Book of Sword Masters

Araki, full name Araki Yachiru; this was the name he had chosen for himself.

In any case, the body he had transmigrated into was an orphan, so he was free to decide on any name he pleased.

As for why he chose this specific name, especially the suffix Yachiru, it had something to do with Araki's previous life.

In his past life, Araki was an illustrator who dabbled in the worlds of music, manga, and gaming, and he could be considered somewhat well-known.

To describe it specifically:

Whenever he posted a hand-drawn character sketch on a forum, the comments below would never be fewer than a thousand.

They were mostly flattering remarks, things like "a soul artist" and the like.

After all, only a soul artist could truly draw the soul of a character! (Loudly)

As it turned out, he accidentally fell asleep while pulling an all-nighter to draw, and when he woke up, he found himself lying at the entrance of the Kirigakure Ninja Academy.

Of course, it was a gentle and beautiful older sister who told him this, and she had even helped him register.

When registering his name, Araki, whose brain hadn't fully recovered yet, casually reported a name that felt somewhat familiar in his mind; looking back later, it probably had some connection to what he had been drawing before he transmigrated.

It was fortunate he hadn't blurted out Dio.

After moving into the Ninja Academy dormitory, Araki finally had the time to explore whether there was anything unusual about his transmigration.

After all, in the world of Naruto, if you didn't have a golden finger, your birth truly determined your destiny.

Fortunately, when he closed his eyes and emptied his mind, a golden, glowing book jumped out from within his consciousness.

Isn't this the artbook I treasured?

As an illustrator in his past life, Araki would draw the best possible portraits for his favorite characters and collect them specifically. For this book, which contained countless exquisite characters, he had even given it a name: [Book of Sword Masters].

That's right, Araki had a particular fondness for characters who wielded swords.

"I didn't expect you to have followed me here."

Araki looked at the [Book of Sword Masters] in his mind, feeling a bit sentimental.

"So, how is this thing supposed to be used? Is it a summoning technique like [Super Beast Imitating Drawing]?"

Thinking of the world-destroying characters in his artbook, Araki trembled with excitement.

He tried to flip open the [Book of Sword Masters] and saw his own name on the title page.

[Name]: Araki (Yachiru)
[Sword Realm]: None
[Mastered Sword Skills]: None
[Other Abilities]: None

"Ugh, a triple 'none.' That is a truly blunt and merciless evaluation!"

Araki twitched his lips, searching every corner of the page, but he didn't see any plus signs or anything of the sort.

"Hmm, it seems this isn't a 'point-adding' style golden finger. Bad review! If I had known, I would have named the artbook [Book of Deep Blue]."

After muttering to himself, Araki turned his gaze to the next page. If he remembered correctly, the character he had drawn on the first page was—

It was a young girl wearing a red and white knight-style combat uniform. A long, thin braided ponytail was tied behind her chestnut hair, forming a semi-circle. Her beautiful, fair, oval face was embedded with a pair of eyes that shone like brown gemstones, set off by pale peach-colored lips, making her look exquisite and perfect.

"As expected, Asuna!"

Araki shouted out in his sea of consciousness.

At this moment, as if hearing Araki's call, the page featuring Asuna lit up with a golden glow. After a blinding flash of light, a girl dressed exactly like the one on the page appeared before Araki's eyes.

"It really can be summoned!"

Araki was startled, dumbfounded, and didn't know what he should say to Asuna upon their first meeting.

Or perhaps she would suddenly ask him, "Are you my Master?"

Araki thought to himself.

Just as he was struggling with what to do, Asuna made a move.

He saw her slowly draw the rapier at her waist, her expression serious as she said:

"This may be a game, but it is not something you play around with."

"What does that mean?"

Araki was confused. This sounded like Asuna's line, but what did it mean to say it now?

However, Asuna stopped speaking and instead charged toward him rapidly.

"Meteor!"

Asuna shouted the name of her skill, and the speed at which she rushed forward suddenly increased. The pressure coming toward him felt as if a real meteor were falling directly upon him.

Puchi!

Araki felt a pain in his chest, his vision went black, and he was kicked out of his mental space.

He rubbed his chest, which bore no actual wounds but still felt a bit cold, his mind racing at high speed.

"After I called out Asuna's name, she manifested and immediately started chasing me down with a blade? What kind of setting is this? Is this a Book of Self-Torture?"

Araki grumbled inwardly.

Despite his complaints, as a veteran illustrator, Araki had already formed a few simple hypotheses regarding the mechanics of this Book of Sword Masters.

"Does it teach skills through combat? Or perhaps I'll receive Asuna's sword techniques after defeating her?"

"Regardless of which it is, I have no chance of winning as I am now; after all, I don't even have a weapon. I'll have to wait until the school teaches the method of chakra extraction before trying again. Perhaps I can use ninjutsu to win by a trick!"

With something to look forward to, Araki slept exceptionally well.

Things indeed did not exceed his expectations; after learning to refine chakra, Araki was able to trade a few blows with Asuna during their second encounter.

"Very good, there's progress!"

Araki was secretly excited, and he discovered that as long as he fought Asuna, he would gain insights into the skills she frequently used.

For instance, the lunging sword technique "Meteor"—Araki had already grasped the force-generating mechanics of this move, which allowed him to firmly occupy a top spot in his class.

After all, they were just commoner children; how could they possibly have combat experience as rich as Araki's?

When the differences in strength, speed, and chakra volume were negligible, it was only natural that Araki, who was frequently trampled by Asuna, would possess greater combat prowess.

As for those Bloodline clans of the Mist?

Sorry, they cherished the lives of their clansmen far too much; they would never send their own to die in a graduation exam that had at most a fifty percent pass rate.

After learning the Three Body Technique, Araki felt he finally had a sliver of confidence in defeating Asuna.

After all, the Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique were both god-tier tactical skills!

Thus, he entered the space of his consciousness once more, shouting confidently at the Book of Sword Masters:

"Come out, Asuna! Let us fight to the death!"

As his voice fell, the Book of Sword Masters shimmered with a golden light.

Once the radiance faded, the chestnut-haired girl in her red and white knight's uniform stood silently before Araki, and without a word, she drew her sword and lunged!