Bountiful Harvest

The wild look on Shinichi's face receded like the tide, and he became calm again. He turned his gaze to the Personal Panel.

[Name: Higashino Shinichi]

[Occupation: Ninja Academy Student/Swordsmanship Apprentice]

[Talents: Genius (Blue), Natural Strength (Green), Diligence Compensates (Green), Quick Wit (Green), Sword Proficiency (Green), Perception (White)...]

Compared to a week ago, the changes on the panel were striking.

[Genius (Blue)] went without saying. It was the core prize of this plan, the mark of a qualitative transformation.

As for Trait upgrades:

Intelligent (White) had upgraded to Quick Wit (Green), while Swordsmanship Basics (White) had upgraded to Sword Proficiency (Green).

[Quick Wit (Green): Your thoughts move like lightning, inspiration comes frequently, and you can swiftly grasp the key points and develop new ideas and solutions.]

This change was only natural. In the eyes of others, being able to defeat a genius like Kakashi head-on meant that Shinichi himself was also a Genius, and Genius was often associated with intelligence.

[Sword Proficiency (Green): You have surpassed the basics and entered the hall of swordsmanship. Not only can you learn and master sword techniques more quickly, but you can also more effectively create and seize decisive openings in actual combat.]

This, too, was a direct reward for defeating Kakashi. The reputation of the White Fang of Konoha and his mastery of the White Fang Sword Style was simply too resounding. Before everyone's eyes, Shinichi had broken a blade with a sword and won cleanly, leaving an enormous impact on the spectators.

To defeat the White Fang Sword Style, even if it was merely swordsmanship wielded by his son, inevitably meant reaching an exceptionally high level.

By comparison, [Taijutsu Basics] had failed to upgrade, perhaps for that very reason. To some extent, this swordsmanship upgrade had indeed cleverly used White Fang's golden reputation as a stepping stone.

Then came the newly added Trait:

[Perception (White): Your five senses are sharper than those of ordinary people. You can notice information easily overlooked in the environment, such as sounds from farther away, subtler scents, and faster moving trajectories.]

This was proof that the persona he had carefully built as someone with sensory talent had achieved its first success. The creation of the [Perception] Trait meant that the outside world had begun to acknowledge his unusual aptitude in this area.

Although it was only White for now, enhancing the sharpness of his five senses—allowing him to hear farther sounds, smell subtler scents, see more quickly, and so on—it was still greatly helpful to him. It had also laid the foundation for him to truly possess Chakra sensory abilities in the future.

One victory, gains on many fronts.

The newly generated Blue core Trait established supreme potential and growth efficiency; the newly advanced Green Traits strengthened practical combat and intellectual advantages in key areas; the newly appeared White Trait opened a new avenue for auxiliary abilities.

Every change revolved closely around the ripple effects produced by the event of "defeating Kakashi." It was truly a huge haul.

Shinichi's gaze focused once more on the brand-new Blue Trait, [Genius]. The instant he obtained it, he felt as though his mind had been invisibly upgraded.

Knowledge points that once required repeated contemplation now revealed their essence after only a brief review; areas of his training where he had once grown accustomed to being rough and careless now clearly showed better paths; even when recalling fragments of his battle with Kakashi, countless ingenious solutions he had never considered at the time surfaced in his mind.

It was not merely an improvement in his thinking. Shinichi also discovered that his overall physical qualities and Chakra had undergone further enhancement.

Only now did he clearly understand what "all fields" in the description of the [Genius] Trait truly meant.

In terms from his previous life, this Trait had not merely enhanced his comprehension. It had also improved his innate aptitude and physical foundation.

"Still, the conditions for generating a Blue Trait are harsher than I expected..."

Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, was a hero acknowledged by the village. His strength and reputation even surpassed those of the Legendary Sannin.

His son, Kakashi, a Genius who had long been famous, had been under a certain kind of spotlight from an early age.

He had even secretly been bestowed with the dazzling halo of having "the bearing of a Hokage." Nearly everyone in Konoha knew of him.

The sensation caused by defeating such a target was beyond question. Yet even so, it had still taken a full week from the occurrence of the event to the generation of the Trait.

What did that mean?

It meant that the birth of a Blue Trait required not only an event whose impact spread throughout all of Konoha, sparking widespread discussion; it also needed sufficient depth and intensity to create a shocking effect.

It likely also required a certain degree of recognition or attention from key figures with great strength, high status, and central influence—such as the Hokage, advisors, the Legendary Sannin, White Fang, the Jonin Corps commander, and the heads of the various clans.

Simply knowing was not enough. They had to be convinced and deeply impressed.

If Blue Traits were already like this, then what about Traits above them?

Would they need to affect the entire Land of Fire? Or even shake the consensus of the entire Shinobi World?

He did not continue thinking about it. Those things were still too far away from him. The appearance of the Blue [Genius] Trait had already cleared away his greatest current obstacle to growth and paved a high-speed path before him.

Shinichi closed the panel and felt the greater, more active Chakra within his body, along with the clearer, more agile thoughts in his mind.

He walked to the window and looked out at Konoha's vibrant morning scenery.

Summer vacation had already begun. An ideal period of training, backed by the perseverance guaranteed by [Diligence Compensates] and boosted by the efficiency of [Genius] and [Quick Wit], had arrived.

He needed to plan carefully and turn this brand-new talent into tangible, indisputable strength.

First came Swordsmanship Apprentice!

Shinichi would use this month-plus of vacation to formally graduate from Yamashita's Sword Dojo, cross that threshold, and become a recognized formal Swordsman.

Not only that, he needed to find a way to quietly spread the news that "Higashino Shinichi has graduated and become a formal Swordsman," thereby upgrading the Swordsmanship Apprentice entry in his Occupation slot to Swordsman.

[Swordsmanship Apprentice: You are a beginner apprentice who has mastered sword-wielding posture and force application techniques. Your control over a sword exceeds that of ordinary people, while your initial speed of swordsmanship training and overall physical qualities are slightly improved.]

The Swordsmanship Apprentice Occupation Trait itself had already enhanced some of his physical qualities and his comprehension of swordsmanship. Once it upgraded to formal Swordsman, those benefits would inevitably rise accordingly and become a solid foundation for his strength.

Finally, when the two Occupation Traits, [Swordsmanship Apprentice] and [Ninja Academy Student], had been generated, each had come with one opportunity to directly draw a White talent Trait without relying on the outside world.

Then a clear occupational advancement like going from "apprentice" to "formal Swordsman" would almost certainly trigger feedback from the panel and grant him a new drawing opportunity.

Moreover, the grade of this opportunity would likely no longer be White, but... Green.

A brand-new Green Trait, one that could be obtained directly without lengthy cultivation, would be enough to bring considerable reinforcement or a breakthrough in some direction.

His thoughts converged like streams, clearly reflecting the road ahead.

Shinichi's gaze settled, focused and sharp.