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Chapter 5 - Chapter 005 – Ryan’s Resolve

Seeing that the large stone was now covered with what looked like nearly a full bowl of river snails, Ryan finally smiled in satisfaction. He leaned over, splashed some river water on his dirt-smudged face to wash up, then climbed out of the stream and put his clothes back on.

As he looked down at the patched and tattered rags hanging from his thin frame, his brows furrowed slightly. But there wasn't much he could do about it—for now, it was better than being naked.

By now, the sun had fully risen, its golden rays casting down on him, stretching his frail figure into a long shadow across the rocky ground.

"But… how do I eat these?" Ryan frowned as he stared at the pile of river snails on the stone. "I don't know how to start a fire… I've tried that old rubbing-sticks-together trick before. I don't know how others manage it, but I never got even a spark."

Gritting his teeth, Ryan grabbed a few snails and tossed them onto the ground. He picked up a nearby rock and smashed one open.

Staring at the slimy meat inside, a wave of nausea hit him. But he knew—this was as good as it was going to get. Eating river snails raw was still better than starving to death.

Suppressing his disgust, he clenched his jaw, shut his eyes, and popped a piece of raw snail meat into his mouth. Without even tasting it, he forced himself to swallow.

"…Huh. Not as bad as I expected," he muttered. "A bit fishy, but way better than eating raw fish or meat."

Steeling himself, Ryan picked up a handful of already-cracked snails from the stone and shoved them into his mouth.

After stuffing his stomach full of snail meat, the sun had risen higher and begun to scorch the land.

Ryan stood up and looked around the jagged, boulder-strewn terrain. "There are boulders here bigger than houses… maybe I can find a cave somewhere. If not, I'll have to figure out how to build a basic shelter."

Since it was still daytime, Ryan wasn't too worried about wild wolves—most wolves didn't come out until night, and villagers rarely visited this remote part of the mountain. So he set off to search for a suitable place to stay.

Now that his hunger was dealt with, Ryan felt strength returning to his limbs. After searching for over half the day, he finally spotted a cave on the slope of a hilly ridge and jogged over with excitement.

"It's a bit small… but it's more than enough for me!"

The cave entrance was about a meter wide and just a little taller than Ryan himself. It only went three meters deep and didn't show any signs of animals or people having used it recently. That made it a relatively safe place to sleep.

"But I'll need to block it off somehow. If a wolf comes at night and drags me away, I won't even get the chance to scream."

Inside, the ground was uneven with a few scattered rocks, but overall fairly level—suitable for resting. Ryan was pleased.

"I can use some vine-like plants to twist into rope, then tie them to some branches and dry sticks to make a simple gate. They won't be super sturdy, but it's the best I can manage. I've seen a few big trees nearby, but there's no way I can chop those down. I'll have to stick with broken branches and twigs. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find some fallen logs."

Without delay, Ryan memorized the location of the cave. He returned to the river, ate another quick lunch of snails, and worked through the afternoon until around five o'clock, finally finishing a two-layer wooden gate.

The gate was about a meter tall. Two layers made it difficult even for wolves to break through. While it wasn't perfect, it was the best Ryan could do with his current resources—and frankly, it wasn't half bad.

As the sky dimmed, Ryan gathered more snails to serve as his dinner.

He cleared away a large rock in the middle of the cave and set up the wooden gate, then covered it with leafy twigs he had already prepared, forming a makeshift barrier.

Next, he spread some leafy branches on the ground to soften it, laid his burlap sack on top, and used it as a bed.

"All done." He clapped the dust off his hands and sat down on his makeshift bedding. "Dinner can wait. What I really need to do now… is start planning my training."

After all, this world—the shinobi world—was one soaked in blood and death. If he wanted to survive, let alone thrive, he had to get stronger. Fast.

"I can't extract chakra yet. I don't have any refining techniques, so that'll have to wait. Which means… I can only start with taijutsu."

By now, Ryan's physique was roughly equivalent to that of a healthy ten-year-old on Earth. It was enough to begin basic strength training. But he couldn't go too hard—not like Rock Lee. His body was still too fragile. If he pushed himself too far, he could end up with internal injuries or worse.

Ryan frowned, deep in thought.

I can't afford to get hurt. He had no medical knowledge, not even basic first aid. No chakra control, no healing jutsu. If he got seriously injured now, it could be the end. His training plan had to be cautious but effective.

By the time the sun completely disappeared beyond the horizon, Ryan had come up with a fairly workable routine.

(Note: The distance between the cave and the river is approximately 1,500 meters.)

Wake up at 6:00 a.m. :

Jog from the cave to the river and back—three full round trips

After breakfast (and gradually reduced rest periods as stamina improves):

200 push-ups, divided into sets of 20

200 squats with hands behind the head, divided into four sets of 50

1,000 punches, 1,000 kicks.

Rest at noon. Repeat the same training in the afternoon.

After dinner:

Do sit-ups in sets of 50, until exhaustion sets in and he falls asleep from fatigue.

(Author's note: This is just a personal training plan. If it seems unrealistic, please forgive me!)

Once the plan was finalized, Ryan used a stone to carve a scratch into the cave wall—Day One.

"According to this kid's memories, the Third Hoshikage is still alive, and the star training was only banned less than a year ago. That means the Fourth Hokage must've died just two years back. This body is around six years old now, which puts me about four years older than Naruto. So… there's still 9 to 10 years before the main story starts."

"That gives me two years at most to sneak my way into the Star Shinobi headquarters and learn chakra refining and ninjutsu. If I can't even manage that, I'll just be cannon fodder when the real war breaks out. Forget Kaguya or Madara… I probably won't survive long enough to even see the Fourth Great Ninja War."

Ryan clenched his fists.

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