For the next several days, Shirakumo Aoba poured almost all of his energy into training the wind-nature transformation of his chakra.
Sometimes it was a single strand of hair, sometimes a book, sometimes just his palm—he could sit like that for an entire day.
During this time, Uzuki Yuyaka, who had no missions, would come over and keep him company.
And when Yuyaka stayed with him, she stayed the entire day.
Aoba often complained that the chūnin in Konoha were too relaxed—otherwise, how could she always have time to keep coming over to his house?
Konoha was too urbanized. If he compared it to places like Sunagakure, the mission workload would be split so thin that each person might not even get a full mission.
If you didn't work, you'd starve.
Seeing Yuyaka teaching Aoba, Yamanaka Yamanaka didn't interfere anymore.
There were still a few days until his next mission, so he used the break to train at the training grounds by himself.
His current strength wasn't suitable for practicing in the small courtyard—one wrong slash and the whole place would become rubble.
"It looks like Aoba has already got the basics of chakra nature transformation," Yuyaka said.
"Much faster than when I learned."
Seeing the snapped hair in Aoba's hand, Yuyaka was genuinely happy for him.
Aoba stared at the hair split cleanly into two halves, and the fatigue he'd accumulated over the past few days instantly vanished.
He quickly pulled out a few more strands to try again.
One. Two. Three…
His movements grew more practiced, and the speed of his cuts increased.
A few minutes later—
"Hm?"
Aoba touched his thinning hairline and finally realized the severity of the situation.
Pfft!
Yuyaka couldn't help but laugh sharply at Aoba's sudden pause.
She reached out with her slender, delicate hand and smoothed his hair, covering the slightly bald spot that had appeared.
"It's fine. It's still coverable."
Aoba stared at Yuyaka with a face full of exasperation.
He spoke, clearly annoyed.
"I've already mastered chakra nature transformation. So can I learn the next step now?"
Yuyaka took a deep breath, adjusting her mood, then answered.
"Okay. The next step is to attach wind-nature chakra to the blade."
"This is different from ordinary chakra attachment. Because wind chakra has a cutting property, it can easily damage your sword while you attach it."
Yuyaka took out a bamboo practice sword she had prepared earlier and handed it to Aoba.
"Use this bamboo sword to practice. Once you can attach chakra without leaving cut marks, you've succeeded."
Aoba took the bamboo sword from her, and as soon as he tried to channel chakra into it—
As expected, a small cut mark appeared on the surface.
He tried again and again, but his chakra started to feel insufficient, so he stopped.
The bamboo sword, battered and tortured, still couldn't withstand it. Several cut marks had appeared.
Yuyaka hurriedly comforted him.
"Failure is normal at the start. With enough practice, you'll naturally get it."
Her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief.
"So, Aoba, you should keep practicing at home for now. Don't let anyone distract you from your training."
"Phew—"
"I understand."
Aoba took a deep breath and answered seriously.
He also took a bite of the fruit Yuyaka handed him.
Because right now he had no way to make big money. To make big money, he needed strength. To gain strength quickly, he needed to draw cards. And to draw cards, he needed money.
A vicious cycle.
So he chose to focus on sword training for now. At least the power of Vacuum Blade was no joke. And once his chakra reserve increased, it would only get stronger.
While Aoba immersed himself in training—
"Aoba isn't coming today either?"
Tenten sat outside her family's weapon shop, hands cupping her small face, watching the crowd go by.
"If you don't show up today, I'm never talking to you again!"
Tenten and Aoba had a working relationship, but they were also very good friends. Because of her background, Tenten had studied weaponry since she was young and had almost no friends in the village.
Aoba was basically her only friend now, and since they met, the two of them rarely went this long without seeing each other.
So Tenten felt incredibly uneasy, as if something was wrong.
"Could it be that I lost my temper last time and Aoba got mad?"
"But that's impossible… Aoba is too much. He likes money more than me…"
Tenten's face flushed as she thought, but she couldn't find a reason.
"He didn't go to see Ino Sakura, did he…?"
"No. I should go find him!"
Worried, Tenten decided to take action.
She stood up from her chair with a swoosh, then stopped after a few steps.
After thinking for a moment, she ran back to the counter, grabbed several explosive tags, and left a message.
"Dad, I'm going to practice my throwing!"
Then she ran off like smoke.
Her father, who was wiping a shuriken, froze in place, his forehead veins bulging.
On the other side—
"Aoba isn't coming today either?"
Ino sat at the flower shop counter, bored and resting her chin on her hand.
"Could it be that Tenten is threatening him with money to keep him from playing with us?"
A sudden sense of crisis rose in her chest.
She glanced around the shop—there weren't many customers today. Ino stood up quickly.
"Mom, it's quiet today. I'm going to find Sakura."
She called out to her mother, who was arranging flowers in the back, and then ran away like a rabbit, afraid her mother would refuse.
"Eh! Sakura?!"
Not far from the shop, she ran into a pink-haired girl with a red ribbon tied in her hair, her forehead shining in the light.
"Ino?!" Sakura was startled by the sudden appearance of her friend.
"Ino, are you going to look for me?"
Ino looked toward the direction Sakura was walking—toward her house.
"Uh… yeah… yeah…"
Sakura's eyes flickered, and she stammered, unable to answer directly.
Ino's gaze sharpened immediately. She grabbed Sakura's cheeks and forced her to look her in the eyes.
"Sakura, you're planning to go to my place to see if Aoba's there, right?"
Sakura's face crumpled into a pout. Her words turned into muffled whimpers.
Seeing Sakura's pitiful expression in her hands, Ino sighed and let go.
"Okay, sorry, Ino…"
Sakura looked embarrassed.
But then Ino grabbed her hand and pulled her along, running.
"Fine. Let's go find Aoba together."