Tenten

"Back to my cozy little nest, open the windows and air it out, la gu la gu..." Naruto hummed as he tidied up the room, then flopped onto the soft, comfortable bed with all his might, his entire body finally relaxing.

The Land of Waves mission had truly been unforgettable. It had definitely been worth the trip. Zabuza, Haku, and even Sakura from Team 7 had drawn blood. It was the first time he had used Kurama's power, Sasuke had awakened the Sharingan, and much of it had matched Awen's memories.

But there had also been many differences. Neither Zabuza nor Haku had died. Zabuza had even gone into hiding under a false identity, leaving behind the Kubikiribōchō and a grave.

"I wonder where Sister Haku and that bandaged uncle are living. Will I get to see them again someday?" Naruto got up, opened the refrigerator, and looked at the cartons of milk he had stuffed inside. They had expired again.

"Ha... I can't buy so much next time!" Naruto headed out and arrived at a nearby convenience store.

"Welco—"

The convenience store cashier instinctively offered the entering customer a warm, friendly smile, but the moment she saw Naruto, the smile vanished. Her gaze turned cold and disgusted.

Naruto neither got angry nor upset. He entered with a smile. The people in the village hated and rejected him, but ever since he was little, he had never lacked food, clothes, or drinks. He had long grown used to this cold violence, rejection, and disgust. He wasn't money—there was no way everyone could like him.

After buying what he needed, Naruto paid and left the convenience store. The cashier had not said a word throughout the entire process. Either she ignored him or looked at him with obvious disgust.

After returning with his purchases, Naruto lay on his bed and sent his consciousness into his inner world. The Nine-Tails was still watching a show, using a huge screen to watch a movie. When he saw Naruto, he merely gave him a faint glance.

"Kurama, I'm here!" Naruto greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah. Spit it out already!" the Nine-Tails said impatiently.

Naruto said, "It's about the Flying Thunder God Technique. Kurama, teach me this ninjutsu. Just like you said, I'm too weak. My strength is lacking. I want to become stronger."

The Nine-Tails paused the image on the screen. His slit pupils stared intently at Naruto as he smiled. "Sure. That's wonderful."

Naruto took out a blank scroll. The Nine-Tails controlled his chakra and wrote the Flying Thunder God Technique onto it. "There's less than a year until the next part of the story, the Chunin Ninja Exams. Kurama, during this empty period, I plan to master the one-handed Rasengan and learn the secrets of this Flying Thunder God Technique."

"Oh, right, Kurama, I won't forget your idea for chakra marks either!" Naruto hurriedly added.

"Hmph. Then work hard and go for it!" After Naruto had memorized everything on the scroll, the Nine-Tails sent him out of the inner world.

Naruto opened his eyes and woke up. He unfolded the scroll in his arms, which recorded the Flying Thunder God Technique from the Scroll of Seals, an S-rank ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

The Flying Thunder God Technique had been developed based on the Summoning Jutsu. It allowed the Flying Thunder God Mark to summon the caster, thereby enabling spatial movement. Though understanding the principle made it seem very simple, it was actually extremely difficult.

First, the caster had to keep a clear mind. In particular, when using a Flying Thunder God Mark to summon oneself, one had to remain calm. Beginners learning the Flying Thunder God Technique could not possibly use Flying Thunder God Marks, so it was best to temporarily substitute chakra-conducting ninja tools, such as the Flying Swallow weapon wielded by Sarutobi Asuma.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Naruto went to a weapon shop in Konoha. As he pushed open the door and entered, a girl in a pink button-up outfit with her hair in twin buns yawned.

"Welcome!" the girl called out with a smile. Clearly unlike the others, she knew little about Naruto and simply treated him as an ordinary person.

"Hello, um, boss, do you have weapons that can conduct chakra?" Naruto thought for a moment before asking in the terms he understood.

The girl froze and looked at Naruto in surprise. Her gaze lingered briefly on the forehead protector above his eyes before she said, "You're a ninja too? You don't look very old. Did you just graduate?"

Naruto quickly nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm Naruto, a member of Team 7. I graduated this year."

The girl smiled. "My name is Tenten. Like you, I'm also a ninja. I'm from Team 3, a year ahead of you, so I'm your senior."

"Ah, Senior Tenten, does your family run this ninja tool shop?" Naruto was stunned at first, then finally remembered who she was. Forgive him—aside from matters concerning himself, he only remembered other things roughly. He remembered Neji and Rock Lee, but Tenten had not left much of an impression on him.

Tenten wagged a finger and lifted her chin slightly. "Of course. All right then, Junior Naruto. As your senior, I'll give you a twenty percent discount. Come on, I'll show you the weapon you were talking about."

"Thank you, Senior!" Naruto followed Tenten into the weapon room farther inside.

Tenten explained, "Weapons that conduct chakra are rarely used by ordinary people. Even if a ninja has a special mission, Konoha will issue the appropriate weapons. Hardly anyone buys them personally, especially since they aren't cheap."

The moment Naruto saw the prices displayed beside the weapons on the counter, his face turned green.

Expensive. Even with a twenty percent discount, they still seemed outrageously expensive. Though he could afford them now, he only needed one to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique. He would not even need it afterward. It simply was not worth it!

Tenten smiled. "Junior Naruto, you came to the right place. Other than my family's shop, no other ninja tool shop has such a wide variety of weapons."

"Mm, mm!" Naruto carefully inspected the displays while agreeing with Tenten.

Both the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage had used ordinary Flying Thunder God Kunai. The Fourth Hokage was a bit of a chuunibyou, so the kunai he used to perform the Flying Thunder God Technique were only slightly different from others. What truly mattered was the mark wrapped around the tail end of the Flying Thunder God Kunai.

Seeing nothing he wanted, Naruto asked, "Senior Tenten, do you have anything smaller? Something that can fit inside a ninja tool pouch?"

"Something smaller! I see. I thought you wanted something like a samurai sword. Come with me, of course we do!" Tenten nodded and led Naruto into another weapon room.

The items on the counters here were roughly the same size as ninja kunai. They were still somewhat expensive, and they came in all sorts of colors.

Naruto curiously picked up a red kunai and asked, "Senior Tenten, shouldn't tools like kunai be black to suit assassinations?"

Tenten patiently explained, "Chakra-conducting ninja tools are extremely valuable, so naturally they can't be made from ordinary iron like regular kunai. Junior Naruto, which one do you like?"

Naruto picked out a black Chakra Dagger. It looked like a dagger and was fifteen centimeters long.

After Naruto paid, Tenten packaged it for him and asked with a smile, "Junior Naruto, is your teacher Jonin Kakashi?"

"Yeah, Senior Tenten!" Naruto said with a smile as he accepted the Chakra Dagger.

Tenten sighed. "Sigh, Junior Naruto, our teacher is Might Guy. I heard he has always regarded Kakashi as his rival. Because of that, we were supposed to take the Chunin Ninja Exams this year, but Teacher Guy deliberately made us wait an extra year so we could take them next year and compete with Jonin Kakashi."

"What..." Naruto's expression became extremely vivid. Well, he had found the reason Neji, the genius from the previous class, was taking the same Chunin Ninja Exams as them. If it was Might Guy, he really might do something like that.