Chapter 9: Growing Mushrooms
For Tsuruma Nobuyuki, the ninja world was a bizarre place.
This strangeness wasn't just limited to the fluctuating technology—where one could find cutting-edge medical jutsu alongside outdated scrolls and paper records. It extended into every aspect of daily life.
But among all the oddities in this world, nothing puzzled Nobuyuki more than his own mother.
She was a woman who had lost her husband six years ago, yet she still left the head of the table empty every night at dinner, as if his father were still alive and might return at any moment.
She continued to fulfill her duties as a housewife, ensuring everything was in order, and the villagers seemed to accept this behavior without question.
In their eyes, she was the perfect example of a devoted widow—someone who had never moved on but continued to live with quiet dignity.
Nobuyuki found it incomprehensible.
It was as strange as when he read manga in his past life and wondered why ninjas, who possessed incredible power, still answered to a daimyo who couldn't fight at all.
"Shouldn't someone ask, 'How many ninja armies does the daimyo have?' and overthrow him already?"
But after transmigrating, he had slowly begun to understand.
The ninja world had a strict hierarchical order that allowed everyone to feel safe in their designated roles.
A housewife remained a housewife.
A ninja remained a ninja.
A daimyo remained a daimyo.
This structure was what people considered peace—a "natural order" that, in the grand scheme of things, was constantly being challenged and protected.
The entire Naruto storyline could be boiled down to one ongoing conflict:
Were you a guardian of the system, or a rebel against it?
For Nobuyuki, peace or unrest didn't particularly matter.
What did matter was how he adapted to this world.
A Name Remembered
That night, after dinner, Nobuyuki suddenly asked:
"Mom, what's your name?"
His mother, Tsuruma Ryoko, looked at him in surprise.
She hesitated for a moment, as if trying to understand the purpose of the question. Then, after a brief silence, she softly replied:
"Ryoko. My name is Ryoko."
Nobuyuki nodded but didn't say anything else.
He simply memorized the name and moved on.
But later that evening, something unexpected happened.
When it was time for dinner, his mother placed his bowl at the head of the table—the seat that had been left empty for six years.
Nobuyuki stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Wait… does she think that me asking for her name was some kind of demand to take my father's place?"
Was this some strange, old-fashioned way of recognizing him as the head of the household?
His mother's way of thinking was truly beyond his understanding.
But he didn't refuse the seat.
As an adult inside, he saw no reason why he couldn't sit there.
So he took his place at the head of the table, ate his meal without hesitation, and acted as if nothing was unusual.
Everything else continued as normal.
His mother, Ryoko, still cleaned up the dishes, put things in order, and carried out her usual routine.
But for the first time, she asked him a question she had never asked before.
"Nobuyuki… how should we return the gifts from the neighbors?"
He blinked.
Returning gifts was a common custom in the village.
Whenever someone gave a gift—whether it was food, fabric, or household supplies—it was considered polite to return the favor with something of equal or slightly greater value.
But his mother had never consulted him about it before.
He had been a child in her eyes.
Now, after seating him at the head of the table, she was… asking for his opinion?
Nobuyuki smirked internally but didn't show it on his face.
His first instinct was to ignore the problem entirely—he had little patience for trivial social interactions like this.
But after thinking about it for a moment, he changed his mind.
"If you're not in a hurry," he said, "wait a few days. I have a plan."
Ryoko's expression was mixed.
On one hand, she didn't believe that a six-year-old could come up with a useful solution.
On the other hand… she had just acknowledged him as the head of the family.
She couldn't reject his decision outright.
So, in the end, she simply remained silent.
Nobuyuki pretended not to notice her hesitation.
Ninja School Training
The next morning, Nobuyuki arrived at the Ninja Academy for training.
As usual, he sparred with Iruka, pushing his taijutsu to the next level.
Then, after finishing his physical training, he performed the One-Thread Light Formation—now at level 2—in front of Iruka.
The older ninja stared in shock as the sealing patterns formed smoothly and held their shape without breaking apart.
"You're improving too fast," Iruka muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Nearby, Naruto sat on a tree trunk, yawning.
Ever since their last conversation, Naruto had been watching their training sessions every morning.
At first, he had tried to join in, but he had quickly given up after realizing how exhausting it was.
Still, despite his complaints, he continued coming back every day.
Even if he got bored and yawned throughout the session, he never actually left.
And when the training was over, he would banter with Iruka for a few minutes—completely refreshed.
As for Nobuyuki, he would occasionally chat with Naruto, treating him as an easy source of experience.
But oddly enough, Naruto had started to develop a strange fear of him.
Every time Nobuyuki spoke to him, Naruto's body tensed up, and he pursed his lips like a child expecting to be scolded.
Iruka, noticing this, was secretly jealous of how Nobuyuki could command such authority.
But today, instead of chatting with Naruto, Nobuyuki checked his system panel.
His taijutsu had now reached:
Level 2 (117/150)
If he continued at this pace, he estimated he would reach Level 3 in two more days—equivalent to the taijutsu level of a normal Chūnin.
"My focus has been on the One-Thread Light Formation lately," Nobuyuki thought. "I need to shift back to physical training for a while."
After making a mental note, he headed toward the classroom.
A Mushroom Plan
When he entered, he immediately walked toward Nara Shikamaru, who was spacing out in the back row.
Seeing Nobuyuki approach, Shikamaru sighed internally.
"Troublesome..."
Still, he was curious about why the class's "robotic genius" was seeking him out.
"Nobuyuki," Shikamaru said lazily, "what do you want?"
"I heard your family owns a mountain," Nobuyuki replied. "Can you take me there over the weekend? I need some mushroom mycelium."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"You're growing mushrooms?"
Nobuyuki nodded.
"Yeah. A lot of people have been sending my family gifts, and my mom is worried about how to return them. So I figured… why not grow mushrooms and give them away?"
Shikamaru stared at him thoughtfully.
From Nobuyuki's worn clothes and simple appearance, he could tell that his family wasn't wealthy.
After a moment, he sighed.
"How troublesome," he muttered.
Then he shrugged.
"Fine. This Sunday—meet me at the west side of the school, near the football field."