6 The Journey begins...
Naruto stood in front of the river checking the small raft he made for any minor details he might have missed. After the wolf hunt, Naruto focused all of his attention on getting out of the forest. He was sick of it. It may sound fun to stay out in the forest for one or two days but it gets annoying fast. Apart from scary predators and poisonous snakes, there are creepy insects and fucking mosquitos. He was a pro-gamer that lived in luxury all his life. This kind of torture is not a fun thing for him. In games, you face powerful bosses and monsters. Nobody has to deal with these annoying insects.
Naruto spent a full week building a proper raft. He used the storage ring to store some food and water for his journey. With everything finally ready he walked up to the river and stood proudly in front of his small wooden raft.
~~~
Naruto pushed the raft in the river and climbed aboard. The river current was not much strong but was enough to push it forward. He knew that his best chance to find civilization was to follow the river.
Naruto sat down on a small wooden stool he made and started looking through the odd brown book he found in the storage ring before.
<Flying Tiger Step> [Rare] - Allows the user to move forward in a single direction at a very fast speed. It is classified as a dash or a burst speed technique.
"Mmmh... I remember Yuna telling me that I could buy the shinobi version of skills and can also enhance them by using EXP... Let's give it a shot."
"Yuna, I want to exchange this <Flying Tiger Step> for a shinobi jutsu."
[
<Flying Tiger Step> can be exchanged for the following jutsu. The system will only display "3" best options from its vast library. All jutsu shown below are of "C" rank (by system standards).
- Body Flicker Jutsu [40 EXP] (Allows for both a short and long-range dash. Needs an absurd amount of control to be used effectively. Almost useless in battle but is very useful for traveling long distances.)
- Shadow Serpent Stride [70 EXP] (Created by the Shadow Serpent Clan during the Warring States era. It is an extremely versatile jutsu and allows the user to move at high speeds like a snake. The technique was named Shadow serpent because when the enemy sees the jutsu, all he sees is a long shadow moving all around him. The technique is a low tier version of Ghost Serpent Stride. This technique was later picked up Orochimaru.)
- Swift Feather step [75 EXP] (Allows the user to move silently at extremely high speeds. Created by the Namikaze clan, the user is required to have mastered both Wind and Lightning nature transformation. It is one of the fastest jutsu in the world.)
]
"System, how can I learn Wind and Lighting nature transformation?"
[Right now you can't, your chakra is not dense enough. After you reach Silver Rank in your Qi cultivation, you can start learning nature transformation. If you don't have a particular affinity, you can acquire it from the store by exchanging it with a Qi Core of that particular element. You may also directly buy it from the system store by using EXP.]
"I see... then that means <Swift Feather Step> is useless right now. Yuna, if I learn <Shadow Serpent Stride> then will I be able to upgrade it to add nature transformation to it?"
[Yes. It is possible.]
"Alright then... exchange <Flying Tiger Step> for <Shadow Serpent Stride>."
[Exchange Complete. Congratulations on obtaining <Shadow Serpent Stride>.
Cost = 70 EXP.
Total = 100 - 70 = 30 EXP.
All knowledge regarding the jutsu will be ingrained in your brain directly. You will lose consciousness in 3... 2... 1...]
Naruto fell unconscious as he felt a large amount of information enter inside his brain.
~~~
Naruto woke after about half an hour. All knowledge regarding how to use <Shadow Serpent Stride> was already inside his head.
He walked upon the river water and started gathering a bit of chakra below his feet.
The blond-haired boy flickered on top of the water surface as orange-shadow circles the raft. The orange shadow was very close to the water surface and it looked like a snake hovering above the water. (ref. Orochimaru vs Sasuke first battle in Forest of Death.)
"Holy Shit~! I have never moved so fast in my life..." Naruto knew he was nowhere near Orochimaru's level but he knew he was faster than any normal human can ever hope to move.
{{{Ding}}}
[Congratulations on learning <Shadow Serpent Stride> to Novice Rank.
Reward --> 10 EXP.
Total = 40 EXP.]
"Wow... I did not expect this... I got rewarded for the skill I got from the system... is this a loophole in the system~ hehe... it needs more research!"
~~~
Naruto spends a few more minutes getting used to the jutsu before stopping due to qi exhaustion. He knew that his greatest limit right now is the low amount of qi in his body.
Sitting on the raft he once more started to meditate and absorb the surrounding Qi into his body. In no more than a few minutes he reached his limits. Once again he was drenched in sweat from head to toe and his body has heated up to the limit. However... his Qi reserves were only half full. Naruto wondered if he was doing something wrong but he later dismissed it thinking that there must be some sort of a limit to how much Qi you can absorb at a time.
Naruto was about to go to sleep when a strange black shadow appeared on the horizon. As he kept getting closer, Naruto immediately recognized what it was. A wooden bridge! Naruto was jumping around in joy at the thought of finally seeing some human beings and have someone to talk to anyone other than himself. Being alone sucks… he had understood it well...
Naruto packed everything in the storage ring and rushed out. He left the slow-moving raft there and started running on water towards the bridge. He could see some sort of a caravan was crossing the bridge. About a hundred people of various age groups were walking alongside the wooden carriages. Some of them carried weapons while some carried luggage bags. Naruto directly jumped onto the bridge to greet these people but suddenly he felt something was wrong. The crowd instead turned to look at him with awe. They were talking something among themselves. Some of them looked at him in fear while some quiet ones looked at him with awe. A middle-aged man carrying a spear on his back walked out of the crowd and cupped his hands towards Naruto.
"Greetings young cultivator, my name is Han Wei. I am the in-charge of this little merchant caravan. It is not every day that you see a man as young as yourself be able to walk on water. For someone, this young to reach the Bronze rank and also have such fine control is rare around these parts. Most of us are just Body Tempering Stage and only a few seniors have stepped into true Qi cultivation and reached the Bronze rank. You must be from one of those big cultivation clans and Noble families. I wonder if you may be generous enough to tell us your name."
("Huh?! Wow, I am stupid… of course, they will find it odd to see a 12-year-old kid walk on water. Wait… maybe I can use it to my advantage.")
"Oh… my name is Uzumaki Naruto. May I know where we are… I am kind of lost right now…"
("Oh~ this is new! For some one so talented to not be arrogant? I am not sure of his combat potential but from the sheer amount of energy in him, I can say that he is easily at mid-level of Bronze rank.")
"Uzumaki? An odd name… it seems you are not from around here. Without a guide, it is easy to get lost in this forest and it is filled with dangerous beasts. You are indeed strong to be able to survive in such a dangerous place all alone. Don't worry though, we are only a few kilometers away from the Silver Moon city."
"Ah… that is good news." Naruto gave a relieved sigh.
"I wonder if I can join your caravan until we reach the city?"
"Of course, it will be an honor to have someone as strong as you join us." The man waves his hand and everyone started moving once again. He invited Naruto to sit inside the carriage with him to which Naruto obliged. Inside the carriage a young girl was sleeping in a corner while hugging a shabby looking sword. Her innocent sleeping face was a thing of beauty. Naruto, however, was stunned seeing countless small cuts and scars all over her body. It added a unique charm to her and spoke volumes of her strength. She did not look much older than Naruto but the battle worn scabbard told him that she was not weak. Sensing someone close to her she woke up.
"Who are you?" She looked at him cautiously.
"Uzumaki Naruto. A pleasure to meet you." Naruto sat on the bench as he replied.
"Oh looks like you have already met." Han Wei walked inside the carriage sitting next to the girl.
"This is my daughter Han Yun. I usually don't like to boast. But when it comes to my daughter, I can't help it. She is a once in a decade genius, pride of our Red Maple Town. She is 14 years old and she is at the peak of Bronze rank, close to breaking through to Silver rank. I am so proud of her. To be honest with you the reason why we are going to the Silver Moon City is because of the Sky-Fire Martial sect's entrance test. People from all over the continent will be coming to participate in it." He said gently rubbing her head.
"An entrance test? Sky Fire Martial Sect?"
"Looks like you really are not from around here little brother... Sky Fire Martial Sect is one of the 7 big martial sects in the Northern Wind Empire. Being able to be a part of it is the greatest honor we commoners can have. Every year thousands of participants from all over the empire gather in the Silver Moon City to participate in the Sky Fire Sects Entrance exam. It is the golden chance for a fish to become a dragon. Inside the Sky Fire Sect, you can get the top quality cultivation resources along with Martial Arts Manuals and techniques. It is the dream for countless young ones."
"Oh... I see. Is there some sort of criteria for participating?"
"Indeed there is. One must not be more than 15 years old and must be Bronze rank. Not many can fulfill such a requirement..."
"Oh~ I want to participate too..." Naruto said with a bit of enthusiasm. Since his days as a gamer, he was very fond of competition. To prove himself as the best... to bathe in the glory of being the first... that is what he lived for...
"Really~?! That's great! You can also participate with Yun'er. Maybe you can help each other out during the competition. Since you are participating, I should tell you... Many young men and women lose their lives every year. Some young masters from influential families also form teams and groups to gain an advantage. They are very cruel and show no mercy to their enemies... especially those with no background..." The old man looked a bit down so Naruto was about to console him when the girl suddenly spoke.
"Only weak form a pack... A tiger hunts alone...!"
~~~
