Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

In the following months, Haruno Sakura, apart from her usual arrangements, visited Mushroom Grandpa's shiitake house to care for the mushrooms and incidentally study the spore.

Thus, Sakura didn't change jobs during these days.

Regarding the spore, Sakura carried out various research, and she indeed found some uses for it—after continuously infusing chakra into it, the spore had perfectly adapted to Sakura's chakra, and could even transform into various things according to her thoughts.

It was extremely malleable!

The only issue was that the consciousness within the spore seemed to have been messed up by Sakura, leaving behind a mass of pure spiritual energy, but that wasn't without its benefits.

As a result, the spore essentially became an external brain for Sakura; whenever she got a hold of it, her logical thinking and computational abilities could be greatly enhanced.

That feeling was like controlling everything!

Fortunately, Sakura could activate or deactivate it at will, otherwise she feared she might get lost in such sensations.

The only downside was that it consumed more energy.

However, Sakura had also found a way to make a lot of money—that was by understanding the process of cultivating shiitake mushrooms during those months of work.

And this magical spore could help her cultivate mushrooms and select nutrient-rich varieties.

Edible ones...

Inedible ones...

Decorative ones...

As long as she could find the right strains, with this spore, Haruno Sakura could select the fungal varieties she needed.

Therefore, after the school term ended, Sakura left her job of looking after the mushrooms with Mushroom Grandpa, used the money she earned to rent a shop in the village, and named it "Mushroom House."

The space inside the shop wasn't big, just over thirty square meters, and Sakura had already filled the surroundings with various transparent fiberglass, filled with water, and soft woods on top, on which various kinds of mushrooms were growing.

Shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and so on.

There were even Lingzhi!

However, Lingzhi, a type of fungis that could be used in medicine, was cut, cultured by Sakura, and turned into bonsais, which could be sold for about a thousand or so per pot.

This type of Lingzhi bonsai was very popular with nobles and merchants visiting Konoha from the Land of Fire, and she could sell about twenty or so pots a day, making twenty thousand or so.

And the cost?

Apart from water and electricity, wood, and a monthly rent of five thousand, it was almost nil.

A huge profit indeed!

"If making money is so easy, why do ninjas have to be restricted by the feudal lords?" Sakura pondered this question and had some answers.

Because the Ninja Academy didn't teach students how to make money, students only knew to become ninjas, but didn't realize that most genin, chūnin, and even a small portion of jōnin, the money they earned from missions, aside from expenses on ninja tools, was just enough to sustain themselves.

The cost of living in Konoha was rising every day, yet the wages for ninjas and the earnings from civilian jobs were rising very slowly.

According to customers coming and going, the cost of living in the Land of Fire was also rising rapidly—everyone had the feeling that no matter the era, people were always very busy, as if they couldn't survive without being busy.

Haruno Sakura wasn't sure of the specific reasons, but she knew that there must be some problem behind this continuous rise in prices.

"Master, what do you think?"

"Wait until you graduate and experience missions outside the village, and perhaps you will truly understand," Sun Wukong's gentle voice rose in her heart. "For now, you just need to enjoy the carefree childhood of the Ninja Academy without neglecting your own training."

"Master, I've already grown up," Sakura said a bit dissatisfied.

"Growing up physically isn't the same as truly maturing, your thoughts are still far from mature," Sun Wukong laughed. "When you've truly grown up, you might miss the carefree days of childhood."

"I don't think so," Sakura pouted, manipulating the spore to secrete beneficial substances for the various fungi in the shop, helping them grow strong and healthy.

Zetsu's spore could be said to have spawned new tricks in Sakura's hands, not only as a weapon but also absorbing moisture from the air, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and initiating a sort of photosynthesis-like function, synthesizing a mix similar to starch and protein.

It was equivalent to liquid fruit.

Haruno Sakura estimated that, given the miraculous nature of Zetsu Seeds, just by allowing it to record the cell patterns of various fruits, she could synthesize them.

If there were more of these spores, everyone wouldn't need to toil over growing food.

The Great Ninja War.

Sakura had seen it mentioned in history books outside of class and felt that the fundamental reason wasn't it because other ninja villages envied the fertile land of the Land of Fire and Konoha?

Wasn't it because other ninja villages lacked resources?

If everyone could have the same resources, wouldn't that solve the problem of war?

"Master, what do you think?" Sakura asked. "Maybe, next time, when those two guys sneak into Konoha again, I need to take the initiative to strike and take all the spores from them, and even make them divulge the method of producing spores."

While Zetsu spores do contain the corresponding cell structure, they are incapable of autonomous division into entirely new organisms and spores, as if some kind of informational stimulus is necessary.

If there were precise scientific research equipment, Sakura felt she could decipher the cellular structure of Zetsu, and then replicate it in large quantities, so that no one in the world would have to worry about food. Enjoy the s$tory by r+e*ad.in#g- on M!|V|$L&E+%MP@Y^R.#

However, Sun Wukong shook his head, "A higher civilization is not only materially abundant, but must also be enriched spiritually. Even if you satisfy everyone materially, you cannot satisfy their spirits. In the end, they might unify to destroy Zetsu Spores as well."

"How could that be?" Sakura couldn't believe it.

"How could it not be possible? Humanity is still in the stage of laboring for the basics of life. What if there was an item that allowed them to obtain material enjoyment by doing nothing? What would they do then?" Sun Wukong asked with a smile.

"Everyone would be very happy?" Sakura ventured.

"Perhaps at first, everyone would gladly accept, but after some time, they would become restless from idleness. Not everyone is a scientist, an artist, a philosopher. The majority would start to riot, venting their inner desires, hence causing destruction," Sun Wukong said indifferently.

"The value of humanity lies in labor!"

"Though everyone dreams of getting something for nothing, once they truly achieve 'getting something for nothing', it wouldn't be surprising for them to do something strange."

"After all, the average level of human consciousness has not reached the point where material needs can satisfy everything for them."

"Being half a step ahead is genius; one step ahead is madness."

"If Zetsu Spores could satisfy all human material needs, the lead wouldn't be just one step... For this world where the average standard of living in various regions is completely inconsistent (some areas already have steam trains, while some are still practicing slash-and-burn agriculture), Zetsu Spores would only be a disaster."

Sakura suddenly realized, "Is this the same principle my father talked about, that one must walk step by step, otherwise it's easy to pull a muscle?"

Sun Wukong said, "Hmm... Perhaps your father really did pull a muscle because he took too big a step, but as a metaphor for what I've just said, it's quite appropriate."

"In the future, if you want everyone to not lack material resources, you must at least teach everyone all the knowledge available from the Ninja Academy textbooks."

"Physics, chemistry, mathematics are the basics, and then comes art, philosophy, and the like."

"After all, the extent of one's knowledge is the foundation of future achievements, though it's not absolute, it generally holds true; and a spirited soul alone, that spirit will eventually burn out over the long course of time."

The Galaxy World.

With just a fragment of the True Spirit of the original, creating the initial stages of Taixu Illusory Realm, it was already possible to allow all of humanity on Earth to live without worrying about material needs.

Why not do so?

This is the reason.

The average level of thought has not reached a higher level.

The Ninja World is no different.

The people of the Ninja World, on average, are still at a very primitive stage of thinking.

Whether they are ninja or ordinary people, they are living just to stay alive. Even those with so-called dreams, the greatest among them, aspire to be nothing more than the Hokage.

No one ever thinks to become a lord.

Even though the lord has greater power, and the appointment of the Hokage requires an official document from the lord.

Unfortunately, few in the Ninja World have a clear understanding of the nature of society.

They just consume their time and lives in busyness, saying that this is their fate.

"I sort of understand but can't really imagine," Sakura said, frowning.

After learning these truths, the impact on Sakura was not profound since she hadn't truly come into contact with the lower classes of the Ninja World.

In Konoha, the people she could interact with, even those who worked hard every day, their skin tanned by the sun, ranked as wealthy compared to those in other Ninja villages.

"So, you haven't grown up yet," Sun Wukong said softly. "Cherish the time of your childhood. When you graduate, you will truly see the cruelty of the Ninja World."

After a moment of silence, Haruno Sakura said very earnestly, "Master, don't worry, I am very strong inside!"

"Keep moving forward and enjoy the scenery along the way," Sun Wukong said with a touch of lightness in his tone.

"Yes, I will!"

Haruno Sakura smiled. She had always enjoyed the scenery, and the friendships with Ino, Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, and others were what she cherished most.

"I want to buy mushrooms."

A customer walked into the shop, and it was an acquaintance of Sakura's.

"Kakashi-sensei!"