System Principle Permanent Skill

# Chapter 12: System Principles · Passive Skills

"You and Asuma didn't get put in the same squad?" Turning his head, Hyuga Ningyuan asked curiously.

Weren't they childhood sweethearts? Shouldn't that be a clear advantage? Anyway, squad assignments were just a single word from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"I don't know!" Yūhi Kurenai thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Aren't squads assigned randomly?"

"Alright, looks like he just had bad luck then!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded, but inside he didn't believe it for a second. Random? Random my ass!

Hiruzen Sarutobi also said squads were assigned randomly based on grades, but then all six core members of the major clans ended up with his own son and daughter-in-law?

Probably because Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know about his son's feelings, right?

"Alright, class begins!" The second period was math. Hyuga Ningyuan didn't need to attend as usual, but Yūhi Kurenai still had to listen carefully.

"Class is a complete waste of time. And I listened for a whole period last time without even triggering a skill." Hyuga Ningyuan looked at the blank System Panel, feeling that attending class was purely a waste of time.

So, was it because I already knew everything taught in class that it didn't give me a skill?

What if I tried something I didn't know before?

Hyuga Ningyuan flipped open the math textbook and found a figure in it.

His name was Jingxiu, a mathematician from the Land of Lightning who had discovered the shinobi world's version of pi. In the textbook, he only had a portrait—a thin, gaunt young man.

Pulling out his pen, Hyuga Ningyuan began extending his neck, then his body.

Naturally, it had to be all muscle—eight-pack abs, arms and thighs bulging with muscle.

A man from the Land of Lightning? That's just how they are.

At least, that's how the Third Raikage looked in his memory.

His drawing skills were far from good. Since he'd never studied professionally, the image in his mind was the David Sculpture, but what came out on paper looked like Jerry from Rick and Morty.

Still, after half an hour of effort, he finally finished it!

[Ding! You have completed a Painting Activity. Painting Experience +1, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (1/10)]

"It works!" Hyuga Ningyuan's eyes lit up. He felt like he was grasping the pattern for grinding experience.

This time, instead of drawing, Hyuga Ningyuan started working on the post-lesson problems.

The textbook was thick, with many chapters and naturally plenty of exercises. But since these were first-grade problems, there were still ten minutes until class ended. Hyuga Ningyuan finished all the problems in five minutes!

[Ding! You have completed a Math Activity. Math Experience +1, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (1/10)]

"So it's not because I already knew the material, but because I did it myself! I have to personally perform an activity to gain experience!"

Hyuga Ningyuan had completed a controlled experiment. He couldn't draw, but he could do math. Both activities gave him experience and unlocked the experience bar.

So the main reason for gaining experience wasn't learning unfamiliar knowledge, but voluntarily engaging in an activity.

I wonder if willingness matters?

It probably does. Because I've always resisted attending class and studying, I never triggered a learning keyword?

Another class ended, and Hyuga Ningyuan made a trip to the restroom. He went voluntarily, with strong intent, and sure enough, he heard the system's ding again.

[Ding! You have completed a Peeing Activity. Peeing Experience +1, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (1/100)]

"That works too?!" Hyuga Ningyuan was shocked. So what does Peeing Experience improve? Pee farther? Or can the trajectory curve?

Hyuga Ningyuan thought of the movie Tough Guy Birth Story, where the protagonist's single stream of urine could extinguish the sun. Was it something like that?

Third period. Teruhi Sōun entered the classroom and said, "This period is Ninja Knowledge Class. Take out your Ninja Knowledge textbooks."

Even though he didn't like school, he was an adult after all. Hyuga Ningyuan adjusted his mindset quickly, immediately focusing and listening attentively.

Even though he'd read the textbook, a teacher's lecture was still somewhat different. They would interject personal cultivation insights, life experiences, and battlefield knowledge to explain a point, occasionally telling students stories from the Warring States period.

He couldn't tell if they were made up or real.

But Teruhi Sōun was only twenty years old, and Hyuga Ningyuan had encountered no shortage of top-tier teachers, expert professors, and even Nobel laureates (on short videos) in his past life.

In his opinion, Teruhi Sōun's teaching level wasn't high—just entry-level. He could convey the knowledge points to students and slightly stir their enthusiasm for class, but that was about it.

Still, Hyuga Ningyuan was here to grind skills, so he didn't care about that.

He listened attentively for forty minutes. When class ended, he heard the crisp notification he'd been waiting for.

[You have completed a Learning Activity. Learning Experience +5, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (5/100)]

"Learning!" Hyuga Ningyuan's eyes lit up. It actually triggered!

So the method to unlock the panel wasn't difficult. As long as you voluntarily, spontaneously, and willingly performed an activity—even eating or sleeping—you could grind experience!

If this skill levels up, could it improve learning speed and efficiency?

And the method to level this skill—was it only through attending lectures, or did self-study count too?

"Right!" Hyuga Ningyuan looked at the skill list and noticed something else.

He saw that most skills in the list required 100 experience points to level up, but Painting and Math only needed 10!

Why was that? Was it because their current level was too low, so the upgrade requirement was also lower?

"Attending class can level up my study rank, but it's a complete waste of time—forty minutes for just five experience points, far worse than math's five minutes for one point. But I've already finished my math book!"

After a moment's thought, he decided to erase all the answers during the break.

Luckily, they were written in pencil, easy to wipe off.

When class started again, Hyuga Ningyuan began from scratch and did it all over.

[Ding, you have completed one Math Activity. Math Experience +1, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (2/10)]

"Holy shit!" Hyuga Ningyuan's eyes lit up. That works too!

Right—this system only cares whether you've completed an activity, not what level that activity is or whether you've already mastered it. It doesn't give a damn!

That meant he could become a great mathematician by solving elementary school math problems, master Little Li's Flying Dagger by tossing erasers, and learn to walk without a trace on snow just by strolling around!

Of course, Hyuga Ningyuan wouldn't actually do that—after all, solving one elementary math problem only gave one point of experience, and as his level increased, the required experience would surely grow.

One point at a time? That would take until the Year of the Monkey and the Month of the Horse!

Hyuga Ningyuan let out a long breath. Now he basically understood how his system worked, and he'd also figured out the most efficient way to maximize its benefits!

"Inhale, exhale!"

"Inhale, exhale!"

"Inhale, exhale!"

A minute later, a crisp chime sounded.

[Ding, you have completed one Breathing Activity. Breathing Experience +1, General Experience +1. Current Level: LV1 (1/10)]

Hyuga Ningyuan had found an activity that could be performed twenty-four hours a day, drew no attention, and efficiently farmed both experience and general experience.

Breathing.