Fantasy Realm — Naruto: Blood-Mist

After dining, Alex quickly goes to bed, his body aching all over. The reduction in stats and the many swings he did with his new [Executioner's Blade] have drained his body of all energy. His shoulders and arms are especially sore.

Damn this is really too much… I should just sleep… after my stats are back to normal this will get better.

Alex quickly falls asleep but wakes up a few hours later.

As he opens his eyes, everything is dark around him. He feels Jewel and Menchi close to him.

Damn I need to piss! Hopefully, I don't wake them up.

Struggling to get up, he limps toward the toilet like he has the stiff joints of a puppet.

As he returns, he tries to get back into the bed, but his body makes it almost impossible. Finally, he just falls down onto the bed, the impact heavy enough that Menchi opens her eyes, staring at him.

"Sorry…" he says. "I have muscle aches all over my body."

"Not a surprise. You aren't used to those heavy sword moves, and considering that your body suddenly got weaker, it doesn't surprise me you're paying the price now," Menchi says.

"Lie down on your stomach!" she orders.

"Why…?!" Alex responds, confused.

"Just do it," she says, helping him turn his body around and promptly sits down on his ass.

"This hurts, be gentler, will you?!" Alex complains, his body hurting all over, as Menchi is forcefully taking off his shirt and exposing his upper body.

Menchi then takes out a small bottle of oil, dripping a few drops of it on Alex's back.

"Olive oil. Not the best for massages as it doesn't get absorbed by the skin, but it works wonders for relaxing muscles. Just a little bit should suffice," she explains.

She then forcefully massages Alex's back, shoulders, and arms.

Alex has to bite his teeth to not scream, visibly struggling, meanwhile Menchi just giggles, "Oh just take it, you little crybaby."

Finally, after a few minutes, Alex's body relaxes and the pain slowly disappears. Instead, Alex moans, his body finally feeling a little better.

As he finally relaxes, he slightly lifts his head and sees quite a few red, shining eyes in front of his face, staring at him.

"..."

Princess Jewel is not unreasonable. She knows that this is helping her Soulmate, so she won't complain.

"That's progress, I guess," Alex says, while Menchi increases the pressure, making him moan again.

The next morning, Alex gets up. His body is feeling a lot better—almost normal.

"Wow, that really helped, but," Alex sniffs his nose, "I smell like damn olive oil though!"

"Well, duh. The bedding is a mess as well. I'll ask Tsunami to get rid of these oily sheets. Hehe, what will she think these stains are, I wonder?" Menchi says.

"..."

"Let's wash!" she says, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the bath. Of course, Jewel dutifully follows along, jumping on Alex's back.

Sitting in a tiny bathtub, Alex and Menchi barely fit in together. Jewel for some reason also decided to get in.

This is… so awkward.

Alex can't help but laugh, "You know this is kinda funny. I love you guys."

"... I guess I can see the humor in this situation," Menchi smiles, hugging Jewel, who is seemingly pouting.

Princess Jewel doesn't think this is funny at all, Soulmate… but she appreciates Soulmate's genuine confession of his undying love towards Jewel.

"Let's hurry up and train those kids, I made a promise, after all," Alex says, his eyes showing a hint of greed.

Alex and Menchi get dressed and prepare to join the others for breakfast. Alex decides to take out his pilfered Ryō from his inventory and stuffs it into a huge bag, deciding to offer it to Tsunami right away.

He, however, takes a few stacks of bills back out and throws them toward Menchi.

"Buy some ingredients or go restaurant hopping. I know you are itching for it," Alex suggests.

"Hehe, you know what makes a girl happy. I intended to do just that," Menchi says with a grin, kissing Alex.

I hate doing this publicly, but I want to leave a good impression on the others.

As they arrive in the dining room, everyone else is already present, and Tsunami is placing food on the table, her expression peaceful.

"Good morning," Alex says with a smile.

Tazuna excitedly explains, "Good morning, Alex! I've been talking—many of my former workers came back! They decided to help, not even demanding pay! At this rate, we can finish the bridge in less than two weeks. Gatō's demise has really motivated everyone."

"He was a leech, a parasite. I hope his legal businesses will at least fall into the hands of better people. But as long as the bridge is finished, I think this country will be just fine," Alex responds.

He then places the huge bag with his remaining Ryō on the table in front of Tazuna and says, "As promised. Use it for good."

"You… how much is this?!" Tazuna says as he looks into the bag, his eyes clearly shocked. "That's… millions of Ryō!!!!"

"How can you expect me to accept this?" he yells.

Alex smiles as he calmly responds, "It's not my money, and it's not even Gatō's… this is the money that's been forcefully extracted from your country. It's only fair that I return it. I also don't have much use for it. After the bridge is finished, I think I'd like to travel the world, learn about new places, and start off clean. This money would only weigh me down."

"Fine… but is there anything you want?!" Tazuna asks, a hint of guilt on his face.

"If you find some rare metal, weapons, or armor, or some common Jutsus, I'd take them. I'm not planning to become a ninja, but I'd like to study. Maybe it'll broaden my horizons. However, don't feel too bad if you can't get them for me," Alex says with a friendly grin, his lips, however, slightly twitching.

Please give me everything you can get your hands on! I DARE YOU TO LEAVE ME DRY!

As they eat, Alex asks Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, "You guys ready? We'll train today, but we'll stick close to the bridge so we can help in case something happens."

"Yes!" Naruto says with excitement, while Sakura and Sasuke nod.

"Then let's quickly eat up and train…."

"I'll spend the time shopping and visiting the villages. I want to study more about this country's cooking. Maybe I'll hunt some animals as well!" Menchi says.

Before Menchi leaves she whispers into Alex ear, "I'll try to create some White or Green quality dishes with what's available. I also want to study the medicine of this world, I'll see what I can come up with. Even if we don't need them, I'll sell them in the Realm later. If I have 2 weeks of time I am sure I can fish or hunt enough prey to earn tens of thousands of FC!

Alex nods at her with a satisfied grin.

This is indeed incredible. It's a great use of her time, and she also gets better at cooking and potioneering.

Princess Jewel will follow along with Menchi.

That is a surprise! I like it!

If Soulmate demands it, though, Jewel will stick with Soulmate.

No, Jewel, go along with Menchi. Earn as much FC as you can! We'll see each other later.

Quickly finishing their breakfast, Alex, followed by his new students, walks toward a nearby hill, allowing him a good view of the bridge. He can't spot all the details, but would certainly be able to notice a commotion.

[Secret Quest Offered

Mission: Help Team 7, by improving their combat abilities.

Reward: ???

Time Limit: ???

Failure: —]

I already said, I'll do it! Of course I accept!

[Secret Quest Accepted]

"So?! What are we training?! Special skills, right?!" Naruto asks with an excited face.

"Theory, Naruto. It's all about theory!" Sakura responds angrily.

Alex sighs, "Both are not really suitable for my training. What kind of theory can I teach you? You probably know more than I. I also trust you and won't quiz you. I hope you know the basics about Chakra by now, after your study session yesterday. I can tell you about some of my experiences, which I guess is also theory, but these may not be useful. Also, special skills, Naruto? Really? I'm not a ninja, you should remember by now. What special moves should I teach you, huh?!"

"What is left then?!" Naruto wonders aloud.

I don't think destroying the lore and mentioning too many secrets is good. I have to think about these things a little longer. For now, let's get a little creative. This is kinda fun to be honest.

Alex then begins to analyze the best-suited training, at least according to him:

"The most useful thing would be sparring. You lack combat experience. You may have sparred in your academy, but that was mostly two academy students using Taijutsu. That's not real experience. I'd even go as far as to say that this is the main problem. We'll do that later, though. I want you all to improve individually first. Naruto, you're doing fine. You focus on Taijutsu with your shadow clones acting as a backup. I've seen a little bit of your battle against Zabuza. Your mastery of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and your Chakra reserves are insane. However, you have barely any attack techniques.

Sasuke, you're very balanced. Good Taijutsu, good Ninjutsu. However, I'd go as far as to say that you're too balanced. You have no specialty! As soon as you meet someone who's as strong as you, you won't have a way to turn things around.

Sakura, you're like Sasuke, but your base abilities are far too low. Do you know any useful Jutsu, besides the Academy Three? You seem to be one of the students with precise Chakra control, as I sense that your overall Chakra is relatively low. However, what use is that control if you can't use a single decent Jutsu?!"

They all look at Alex and nod… seemingly unable to disagree with him.

"So Sakura! You'll return back to Kakashi! Ask him for a D or C-ranked Jutsu," he says, approaching her and whispering, "let him test your affinity as well!"

"Okay!" she says, running away excitedly.

"Naruto! The quickest way for you to improve is to master your use of Kunai and Shuriken. You are decent at them and there is certainly a synergy with your shadow clones. You know what a hunter does best, by the way?"

"No…" Naruto says, looking at Alex with a confused face.

"They explore, loot, and experience different things!" Alex says.

Hehe, remembering this shit paid off! My INT is helping me. I can't believe cramming this stuff from the Wikia worked.

"I may not be a ninja, but I know how you fight. I once fought a powerful enemy—in fact, I fled like a scared rabbit. I ran away because I nearly got killed. Thankfully, I wasn't the main target, so I'm still fine. He used a powerful technique related to your shadow clones. It was able to duplicate a thrown Shuriken and turn it into hundreds, if not thousands of Shuriken. I don't have the scroll, but you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu yourself. I can tell you the hand signs, and you should be able to replicate it. You want to become Hokage, right? Then show me what you can do! With the hand signs and the technique this one is based on, this shouldn't be too hard for a future Hokage! The hand signs are:

Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Snake, Tiger."

"Ohh! I see! I'll do it! Watch me! I'll become the next Hokage, believe it!" Naruto screams, totally excited, drawing his Kunai and Shuriken and sprinting toward a nearby tree.

Good! He's motivated.

As Alex turns to Sasuke, Naruto approaches them again, looking embarrassed. "My memory is not the best… what were those hand signs again?"

Alex sighs.

He repeats them a bunch of times until Naruto finally remembers. Sasuke also watches, obviously remembering them.

"Don't try to learn that Jutsu. You need to have insane Chakra reserves. There are far more suitable techniques for you!" Alex says.

"So what should I do then? You said I was balanced," Sasuke says, looking impatient.

"Your balance is a good thing. You're a genius and should focus on many things. Stick with Taijutsu and Ninjutsu—maybe Genjutsu later on. For now, I think you should pick up something new, however, something that gives you an edge over others," Alex says with a grin.

Alex takes out one of the more slender and high-quality-looking variants of the [Sword], seemingly a Katana of decent quality, from his inventory and tosses one to Sasuke.

Sasuke catches it and stares at it with a surprised face.

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