Yūhi Shinku Recommends Ningyuan

Since martial arts can't be done without weapons.

Although Hyuga Ningyuan knew that most people in the ninja world used kunai, the concepts he drew from when creating his techniques came from his past life.

So the weapons involved in the Phoenix Genealogy Chart taijutsu were mostly weapons from his past life.

Spear, staff, sword, Tang Dao, bow!

The spear and bow still needed to be bought, the sword and Tang Dao needed to be specially made, but the staff was simple—just find a smooth tree branch and start training.

Konoha had plenty of forests both inside and outside the village. Hyuga Ningyuan took a kitchen knife out, then came back carrying a decent tree.

The reason he said it was decent was because this type of wood was not only hard but also offered no obstruction to Byakugan vision.

In other words, if this wood were made into blades, opening the Byakugan would reveal nothing. Even if someone spied on him during training, they wouldn't see what he was holding.

With a little care in his technique, practicing spear and sword would just look like messing around.

This tree was as thick as a bowl. After splitting it, he could make not only several staffs but also a spear shaft, a wooden Tang Dao, and a wooden longsword.

There was a clever fork at the top of the tree, so Hyuga Ningyuan also made a slingshot.

By noon, several new skills had appeared on the System Panel.

[Woodworking Level 3 (30/500)]

[Zhi Ge Spear Technique Level 1 (10/100)]

[Yuan Chuang Staff Technique Level 1 (10/100)]

[Cheng Hui Sword Technique Level 1 (10/100)]

[Zhi Ge Saber Technique Level 1 (10/100)]

[Projection Level 1 (10/100)]

Zhi Ge and Yuan Chuang were both Bilibili Martial Arts Uploaders, and Cheng Hui was the Sword Saint Yu Chenghui. Hyuga Ningyuan practiced the saber and sword techniques by following their videos.

Projection was a fusion of two skills: throwing spears and shooting with a slingshot. From now on, whether he threw flying knives, stones, spears by hand, or used a bow, slingshot, or sling to launch projectiles, it all fell under this skill.

But—

"Why do I get 10 experience points each time I practice the spear technique? Isn't this a Black Skill?" Hyuga Ningyuan asked.

[You possess the Phoenix Genealogy Chart at Level 5. All martial arts within the Phoenix Genealogy Chart system gain a significant boost in experience point acquisition!]

Hyuga Ningyuan nodded. That made sense.

It's not like I'm a Martial Arts Grandmaster and still only getting one experience point per sword practice!

"Whoosh!" Hyuga Ningyuan tried [Cheng Hui Sword Technique] again. This time, the experience points increased by 90 directly, and [Cheng Hui Sword Technique] shot straight to Level 2!

A portion of content that wasn't part of Cheng Hui Sword Technique instantly appeared in his mind, but in terms of the moves' simplicity and sharpness, it was very scientific and reasonable.

[Ding, the Mirror Water trait has been triggered. You have perceived the core philosophy of the sword path, greatly increasing experience.]

"Mirror Water?" Hyuga Ningyuan was stunned and looked at this trait.

The Mirror Water trait did have a description of Heart Like a Mirror, Perceive All Things.

But Hyuga Ningyuan really thought it was just a description—he never expected it to be an actual function!

But thinking about it, it made sense.

I'm already smart, and with this Level 5 Arcane Brush Palace, my insight naturally improves by a huge margin.

It's only normal to occasionally gain some enlightenment while practicing the sword!

While he was frantically practicing sword and spear to grind experience, Yūhi Shinku had also finished his work.

He belonged to the Konoha Jonin Squad. Logically, even if he didn't lead a team, he should still be out on missions.

But who could blame the Yūhi Clan for being staunch supporters of the Sarutobi Clan?

He had connections above him, so naturally, he didn't need to take on those tough, low-paying missions.

He worked at the Konoha Mission Reception, responsible for receiving people who came to Konoha to post missions, setting mission amounts, and grading the missions posted.

This job was also hard, but at least it didn't involve facing life and death.

After finishing the morning's work, Yūhi Shinku had an hour and a half of rest time for lunch and a nap.

He used this time to head to the Hokage's Office, where he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just finished eating and was wiping his mouth.

"Yūhi Shinku, you haven't been here for a few days. I heard your daughter has already entered the Ninja Academy. How's she doing in school?" Seeing it wasn't work hours, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Yūhi Shinku was here for personal matters.

He waved his hand, signaling Yūhi Shinku to close the door. If they were going to talk about backdoor dealings, it was best to do it behind closed doors.

"School just started, so it's hard to tell yet!" Yūhi Shinku laughed. "But there's a Hatake Kakashi in this class. Under his brilliance, the other kids seem a bit dim."

"Kakashi, huh. He really is a rare genius!" Thinking of Kakashi's performance, Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt a bit emotional.

At least since the Ninja Academy was founded, he had never seen a student who could compare to Kakashi.

Not even Orochimaru or Minato started making their mark at age five.

Thinking of Hatake Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but think of his equally impressive father. He wasn't a trained professional, nor did he have a good master, yet he managed to surpass the Sannin and become Konoha's top jonin.

Coupled with his equally sunny personality, everyone who worked with him spoke highly of him, to the point where he was now getting hard to control.

I've only been in office a few years—can't just hand it over to him, right!

Ah, forget it. No point dwelling on that.

"By the way, you came to see me—is there something on your mind?" Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe and took a puff.

"Well, it's like this. Yūhi Kurenai has found herself a little boyfriend at the Academy."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough." Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly choked, barely catching his breath. Luckily, he was the Hokage, so he didn't actually keel over.

"If I recall correctly, Yūhi Kurenai is only five years old!" Hiruzen Sarutobi blinked and asked.

Kids these days—so open-minded? Falling in love at five?

"Kurenai probably doesn't understand what love is yet, so it was that child who took the initiative. But she doesn't dislike him either. If nothing unexpected happens, they'll end up together down the road!" As Yūhi Shinku spoke of Hyuga Ningyuan, an involuntary smile crept across his face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe clean. He was a shrewd man himself and could easily read Yūhi Shinku's expression.

"Looks like you're quite pleased with that kid?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

"Yes. That child has a steady temperament, he's very sharp, and he's a genius to boot!" Yūhi Shinku replied.

"A genius?" Hiruzen Sarutobi blinked. "What's his name? Don't tell me it's Kakashi!"

Wasn't Kakashi the only genius in the Ninja Academy right now?

"Not at all!" Yūhi Shinku laughed. "His name is Hyuga Ningyuan!"

"Hyuga Ningyuan." Hiruzen Sarutobi instantly recalled the boy's information.

Hyuga Branch Family, mother Hyuga Mie—a former Chunin of the Hyuga Clan—father Hyuga Yuuki, an active Chunin.

Though born into a prestigious clan, his parents were hardly renowned ninja.

"He hasn't learned the Eight Trigrams Palms yet, has he?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

He kept tabs on everything that happened at the Academy each day, including which prodigies emerged.

If memory served, Kakashi had once challenged Hyuga Ningyuan, but Hyuga Ningyuan had voluntarily conceded?

Without even learning the Eight Trigrams Palms and throwing in the towel like that, where did this "genius" reputation come from?