No Pain, No Gain

The system went mute again.

"Get the hell out here! Why should I have to do it again because of your mistake? Give me an explanation!" This system was truly beyond words. Since it was so devious, Hyuga Matsuba saw no reason to be reasonable with it.

After a year, Hyuga Matsuba had figured this system out thoroughly. Not only did it sometimes go mute, but it was practically an emotionless killer. Trying to play the sympathy card probably would not work.

So this time, Hyuga Matsuba planned to take this chance to extort the system properly.

Reasonable. A compensation gift pack has been sent to the backpack: 100,000 Exchange Points and one Lottery chance. Please check it.

Hyuga Matsuba was quite satisfied with that result and stopped looking for trouble. At the very least, he knew when to be content. This was not bad at all—certainly better than getting nothing.

"Let's do it again!"

The prizes on the wheel were still the same. The pointer spun once more, and the result came quickly. This time, however, it was far from ideal. The needle stopped on the Gate of Babylon.

A key appeared, and Hyuga Matsuba had no choice but to accept it. He already knew this thing was useless. Sure enough, when he opened it, there was nothing inside—just air.

"This piece of junk is nothing more than a storage box at best." Hyuga Matsuba was thoroughly discouraged.

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

Hyuga Matsuba comforted himself, then suddenly remembered that the system had also given him another chance. He might as well use it all at once.

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

This result was truly a cause for celebration. Even getting the worst option, the swordsmanship, would be no small gain for Hyuga Matsuba.

He quickly started the draw, and 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. He had acquired its basic method.

However, Hyuga Matsuba could not activate this move yet. Its requirements were too high for him to meet at present.

The lottery was over, and Hyuga Matsuba returned to the backpack to collect the compensation gift pack.

Once bitten, twice shy. When opening the gift pack, Hyuga Matsuba had learned to close his eyes to keep the light from hurting them.

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

That box of beef cans was only enough for one meal. He already had a basic understanding of Armament Haki, leaving only the Injection Agent.

Super Serum (Upgraded Version): Increases physical fitness with no side effects.

The description was brief and clear, but he already understood what it did.

Hyuga Matsuba was somewhat disappointed. He had thought it would be something powerful, but apparently, it was nothing special.

System prompt: This is an upgraded version. Below the Six Paths realm, increasing physical fitness by tenfold is permitted.

Hyuga Matsuba was delighted. It seemed this thing was still useful. That meant that, without considering anything else, just in terms of taijutsu, he could now stand on equal footing with powerful figures of the Six Paths realm.

Still, nothing was certain yet, so he decided to put the serum away for now.

His current physical foundation was not strong enough. Even multiplied by ten, it would not amount to much. It would be better to wait until he had built it up further before using it. That would make it far more worthwhile.

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

The two cost a total of 80,000 Exchange Points. Without the system's compensation, there was no way he could have afforded them.

"How can this be called a Shop? It's practically a black market! Everything is so expensive—who would buy any of this?" Hyuga Matsuba had plenty of complaints about the system.

After accepting the Armament Haki, Hyuga Matsuba left. He did not want to spend more time studying, so he went straight to sleep.

He slept until noon the next day. The sun was already shining on his backside.

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

"Sure enough, laziness is unacceptable. I need to be more diligent and train harder."

In the past, even if he trained all day and went home to sleep afterward, Hyuga Matsuba would still wake up early the next morning. He had done nothing useful yesterday, yet he had somehow slept so late.

After quickly washing up and getting dressed, Hyuga Matsuba could not be bothered to cook. He had received a box of beef cans yesterday, so he might as well eat five or six for breakfast. That would count as making the most of his resources. He needed to finish that box of cans before they expired.

After eating his fill, Hyuga Matsuba picked up his newly bought kunai and shuriken, changed clothes, and headed for the Training Ground.

To increase the intensity of his training, Hyuga Matsuba had specially tied custom iron weights to his legs today. He did not know whether that counted as punishing himself, but increasing the intensity a little was no problem.

The sunlight was dazzling. The moment he stepped outside, Hyuga Matsuba could not open his eyes. His face still looked sleepy, as though he had not fully woken up.

"Ah, every day is so exhausting. I really want to rest properly for once."

"Hyuga Matsuba, when did you become so lazy? Do you still want to become a powerful ninja? Acting like this makes you a dreamless salted fish. You don't deserve to talk about becoming strong anymore!"

Before Hyuga Matsuba could react, he realized that a group of little brats from the Hyuga Clan had gathered in the courtyard, playing some idiotic ninja game. Hyuga Gangjin spotted the freshly awakened Hyuga Matsuba, looked down on him, and came over to urge him to train properly.

"Hey, why have I noticed that you're never home lately? Sometimes I want to play games with you, but I can never find you!" Hyuga Gangjin probably had steel bars in his brain too, since all he thought about was playing those idiotic children's 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 quitting!" one of the children nearby objected.

Hyuga Gangjin was a little embarrassed and did not know what to do. On one side were his close playmates, while Hyuga Matsuba was the little brother he had acknowledged. He had promised to protect Hyuga Matsuba before. If he abandoned his little brother now, then he would be failing as a big brother.

But on second thought, Hyuga Matsuba had not made any real contribution to him. He was usually not home either, leaving them with hardly any chances to play together. After thinking it over, Hyuga Gangjin chose his group of playmates. He decided he could be the big brother another time.

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

The Second Shinobi World War was coming soon. It would break out in Konoha Year 32, only six years from now.

By then, Hyuga Matsuba would still be a rookie who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. But if wartime demands required it, their group would have to go to the battlefield. For rookies like them, if they truly went to war, there was no telling whether they would even survive.

Hyuga Matsuba's top priority now was to improve his strength and abilities as quickly as possible. The battlefield was nothing like ordinary times. Even someone with Elite Jonin strength might only be able to protect themselves, and once war began, no one knew what the outcome would be.

Only Kage-level strength could control the outcome of a war. Therefore, Hyuga Matsuba's current goal was to reach the Kage level as soon as possible, so he could be useful when the Second Shinobi World War began.

By then, he would only be ten years old. Reaching Kage level at ten sounded like a fantasy, but it was not impossible if he truly achieved that goal. Back then, Uchiha Itachi had reached the Kage level at around the same age, causing considerable discussion at the time.

Now, Hyuga Matsuba had the system's support. He had been born with a Sage Body, and on top of that, he possessed talent beyond ordinary people. All things considered, there was a very good chance that he could achieve his goal by the age of ten. Hyuga Matsuba was now full of confidence in his future.