"This drain..."
Fang Xu braced himself against the table and stood up, his face somewhat pale.
He had originally thought Lightning Body Tempering mainly drained his mental and physical stamina.
Now it seemed that repairing and strengthening his body required a great deal of nutrition. Without enough food to support it, continuing to train would mean overtaxing his body.
He immediately went into the kitchen and took out everything edible.
Rice.
Dried meat.
Eggs.
And the soup left over from breakfast.
Fang Xu barely paused, stuffing one mouthful after another into his mouth.
Normally, a single portion was enough.
Today, he ate three full portions before he barely felt eighty percent full.
When he put down his bowl, he looked at the empty pot, and his heart sank.
"This is trouble."
Lightning Body Tempering worked.
But it burned through too much money.
Ninja training already demanded resources.
Shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, medicine, scrolls-every one of them cost money.
Now, with the large amounts of food required for intensive body tempering added on top, the inheritance and war-death compensation his parents had left him, totaling over a million ryo, looked like a lot, but would not last long at all if he trained without restraint.
"I have to find a way to earn money."
Fang Xu rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
"I also need to get enough ingredients, preferably highly nutritious meat."
It was not that he had never considered gold.
Anything was possible through exchanging across worlds.
If he really obtained a large amount of gold in the future, he could theoretically turn it into money quickly.
The problem was that right now, he was only a civilian orphan in Konoha.
Suddenly bringing out a large chunk of gold to sell would draw far too much attention.
Konoha had no shortage of clever people.
If a Ninja Academy student with no backing suddenly possessed a large amount of gold of unknown origin, at best, someone would start watching him; at worst, even his Exchange Talent could risk exposure.
Money mattered.
His life mattered more.
"I can't rush this."
Fang Xu put away his bowl and chopsticks, forcibly suppressing his restlessness.
"For now, I'll train frugally and take my time finding ways to make money."
After resting for a while, he went back into the courtyard.
The courtyard was not large, but it was big enough to practice basic ninjutsu.
Fang Xu took out the scroll for Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique and carefully read through the hand seals and chakra circulation route.
This ninjutsu was not high-ranked. Its difficulty lay in condensing and stabilizing Lightning Release chakra.
Previously, he had lacked the lightning attribute and could only look on without practicing.
Reading it now felt completely different.
Every explanation on the scroll corresponded to the lightning power within his body.
"No fruit powers for now."
Fang Xu formed hand seals with both hands.
"Only chakra."
Chakra flowed along his meridians, gathering in his palm.
On the first attempt, the lightning scattered the moment it appeared.
On the second, several arcs burst from his palm, stinging it until it went numb.
On the third, a lightning ball the size of an egg barely took shape, only to wobble twice and collapse.
Fang Xu did not rush.
He formed hand seals over and over, adjusting the chakra proportions again and again.
His habits with water and earth attributes still lingered in his body, and his newly awakened Lightning Release chakra was awkward to control.
But he had the understanding of lightning granted by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
After each failure, he could quickly identify the problem.
The lightning ball grew from the size of an egg to the size of a fist.
From collapsing after three breaths to lasting ten.
Only when the chakra in his body had almost been squeezed dry did Fang Xu stop practicing.
He sat in the courtyard and caught his breath, his palm still numb.
"My chakra is exhausted."
"But my progress isn't slow."
Fang Xu did not force himself to keep practicing.
Both his stamina and chakra needed to recover. Pushing through would only hurt his body.
He returned indoors and picked up the Thousand Hands Swordsmanship Insights.
Lightning, Lightning Release, and body tempering provided his explosive power.
Swordsmanship and taijutsu were his foundation.
Someone truly strong could not rely solely on big moves.
Especially in the Shinobi World, where an information disadvantage could kill, and so could a weak foundation.
Fang Xu opened the scroll and read it word by word.
The Senju's swordsmanship insights contained no flashy nonsense.
Footwork, exerting force, breathing, distance, and the timing of attacks were all written about in practical terms.
The more he read, the more seriously he took it.
Much of it was not particularly profound, but it was exactly what he needed to build his foundation now.
Studying the swordsmanship insights while his chakra recovered was just the way to avoid wasting time.
The night passed.
Early the next morning, just as the sky brightened, Fang Xu left home.
He did not rush to practice Lightning Release or do more Lightning Body Tempering.
He needed to eat and find a way to make money, and he could not neglect his physical foundation either.
So his first training session today was a morning run.
A jog around Konoha's outskirts.
He was not pushing for speed, only training endurance.
Fang Xu knew very well that his biggest problem now was his poor physical foundation.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had given him his ceiling, but his physique determined how much he could bring out.
After two laps, his breathing began to grow heavy.
On the third lap, his calves ached.
Fang Xu slowed down, maintaining his rhythm.
Just then, a loud voice rang out ahead.
"Guy! Youth means never stopping your run!"
"Yes, Father! I'm definitely going to run twenty laps around the village today!"
Two green figures charged toward him from the other end of the street.
Bowl cuts.
Thick eyebrows.
Green bodysuits.
Fang Xu's steps faltered, and he recognized them at once.
Might Duy.
Might Guy.
This father and son were not particularly outstanding in Konoha at present, and people often even looked down on them.
One was an eternal genin.
The other was a hot-blooded boy who could use neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu.
But Fang Xu knew better than anyone what made this father and son truly terrifying.
The Eight Gates.
Duy would one day sacrifice his life to cripple the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist with his kicks.
Guy had nearly kicked the story straight to its ending.
When it came to taijutsu, they were the people most worth getting to know.
Might Guy spotted Fang Xu too and immediately waved.
"Fang Xu! Are you out for a morning run too?"
Fang Xu stopped and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah. My stamina is terrible, so I wanted to start with running."
Hearing that, Guy grew even more excited.
"Great! That's youth! Want to compete? Let's run laps around the village. Whoever gives out first has to walk back on their hands!"
The corner of Fang Xu's mouth twitched slightly.
As expected.
That invitation was so very Guy.
If another boy his age had said that, he could have given it a try.
But competing with Might Guy in running laps?
With his current stamina, charging in would just mean getting crushed.
Besides, his goal today was not to show off, but to get acquainted with this father and son.
Fang Xu firmly shook his head.
"Not today."
Guy froze for a moment.
"Why? Isn't it good to burn with youth together?"
Fang Xu said seriously, "I've only just started rebuilding my fitness, and my foundation is too weak. Forcing myself to compete with you in running laps would only injure my body. Training needs to be gradual. Once my stamina gets a little better, I'll definitely come compete with you."
Hearing this, Might Duy nodded emphatically.
"Well said!"
He gave a thumbs-up, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Understanding your own body, then surpassing your limits step by step-that's youth too!"
Guy gave a thumbs-up as well.
"Fang Xu, you're right! Then we'll compete next time!"
Fang Xu took the opportunity to say, "There's no rush to compete in running, but I'd like to ask you both for advice on taijutsu in the future. Would that be all right?"
Guy immediately thumped his chest.
"Of course! As long as you're willing to work hard, we'll burn with youth together!"
Might Duy also said loudly, "In taijutsu, a low starting point is nothing to fear. Failing to persevere is! Young Fang Xu, you're welcome to come find us anytime!"
"Thank you, Duy. Thank you, Guy."
Fang Xu thanked them earnestly.
Might Duy and his son nodded together, then accelerated away like two green whirlwinds.
"Guy! Faster! Let youth keep burning!"
"Yes, Father!"
Watching the two green figures rapidly disappear into the distance, Fang Xu mentally checked off this chance encounter: initial contact with his targets, successfully completed.