Jueming issued a duel invitation.
"Huh?" Rin Nohara did not understand.
"Even medical ninjas need healthy bodies. After all, Medical Ninjutsu is Yang Attribute training."
Jueming nodded.
"Won't you come exchange some taijutsu insights with me?"
"Oh." Rin Nohara hesitated slightly before stepping forward.
"Then... Rin Nohara, I'm making my move!"
Jueming went straight up and struck her shoulder with his palm.
Rin Nohara staggered back several steps.
[Kidney Development +1]
The system displayed a notification.
Below Kidney Development +1 was a tiny line of text.
Limb Strength +1, Endurance +1.
Then, having come to her senses, Rin Nohara attacked.
The result was...
Jueming blocked her little fist.
After taking several of Rin Nohara's counterattacks like that, the system did not display any notification.
That meant...
Jueming struck out with another palm, hitting Rin Nohara's shoulder for the second time.
[Kidney Development +1]
Watching Rin Nohara get knocked back by him, Jueming understood.
For the skill "Grass Release—Grass—Eat Meat" to take effect and trigger the Kidney Development +1 notification, he had to be the stronger side and actively bully girls.
In other words, the Sadistic Route.
Jueming had no objection to that.
"Rin Nohara, be careful!"
Smack! Bam! Clang!
[Kidney Development +1] [Kidney Development +1]...
Make the Senju Clan great again.
Upon careful analysis, there were at least three ways to accomplish that.
1. Reach the Six Paths through his own strength and surpass Hashirama Senju. Then the Senju Clan's name would surely resound far and wide.
2. Lead the Senju Clan to rise. If the entire clan rose, then the broader environment would become great as well.
3. If one day the Senju Clan failed, if their genes all mutated, then before that day came, he needed to prepare in advance so he could preserve the spark of their bloodline at a critical moment. By finding more beautiful and outstanding women, he could pass on the Senju Clan's superior genes.
Jueming happened to be carrying out all three of these revival plans.
And as Jueming currently "exchanged martial arts" with Rin Nohara, what he was implementing was precisely the third plan.
He would get to know girls such as Rin Nohara, Uzuki Yugao, Natsu Hyuga, Mitaraishi Anko, Kurenai Yuhi...
He would lay the groundwork for interacting with them in advance.
If the Senju Clan ever truly failed in the future, he could naturally continue getting close to them and use that to ensure the Senju Clan's continuation.
"Only by enduring the greatest hardships can one rise above others!"
"Suffering now is so you won't suffer when facing enemies in the future."
"Rin Nohara, I'm doing this for your own good!"
"Medical Ninjas Also Have a Tomorrow!"
Smack! Clang! Bam!
As Jueming unleashed his moves, he lectured Rin Nohara on the great principles of life.
[Kidney Development +1] [Kidney Development +1]...
When the class bell rang.
Jueming finally stopped.
After lying back down on the bench, he began tallying his gains.
"Pant... pant..."
On the other side, Rin Nohara had only "exchanged martial arts" with Jueming for a few minutes before she could no longer hold on.
She sat in her seat and watched Jueming lying flat.
His face was not red, his heart did not race, and he was not even out of breath.
Rin Nohara could not help thinking, Jueming was right after all. I need to work hard and train properly too...
"This guy..." Kakashi Hatake stroked his chin, unable to make sense of it.
"Rin."
Obito Uchiha watched the goddess he liked spar in taijutsu with someone else, and he felt somewhat displeased.
He did not understand what this feeling rising within him was, but it simply made him uncomfortable.
"My limb strength has increased."
Lying on the bench, Jueming clenched his fist and found that the strength in his limbs had noticeably increased.
The Limb Strength boost brought by the skill "Grass Release—Grass—Eat Meat" was greater than the effect of "Grass Release—Grass—Lying Flat."
This could be understood as a special targeted enhancement.
Like the difference between running, which strengthened the whole body, and lifting dumbbells, which only increased upper-body strength.
"If I keep training this skill..."
Jueming began to imagine.
If the strength in his limbs skyrocketed, what kind of sight would that be?
Perhaps... the next time he faced an opponent like Senju Akira, he would be able to take her head-on.
Then he remembered that members of the Senju Clan could fall ill at any time and mutate into terrifying monsters.
A tremendous sense of insecurity arose within Jueming.
Stronger... become stronger...
Mito Uzumaki, however, thought, Did Senju Jueming develop a psychological shadow because of Senju Akira? Is that why he specifically sought out girls to bully, satisfying his false sense of power?
Clearly, Rin Nohara was no match for Jueming at all.
Mito Uzumaki decided to observe a little longer.
During class, Jueming worked hard at lying down.
After class, he went to find Rin Nohara to spar in taijutsu.
Since they had only just enrolled, some students could not even read yet, so what they learned in class was very boring.
To Jueming, it was a complete waste of time.
Fortunately, lying down could increase his stamina.
"Senju Jueming."
Mito Uzumaki's voice rang out.
"That Uchiha just mentioned 'half a year,' yet you did not seem to care."
"What about it?"
Jueming thought back.
Did the half-year period Tekka Uchiha had mentioned hold some special meaning?
"Didn't you ask your homeroom teacher, Funano Daikoku?"
Mito Uzumaki prompted him.
Jueming had previously asked Funano Daikoku when he could graduate.
"Generally, it is one year."
Mito Uzumaki continued explaining.
"Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru enrolled at age five and graduated at six."
In Mito Uzumaki's era, some super geniuses could graduate from the Ninja Academy after one year, and then...
And then they were sent to the battlefield to kill people?
Jueming thought to himself. Konoha really was a terrifying organization.
Mito Uzumaki did not know Jueming was criticizing her inwardly. She continued, "Judging from what that evil Uchiha brat said, Konoha seems to have undergone some changes in the six years I was gone."
What changes?
An organization set rules.
Children entered the Ninja Academy at five and could take up blades to kill people at six. That clearly meant it was thoroughly dark.
But if the rule of graduating at six had been changed so they could graduate at five and a half, what did that imply?
"Konoha has started declining?" Jueming frowned.
"Very likely."
Mito Uzumaki nodded.
Six was already very young, yet Konoha had moved the earliest graduation age forward to five and a half.
Either Konoha's higher-ups had gone mad.
Or Konoha, this ninja village, had begun to decline and had no choice but to drain the pond to catch the fish.
Before you continue