[Remember that we need to get 2000PS for double chapters!! For ever!!]
Treating him to a feast wasn't just talk—she actually did it!
At Barbecue Q, Natsuki, Shino, and Tenten, three little kids, were grilling meat together.
Shino was very considerate, claiming a seat on one side by himself so Natsuki and Tenten could sit together. As for the bill, of course it was on Tenten. After all, her family didn't lack money.
Tenten earnestly placed freshly grilled meat on Natsuki's plate, clearly eager to hear his advice.
Natsuki wasn't going to let her go hungry either and returned some meat to her plate. Meeting her expectant gaze, he began organizing his words:
"Tenten, we've only known each other for two days, so I'm not completely sure about your situation. But based on what you said about your school performance, I can tell you have two major strengths."
"Two strengths? What are they?" Tenten asked quickly.
"Ninja tool handling talent—and being rich!"
"...Being rich?"
Tenten was momentarily stunned. "I can understand ninja tool talent, but being rich counts as a strength?"
Natsuki replied with full confidence, "Of course it does, and a big one at that. Hold on, don't rush, let me explain. Let's start with your weaknesses. First, your chakra reserves are quite low. Second, considering you were slow to learn the three basic jutsus, it suggests your ninjutsu talent isn't great, and your chakra control needs work. Third, in terms of taijutsu, your physical ability and strength are lacking—this needs urgent improvement."
Tenten nodded. These were facts—she couldn't deny them.
Thinking about how she had low chakra and little talent for ninjutsu, her dream of becoming a powerful kunoichi like Tsunade suddenly felt far away.
Maybe… she wasn't cut out to be a ninja?
Thankfully, Natsuki continued, "Next are your strengths. You have a high affinity for ninja tools, which means you have a good chance of mastering any type of ninja tool. So, if you can acquire powerful ninja tools and make them your strength, your power will rise naturally."
Tenten pouted, "Natsuki, it's not like I haven't thought of that. But aren't powerful ninja tools in the hands of powerful people? How am I supposed to get them?"
Seeing her adorable expression, Natsuki couldn't resist poking her cheek with his finger. "That brings us to your second strength—you're rich. You can post missions to hire powerful ninja to find rare ninja tools for you. If you pay enough, plenty of people will be willing to do it."
Posting missions…?
That was a thing?
Not just Tenten—even Shino was stunned.
The truth was, they'd fallen into a mental trap. As aspiring ninja, they were always thinking about taking missions to earn money. They never thought they could be the ones issuing missions.
And part of it was simply that they were still kids and hadn't thought that far.
But being rich truly was a powerful advantage. It could make a lot of things possible—including obtaining powerful tools.
Natsuki looked at Tenten's dazed face and laughed. "So? Don't you think being rich is a strength now? Even if you wanted to find the location of the Six Paths Ninja Tools—if you had enough money, someone would get that info for you! Believe it?"
"I-I-I believe it."
It made so much sense that Tenten couldn't help but believe.
Now that she thought about it, maybe she'd just been living too comfortably and forgotten how powerful money really was.
Ninjas take missions to earn money—so if her family had money, shouldn't it be natural for her to give missions? Even if the task is difficult, just pay more, right?
In that instant, Tenten's mind opened up. Her excited little face turned a rosy red.
She quickly placed more grilled meat on Natsuki's plate and praised sweetly, "Natsuki, you're so smart!"
Natsuki happily munched on the barbecue. After a bit, he continued, "Besides that, Tenten, there are still other areas we don't know about—like genjutsu, medical ninjutsu, and space-time ninjutsu. If you have talent in genjutsu, you should train it seriously. Pairing genjutsu with your ninja tool techniques would make fighting enemies much easier. If it's medical ninjutsu, then Lady Tsunade is the best. If you have talent there, you must study it well and maybe even ask her to take you as a student someday."
Tenten nodded eagerly, remembering everything.
Natsuki's advice was practical, and she completely trusted him.
"But how would I know if I have talent in those areas?" she quickly asked.
"Ask your teachers. Or better yet, spend money—buy beginner-level genjutsu scrolls from the village ninja, and go study medical ninjutsu at Konoha Hospital."
"Okay, okay. And, um, what's space-time ninjutsu?"
"Simple example: summoning jutsu. You can summon ninja tools, or summon beasts. Lady Tsunade's summon is the slug sage from Shikkotsu Forest, one of the three great sacred places. Jiraiya-sama's summons are the various toads of Mount Myōboku. They're legendary and part of what makes them strong. If you have talent in this area and manage to form a contract with a powerful summon beast, your strength would rise significantly."
"Yeah yeah yeah! So how do I test if I have that kind of talent?"
"Well… if we had a summoning scroll, we could find out…"
"I have one," Shino suddenly said, pulling out a scroll.
Natsuki and Tenten both froze.
They'd been so caught up in their back-and-forth that they'd almost forgotten Shino was still there—and now he just casually pulled out a scroll.
This guy… what a real bro!
Tenten hesitated. "Shino, aren't summoning scrolls really valuable? Is it okay to use yours?"
Shino casually tossed the scroll to Natsuki. "It's fine. This one's not as valuable as you think. It just contains some ninja tools. And it's just for testing."
Tenten breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely thanked him. "Thanks, Shino! Natsuki was right—you're definitely a strong and trustworthy partner!"
Shino nodded calmly, but the reflection on his sunglasses glinted slightly—as if showing his smug pride.
The light even hit Natsuki, like it was silently saying: Bro, I've done so much to help you win this girl over—you owe me.
Natsuki gave him a grateful look and said, "Alright, let's finish eating and go try it out."
After that, Natsuki and Tenten happily helped Shino grill meat and serve it—he'd helped them a lot today, and they couldn't let it go unappreciated.
Once the meal was over, Tenten calmly pulled out a thick wad of bills to pay. Smooth and cool.
Seriously, having money was just… enviable!
The trio headed back to the training field behind Tenten's house. She anxiously unrolled the summoning scroll, revealing a circular seal with the kanji "刃" (blade) in the center.
"Tenten, here's how you do the hand seals." Shino demonstrated the summoning hand seals and gestured for Tenten to begin the test.
(End of Chapter)
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