Chapter 6: Forging Progress, Reputation, and a Shop
After recognizing his weaknesses, Naraku set aside intensive training for the moment. He decided to focus on improving his chakra control during daytime academy classes instead.
His new routine: train during the day, forge at night.
Considering his stock of rough iron was running low—and B-grade weapons would likely require chakra-conductive metals—he headed straight to Granny Cat.
On the way, he spotted Shukaku standing by the roadside, looking like he was questioning his entire existence (or at least his cat life). Naraku greeted him cheerfully. "Shukaku, what's up?"
Shukaku replied in a deadpan tone: "After I finished the catnip you gave me yesterday, I just lay there on the roadside. Gotta say—your stuff is pure, meow."
He gave Naraku an affirming nod.
"Then later I felt someone petting me. Really rough, too." For a moment, Naraku thought he saw a hint of embarrassment on the cat's face. "Turns out that damn bastard rubbed off all my proud, smart fur, meow!"
Naraku suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. He quickly shifted blame: it was Shukaku's fault for breaking the three ninja prohibitions—even ninja cats should follow them! Lying defenseless on the road like that was basically asking to be taken advantage of.
Shukaku immediately started arguing back: "Catnip isn't alcohol, so it doesn't count! Cats are poor and innocent, meow!"
Seeing Shukaku still making excuses, Naraku just told him to lead the way to Granny Cat.
"Granny Cat, these are the shuriken I forged earlier. Especially this one—it's really something special." Naraku spoke with full confidence.
Granny Cat was visibly surprised. She'd assumed the kid was just playing around with forging for fun. She'd even mentally prepared to refund his rent after a while.
Yet here were over a dozen shuriken—and every single one was high quality. Especially the one marked with a small "Naraku" logo: its sharpness clearly surpassed normal limits, outclassing even the other premium pieces.
Soon a system notification appeared: [Gained recognition from Granny Cat. Forger Reputation +1]
Naraku felt a rush of satisfaction, but to avoid constant distractions in daily life and combat, he turned notifications to silent mode.
Granny Cat finally recovered from her shock. After double-confirming these were indeed Naraku's work, she gave him high praise: "As long as you don't die young, you'll definitely become one of the most renowned forgers in the ninja world!"
Naraku accepted the compliment calmly, as if it were only natural.
"Little Naraku, ordinary ones at 200 ryō each, the premium one at 1,000 ryō. Sound good?" Granny Cat asked.
Naraku realized the prices were much higher than he'd expected and immediately agreed. "Deal, Granny Cat. But please help promote them—especially the premium one. Make sure everyone knows I forged them!"
Granny Cat hesitated briefly—fame could bring danger to a child—but ninja society rarely targeted forgers, and Konoha had no recorded cases of foreign assassins killing craftsmen inside the village. She nodded.
Naraku continued: "Granny Cat, I want to try forging something even better—to test my current limits. Could I buy some chakra-conductive metal from you?"
Granny Cat held up one finger.
"100,000 ryō?" Naraku guessed.
She shook her head. "Rough chakra metal, 500 grams—1 million ryō."
Naraku felt a sudden wave of despair, like an emperor dying before his empire was complete. He knew it was expensive, but not this expensive. He'd planned to pair it with green-tier or higher materials for something truly new. Now it could only be used as accents or inlaid patterns.
Worse: he didn't have anywhere near 1 million ryō.
Sensing his disappointment, Granny Cat decided to invest.
"Here's what we'll do: I give you one portion of chakra metal upfront. In return, you forge weapons for me. Regular pieces at double market price, premium at ten times. We can renegotiate later if needed."
Naraku accepted instantly—perfect terms.
He also bought more rough iron from her (buying raw ore would waste too much time on smelting).
With business done, Naraku headed home under the moonlight.
...
A week passed quickly.
During the day: academy classes and frantic practice on Shadow Clone Technique. At night: nonstop forging.
That day, Granny Cat sought him out. "Little Naraku, your weapons are a real success. There's already a small but growing buzz around town about the ones with the 'N' logo."
Naraku nodded casually. "Of course—they're all premium quality."
Thanks to his skyrocketing proficiency, almost every shuriken, senbon, and kunai he made now qualified as premium.
Granny Cat continued: "Can you start forging other types? Windmill shuriken, ninja blades, that sort of thing? Some customers who tried your shuriken now want custom orders."
This was exactly the step Naraku had been waiting for. His golden finger only activated fully with B-grade weapons—and he still lacked materials and opportunities.
He looked at her seriously: "Granny Cat, if any custom requests come in, please tell me right away. My goal is to become the strongest forger in the ninja world. I've been wanting to make stronger ninja blades for a while."
Granny Cat thought it over. "If you're going the premium custom route, you should open a shop. Sell your own high-quality weapons there and offer custom forging services."
Naraku realized she'd already tasted the massive profits and was ready to fully back him. Since he had no time to manage a storefront himself, he proposed: Granny Cat (or her proxy) runs the shop; profits split 80% to him, 20% to her.
She agreed.
Then she called over a cute teenage girl. "This is my goddaughter, Shin. She'll handle the shop from now on."
Granny Cat turned to Shin: "This is little Naraku. Don't let his age fool you—he's still in the academy, but his forging skill is top-tier."
Naraku gave a polite nod and left.
On the way home, a sudden realization hit him: if his weapons were already gaining traction in a small circle, that meant a lot of Forger Reputation.
He opened the system panel.
[Forger Reputation: 112]
The corner of Naraku's mouth curled upward. Time for another satisfying lottery session.
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