I've already given up! You're telling me the family has secret techniques?

If Kumonaka Yama were still alive and heard his son say this, he would likely make Kumonaka Torikaze taste what true fatherly love feels like!

Back in the day, the Kumonaka Clan was famous throughout the ninja world; how did it become nothing more than a bunch of unrefined nouveau riche in his mouth?

"Sigh, Dad! Why do I find you just like this broken system? Always full of hindsight!"

"I was already planning to lie flat! Ready to latch onto a powerful backer and start a peaceful life! And you tell me our family is actually incredible and possesses secret techniques!"

"Damn it!"

Complaining aside, Kumonaka Torikaze still set off toward his father's living quarters to search for that secret door.

To be honest, upon learning that his family possessed a secret hidden technique, Kumonaka Torikaze's first reaction was confusion, followed by excitement.

Although Kumonaka Torikaze had already mastered Crystal Release, having one more technique meant one more layer of strength and one more layer of safety.

Moreover, the fact that this Cloud Release allowed a single-lineage family like the Kumonaka Clan to survive in the ninja world proved its power! By the same logic, it certainly couldn't be easy to learn.

Otherwise, why had he never seen his father use it? Because he couldn't, obviously!

"Sigh, let's go take a look first. If I can't learn it either, then I'm finished."

If he truly couldn't master this Cloud Release, Kumonaka Torikaze feared he would have to kneel before Kumonaka Yama's grave and say:

"Dad! This Cloud Release is too hard! As of today, our father-son relationship is severed; please find someone more capable!"

Filial piety at its finest.

His father's living quarters weren't far from where he was, and it didn't take long to arrive.

The furnishings in the room were exactly as they had been when his father was alive, though Kumonaka Torikaze did hire people to come and clean every few days.

He spotted the painting his father had mentioned at a single glance.

Kumonaka Torikaze carefully took it down and placed it on a nearby table.

These were all heirlooms passed down by his ancestors; they were very valuable!

Sure enough, on the wall covered by the painting, there was a square stone that looked out of place with its surroundings.

Engraved upon it was the Cloud Crane Hidden Pattern.

He pressed it gently, and the bricks in the wall shifted. Before long, a pitch-black passage appeared before Kumonaka Torikaze's eyes.

Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

Faint lights flickered on along the walls on both sides; though dim, they were enough to see by.

He didn't stop, quickly reaching his destination: a very spacious and bright room.

Inside, countless display cabinets were filled with all sorts of scrolls and ninja tools.

It was obvious that this was the true wealth of the Kumonaka Clan.

Seeing this room full of scrolls and various ninja tools, Kumonaka Torikaze couldn't help but sigh.

"Good grief, I thought our family was already rich enough, but it seems my perspective was still too narrow."

"With so many ninjutsu, if I wanted to learn them all, it would probably take over a decade, right?"

But these weren't the purpose of Kumonaka Torikaze's trip; the scrolls wouldn't run away, so finding the Cloud Release was the priority.

He walked to a display cabinet in the very center of the secret room, which held only two items.

A scroll and an incredibly magnificent sword, its hilt carved with clusters of auspicious clouds.

Two cranes danced on the scabbard, and the wooden sword stand was engraved with three characters: Heming Sword.

"What a fine sword. It's mine from now on."

He then turned his gaze to the scroll beside it: "This should be the scroll recording how to practice Cloud Release."

Kumonaka Torikaze opened the scroll, but the content he saw next made his jaw drop.

'Cloud Release, a technique developed by the Kumonaka Clan's ancestor, Yunzhong Huachen. It is formed by fusing water, fire, and wind nature chakra—it is a Kekkei Tōta! The difficulty of practice is extremely high; it is not something an ordinary person can learn.'

'Once struck by a Cloud Release ninjutsu, at best, one's bodily organs will be frozen to death; at worst, one will turn into clouds and mist, vanishing into thin air.'

Kumonaka Torikaze was currently in a state of mental shutdown.

He had assumed the family's Cloud Release was just a relatively strong Kekkei Genkai; he never dared to imagine it was actually a Kekkei Tōta!

This kind of technique, fused from three types of chakra, was something that, in Naruto, only the second Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, Mū, and his disciple, the third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, possessed—the Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.

Kumonaka Torikaze shook his head in disbelief; the ups and downs of this day made him feel as if he hadn't woken up yet and was still in a dream.

As he continued reading, Kumonaka Torikaze felt a headache coming on.

"This is too complex. Fusing three types of chakra according to different ratios—trying to achieve this is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

The five types of nature-transformed chakra exist in a cycle of mutual generation and restriction; trying to extract three from them and fuse them into one is truly difficult.

"However, while it is indeed difficult for those without a system, for me, with a system, the difficulty is just right."

"System, open the exchange shop." He had wanted to see what the shop could exchange for a long time, and now was the perfect opportunity.

As Kumonaka Torikaze issued the command, a light blue shop panel unfolded before his eyes.

The wide variety of goods made Kumonaka Torikaze overjoyed!

For him, the more items in the shop, the happier he was; they would all be exchanged by him sooner or later anyway.

Kumonaka Torikaze took a rough glance and discovered many good things.

"A mobile phone! A computer? Good heavens, it turns out all the things for enjoyment are in the shop!"

Although Kumonaka Torikaze really wanted to grab these two items immediately.

But unfortunately, the Calmness Points required for the phone and computer were too high, a full 5,000 points each!

Added together, that was 10,000 Calmness Points; he didn't even dare to think about it!

[Straw Sandals](Put on the straw sandals! A feeling like flying!)

"What the...!"

Kumonaka Torikaze was currently holding back the urge to complain; why does this damn system have such random junk in it!

What use could these crappy straw sandals possibly have!

"I should focus on finding things I can use right now; learning Cloud Release is the priority."

But just as he was about to continue scrolling down, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of an item.

"Are you kidding me? Naruto Mobile Game? This thing costs 50,000 Calmness Points? Why would I be bored enough to spend 50,000 points on a game?"

But after reading the description, Kumonaka Torikaze immediately revealed a devious smile.

'For anyone who tops up 100 ryo in the Naruto Mobile Game, the host will receive 1 Calmness Point.'

"I take back what I said; this is truly a conscientious game."

If he exchanged for this game, it would be equivalent to being able to directly exchange money for Calmness Points.

However, if he only topped up himself, one million ryo would only net him 10,000 Calmness Points.

But why would Kumonaka Torikaze spend his own money? With such a good thing, he must surely benefit the whole world!

Let the entire ninja world experience the joy of the "pat-head" emote!

A plan slowly rose in the depths of Kumonaka Torikaze's heart: "This can't be rushed; it needs to be planned slowly." He then stopped paying attention to it.

After scrolling up and down for a long time, he did manage to find a few items that would help with practicing ninjutsu.

[Clear Mind](Increases the speed of practicing ninjutsu. 100 Calmness Points/day)

[Wind-Fire Concerto](Increases the speed of practicing Wind Release and Fire Release ninjutsu. 4,000 Calmness Points)

These two items looked decent, but the first one had a time limit.

It cost 100 Calmness Points a day, and he didn't know how long it would take to learn Cloud Release; in the long run, it would definitely be a huge loss.

The second one only boosted two types of chakra, Wind and Fire, which had some effect on Kumonaka Torikaze, but not much.

And the one he truly favored was this final item.

[Genius](Extremely profound understanding of chakra nature transformation; can easily develop ninjutsu. 15,000 Calmness Points)