After watching Ichiro Tsuchigen leave, Naruto turned around and prepared to return to his wooden house.
Coincidentally, he saw the girl next door open her window again and secretly look at him. When she realized that Naruto had noticed her, she immediately shut the window.
"Hm?"
Naruto frowned slightly.
Why did this girl keep peeking at him?
Thinking about what Ichiro had told him earlier, Naruto decided to take the initiative and greet her properly.
So, he walked over to the neighboring yard and knocked on the door.
"Hello! I live next door! Hello!"
He knocked for quite a while, but there was no response.
"Hey… this is strange."
Naruto tilted his head in confusion.
After waiting for a moment, still no one opened the door.
He exhaled softly.
"Looks like they don't want to see me."
Shrugging helplessly, he called upstairs,
"Sorry for disturbing you!"
Then he turned around and returned to his own house.
As usual, after washing up, Naruto went to bed as soon as it got dark.
In this unfamiliar world, Naruto was actually afraid of the night.
It was too lonely.
When he lay alone in bed, a voice always echoed in his heart:
Can you really win?
Naruto didn't know.
He truly didn't know.
He wasn't confident.
That uncertainty made him afraid.
So, he deliberately exhausted himself during the day.
Only when he was completely worn out could he fall asleep quickly at night.
Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, his eyes were dull as memories flooded his mind.
"Ah…"
"Sometimes I think… maybe Infinite Tsukuyomi wouldn't be so bad. Everyone could live in their own perfect dream…"
Naruto sighed softly.
Then he suddenly slapped himself.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
"Naruto, your ninja way is to never go back on your word!"
"How can you deny reality like that?!"
He clenched his fists.
Even if it was painful, even if it was difficult, he had to keep going.
Slowly, exhaustion overtook him.
His eyelids grew heavy.
Before long, Naruto fell asleep.
The next day.
Wake up.
Wash up.
Ichiro Tsuchigen arrived.
Eat breakfast.
Set off.
The routine continued.
After arriving at the farm, Tomu informed Naruto that he wouldn't be carrying water today.
Instead, he would be cultivating the land.
Naruto smiled faintly and said nothing.
After Ichiro's explanation last night, he had already guessed this.
Chopping wood—wood.
Carrying water—water.
Cultivating land—earth.
Wasn't this obvious?
Naruto's thoughts became clearer.
Back on Earth, the ninja world revolved around elemental chakra:
Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, Earth.
The Five Great Nations.
The Five Elements.
Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.
In this world, dark matter was the foundation.
And these elements were merely its manifestations.
They existed everywhere.
So that was it.
The farm was where these elements gathered and circulated.
No wonder his great-grandfather had arranged this.
Naruto finally understood.
After realizing this, Naruto became even more serious about his work.
The person in charge of this area was a woman everyone called Sister Qing.
She was about the same height as Hinata, with tanned skin and a pipe in her mouth.
It was obvious she spent most of her time under the sun.
She gave off the aura of a dependable big sister.
"Come on, follow me," Sister Qing said.
She led Naruto through the fields.
Huge blue oxen were everywhere.
Naruto observed carefully.
These oxen were different from Earth's cattle.
They had only one horn, growing from the top of their heads—like unicorns from fairy tales.
Their bodies were massive and muscular.
Their hooves were thick and powerful.
They dragged plows while people guided them through the fields.
"See them?" Sister Qing said.
"You'll do the same."
"I'll assign you one field. You must finish it today."
Naruto was still observing when he suddenly received his task.
This was the first time he had been given a specific workload.
"No problem, Sister Qing! I'll finish it!"
She looked him over, nodded, and blew out a puff of smoke.
"Good. Hard-working young man."
"Come, I'll help you choose a cow."
In the cowshed, Sister Qing helped Naruto select an ox.
They took the farming tools and headed to the field.
Naruto felt a little nervous.
He had never done this before.
In Konoha, ninjas were soldiers.
They bought food from the village.
They never farmed.
This kind of work was done by civilians.
"Well… no choice. Let's do it."
Naruto tried to communicate with the ox.
But it ignored him completely.
"This…"
Naruto felt helpless.
Then he remembered his experience with the Tailed Beasts.
He went back, grabbed some grass, and fed it to the ox.
After eating, the ox finally looked at him.
"Hahaha! Eat up, buddy!"
"From now on, we're comrades!"
After that, the ox became energetic.
Naruto felt motivated too.
They started plowing.
By noon, it was time to eat.
Naruto looked at the unfinished field and sighed.
Traveling back and forth to the cowshed took too much time.
"We'll continue this afternoon."
He patted the ox's head.
"Rest first, partner."
After eating, resting, and feeding the cattle again, Naruto resumed work.
The afternoon passed quickly.
Even under the scorching sun, Naruto didn't slow down.
He kept going.
There was still some land left in the evening.
Unwilling to give up, Naruto continued.
Sister Qing watched him silently.
Seeing his stubborn determination and the ox cooperating obediently, she chuckled and blew a smoke ring.
On the way back.
Ichiro Kurige flew beside Naruto and smiled.
"Naruto, you look very happy today."
Naruto laughed.
"Yes. Today's work made me feel… relaxed."
"Oh?" Ichiro raised an eyebrow.
"That's interesting."
Naruto nodded.
"I think… I'm starting to understand something."
Ichiro smiled.
"Then I'm looking forward to your progress."