Near Konoha Village, on a riverside west of the village, stood a small cabin in the woods built by Might Dai using logs and wooden boards.
Night had already fallen.
An old-fashioned wall lamp hung along the cabin wall, its orange-red candlelight casting a faint glow.
Dai's wife was a young woman with ordinary looks and a thin figure. Her belly stretched the fabric of her clothes in a slightly awkward way—she was probably about three months pregnant.
Might Dai returned from the village gate carrying quite a lot of fresh vegetables. There was even a small but expensive piece of mutton.
"Honey, look what I bought!"
"You came back smelling like sweat again. Go wash up by the river first."
Dai's wife pinched her nose. There was no bitterness on her face about their difficult life. Instead, her heart was full of anticipation—waiting for the day she could see her child.
Embarrassed, Dai set the vegetables and raw mutton on the wooden table inside the house. His hands were clean—he had washed them on the way back.
Carrying a wooden bucket, he walked to the riverside, filled it with water, and immediately stripped off his clothes to bathe.
This was the life of ordinary people.
Behind the bright prosperity of Konoha Village, countless genin and civilians striving for the village's dream life were struggling with everything they had.
But sometimes reality was cruel.
Those with backgrounds were different.
Some people with no background relied purely on their own talent—training casually yet becoming genius ninjas.
Even if history never recorded their names, you still had to admit that they once shone brightly.
"Reality… always moves in cycles."
"Some people stand in the spotlight because of luck or talent, but fate will never favor just one person forever."
"Even the Second Hokage, who relied on his own genius to develop countless forbidden techniques, still died in a conspiracy carefully planned by rebellious forces from Kumogakure."
Bai Xing stood quietly on the branch of a tree above the cabin.
He had not come here to sit around like this for a long time.
All around the cabin were the traps Dai had set up—enough to prevent beasts or venomous snakes from approaching.
But such ordinary and cheap traps could never stop ninjas capable of running across rooftops and walls.
"Whether jōnin or Kage… in the end, no one escapes death."
Using precise chakra control, Bai Xing moved through the forest almost without making a sound.
Inside the cabin, Dai's wife was cutting mutton.
As if sensing something, she suddenly leaned her head out of the window—but saw nothing.
"Strange. It felt like someone was outside just now… Probably my imagination. Dai checks the traps every day, so it shouldn't be a problem."
The young woman—barely in her twenties and about to become a mother—still carried the vibrant energy of youth.
Humming softly, she continued cutting vegetables and turned on the stove. Using a pressure pot, she planned to cook a delicious mutton soup tonight as a reward for her husband.
In this era—where people devoured one another, technology advanced unevenly, food was precious, and ninja wars erupted from time to time—
Simply being alive was already a blessing.
By the River
Bai Xing crossed his arms and leaned against a tree trunk, waiting quietly until Dai finished bathing.
Only after Dai no longer smelled like a garbage dump did Bai Xing speak leisurely.
"Dai. Do you always take this long to bathe?"
The sudden voice startled Dai, who had been wiping himself off and hadn't noticed anything.
"AHHH—GHOST!"
A few minutes later.
Dai's wife rushed over after hearing the scream.
Bai Xing greeted her and apologized sincerely, saying it was his fault.
After finally persuading her to return to the cabin, the furious Dai finished putting on his clothes.
Dai tossed his clothes into the wooden bucket to wash them and complained loudly:
"Bai Xing! Don't you know that people can be scared to death like that?!"
"I just saw you enjoying your bath."
Bai Xing looked toward the candlelight glowing in the forest cabin nearby.
"Have you taken Miss Rin to get a photo, a medical checkup, or asked a doctor recently? You shouldn't be careless about things like this."
"Don't worry about that! Rin is in great health!"
Dai instantly regained his usual youthful energy.
Only at moments like this did he feel that his youth truly meant something.
But then he suddenly remembered something and felt uneasy.
"Wait… Bai Xing, you didn't suddenly come here because something happened with the team, right?"
Bai Xing waved his hand.
"Don't worry about that. We still have two months."
"During these two months, prepare yourself mentally. I'll take you along to grind missions and gain experience. Later, you'll be able to complete D-rank missions independently and earn enough to survive in the village."
Hearing this, Dai felt deeply moved.
Back when his team had rejected him and he couldn't afford rent in the village—when he and his wife were almost forced to wander the streets—
It had been Bai Xing who suggested building a cabin in a relatively safe forest outside the village.
It would be cheap—though they needed to be more careful about safety.
Before building it, Dai only needed to report his situation to the Hokage and request permission.
Once the Hokage's office learned about his situation, they agreed.
But Bai Xing hadn't expected that Dai's life would actually get worse and worse, even after his wife became pregnant.
"And things are getting better," Dai said happily.
"I've saved quite a bit of money now. A few months before the baby is born, I plan to rent a house in the village with good sunlight so Rin can live comfortably while giving birth."
Bai Xing: "…"
He didn't know whether Dai was honest or simply naive.
In modern society, someone like Dai might already be standing on a rooftop, pressured by internet criticism.
"Oh, right," Bai Xing said.
"I'm planning to buy a house. I already paid a year's rent for my current place, and the landlord said it can't be refunded."
"So… do you want to live there?"
Back when Bai Xing first met Dai, Dai had generously shared his taijutsu training experience with him.
Now Bai Xing considered this a small repayment.
Besides, in the future he could still freeload off his "students" for two months.
Hearing the words "one year of rent," Dai's scrubbing slowed.
"But I don't have much money… only twenty or thirty thousand ryō."
When youthful passion collided with harsh reality, even a hot-blooded protagonist could become insecure—let alone a minor side character.
"Relax. No rent."
"There are ten months left. You just need to pay utilities."
"Deal?"
"OF COURSE!"
Dai's face immediately lit up.
"Bai Xing, why are you so good to me? Don't tell me you're interested in my body!"
Now he could use the money to buy nutritional supplements for his wife.
The Next Day
At noon, Bai Xing woke up in his small 20-square-meter room.
Last night's decision wasn't only about helping Dai.
The truth was—he couldn't get his deposit back anyway.
Konoha landlords usually required six months or a year leases, with deposits of one to three months' rent.
At the time, Bai Xing had nearly resorted to stealing because he genuinely had nowhere to live.
Only those who had experienced arriving somewhere new and nearly becoming homeless could truly understand how difficult life was for ordinary people.
"After lunch, I'll go check out that house."
"And I'll let those two help Dai move. Might as well put them to good use."
Bai Xing brushed his teeth, spat out foam, changed into clean clothes, and headed to the meeting spot to wait for the others.
One Week Later
Over the course of a week, the team gradually grew closer.
Although Team Eleven wasn't the most outstanding among the graduating teams, they had the best evaluation for D-rank mission completion.
Inside a 60-square-meter apartment on the third floor of a building near the bustling commercial district of central Konoha—
The four members of Team Eleven and Dai's wife were gathered together.
Bai Xing placed a large iron pot of stew onto the wide wooden table.
"Careful, it's hot. Good job cleaning today."
Uchiha Mikoto cleared her throat and stood up like a little adult, raising a glass of orange juice.
"It wasn't that hard~ Nono! Let's celebrate Teacher Bai Xing and Uncle Dai moving into their new homes!"
"Yay!"
Yakushi Nono clinked glasses with Mikoto and took a sip.
"By the way, we've already completed five D-rank missions."
"Shouldn't we start doing C-rank missions now?"
As soon as she said that, Mikoto and Dai both looked toward Bai Xing, who was bringing over a pot of rice.
Bai Xing secretly rolled his eyes.
There's no way I'm doing C-rank missions in the current situation.
That would basically be volunteering as cannon fodder.
So he casually made an excuse and brushed the topic aside.
Not long afterward, the Third Hokage somehow heard that Bai Xing had moved here.
Despite being busy with work, he still sent a Shadow Clone to deliver housewarming gifts.
Each envelope contained 3,000 ryō for Bai Xing and Might Dai.
As for the apartment—
It was thanks to Yakushi Nono's mother, a medical ninja who had a connection with the previous owner.
Because of that relationship, Bai Xing managed to buy the 60-square-meter home for 4.5 million ryō.
Based on market prices, he had saved around 300,000 ryō.
In Konoha Village, the prices of second-hand homes and new houses were almost the same.