Night.
Akiyama Shun sat by the bed, enjoying the night breeze. He was in a great mood.
If things went as expected after his performance today, those kids would have told their families about it. The good impression he'd made would greatly increase his chances of graduating early.
Yeah, he was in a good mood today, and his luck seemed pretty good, too.
Ten pulls, just to test my luck!
Since he'd pulled [Uchiha Itachi (Ninja Prodigy)] last time, he'd saved up 2,660 gold coins. That was more than enough for ten pulls.
Let's go!
As Akiyama Shun silently started the draw, his gold coins dropped from 2,660 to 1,060.
The rewards appeared before Akiyama Shun one by one.
[Secret Technique]
[Wind Style: Vacuum Wave fragment x1 (1/5)]
[Earth Style: Rock Fall fragment x1 (5/5)]
[A-Rank Ninja]
[Obito Uchiha (Wandering Ronin) fragments x4 (4/40)]
[B-Rank Ninja]
[Hatake Kakashi (Young) fragments x12 (12/40)]
[Haku fragments x10 (10/40)]
[C-Rank Ninja]
[Zaku Abumi fragments x2 (2/10)]
Now that was some luck!
He'd completed the set of Earth Style: Rock Fall fragments!
The instant the fragments were complete, Akiyama Shun felt a scroll appear in his pocket.
This secret technique wasn't like the ones in the game. There was no waiting for a cooldown after using it, and if you used it too much, your opponent wouldn't curse you out with something like, "Kid, is that really how you play? You just use it as soon as the secret technique lights up? You're gonna get wrecked!"
Put simply, this secret technique gave him access to an extra ninjutsu. He could use an Earth Release technique even without Earth-nature chakra, and it consumed far less chakra than casting a normal ninjutsu.
Just like in the game, he could keep collecting fragments to upgrade the secret technique, up to level 50.
Everyone knew that a level-one Rock Fall was called Rock Drop, while a level-fifty Rock Fall was called Tengai Shinsei!
As for Wandering Ronin Obito, he could forget about him for now. The character was indeed powerful, but four fragments were no use. Who knew how long it would take before he could pull enough to unlock him?
What surprised Akiyama Shun was the young Kakashi and Haku cards. He'd pulled each of them three times in this ten-pull. If nothing unexpected happened, his first B-Rank Ninja would be one of those two.
Akiyama Shun would be happy with either of them.
Young Kakashi wasn't the Kakashi of this Ninja Academy era. He was Kakashi from Team Minato, who had already developed the Chidori and also wielded Hatake Sakumo's sword techniques.
Just imagine: before graduation, he could use Kakashi's future ninjutsu and present-day sword techniques right in front of him, then beat him up.
Not only could he make Kakashi play the part of an incompetent husband and have his wife cheat on him right in front of him, he could also show off his talent and make graduating that much easier!
A win-win!
Getting Haku would be fine, too. The Kekkei Genkai of Ice Release spoke for itself.
As for Zaku Abumi, the man who shattered rocks—no thanks. He could save that big shot for when he was ready to take on Otsutsuki Kaguya alone.
"Nice. My luck really is good today. Time to sleep."
Akiyama Shun lay down, thoroughly satisfied, and went to bed.
The next day.
Akiyama Shun had just finished washing up when he heard a knock at the door.
When he opened it, sure enough, Yuhi Kurenai was there.
This was nothing new. Yuhi Kurenai often came over first thing in the morning to ask Akiyama Shun to go out and play with her.
"Wait a bit first. I need to go to the ninja tool shop and buy something."
"What are you buying?"
Yuhi Kurenai tilted her head and looked at Akiyama Shun, puzzled.
Akiyama Shun patted Yuhi Kurenai on the head and smiled. "You'll find out soon."
The two soon arrived outside the ninja tool shop.
"Excuse me, I'd like some wire."
That was right. What Akiyama Shun needed to buy now was wire.
He hadn't bought any before because he'd been waiting for this moment. He'd mastered his ninja tool throwing class, and now it was time to strike while the iron was hot and show off the Shuriken Manipulation Technique.
Regular general stores sold wire, too, but theirs was only suitable for ordinary household use. The wire used by ninja was specially made, much more durable—and much more expensive, of course.
Still, Akiyama Shun didn't mind paying for it.
He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, he wouldn't have to worry so much about money much longer.
"What do you need wire for?"
"I've recently learned a more advanced shuriken technique. I'll teach you later."
"Yay!"
Usually, Yuhi Kurenai would take Akiyama Shun to meet up with other kids. Through her, he'd gotten to know quite a few children from the families of other jonin.
Today, though, Yuhi Kurenai took Akiyama Shun to her house.
When the door opened and he saw Yuhi Shinku sitting by the entrance, a barely noticeable smile appeared at the corner of Akiyama Shun's mouth.
The plan was working!
He'd known it!
After seeing Akiyama Shun's performance in ninja tool throwing class, Yuhi Kurenai would definitely tell Yuhi Shinku. And Yuhi Shinku would certainly start paying real attention to him!
"Sorry to bother you, Lord Shinku."
When Yuhi Shinku saw Akiyama Shun, his expression shifted ever so slightly, but he quickly composed himself.
"I'm off today, so there's no need to be so formal. Go play with Kurenai for now."
After thanking him again, Akiyama Shun went to play with Yuhi Kurenai in the yard.
The game was simple: hopscotch, which they'd played before. When Yuhi Kurenai and the other kids had first discovered it, they'd all loved the game.
But as they grew older, even though they were only six, ninja training had made them unbelievably fit. Now Yuhi Kurenai could finish the game with her eyes closed.
Still, what she enjoyed most was playing with Akiyama Shun.
Of course, Akiyama Shun also liked spending time with a big-sister type like her.
At lunch, Yuhi Shinku suddenly spoke up at the table. "By the way, Shun, Kurenai said you did really well in ninja tool throwing class."
Here it comes!
Akiyama Shun felt that things were going just as he'd expected, but he still put on a bashful look. "Yes, Lord Shinku. I was just lucky."
"Hahaha, luck alone wouldn't get you results like that. No need to be so modest. After lunch, I'll train the two of you and see if there's anything you can improve."
At that, Akiyama Shun immediately smiled with delight.
"Thank you, Lord Shinku!"
Of course, he wasn't happy about the training itself. He was happy that all his guesses had been right.
After lunch, Yuhi Shinku led the two of them to the small training ground at his home.
A large box sat beside the training ground. Inside were shuriken, kunai, and other throwing tools.
Yuhi Kurenai was the first to pick up a shuriken and take her place.
Ever since Akiyama Shun's performance last time, Yuhi Kurenai had been spurred on to train harder than before.
Yuhi Shinku nodded repeatedly at the sight.
He was happiest when his own child worked harder.
"Hm? Shun, what are you doing?"
Yuhi Shinku suddenly noticed that Akiyama Shun had his back to him and was fiddling with something in front of the shuriken.
Hearing him, Akiyama Shun turned around to look at Yuhi Shinku.
"Oh, I saw some people training with wire attached to their shuriken on the hill behind the academy. I wanted to give it a try, too."
Before you continue