Yato's Talent

After a while, Yato reached his home. It was an apartment provided to him after he passed the ninja aptitude test.

As for his parents' house, it had been seized along with their belongings after his parents were executed. This caused him to live in an orphanage until he moved here one month ago.

After locking the door, Yato took a look around. The apartment was properly cleaned and very neat. While the rooms were small, they were more than enough for him. It had a small living room, a bedroom, a compact kitchen, and a washroom. There weren't many gadgets apart from a fridge, a cooking stove, and other cooking essentials. There was also a sofa in the living room and a bed with an alarm clock in the bedroom.

Even though he was treated badly by the villagers, at least the higher-ups weren't short-sighted. After discovering his potential as a ninja, they didn't mistreat him just because he was the son of defectors. Instead, they provided him with a proper apartment and a salary of 1,000 Ryo, which barely kept him alive for a month. This is why he resorted to hunting animals in the forest.

His training and special physique required a lot of nutrition, similar to the residents of the One Piece world, and his appetite would only increase as he grew stronger.

As a ninja who breaks the limits of the body, hard work and persistence alone wouldn't make him stronger. He also needed external medicines to supplement his body with nutrients so that the cells could absorb more energy, increasing his chakra capacity.

These needs couldn't be met with just the small monthly subsidies from the village. Although Konoha Village has the most resources and the best geographical environment among the five major ninja villages, its leaders are members of various families and factions. Their kindness might ensure that orphans who can't survive on their own won't starve, but it is unrealistic to expect them to meet all training needs.

Therefore, Yato had to find other ways to sustain himself. Hunting in the forest was one way.

Currently, he was still young and receiving a salary, but once he was older, he would have to take on missions and work as a ninja.

It was the season between spring and summer, with plenty of prey in the forest. However, in autumn and winter, finding prey would be much harder and more time-consuming. But Yato wasn't worried; he already had a method to get enough money to be considered rich in a short period of time.

***

Yato cleaned the internal organs of the food he brought back and stewed it in a pot while he sat cross-legged, refining chakra, not wasting any opportunity to improve himself.

When the food was cooked and exuded a fragrance, the Dokkaebi flew toward the pot, saliva dripping from its mouth. It could eat all the food, but Yato was not generous with it. He only gave it leftovers.

Despite not needing food to survive, the Dokkaebi never refused what Yato offered, even leftovers.

After finishing his meal, Yato washed the dishes and disposed of the trash. He then went back to his room, sat on the bed, and called the Dokkaebi.

"Come to think of it, I haven't given you a name yet, have I?" Yato asked.

The Dokkaebi looked surprised, then excitedly jumped in the air. "Huh, you want to give me a name? Really?!"

Its eyes sparkled with excitement. Yato had never seen it this thrilled except when it saw valuable items like Byakugan and Sharingan.

"Yes, you deserve one," Yato said, smiling. The Dokkaebi was the only being he could talk to and considered a friend, knowing it would never betray him.

Yato pondered various names before finally saying, "How about 'Riku'?"

The Dokkaebi's eyes widened, and a wide grin spread across its face. "Riku! I love it! Thank you, Yato!" It bounced around the room, clearly overjoyed.

Yato watched Riku's actions for a while before turning serious. "Alright, Riku, let's get down to business," he said, bringing the spirit's attention back to him. "Show me my status window."

Without delay, Riku slid his hand in the air, causing a virtual screen to appear.

Yato wasn't surprised. He wasn't directly connected to the talent exchange system; he could only access it through Riku, the system spirit.

Yato focused on the screen:

[Host: Yato]

[Talent:]

Fire element: E

Earth element: F

Gravity Kekkei Genkai: S

[Talent exchange Shop]

[Talent Points: 80]

Looking at his original talents, Yato sighed. Without the system, he wouldn't even be able to become a chunin with his talent ranks without using extreme methods.

The system function is simple: by exchanging various items, talents, or techniques, Yato could earn Talent points, which he could then use to buy things from this or other worlds.

Currently, he didn't have anything valuable to trade for points. He had already exchanged the E and D rank scrolls he had for 80 points, which wasn't enough to buy anything valuable.

If he had been born into a rich family, it would have been much easier to get stronger. But you can't get everything you want in life.

With a sigh, Yato pondered his options. Currently, he didn't have any more scrolls or valuable items to exchange, so his options were limited.

Riku stayed silent, giving him room to think. It knew this wasn't the time to joke around with Yato.

After a while, Yato lifted his head, determination shining in his eyes. "Riku," he called.

"Yes?"

Riku flew and stood in front of him.

"I want to exchange my Earth element talent."

"Huh?" Riku was stunned before asking, "Are you sure? You know that by doing this, you won't be able to learn any Earth style Jutsu."

Yato nodded. He had already decided to focus on Taijutsu, so sacrificing his Earth element didn't matter much, especially given his poor talent in it.

Besides, once he had enough points, he could buy any element affinity he wanted.

"Alright, if that's what you want."

Riku flew over Yato's head and stretched its arm. A golden glow shot from its arm and enveloped Yato. After a while, the light faded, and Yato felt as if he had lost a piece of himself.

Before he could ask anything, a notification popped up in his vision.

[Earth element talent has been successfully extracted.]

[Measuring the talent worth…]

[Congratulations! You have gained 100 points.]

"Only 100 points?!"

Yato was a bit disappointed. He knew his F rank affinity wasn't worth much, but he still felt let down.

He shifted his attention to the Talent exchange shop.

[Gura Gura Nomi: 50,000 Talent points]

[Hogyoku: 200,000 Talent points]

[Dragon Ball...]

[Observation Haki: 1,500 Talent points]

[Armament Haki: 2,000 Talent points]

[Conqueror's Haki: 70,000 Talent points]

Looking at all the powers and techniques he could exchange, Yato felt a hint of desire. But upon seeing their prices, his desire quickly extinguished.

"I'm really poor."

He searched for something he had seen last time. After a while, he found it.

[Small Storage Space: 150 Talent points]

Without hesitation, Yato purchased the storage.

A golden glow surrounded him before fading, but Yato kept his eyes closed. He reached out his hand, and it vanished into the storage before he pulled it back.

Looking at his hand, a faint smile crept across his face. "With this storage, I'll be able to take anything I want without being noticed or blamed."

His plan was to steal money and food without looking suspicious. Even if people suspected and searched him, they wouldn't find anything.

With a smile, Yato turned off the light and went to bed. A hellish training awaited him tomorrow.

***

On the other side, in the Hyuga clan.

After returning home and being scolded by her father, Hanabi went back to her room and buried her head in the quilt. She didn't care about her father's scolding. Her mind was full of the boy who saved her and sent her home.

When she thought of Yato's indifferent face, she felt as if her heart was blocked by something, which made her very uncomfortable.

"Hanabi, what's wrong with you? You were distracted even when Father was talking during dinner..."

A soft girl's voice came from beside her.

Hanabi pulled the quilt with both hands, revealing her head. She knew the speaker was her twin sister, Hyuga Hinata.

After hesitating, Hanabi told her sister about what happened. She wanted to vent and drive away the sadness in her heart.

"Sister, do you think all the children outside are like him?"

Hanabi turned to look at her sister, who was the same age and had the same eyes, though with short hair and long bangs, unlike her own long hair and parted style.

"No..." Hyuga Hinata yelled, then shrank back into the quilt. "The boy I met wasn't like this..."

She remembered the boy she met last winter, Uzumaki Naruto, who had blonde hair and six marks on his cheeks like a beard. He was enthusiastic, brilliant, and smiling like the sun, making people feel warm.

Hanabi couldn't understand her complicated feelings. Maybe it was because Yato was the first boy she talked to who wasn't from her clan.

The children from her clan always looked

fearful and respectful toward her, so she didn't have any friends besides her sister.

Hanabi turned her head and looked at the ceiling, recalling Yato's back and his emotionless words.

"I don't need friends...?!"

The Hyuga clan was very quiet at night, and Hanabi could even hear the sounds of insects and birds. She couldn't sleep.

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