Chapter 9: Flying Thunder God

The Hokage elder left, departing with a peaceful demeanor.

Ahem, no, that’s not quite right.

After satisfying his urge to act as a mentor, the Hokage elder left in a hurry.

Before leaving, he warned Naruto, telling him that he was a genius and not to waste his talent.

A genius, huh?

Thinking of his own SSSSSS-level talent, Naruto felt he probably was one, but he didn’t dare to be one.

The title of genius is like a lighthouse in the dark.

If he bore the name of genius, who knew how many enemies would come hunting him down, determined to annihilate him.

Whoever wants to be a genius, go ahead—before he becomes invincible, Naruto had no intention of taking on that title.

On the contrary, Naruto was prepared to be a fool.

Given how much the entire village hated and even despised him, being a fool was better—fools don’t seem threatening, fools are safer.

Having realized this, Naruto picked up the envelope on the table.

Counting the contents, thirty thousand ryō.

“Ten thousand for living expenses, twenty thousand for recharging.”

Naruto had already planned how to spend this money.

Ten thousand ryō was enough for daily expenses; the remaining twenty thousand would be used to purchase skills and such.

What kind of family gives you 2,000 a month just to spend on games?

Naruto felt he had already won too much.

Glancing at the shop, the highest-level S-rank skills cost around 10,000 to 50,000 ryō.

If he bought one S-rank skill every one to five months, Naruto dared not imagine how strong he would become in the future.

Feeling a bit smug, he headed straight for the shop.

[Name: Revival Coin
Price: 6,480 ryō
Revival Range: Revive on site / designated revival point (within 10 meters of corpse radius / specified revival point)
Status Retention: Retains 70% chakra upon revival
Invalid Scenarios: Plot death (Shiki Fūjin, collective execution of Grey Bone, etc.), mental death (Tsukuyomi space collapse)
Cooldown: 72 hours per coin]

Though he didn’t understand what Shiki Fūjin, collective execution of Grey Bone, or Tsukuyomi space meant, Naruto deeply remembered these terms.

These things could counteract the Revival Coin.

If this were a game, reviving without a coin wouldn’t matter, but this was reality—Naruto dared not take risks.

Therefore, until he was strong enough, he decided to stay as far away as possible from those skills.

However, a Revival Coin costing 648 ryō suggested the death penalty in this game must be quite severe.

Emmm, that wasn’t something he needed to worry about.

Naruto was about to buy a second coin when he noticed the price had increased.

[Revival Coin: 7,776 ryō]

Seeing this, Naruto awkwardly put down his hand.

“Maybe next time.”

If he bought this, he wouldn’t be able to afford a skill he had his eye on, so he chose to hold off for now.

Opening the skill shop again, he found his target.

[Name: Flying Thunder God Technique
Price: 12,800 ryō
Skill Description: An S-rank space-time ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama and improved by the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. It allows instantaneous teleportation through preset seals. Can be used for high-speed assaults, transferring large targets (such as the Tailed Beast Bomb), or emergency retreats.
Core Features:
- Instant activation without hand seals during combat, priority level 1;
- Permanent mark: once attached, the seal cannot be removed by conventional means (except by Ten-Tails Jinchuriki or Six Paths level beings);
- Multi-target linkage: can mark multiple units or objects simultaneously, enabling group teleportation through indirect chakra contact.
Basic Consumption:
- Marking seal: 50 points per use
- Teleportation: 5,000–20,000 (entry level)
Distance Limit: theoretically unlimited (limited by skill level and chakra)
Cooldown: none for teleportation
Marking carriers: inanimate objects or living beings]

Naruto had stared at this skill countless times out of boredom.

The more he looked, the cooler it seemed.

Moreover, the Fourth Hokage demonstrating the skill was just like him—a little blond kid.

What a coincidence.

If the Fourth Hokage looked cool using it, Naruto would look cool too.

Naruto’s special logic shone again.

He bought it.

[You have purchased the skill: Flying Thunder God Technique
This is a restricted-level ninjutsu; you need to complete prerequisite tasks.
Detected that you possess SSSSSS talent; you have already learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.]

[Flying Thunder God Technique: 3,601/5,000 (Master)]

Alright, now the SSSSSS talent had kicked in twice.

[Please customize your Flying Thunder God mark]

Looking at the DIY interface that popped up, Naruto pondered.

He wanted to draw a little nine-tailed fox, but it was too obvious—everyone would know it was him.

For some reason, it seemed the whole village already knew he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

That wouldn’t do.

How about the character for “ninja”? Too ordinary.

Suddenly, Naruto thought of a certain bearded gentleman.

“Early.”

Naruto chose that character in bold Song font.

Checking his remaining money, he bought several cheap C-rank offensive ninjutsu skills.

Fire Style: Great Fireball, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, until only a few hundred ryō remained.

Naruto reopened the shop and saw a kind of trident kunai—it looked cool but was a bit expensive.

This kind of digital product sold for one ryō each.

In the end, Naruto bought over a hundred ordinary kunai.

He planned to hide these kunai all over the village.

He now gained 2,000 chakra daily; by the end of the month, he could teleport up to twelve times.

By then, even if his enemies tried to kill him, they wouldn’t catch him.

Having spent his budget, he finished shopping.

Naruto already sensed that the coming days would be fulfilling and rich.

And indeed, that was the case.

Getting up, eating, wandering around, sleeping—all while his soul trained in the training ground.

One day passed like this.

One day, several days, a month, several months.

Until that day.

Ichiraku Ramen.

This was the noodle shop Naruto had discovered; the taste was excellent.

Though the shop also sold food in the mall, that kind of food lacked soul and didn’t taste as good.

At this moment, Naruto was eating noodles.

His brows were furrowed, looking troubled.

“Little Naruto, what’s wrong? Not enjoying today’s noodles?” asked Uncle Teuchi curiously.

This was also why Naruto chose this place—Uncle Teuchi never discriminated against him.

“Nothing, Uncle Teuchi.”

Slurp, slurp—

Finishing the last bite, Naruto slapped down five large coins and hurried out.

As the curtain fluttered, Naruto’s voice drifted: “The noodles were delicious, thank you for the meal.”

On the road, Naruto walked with his hands in his pockets, somewhat downcast.

He was used to passersby’s gossip and ignored it; that wasn’t the source of his unhappiness.

It was that Naruto didn’t know if he should start training his physical skills.

He had heard in his previous life that training too early could stunt growth.

He was only three years old—no, he had just turned four two months ago.

He was only four—so young—was it really time to start physical training?

Naruto was conflicted.

But looking at the “Ninja” and “Illusion” attribute sets on his panel, he had already found the training methods, and those attributes were rising rapidly.

Even the chakra attribute, which he hadn’t figured out before, he now knew how to train; its experience points had surged in recent days.

Looking back, it seemed only the “Body” attribute remained at the initial value.

Naruto was truly torn.

“Have you heard?”

“What?”

“The Land of Lightning has sent a negotiation team; the war is about to end!”

“Really? That’s great!”

The Land of Lightning?

A brand-new country.

With nothing else to do, Naruto planned to go check it out.

He extended his perception; all chakra reactions within nearly ten kilometers flooded his mind.

Sure enough, there were more than a dozen unfamiliar chakra signatures.

Locking onto the nearest Flying Thunder God mark, Naruto prepared to teleport directly there.

But—

“Why are they still following me?”

Sensing two familiar chakra presences, Naruto gave up on using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Those two had been tailing him—probably his protectors.

Or maybe they were monitoring him; after all, he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Hmm, after many months of widespread contact with the world, Naruto had gained much understanding.

With two people monitoring him, he couldn’t use the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Poor him—he had set up tens of thousands of Flying Thunder God marks all over the village but had never used a single one.

“Forget it, I’ll sneak past them.”