After stepping out through the gates of the ANBU headquarters, Mizuhara Aran found himself at a bit of a loss.There wasn't much for him to do now except wait for Ibiki to report his situation to the Third Hokage. Once that happened, the Hokage would at least arrange a place for him to stay.
Right now, he was truly homeless—no roof over his head, no place to return to. Honestly, his situation wasn't much different from that of a war orphan.
Still, Aran thought to himself, If I'm going to be a real member of the Hidden Leaf from now on, the first thing I need to do… is constantly improve my strength.
"Grrr~"
The sound rumbled from his stomach, making Aran sigh and rub his belly with a wry smile. Of course—he hadn't eaten a single bite all day. From the moment he'd woken up that morning, the ANBU had hauled him in for questioning, and Ibiki had been more focused on interrogation than hospitality.
"What, ANBU interrogations don't even come with a meal?" Aran muttered in mock indignation.
Truth be told, he was starving.
He glanced around and sighed. "Looks like I'll have to fend for myself for now."
With that, Aran turned his attention inward. Ever since the system had rewarded him with the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet technique, he could feel subtle changes in his body.
Imitating the characters from the Naruto series, he closed his eyes to sense the inside of his own body. The moment he did, he felt it—an immense, deep-blue river flowing within him, as vast and endless as the sea.
The main current pooled around his lower abdomen, branching out in countless streams that seemed to connect every part of his body.
Seeing this made Aran's heart leap. He knew exactly what this was—chakra.
At first, when the system told him he had unlimited chakra, he hadn't paid it much mind. But now that he could see and feel it for himself, the sheer scale of it shocked him.
What's more, this chakra was entirely his own. Judging by his knowledge of the series, his total chakra reserves were even greater than those of most jonin.
Aran ended the inner-sight with a satisfied nod.
Still… having chakra was one thing. In terms of actual skills, he only had the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. He'd never practiced taijutsu in his old world, so in a fight, his entire strategy would boil down to spamming that one technique—and if he missed, he'd be completely done for.
He shook his head. That wouldn't do.
I have to get stronger, fast. This world is all about strength.
If he wanted to survive here—no, to dominate—he would need to climb step by step until he stood at the very top of the pyramid. Only then could he look down on the rest of the world.
The thought filled him with a fierce determination. His goal was set. Now came the hard part—making it happen.
Step one of his grand plan… was to fill his stomach.
Right now, he was so hungry his ribs practically touched his spine.
Aran wandered into the forest, hoping to find something edible.
However… after roaming for quite some time, he found no sign of game. Not a rabbit, not even a squirrel—just a few scattered patches of wild greens.
He let out a helpless laugh. "Man can't live on chakra alone… or maybe in this world, he can?"
It annoyed him. In those cultivation worlds he'd read about, people could just train their spiritual energy until they didn't need food at all. If only ninjutsu worked like that—he could skip eating entirely.
But no, here in the Naruto world, he still had to fill his stomach the old-fashioned way.