The sun dipped lower in the sky as the old woman's story finally came to an end, concluding with the death of her teammate.
At that moment, a familiar screen popped up in front of Sora, making him let out a small breath of relief.
[Ding! You've spent over one hour with a genetically gifted kunoichi — Hasegawa Rui. Enough pheromone data collected.]
[Simulation Count +1. New Target Unlocked.]
[Warning: Target Hasegawa Rui is over 60 years old and has both a husband and children. Simulation success rate is extremely low. Proceed with caution.]
Sora's mouth twitched.
He never intended to make this old lady a simulation target!
He was just trying to cast a wide net to earn more simulation chances.
Between spending one hour with a qualified kunoichi and deepening his relationship with Tenten, the former was clearly more manageable for now.
After all, talent wasn't tied to age.
It was difficult to interact closely with current active ninja, but much easier to find retired kunoichi or those not yet enrolled in the Academy.
The official authorization document from the Hokage's Office acted like a shield — giving Sora the freedom to do certain things without suspicion.
Just then, a noisy little boy ran up and threw his arms around the old woman.
"Grandma, I'm hungry!"
Before she could even reply, Sora chuckled and handed the child a candy.
"Here, take some sweets. Think of it as a thank-you gift for your grandma telling me a great story."
"Oh Sora, that's really not necessary…" the old lady began.
But her grandson had already stuffed the candy into his mouth and was covering it with both hands, making it impossible for her to say no.
Sora gently patted the boy's head and looked around at the other curious children nearby.
"Three pieces each," he said warmly. "Any time you see me, you'll get candy."
The kids cheered, and even the elders didn't try to stop him.
They realized Sora had come prepared.
Some even asked if he'd return tomorrow — they still had stories to share, but the old lady had hogged all his time today.
Sora assured them he would return, but in truth, he was already thinking of better methods.
While this approach worked, it wasn't very efficient.
Was there a way to meet these kunoichi privately — without arousing suspicion?
Of course there was. It just needed some planning.
On his way home, Sora ordered renovation supplies. He planned to convert his little courtyard into something useful.
After a hearty dinner, he recorded everything he'd learned that day.
Naturally, only the surface-level information went into his notes.
Everything related to the system remained locked deep in his heart.
By now, Sora had largely figured out how the system judged "qualified kunoichi."
The standard? Having talent equivalent to a Chūnin.
That old woman, Hasegawa Rui, had indeed been a Chūnin in her youth.
He'd even seen similar results with some young girls — not yet enrolled in the Academy, but the moment they touched his candy or spoke to him, the system recognized them as qualified.
Of course, Sora couldn't spend an hour with little girls — if he tried, furious ninja parents would beat him to death.
Luckily, the system saved names and progress bars even from brief interactions.
That meant he could slowly build up contact time over the long term.
Maybe by next year, those girls would bring him more simulation chances.
After organizing his thoughts and writing for several more hours, Sora lay down and prepared to start another simulation.
Naturally, his target was still Tenten.
He was already deeply familiar with her, and nearly guaranteed to leave offspring in the simulation.
That gave him more freedom to explore.
This time, he outlined three key goals in his mind before initiating the simulation:
Delay pregnancy after "conquering" Tenten.
Once a child is born, the simulation ends. So the longer he waits, the more he can do.
Reveal his chakra to Tenten, then learn ninjutsu and train seriously under her.
While Tenten's ninjutsu wasn't top-tier, being trained by Guy-sensei meant her physical training methods were valuable — and that's exactly what Sora needed.
Lay the groundwork for more simulation opportunities by learning medical ninjutsu.
What better excuse to get close to elderly kunoichi than performing health checkups and acupuncture?
With everything set, Sora began his second simulation.
[Simulation Start]
[Remaining Simulation Count: 0]
[Target: Tenten]
[Initial Relationship: She remembers you clearly.]
[Ding! Simulation is about to begin. You have three free opportunities to guide its direction.]
[Would you like to set a simulation path now?]
Sora immediately confirmed and input everything — his past experience, current goals, training plans, everything.
To his surprise, there seemed to be no limit to the complexity of these instructions.
That meant he could turn each simulation into a finely controlled life experiment.
The only flaw was that most of the simulation ran automatically, so he had no way to counter unpredictable events in real time.
[A new day begins. You wake from your slumber and continue looking for ways to gain simulation chances.]
[Your reputation spreads. People begin approaching you, eager to share their stories. Elderly villagers can't resist someone willing to listen.]
[As your fame grows, you decide to convert your home into a teahouse called "Leaf Teahouse," so visitors can come anytime.]
Sora's lips curved into a smile.
This was exactly why he'd ordered renovation supplies — now he could test the idea through simulation.
[Over time, your house becomes a popular gathering place in Konoha. Even the Hokage visits once.]
[Thanks to the Leaf Teahouse, you now gain one simulation chance per week. But you're dissatisfied.]
Sora frowned slightly. That pace wasn't good enough.
[You've simply run out of time. Between writing, training, nurturing your bond with Tenten, learning ninjutsu, and studying medical techniques — you're stretched thin.]
Sora narrowed his eyes.
Time to use his second directional command.