Kakashi's house.
Kakashi led Young Boruto to an empty room and said, "This will be your room."
"If there's nothing the matter, don't bother me. If there is something the matter, try even harder not to bother me."
Young Boruto nodded, pressed a hand to his forehead, and said, "I'll do my best."
Kakashi glanced at Young Boruto, turned around, and walked back to his own room.
Young Boruto slowly stepped out of the room, then gently sat down on the somewhat worn wooden floorboards.
Young Boruto tilted his head up slightly, fixing his gaze on the sky, and quietly fell into deep thought just like that.
Time slipped swiftly by.
Before he knew it, he had already been in this unfamiliar yet familiar world for many days.
Originally, he had set out for the Land of Wind to rescue the sealed Gaara.
However, just as he was executing the Flying Thunder God Technique, fate played a huge joke on him, inexplicably casting him down upon this land.
At first, Young Boruto had not felt overly panicked.
Relying on his own exquisite mastery of Space-Time Ninjutsu, he firmly believed he could smoothly find a way back to his original world.
And so, time and again, he attempted to activate Space-Time Ninjutsu, but every single effort ultimately ended in failure.
Not only that, even the summoning jutsu—which had never failed him before—had now lost its effect, as if some formidable power existed in this world that was deliberately blocking him.
As the days passed, Young Boruto began to realize the gravity of the situation.
If he could never find a way back, was he really going to be trapped here to spend the rest of his life?
To rely solely on his own strength would likely end in failure, but if he could obtain the assistance of the Hidden Leaf Village, perhaps his chances of success would increase considerably...
Deep down, he had no desire to interfere too much with the past events of this world, but the harsh reality of his predicament forced him to make some changes.
Since he couldn't return for the time being, he might as well use this time to explore here; perhaps he could even resolve certain stubborn problems at their root.
It was with this realization that he had come to the Hidden Leaf, purposefully allowing Uncle Kakashi to discover him—otherwise, given Uncle Kakashi's strength, it would have been impossible for him to be found.
Early the next morning, while the sky was still just turning pale, Young Boruto had already gotten up early and gone out to the courtyard to practice his swordsmanship.
He wielded the Kusanagi Sword with agile movements, every slash carrying a fierce momentum and precise angles.
At that moment, Kakashi had just woken up and was leaning lazily against a sturdy pillar, watching Young Boruto's hard training with keen interest.
After a while, Kakashi spoke up: "Working hard, aren't you?" His voice was moderate in volume, yet just loud enough for Young Boruto to hear.
Hearing Kakashi's voice, Young Boruto halted his movements, sheathed his long sword, smiled as he looked over at Kakashi, and replied:
"Good morning."
Kakashi gave a casual, perfunctory nod and returned: "Morning."
With that, he stopped speaking, maintaining his previous posture.
Seeing that Kakashi seemed to have no further instructions, Young Boruto took the initiative to ask:
"What are we going to do today?"
However, Kakashi did not answer Boruto's question immediately. Instead, tilting his head, he looked at Young Boruto with a hint of curiosity and asked:
"Have you eaten yet?"
This sudden question made Young Boruto pause slightly. He instinctively rubbed his stomach, then helplessly spread his hands and said:
"Not yet."
Kakashi immediately followed up with another question: "Then can you cook?"
Faced with this somewhat bizarre series of questions, Young Boruto rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, and replied: "Not really..."
Hearing this, Kakashi sighed softly, shook his head, and silently turned to walk toward the kitchen.
Seeing this, Young Boruto let out a chuckle and followed right behind him.
Young Boruto stood off to the side, staring unblinkingly at Kakashi as he busied himself in the kitchen.
Kakashi chopped vegetables and prepared the meal with practiced skill, his sequence of movements as natural and smooth as flowing water.
Young Boruto couldn't help but praise:
"Whoa, you really look like you know your way around a kitchen!"
Without even turning his head, Kakashi calmly replied: "If you've got nothing better to do, go wipe down the living room floor properly."
Hearing this, Young Boruto was slightly taken aback at first, then shook his head with a smile and teased:
"Haha, is this supposed to count as my rent payment to you?"
Kakashi stopped what he was doing, turned to look at Boruto, and replied with a completely calm expression:
"Don't get any wild ideas."
Young Boruto muttered to himself inwardly: "Heh, Uncle Kakashi is always like this. He talks tough, but he's actually kind-hearted—a classic case of a harsh tongue with a soft heart."
However, before he had time to voice his praise for Kakashi, Kakashi immediately threw out another remark that left him somewhat helpless.
Kakashi picked up a plate of steaming hot breakfast he had just finished making, walked over to Boruto, handed it to him, and still expressionlessly said:
"Doing just that tiny bit of cleaning—how could that possibly cover the rent?"
"Besides, this breakfast isn't free either."
Hearing this, Young Boruto's movements froze instantly, the hand he had extended toward the breakfast remaining suspended in mid-air.
Young Boruto stared straight at Kakashi in front of him, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
"You... you're not actually planning to charge me rent, are you?"
Instinctively patting his own empty pockets, Young Boruto added with a bitter expression, "I seriously don't have a single penny!"
Watching the somewhat disheveled young man before him, Kakashi's lips curled up in an imperceptible trace of a faint smile.
"Don't worry, there's always a way."
"Actually, I've already figured out a solution."
Pausing briefly, Kakashi looked at Young Boruto with calm, profound eyes and continued: "From now on, I'll be responsible for taking on commission jobs, and then I'll hand them over to you to actually execute."
"As for the reward money earned after completing the tasks, we'll split it on a nine-to-one ratio."
"That way, not only will your rent problem be solved, but even your daily meal expenses will be taken care of."
Upon hearing these words, a flash of pleasant surprise appeared on Young Boruto's face, but it was quickly replaced by awkwardness.
Scratching his head, Young Boruto looked slightly embarrassed as he spoke:
"How could I possibly do that? Why don't we do a seven-to-three split instead? That would be much fairer."
However, Kakashi merely shook his head faintly, replying with a firm tone:
"No way. I said I take ninety percent, and you only get ten percent."