Walk Beside Me

Lu Zeming chose the mountain stronghold as his base for three reasons.

First, Spirit Energy was more abundant here, so he could cultivate much faster.

Second, the stronghold stood on high ground, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. A narrow path behind it led into the mountains, giving them a way to escape if a powerful enemy appeared.

Finally, the surroundings were genuinely good. There were mountains and water, herbs and woodland behind the stronghold, and a main road below. Whether they needed to farm or travel, everything was convenient.

At first light, Lu Zeming went back to the village to fetch the others.

More than thirty homeless villagers returned with him and Rin.

When they reached the stronghold gate, Rin, holding a piglet, asked happily, "Big brother, is this going to be our new home?"

"Yes. This is our new home from now on!"

Rin scampered inside on her little legs to explore, but soon came shrieking back out.

"Big brother! Big brother! There are so many dead people inside!"

"They're bad people I killed. Don't worry. We'll have them cleared away!"

The first day after a move was for cleaning up. Perfectly normal!

That day, Lu Zeming noticed that some people worked hard while others slacked off. After barely doing anything, they either needed the toilet or wanted water.

Lu Zeming said nothing. Instead, he stayed up that night writing village rules.

The first rule was that rewards would be based on work: the more you did, the more you got.

Each person received a daily ration of 500 grams of grain. That was barely enough to keep someone alive, let alone full.

Anyone who wanted a full stomach had to complete their assigned work, earn Work Points, and trade those points for food.

Then came a few rules about public order, along with rewards and punishments.

Considering the villagers' literacy levels, Lu Zeming kept it simple.

For public order, for instance, the rules were: murderers paid with their lives, debts had to be repaid, and thieves were whipped.

Lu Zeming managed everything himself for a few days. Once the routines were running smoothly, he handed the work to Kumi Uzumaki.

Looking at the newly cleared fields and the people busy working in them, Lu Zeming smiled with satisfaction.

"No one is going to stop me from farming!"

The adults had work, and the children could not sit idle either. Every child under twelve had to learn to read and cultivate.

Kumi Uzumaki took charge of teaching them to read, and Lu Zeming joined in.

As for cultivation, Lu Zeming brought out the book Chakra Extraction Technique.

He personally guided the children. Those with talent soon sensed Chakra.

But he did not give up on the children without talent.

Lu Zeming knew that in the Naruto World, commoners and nobles alike were born with Chakra.

The only difference between ordinary people and ninja was whether they could extract and control their own Chakra!

Lu Zeming had already tested it with the miniature figure in his Inner Landscape. Most ordinary people could not extract Chakra because their acupoint pathways were blocked.

Lu Zeming's medical skills might not have been exceptional, but as a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, he knew a few ways to clear those pathways.

Acupuncture, massage, moxibustion, scraping, guided movement, breathing exercises, and medicinal herbs to improve circulation.

After that smooth series of treatments, all fifteen children in the village became ninja.

Ninja awakened through such methods were far less gifted than those who awakened naturally, but something was better than nothing. At least they would grow stronger and healthier.

Seeing Lu Zeming turn ordinary people who could not cultivate into ninja left Kumi Uzumaki stunned.

"A miracle. This is a miracle!"

As she spoke, a trace of reverence appeared in her eyes when she looked at Lu Zeming.

"Nothing to it!" Lu Zeming said with a shrug.

"Are you sure you aren't the son of some great clan?"

"I told you, I'm not!"

"All right. If I didn't know you, I'd think you were the Sage of Six Paths reincarnated!"

"Hey, no need to insult me!"

"How is that an insult?" Kumi Uzumaki looked a little embarrassed. "Since you helped them, could you help me too? I want the power to protect everyone!"

"Easy. Give me your hand so I can check your pulse!" Lu Zeming crossed one leg over the other and lowered his eyelids, looking every bit the traditional Chinese physician.

As expected of an Uzumaki, her meridians were more than twice as wide as an ordinary person's. Her pulse was strong, and her vitality was astonishing. But it lacked smoothness, with distinct catches and delays.

A classic case of blocked acupoint pathways.

"This is a bit troublesome." Lu Zeming frowned slightly.

Kumi Uzumaki's face went ashen. "There's no hope?"

Lu Zeming shook his head. "Acupuncture alone won't do it. You'll also need three days of medicinal baths with Safflower, Sichuan Lovage, Cinnamon Twig, Spatholobus Stem, and Licorice!"

Seeing her expression, Lu Zeming reassured her. "Don't worry. I have all those herbs. I'll prepare the medicine for you in a moment!"

Kumi Uzumaki was too excited to speak.

Three days later, Kumi Uzumaki successfully performed Ninjutsu. The first thing she did was kneel before Lu Zeming.

"My Lord, whatever you wish to do, I, Kumi Uzumaki, will help you with everything I have. Please accept my loyalty!"

Lu Zeming helped her up and said earnestly, "I once read something I found interesting. I'd like to share it with you today: 'Please don't walk ahead of me; I might go somewhere else. Please don't walk behind me; you might lose your way. Please walk beside me, shoulder to shoulder—my comrade!'"

Kumi Uzumaki looked at Lu Zeming standing before her: his bright, sincere eyes, his warm smile, his figure bathed in sunlight.

To Kumi Uzumaki, the person before her no longer seemed human. He was an irresistible charmer.

Even if his charm led her astray, even if she fell into the deepest hell, she would go willingly!

From then on, Kumi Uzumaki treated Lu Zeming with even greater respect and approached her work with greater care and dedication. She ran the village as though it were her own home.

Throughout this time, Lu Zeming had not neglected his own cultivation.

Besides cultivating in his Inner Landscape every night, he made time during the day to practice with a blade.

He had no sword manual, so he found his own way.

At first, Lu Zeming had his sparring partner throw stones at him while he tried to cut them down with a bamboo sword. No Spiritual Power, no sensing—just his body's reflexes.

He could hit only five or six out of every ten and was often struck himself. Lu Zeming did not lose heart. He kept practicing every day.

Each night, he used the miniature figure in his Inner Landscape to review his movements. Where had he applied force incorrectly? Where had his motions failed to flow? The figure's demonstrations made every problem clear.

Practicing, reviewing, and correcting himself, Lu Zeming needed only two days before he could cut down every stone his partner threw at full speed.

Still unsatisfied, Lu Zeming added more throwers. Two, then three, then four...

If he had not been worried about disrupting the village's work, he would have increased the number to ten.

The stones grew smaller too: first fist-sized, then egg-sized, then the size of pigeon eggs, and finally the size of soybeans. By then, they were being thrown at him by the handful.

Lu Zeming did not stop until he could keep it up for ten minutes, cutting down every stone without letting a single one hit him. Only then did he feel he had reached a bottleneck.

After this stretch of cultivation, the vortex of Spirit Energy at his Dantian had grown to more than three times its original size.

Whenever he looked at it, it resembled a spinning nebula. It was beautiful!

His object-control technique had improved just as quickly. He could now control five Kunai at once, and his maximum range had grown to six meters.

His physical strength was on a different level too. Shattering a boulder with one punch was easy. Even without Spiritual Power, he could leap into a tree five meters high on strength alone.

Lu Zeming wanted to keep cultivating, but the village was running out of salt. He had no choice but to put his training on hold!

Salt might seem unimportant, but they could not do without it!

Besides, the children had already learned the basic Three Body Technique. Without more advanced Ninjutsu, they could not develop real fighting strength.

"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to Kusagakure!"