The sun rose slowly into the sky, casting long shadows between the trees of the small grove. The air was still cool, filled with the scent of damp earth and the salty breeze drifting from the nearby coast. Elian and Shikamaru had settled in a small natural clearing, far enough from the first houses that no one could hear or see them.
Shikamaru leaned against the rough trunk of a tree, his hands buried in his pockets as usual. He observed the ground covered in dead leaves for a moment, then lifted his gaze toward Elian.
"Sit down," he said in his drawn-out, almost lazy voice. "Close your eyes. Try to feel something warm inside you, like a small ember between your stomach and your chest. That's your chakra. Don't force it. Breathe normally and just focus on that sensation."
Elian sat cross-legged on the ground, his back straight, and closed his eyes. The silence of the grove wrapped around him. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. After a few seconds, a small smile formed on his lips.
"I feel it… It's tiny, but it's there. Like a small warmth gently pulsing."
Shikamaru nodded, almost surprised.
"Not bad for a complete beginner. Now try to move it a little. Imagine you're gently pushing it toward your hand, like guiding a flame with your breath."
Elian focused harder. His face tightened slightly. After a long moment, he opened his eyes, a spark of excitement in them.
"It moved! Just a little, but I felt it moving toward my hand!"
Shikamaru let out a sigh, but there was a faint hint of approval in his voice.
"Troublesome… but not completely useless. That's already better than I expected."
They continued like that for a long time. Elian tried to move his chakra, to make it flow through his arms, through his legs. Shikamaru patiently corrected him, explaining how not to waste that fragile energy, how to let it flow instead of forcing it.
Between exercises, they sat on a moss-covered stump. Silence settled in, broken only by the distant song of birds and the soft rustling of the wind through the leaves.
Shikamaru looked at the sky through the branches and finally spoke, his voice lower, more serious:
"We can't stay like this forever, you know. You have zero Berries. The Shop is completely empty. And I can't just sit around doing nothing indefinitely. If we really want to move forward, we need to earn money. Quickly."
Elian nodded, his expression suddenly more serious. He picked up a kunai at his feet and slowly spun it between his fingers.
"Yeah… I was thinking about that earlier. But how? Here, on Crystal Island, you barely earn anything from fishing. People live day by day."
Shikamaru spun a kunai between his fingers as well, as if thinking at the same time.
"We have several options. The simplest and fastest is to sell our services. You have chakra now, even if it's still weak, and weapons. Even as a beginner, you can already take on small missions for villagers or for merchants who occasionally pass through here: hunting wild beasts that attack fishing nets, escorting a small fishing boat against minor pirates roaming nearby waters… that kind of thing. We can ask for between 50,000 and 200,000 Berries per mission. It's not much, but it's a concrete start."
Elian frowned slightly, already imagining it.
"And what if I fail? If I'm not good enough yet?"
Shikamaru shrugged casually.
"That's why we train. And I'll be there to correct your mistakes. With your chakra, even weak, you can already do things that look impressive to normal people. A simple shadow clone or basic manipulation can be enough to impress. We start small, earn what we can, and gradually move up."
Elian stayed silent for a moment, staring at the kunai in his hand.
"And after that? Once we have some money? We'll be able to buy things from the Shop? Techniques? Tools?"
Shikamaru nodded.
"Exactly. But we need to think beyond that. We're not going to stay on this island our whole lives. Crystal Island is too small, too isolated. We'll have to travel. Take on missions all over the East Blue. Accumulate money, resources, information… And at some point, we'll settle somewhere."
Elian tilted his head, curious.
"Settle? To do what exactly?"
Shikamaru looked toward the sea, visible between the trees, his eyes half-closed.
"Create our own village. A shinobi village. But not just any village. It will mainly be a base for future summons. A stable, secure, and discreet place where you can summon increasingly powerful shinobi without attracting the attention of the Marines or major pirates. A place where the system can operate without risk."
Elian remained silent for a few seconds, eyes wide.
"A base for… summons?"
"Exactly," Shikamaru replied. "Every summon costs a fortune. Genin, Chunin, Jōnin… and one day, maybe Kage or more. If we want to bring in truly strong people, we need money. A lot of money. The village will serve that purpose: generating constant income."
He paused, then continued in a calm but determined voice:
"We'll make the economy flourish. Not just fishing. We'll build a discreet small port. Develop agriculture, craftsmanship, maybe even trade with other islands. We'll attract merchants looking for a calm and well-protected place. With your chakra and my strategies, we can offer security, transport, healing services… everything that brings in money."
Elian looked at the kunai in his hand, then at the distant sea. A slow, dreamy smile appeared on his face.
"A village that brings in shinobi… and becomes rich at the same time. I like that idea. A place where we can laugh, train, protect others… and build something big."
Shikamaru nodded, almost approving.
"It's a distant goal, but it's a goal. To get there, we need money. A lot of money. Low-level missions will give us a start: 50,000 to 200,000 Berries per contract. Then we'll move on to more dangerous missions: escorting important convoys, eliminating known pirates in the region… That's where we'll be talking about millions. And one day, maybe hundreds of millions."
Elian threw another kunai. This time, it struck the tree a bit closer to the center.
"Then we start small," he said with determination. "Tomorrow, we'll check if there are any missions on the island or nearby ones. We earn what we can. And we build little by little."
Shikamaru looked at the sky, which was beginning to darken.
"That's a plan. A slow plan, but a plan."
He straightened slightly and added with a faint smirk:
"But for now, focus on your throws. If you can't even aim properly, our future village might get destroyed by the first pirate that shows up."
Elian laughed and picked up another kunai.
"Got it! One more time!"
Elian threw another kunai. This time, it hit the tree a little closer to the center.
"Then we start small," he said with determination. "Tomorrow, we'll see if there are any missions on the island or on nearby islands. We earn what we can. And we build little by little."
Shikamaru looked at the sky, which was beginning to darken.
"That's a plan. A slow plan, but a plan."
He straightened slightly and added with a faint smirk:
"But for now, focus on your throws. If you can't even aim properly, our future village might get destroyed by the first pirate that comes along."
Elian laughed and picked up another kunai.
"Got it! One more time!"
They resumed training until the sun began to disappear beyond the horizon. Between throws, they talked at length about the future: the missions they could take, the places where they might settle one day, and how they would build their village—stone by stone, mission by mission, summon by summon.
For the first time, the horizon no longer seemed like a distant and unreachable dream.
It had become a goal.
A goal they would build together, one kunai at a time.