A Harvest for Every Seed

The system turned mute again at this moment.

"Get the hell out here, you piece of junk. Why should I have to start over because of your mistake? Give me an explanation now!" This system was truly beyond words. Since it was so underhanded, Hyuga Matsuba wouldn't bother being reasonable either.

A year had passed, and Hyuga Matsuba had thoroughly figured out this system. Not only did it sometimes go silent, but it was fundamentally a heartless killer. Playing the emotional card probably wouldn't work either.

So this time, Hyuga Matsuba planned to take the opportunity to squeeze the system for all it was worth.

[Fair point. System compensation package has been delivered to your backpack: 100,000 Exchange Points, one Lottery chance. Please check and accept.]

Hyuga Matsuba was quite satisfied with this result and stopped picking a fight. A person should at least know when to be content. Getting these things was decent—better than getting nothing at all.

"Let's do it again!"

The prizes on the wheel were still the same. The pointer spun once more, and soon the result came out—but it was disappointing. The needle stopped on Gate of Babylon.

A key appeared. Hyuga Matsuba had no choice but to accept it. He knew in his heart that this thing was completely useless. Sure enough, when he opened it, it was empty inside—nothing but air.

"This piece of junk is at best a storage box." Hyuga Matsuba was disheartened.

"It's fine, it's fine. Maybe it'll come in handy someday."

Hyuga Matsuba comforted himself, then suddenly remembered the system had also given him one free chance. Might as well use it all at once.

The items on the wheel refreshed again. This time there were six: Dojutsu: Tsukuyomi, Ultimate Taijutsu: Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, Swordsman-level Swordsmanship, Impure World Reincarnation, Dojutsu: Yomotsu Hirasaka, and Zanpakuto: Senbonzakura.

This result was a win-win. Even drawing the worst option—Swordsmanship—would still be a decent gain for Hyuga Matsuba.

He quickly entered the Lottery. This time, the pointer stopped on Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.

As the result appeared, a beam of light shot out and entered Hyuga Matsuba's mind. The basic method had been acquired.

But this technique couldn't be activated by Hyuga Matsuba in his current state. The activation requirements were too high—he couldn't meet them yet.

The Lottery session was over. Hyuga Matsuba returned to his backpack and began checking the compensation package he'd just received.

Once bitten, twice shy. When opening the package, Hyuga Matsuba had learned to close his eyes to avoid the light hurting them.

The light faded quickly, revealing three rewards: Injection Agent, Armament Haki, and a Box of Beef Cans.

That box of beef cans was just one meal's worth. He already had a basic understanding of Armament Haki. As for the Injection Agent—

Super Serum (Upgraded Enhanced Version): Improves physical fitness. No side effects.

The description was simple and clear, but he already understood what this thing was for.

Hyuga Matsuba was a bit disappointed with this item. He'd thought it would be something impressive, but it seemed nothing special.

[System Prompt: This is the upgraded version. Below the Six Paths level, a tenfold increase in physical fitness is permissible.]

Hyuga Matsuba was thrilled. So it did have some use after all. That meant, setting everything else aside and looking purely at taijutsu, he could now match high-level Six Paths characters.

But nothing was certain yet. He'd better put the serum away for now.

His current physical foundation wasn't strong enough. Even a tenfold increase wouldn't be that much. It would be better to wait until he had more, then use this thing—it would be far more cost-effective.

Then Hyuga Matsuba entered the Shop. He still had 100,000 Exchange Points to spend. He bought Shadow Clone Jutsu and Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Together, these two cost 80,000 Exchange Points. Without the system's compensation, he definitely couldn't have afforded them.

"How can this be called a Shop? It's a total rip-off. Things are so expensive—who would buy them!" Hyuga Matsuba had serious complaints about this system.

After accepting Armament Haki, Hyuga Matsuba logged out. He didn't want to waste time learning anything else, so he just went straight to sleep.

He slept all the way until noon the next day. The sun was practically shining on his butt.

Hyuga Matsuba sat up in bed and checked the time. It was already late.

"Laziness really won't do. I need to be more diligent and train more."

In the past, even if he trained all day and came home to sleep, Hyuga Matsuba would still wake up early the next morning. But yesterday he hadn't done anything productive, and somehow he'd ended up waking this late.

After quickly washing up and getting out of bed, Hyuga Matsuba didn't feel like cooking. Conveniently, he'd received that box of beef cans yesterday—why not eat five or six as breakfast? At least this way he was maximizing resources. He had to finish that box before the expiration date anyway.

After a hearty meal, Hyuga Matsuba picked up his newly purchased Kunai and Shuriken, changed his clothes, and started heading toward the Training Ground.

To increase the intensity of his training, Hyuga Matsuba had specially tied weighted iron blocks to his legs today. He didn't know if this counted as self-punishment, but cranking up the difficulty was definitely fine.

The sunlight was blinding. Just stepping outside, Hyuga Matsuba couldn't even open his eyes for a moment. His face still looked lazy, like he hadn't woken up yet.

"Sigh, day after day, it's so exhausting. I really want a good rest."

"Hyuga Matsuba, since when did you get so lazy? Don't you want to become a strong ninja? Acting like this, you're just a dreamless salted fish. You don't deserve to talk about becoming a strong one anymore!"

Before Hyuga Matsuba could react, he realized a bunch of little brats from the Hyuga Clan had gathered in the yard, playing some stupid ninja game. Among them, Hyuga Gangjin spotted Hyuga Matsuba just getting up and looked down on him, walking over to urge him to train properly.

"Hey, I've noticed you're never home lately. Sometimes I want to find you to play games, but I can't!" Hyuga Gangjin's brain was probably made of steel too—all he thought about was playing those childish games.

"You actually want to play with him? My mom told me to stay away from Hyuga Matsuba. If he joins this game, I'm out!" a nearby kid objected strongly.

Hyuga Gangjin was a bit awkward, not knowing what to do. On one hand, this was his best playmate, but Hyuga Matsuba was his self-proclaimed little brother. He'd promised to protect Hyuga Matsuba before. If he abandoned his little brother now, he'd be failing as the big brother.

But on second thought, this little brother Hyuga Matsuba hadn't really contributed anything substantial. He was never home anyway, so there was no chance to hang out. After thinking it over, Hyuga Gangjin chose his group of playmates. He decided he'd play the big brother role when he had time later.

Hyuga Matsuba had long expected this outcome. Before transmigrating, he was already a mature twenty-six-year-old big kid. Why would he nitpick over such trivial matters? It was already Konoha Year 26.

The Second Shinobi World War was coming soon. It would happen in Konoha Year 32—six years from now.

By then, Hyuga Matsuba would still be a greenhorn fresh out of the Ninja Academy. But if wartime demanded it, people like him would have to go to the battlefield. For rookies like them, actually stepping onto the battlefield—survival wasn't guaranteed.

Hyuga Matsuba's top priority now was to raise his level and abilities as fast as possible. The battlefield was nothing like peacetime. Even someone at Elite Jonin level might only be able to protect themselves. When war broke out, who knew what the outcome would be?

Only Kage-level strength could control the result of a war. So Hyuga Matsuba's current goal was to reach Kage-level as early as possible. That way, when the Second Shinobi World War began, he could actually make a difference.

By then, he would only be ten years old. Reaching Kage-level at ten sounded like a fantasy, but if he actually achieved this goal, it wasn't impossible. Back in the day, Uchiha Itachi had reached Kage-level around the same age, which had caused quite a stir at the time.

Now, with the system backing him, born with a Sage Body, plus his extraordinary talent—all things considered, Hyuga Matsuba had a strong chance of achieving his goal by age ten. Right now, Hyuga Matsuba was full of confidence in his future.