Ch 2: Spending money like crazy

Chapter 2: Spending money like crazy

As early as five years ago, the world travel system in Ayaan's head had already fully charged.

However, at that time, Ayaan was just an ordinary five-year-old child who hadn't even refined chakra yet. If he had used the ability to travel to another world, unless he ended up in a peaceful society resembling the modern world with proper social infrastructure, the risk would have been even greater than staying in the ninja world!

After all, in the Hidden Leaf Village, he had a legitimate identity. As a war orphan, he received care from the village, attended the Ninja Academy for free, and was given a path to power and self-protection. He faced no immediate danger—at least, not before the Nine-Tails' attack. Until then, Konoha had never once been invaded.

Under such circumstances, Ayaan naturally wouldn't risk traveling to unknown worlds just for curiosity's sake. He had learned from the system that, except for the soul transfer to parallel versions of Naruto's world, all other world travels involved physical body transfer!

And what could a five-year-old possibly achieve in a foreign world with no chakra, no status, and no protection? Did anyone really think every child in the ninja world was like Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi, graduating at five and fighting on the battlefield at four?

After spending half a year refining chakra and realizing his talent was only average, Ayaan quickly gave up on the idea of being a genius.

Forget geniuses like Hatake Kakashi or even the underdog Uchiha Obito—he wasn't even on par with Nohara Rin, the so-called "normal girl" in the series, who performed an eye transplant by age twelve. Her medical ninjutsu skills far exceeded anything he could hope to reach even by his thirties!

Everyone in Kakashi's class shown in the manga were elite-level students. Even the "unremarkable" Might Guy was one of the top three taijutsu users in the school, or he wouldn't have been allowed into the elite class.

So over the years, Ayaan had made peace with a realistic life path. He planned to graduate at age 12, become a relatively safer medical ninja, survive the war working in rear medical camps, and travel to another world around fifteen or sixteen—just before the Nine-Tails incident. By then, he would have Chunin-level strength and decent medical ninjutsu, far beyond modern Earth's medical capabilities. As long as he didn't land in a dystopian hell like Resident Evil, he would likely live comfortably.

After all, he had no desire to conquer worlds. For a comfortable life, Chunin-level power was enough in most universes.

Unfortunately, the forced early graduation completely disrupted Ayaan's carefully laid plans. He had no desire to become cannon fodder on the frontlines.

Unlike his clueless classmates, Ayaan had calculated the actual survival rates. For those in the ordinary class who had graduated just one year earlier, the statistics were grim: around 20% became disabled within the first year, and about 50% went missing.

Of course, the ninja village never reported death rates. Those who vanished were simply listed as "missing." Ayaan could only hope, optimistically, that they had joined Root or the Anbu.

But realistically? Members of ordinary classes didn't get scouted by Root or Anbu right after graduation—those units had standards. If you weren't even Chunin-level, you weren't qualified to be a disposable pawn for Danzō.

So in truth, "missing" just meant dead.

And that was just the first year. When the war finally ended, it would be a miracle if 10% of the current students had their limbs intact.

Even as a transmigrator, and stronger than average among the ordinary students, Ayaan was no different from an insect on the battlefield.

In war, anything could happen. Unless you were from the elite class, backed by powerful mentors, or already possessed Jonin-level strength, survival had nothing to do with skill—only luck.

Back in the classroom, the atmosphere was still buzzing with the talk of early graduation. After the teacher made the official announcement, he began handing out forehead protectors to the fourth-year students. Ayaan smiled bitterly but still reached out to take his.

He had already decided to leave the Naruto world soon—but there was no reason to flee immediately. He still needed to return home and pack.

Besides, even after receiving the Genin title, a one- or two-month mission adaptation period came first. No one would send completely inexperienced Genin straight to the frontlines. If a large-scale enemy jutsu wiped them all out at once, even a major power like Konoha couldn't afford the losses.

During that time, they would train under their Chunin team leaders, gain some real-world combat experience, and likely be assigned to bandit-clearing missions within the Fire Country. After shedding some blood, then they'd be thrown into war.

Once the teacher dismissed the class and said team assignments would come tomorrow, Ayaan rushed back home.

His original residence had been a typical single-family house, perfect for a family of three. But as a ten-year-old boy living alone, it was simply too big and hard to maintain.

So he had moved into a small apartment and sold the house, receiving a generous payout.

Ayaan's thinking had been practical: if he survived until age twelve, graduated, and became an adult, he could earn enough money as a ninja to buy another house. Despite the high mortality rate, the income of even an average Genin was relatively high.

In Naruto, one ryō equaled about ten yen. Factoring in mission pay, even the lowest-ranked ninja could be considered high earners.

After all, when the job risk was this high, the pay had to match—or no one would do it.

That said, Ayaan hadn't spent much of the money from the house sale. Most of it had gone toward medical herbs and supplements to slightly improve his training efficiency.

Of course, the results had been limited. His father was just a standard medical ninja, and the formulas he left behind were nothing compared to the secret techniques of the major clans. They were, at best, slightly helpful.

Now, however, it was time to truly use those funds.

Explosive tags. Military ration pills. Steel wire made from specialized chakra metals. A short wakizashi forged with a trace of chakra metal. Protective combat clothing—Ayaan bought them all.

Since this was likely his last preparation in the Naruto world, he decided to go all out.

His sudden shopping spree wasn't particularly suspicious. Many orphaned ninjas who were about to be drafted did the same—after all, when you had no surviving relatives, money meant little. Better to spend it trying to survive.

In Konoha, this kind of desperate preparation wasn't unusual—so nobody paid him any attention.

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