in the blink of an eye, Ren had already appeared in a quiet courtyard.

Ren turned and headed toward the room behind him. This richly furnished room contained quite a few valuable things.

Ren placed the bronze sword aside, then walked to the desk and put the jade box inside it. This place was very safe. At the very least, no one dared enter this courtyard.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded in the distance.

A rather pretty woman walked in, looked at Ren, and said, "Young Master Ren... Word has come from the hot springs. Today's medicinal bath is ready. Please go there!"

Ren replied, "Oh... The medicinal bath is ready? Then let's go. Don't delay the medicine's effects!"

Ren immediately left the room and headed outside the courtyard.

Medicinal baths were common in large clans, serving to build a person's foundation. The reason disciples of great clans surpassed civilian ninja was not merely because of their secret techniques. They also underwent medicinal baths from childhood, strengthening their bodies and allowing them to possess more Chakra in the future.

Even if they could not increase Chakra, medicinal baths could still improve a person's physical fitness. A Genin could scale mountains and cross ridges, all because of their powerful physical condition.

Ren's grandfather controlled two-thirds of Konoha's hot spring business and was considered a wealthy magnate. Naturally, he could gather many medicinal herbs and prepare medicinal baths for Ren.

However, medicinal herbs alone were not enough; a prescription was also needed. Medicinal bath formulas were held by the great clans, and each clan's baths had different effects. It was said that the Nara Clan's medicinal baths could develop a person's intelligence. Though no one knew whether that was true, considering the Nara Clan's generally high intelligence, it was hard not to believe it.

The origin of Ren's medicinal bath formula was also extraordinary. It was a formula Jiraiya had provided. Speaking of which, Ren had no idea how his grandfather had become connected with Jiraiya. At first, Ren thought it was because of those Tokyo Hot videos, but Jiraiya could not be so foolish as to exchange such things for all this, could he?

Only later did Ren learn that Jiraiya and his grandfather had a close relationship. It seemed that when Jiraiya was young, Ren's grandfather had sponsored him. Merchants sponsoring ninja was common in Konoha. Great clans did not lack money, but civilian ninja needed funds to buy Kunai and medicinal herbs. Every year, when the Ninja Academy recruited students, Ren's grandfather would choose several outstanding students to sponsor.

These sponsorships allowed those Genin to grow quickly. If some of them became strong in the future, they could repay the merchants.

Jiraiya was one of them, one of the civilian ninja sponsored by Ren's grandfather. Though Jiraiya was one of the Sannin, he had no clan behind him. Perhaps Jiraiya's ancestors had once been renowned, but in Konoha, Jiraiya had been alone. He only gradually rose to prominence after becoming the Third Hokage's disciple, especially after entering Mount Myoboku, where he established the powerful reputation he would later possess. It could be said that Ren's grandfather's sponsorship had cultivated a true powerhouse.