Breathing

Breathing for experience isn't easy, because breathing is a passive process, so now Hyuga Ningyuan has to consciously control his breathing every single moment.

The moment he forgets for even an instant, the timer resets to zero.

Unfortunately, his mind is extremely active, and he easily gets distracted.

Fortunately, for every minute he consciously controls his breathing, he earns 1 point of experience and 1 point of general experience.

Three minutes after listing breathing in his skill panel, he had gained 3 experience points and 3 general experience points. His breathing was now Level 1 (3/10).

General Experience Points: 8

Hyuga Ningyuan added all his general experience to breathing.

The next instant, a flash of light, and his breathing level had been raised to Level 2!

Breathing LV2 (0/100)

General Experience Points: 1.

"Hoo, ha!" With the level-up in breathing, Hyuga Ningyuan immediately felt the change.

His breathing rhythm had slowed down a little and become a bit longer.

Originally, he breathed 27 times a minute; now he breathed only 25 times a minute!

Moreover, each breath now earned him 2 experience points and 1 general experience point!

"The higher the skill level, the more experience I get per action? Or has the quality of my breathing improved?" Hyuga Ningyuan thought it over and decided it was the latter.

Otherwise, there was no reason a math grandmaster solving elementary school math problems would get 10 experience points.

That just didn't make sense.

"It's a pity that general experience is still 1 point. 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, that's a total of 1440 general experience points!" Hyuga Ningyuan calculated. This income was high in the early stages but would be low later on. Given this growth rate, leveling a skill to LV3 might require 1000 experience points, and by then, general experience would just be a drop in the bucket.

So, general experience could be used to upgrade other skills early on, but later, if he wanted to specifically level up a particular skill, he would have to specialize in that skill.

34 minutes later, Breathing LV2 (68/100), General Experience Points 34.

After breathing reached Level 2, actively controlling his breath became much easier. He barely got distracted and didn't miss any experience.

34 experience points. He continued upgrading breathing.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools.

And breathing had considerable potential; upgrading this skill wasn't a waste.

"Ding, your Breathing has been raised to LV3."

"Hoo, ha!"

Hyuga Ningyuan felt his breathing become much longer and smoother, his rhythm more fluid. His breaths per minute had dropped to 20!

Because the breathing level had increased so quickly, his previous memory was still fresh, giving him the strange feeling that he had lived all these years without knowing how to breathe correctly!

A slower breathing rhythm didn't mean he was inhaling less air each time.

On the contrary, he could take in a large volume of air in one breath and maximize the utilization of its oxygen.

In other words, consumption was lower, efficiency was higher, and unnecessary life expenditure was reduced!

Notably, leveling breathing to LV3 required 500 experience points, not 1000!

[Name: Hyuga Ningyuan (Ningyuan) Gender: Male Age: 5 Skills: Sleep LV1 (8/100) Diet LV1 (1/100) Marching LV1 (1/100) Chakra Extraction LV1 (1/100) Internal Force Extraction LV1 (7/100) Magic Meditation LV1 (1/100) True Qi Cultivation LV1 (1/100) Water Drainage LV1 (1/100) Learning LV1 (5/100) Painting LV1 (1/10) Mathematics LV1 (2/10) Breathing LV3 (0/500) Talent: Path Creator Active activation: Enter Brain Overclocking state]

[General Experience Points: 1]

"Finally, this panel is starting to fill out!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded with satisfaction. It looked much more pleasing to the eye now.

The school bell rang, and the entire class erupted into a frenzy.

Teruhi Sōun smiled, announced the end of class, and left with his books in hand.

Lunch break at the Ninja Academy was short—only an hour and a half. Half an hour for eating, and the remaining hour for a quick nap.

Many students pulled out their bento boxes and started eating right away, while others grabbed theirs to head to the rooftop, the training grounds, or a secluded spot in the woods.

Yūhi Kurenai also took out her bento box, and then it hit her—Hyuga Ningyuan had already finished his bento back during the first period break!

She was hungry too, but thinking about a classmate who had nothing to eat...

"Um, do you want some of my bento?" Yūhi Kurenai asked quietly.

"No need!" Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head. Right now, they were in a growth spurt—if she was hungry, wouldn't the other person be hungry too?

"I'll figure something out on the street!"

"The street?" Yūhi Kurenai blinked. "Did you bring money?"

"No, but I have a way!" Hyuga Ningyuan waved his hand and slipped out of the classroom in a flash.

"This..." Yūhi Kurenai worried about his situation. After a moment's thought, she divided her bento into thirds.

I'll eat two-thirds. If Hyuga finds food, I'll eat the rest later. If he doesn't, this portion is for him!

The Ninja Academy allowed students to go out not only during lunch but even during class hours.

Otherwise, how would the troublemakers skip class?

Outside the Ninja Academy, three roads branched off. One led to the residential areas of clans like the Uchiha, Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Shimura. Another led to the commercial district. The third led to the nearby Hokage Building.

In fact, the Hokage Building was only a few dozen meters from the academy—visible with a single glance upward.

For Hyuga Ningyuan, finding food was simple. He could just head to the Hokage Building, where Hyuga Branch Family members were always on duty. Borrowing some money would be easy.

But he didn't like owing favors, so he went to the commercial district instead.

Although Konoha was comparable in size to a county-level city, its commercial atmosphere was weak. The commercial district was even smaller than the market towns of Ningyuan's past life.

"Yamanaka Flower Shop, Nara Pharmacy, Akimichi Barbecue, Fujikawa Grain Store, Tenten Weapon Shop... So Tenten's name actually comes from her family's weapon shop!" Hyuga Ningyuan mused. He found the name quite clever—Tenten Weapon Shop, meaning customers come every day?

As he walked, Hyuga Ningyuan suddenly noticed a shop in the distance that seemed newly opened.

But business didn't look good. The owner stood at the entrance, shouting to attract customers, but few went in.

He looked at the sign: Ichiraku Ramen!

"Ichiraku Ramen opened this early?" Hyuga Ningyuan's eyes lit up. Wasn't this the perfect place to eat?

He jogged over. Teuchi, spotting Hyuga Ningyuan heading straight for his shop from afar, quickly called out, "Little one, want to try my ramen? Secret recipe! New store opening—I'll give you a discount!"

Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head. "I have no money!"

"Ah?" Teuchi was taken aback, then quickly added, "No money's fine! Come help me taste-test it. If it's good, you can bring your parents next time!"

No wonder he was the only one in the village who didn't discriminate against Naruto. If Hyuga Ningyuan had a thicker skin, he might have gotten a free meal here.

But he didn't like owing favors, so he shook his head again. "I won't eat for free. How about this—I'll help you greet customers for half an hour, and you treat me to a bowl of ramen?"

"Uh, sure, but do you know how to greet customers?" Teuchi asked. He wasn't doubting the Hyuga Clan's abilities—he had just moved here and didn't recognize them. He just thought a five-year-old kid probably couldn't handle it.

"Leave it to me!" Hyuga Ningyuan grabbed the towel off Teuchi's shoulder and asked, "By the way, boss, what's your name?"

"Uh, Teuchi!" Teuchi replied.

"Got it!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded, then began waving the towel and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Teuchi's family secret! Ichiraku Ramen! Second in Konoha, third in the world!"

Teuchi nearly choked on his own spit. Second in Konoha? Wait...

Wasn't his the only ramen shop in the whole village?

As for "third in the world"...

"Little one, my ramen can't possibly be third in the world!"

"Teuchi's family secret! Ichiraku Ramen! Second in Konoha, fourth in the world!"

Fine, shout whatever you want, Teuchi thought. He felt he had no control over this kid.

But what really got him was that he actually saw people being drawn in by the kid's voice!!

"Kid, you say this ramen shop is second in Konoha and third in the world?" The speaker was a ninja with a sunny expression, looking like a warm-hearted guy.

"Yeah!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded.

"Who rated it second in Konoha and third in the world?" the ninja asked curiously.

"I did!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded seriously. "My mom's first, he's second!"

The ninja was speechless. Good grief, why was he arguing with a kid?

But since he was here, he might as well give it a try. If a kid said it was good, kids' tastes probably weren't lying.

And...

Those eyes—was this kid from the Hyuga Clan?

Sorry, I messed up the schedule update and set the original Chapter 13 to the next day by mistake.