Burn Youth Together?

"This consumption..."

Fang Xu braced himself against the table as he stood, his face slightly pale.

He had originally thought Lightning Body Tempering mainly consumed mental energy and stamina.

Now it seemed that repairing and strengthening the body required a massive amount of nutrition. Without enough food to support it, continuing to train would mean draining his body dry.

He immediately went into the kitchen and took out everything edible.

Rice.

Dried meat.

Eggs.

And the leftover soup from breakfast.

Fang Xu barely paused, stuffing mouthful after mouthful into his mouth.

Normally, one person's portion was enough.

Today, he ate a full three portions before he barely felt eighty percent full.

As he set down his bowl, he looked at the empty pot, and his heart suddenly sank.

This is a problem.

Lightning Body Tempering was useful.

But it burned through money too quickly.

Ninja training already consumed resources.

Shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, medicine, scrolls—every single one cost money.

Now, with the high-intensity body tempering requiring huge amounts of food, the inheritance and compensation of over a million ryo his parents had left behind might seem substantial, but if he truly trained without restraint, it would not last long at all.

I have to find a way to make money.

Fang Xu rubbed his brow.

And I need enough ingredients, preferably highly nutritious meat.

It was not like he had never considered gold.

The exchange system connecting countless worlds could potentially offer anything.

If he really obtained a large amount of gold in the future, he could theoretically turn it into money quickly.

But the problem was that he was currently just an ordinary orphan in Konoha.

If he suddenly took out large gold bars to sell, it would draw too much attention.

Konoha was not short on clever people.

If a Ninja Academy student with no background suddenly possessed a large amount of gold from an unknown source, at best he would be watched; at worst, he might risk exposing his exchange talent.

Money was important.

His life was more important.

I can't rush this.

Fang Xu put away the bowls and chopsticks, forcibly suppressing the restlessness in his heart.

For now, I'll train sparingly and slowly look for ways to make money.

After resting for a while, he returned to the yard.

The yard was not large, but it was enough for practicing basic ninjutsu.

Fang Xu took out the scroll for the Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique and carefully reviewed the hand seals and chakra circulation route.

This ninjutsu was not high-ranking. Its difficulty lay in gathering and stabilizing Lightning Release chakra.

Before, he had lacked the Lightning Release affinity and could only look at it helplessly.

Now, looking at it again, it felt completely different.

Every explanation on the scroll corresponded to the lightning power within his body.

I won't use the Fruit's power yet.

Fang Xu formed hand seals with both hands.

Only chakra.

Chakra flowed through his meridians and gathered in his palm.

The first time, the lightning flickered into existence before immediately dispersing.

The second time, several arcs of electricity burst from his palm, leaving his hand numb.

The third time, a Lightning Ball the size of an egg barely formed, only to wobble twice and collapse.

Fang Xu did not rush.

He formed the hand seals again and again, repeatedly adjusting the chakra ratio.

The habits of Water Release and Earth Release still lingered within him. His Lightning Release chakra had only just awakened, and controlling it was still extremely awkward.

But he possessed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's understanding of lightning.

With every failure, he could quickly identify the problem.

The Lightning Ball grew from egg-sized to fist-sized.

It went from collapsing after three breaths to lasting ten.

Only when the chakra in his body had nearly been drained dry did Fang Xu stop practicing.

He sat in the yard and took a few breaths, his palm still numb.

My chakra is depleted.

But the progress isn't slow.

Fang Xu did not force himself to continue.

Both stamina and chakra needed recovery. Pushing himself would only injure his body.

He returned to the house and picked up the Thousand Hands Swordsmanship Insights.

Lightning, Lightning Release, and body tempering were his explosive strength.

Swordsmanship and taijutsu, meanwhile, were his foundation.

A true powerhouse could not rely solely on ultimate moves.

Especially in the ninja world, a gap in intelligence could kill you, and weak fundamentals could kill you too.

Fang Xu opened the scroll and read it word by word.

The Senju clan's swordsmanship insights contained no flashy nonsense.

Footwork, force generation, breathing, distance, and the timing of attacks—everything was written in practical detail.

The more he read, the more seriously he focused.

Many parts were not particularly profound, yet they were perfectly suited for laying his current foundation.

Before his chakra recovered, studying the swordsmanship insights was the perfect way not to waste time.

A night passed.

Early the next morning, just as the sky brightened, Fang Xu went out.

He did not hurry to practice Lightning Release, nor did he rush to perform Lightning Body Tempering again.

He needed to eat, find a way to make money, and could not neglect his physical foundation.

So his first training session of the day was morning running.

He jogged around Konoha's outskirts.

He did not pursue speed, only endurance.

Fang Xu knew very well that his biggest problem right now was his weak physical foundation.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit gave him a higher ceiling, but his physique determined how much of it he could actually use.

After two laps, his breathing began to grow heavier.

By the third lap, his calves were aching.

Fang Xu slowed down and maintained his rhythm.

Just then, a loud voice rang out ahead.

"Guy! Youth means never-ending running!"

"Yes, Father! Today, I'll run twenty laps around the village!"

Two green figures charged over from the other end of the street.

Bowl cuts.

Thick eyebrows.

Green bodysuits.

Fang Xu halted, recognizing them immediately.

Might Duy.

Might Guy.

This father-and-son pair was not particularly eye-catching in Konoha right now. They were even often looked down upon.

One was an eternal Genin.

The other was a hot-blooded boy incapable of ninjutsu or genjutsu.

But Fang Xu knew better than anyone just how terrifying these two truly were.

The Eight Gates.

In the future, Duy would cripple the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist with a kick at the cost of his life.

Guy would nearly kick his way into the ending with one kick.

On the path of taijutsu, they were the people most worth approaching.

Might Guy noticed Fang Xu as well and immediately waved.

"Fang Xu! Are you out for a morning run too?"

Fang Xu stopped and smiled as he nodded.

"Yeah. My stamina is too poor, so I wanted to start training with running."

The moment Guy heard that, he became even more excited.

"That's great! This is youth! Want to compete together? We'll run laps around the village, and whoever gives out first has to walk back on their hands!"

Fang Xu's mouth twitched slightly.

As expected.

That invitation was so Guy.

If another kid his age had suggested it, he might have given it a try.

But competing in laps with Might Guy?

With his current stamina, rushing in would just be asking for humiliation.

Besides, his goal today was not to show off. It was to get acquainted with this father-and-son pair.

Fang Xu decisively shook his head.

"Not today."

Guy froze for a moment.

"Why? Isn't burning youth together a good thing?"

Fang Xu said seriously, "I've only just started rebuilding my stamina, and my foundation is too weak. If I force myself to compete in laps with you, I'll only injure my body. Training needs to progress step by step. Once my stamina improves, I'll definitely challenge you."

When Might Duy heard that, he nodded heavily.

"Well said!"

He gave a thumbs-up, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Recognizing your body's limits before steadily breaking through them—this is youth as well!"

Guy raised a thumb too.

"Fang Xu, you're right! Then we'll compete next time!"

Taking the opportunity, Fang Xu said, "There's no rush to compete in running, but I'd like to ask you both for guidance in taijutsu someday. Would that be okay?"

Guy immediately slapped his chest.

"Of course! As long as you're willing to work hard, we can burn our youth together!"

Might Duy also declared loudly, "Taijutsu isn't afraid of a low starting point—only a lack of persistence! Young Fang Xu, you're welcome to come find us anytime!"

"Thank you, Senior Duy. Thank you, Guy."

Fang Xu thanked them earnestly.

Might Duy and his son nodded together, then accelerated away like two green whirlwinds.

"Guy! Speed up! Let youth continue to burn!"

"Yes, Father!"

Fang Xu watched the two green figures rapidly disappear into the distance and mentally checked off this chance encounter: initial contact with the targets, successfully completed.