Nighttime.
Akiyama Shun sat by the bedside, letting the night breeze blow over him; he was in a very good mood.
If his performance today went as expected, those children would have already told their families, and such reputation would highly likely increase his chances of graduating early.
Hmm, his mood was great today, and his luck felt pretty good too.
Ten pulls to test the waters!
Ever since he last drew [Uchiha Itachi (Ninja Rookie)], he had saved up 2660 gold coins, which was more than enough for ten pulls.
Let's go!
As Akiyama Shun silently chanted for the draw, his gold coins dropped from 2660 to 1060.
The rewards appeared one by one before Akiyama Shun's eyes.
[Secret Scroll]
[Wind Style: Vacuum Wave Shard X1 (1/5)]
[Earth Style: Rock Fall Shard X1 (5/5)]
[A-Rank Ninja]
[Uchiha Obito (Wandering Ninja) Shard X4 (4/40)]
[B-Rank Ninja]
[Hatake Kakashi (Youth) Shard X12 (12/40)]
[Haku Shard X10 (10/40)]
[C-Rank Ninja]
[Zaku Abumi Shard X2 (2/10)]
Good heavens, his luck today was indeed decent.
He had directly completed the shards for Earth Style: Rock Fall!
The moment the shards were completed, Akiyama Shun felt an extra scroll appear in his pocket.
This Secret Scroll was different from the one in the game; in the game, you had to wait for cooldowns after using it, and if you used it too much, your opponent would curse you out, "Kid, that's all you've got? You just use the scroll the moment it lights up, you're absolutely trash."
But now, simply put, this Secret Scroll was just an extra ninjutsu. Even without earth-attribute chakra, he could use earth-attribute ninjutsu, and the amount of chakra consumed was much lower than releasing the ninjutsu normally.
Moreover, just like in the game, the Secret Scroll could continue to be upgraded by obtaining shards, up to a maximum of level 50.
As everyone knows, a level 1 Rock Fall is called Rock Fall, but a level 50 Rock Fall is called Tengai Shinsei!
As for the Wandering Ninja Obito, forget it; that thing was indeed strong, but only getting 4 shards was useless. Who knew when he would actually pull the full character.
What surprised Akiyama Shun was Youth Kakashi and Haku; in this ten-pull, both cards were drawn three times each. If nothing went wrong, the first B-rank ninja he obtained would be one of these two.
Regardless of which one it was, Akiyama Shun would be very satisfied.
Youth Kakashi was not the Kakashi from this ninja academy period, but the Kakashi from the Minato Team era, who had already developed Chidori and also possessed Hatake Sakumo's swordsmanship.
Just imagine, if before graduation, he used Kakashi's future ninjutsu and current swordsmanship right in front of him, and then beat him up.
Not only could he make Kakashi play the role of the incompetent husband, pulling off a "cuckold" scenario, but he could also show off his talent to make his graduation go even smoother!
It was a total win-win!
If he got Haku, that would also be fine; the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai needed no further explanation.
As for Zaku Abumi, that man who could shatter rocks, forget it. He would wait until he was ready to solo Otsutsuki Kaguya before calling upon that great god.
"Alright, luck is indeed good today. Time to sleep."
Akiyama Shun lay on the bed, feeling satisfied, and began to rest.
The next day.
Akiyama Shun had just finished washing up when he heard a knock at the door.
Opening it, it was indeed Yuhi Kurenai.
It had always been like this; Yuhi Kurenai would often come knocking early in the morning to ask Akiyama Shun to go out and play.
"You'll have to wait a moment today; I need to go to the ninja tool shop to buy something."
"What are you buying?"
Yuhi Kurenai tilted her head, looking at Akiyama Shun in confusion.
Akiyama Shun patted Yuhi Kurenai's head and smiled, "You'll know in a moment."
The two soon arrived in front of the ninja tool shop.
"Boss, I need steel wire."
That's right, what Akiyama Shun needed to buy now was steel wire.
He hadn't bought steel wire before because he was waiting for this moment. His ninja tool throwing class was already perfect, and it was time to strike while the iron was hot and show off his Shuriken Manipulation Technique.
In reality, ordinary general stores do sell steel wire, but the wire found there is only suitable for standard household use. The steel wire used by ninjas is specially crafted, far more durable, and, naturally, much more expensive.
However, when it came time to pay, Akiyama Shun felt no pangs of regret.
This was because he knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would soon no longer need to worry too much about money.
"What are you buying steel wire for?"
"Because I recently learned a more advanced shuriken technique, and I'll teach it to you when the time comes."
"Yay!"
In the past, Yuhi Kurenai would have taken Akiyama Shun to find other children to play with, and through this method, Akiyama Shun had already gotten to know quite a few children from other jonin families.
But today, Yuhi Kurenai brought Akiyama Shun directly to her home.
When the gate opened and he saw Yuhi Shinku sitting in front of the house, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Akiyama Shun's mouth.
Plan successful!
He knew it!
He had performed so well in the ninja tool throwing class that Yuhi Kurenai would inevitably tell Yuhi Shinku about it, and consequently, Yuhi Shinku would finally begin to pay real attention to him.
"Pardon the intrusion, Shinku-sama."
When Yuhi Shinku saw Akiyama Shun arrive, his expression shifted subtly, though he immediately composed himself.
"I'm off duty today, so there's no need to be so formal. You two go ahead and play."
After thanking him again, Akiyama Shun went to play in the courtyard with Yuhi Kurenai.
The game was simple: hopscotch, which they had played before. When they were first introduced to it, Yuhi Kurenai and the other children had loved it.
But now, as they grew older—even though they were only six—the ninja training had made their physiques absurdly strong. For Yuhi Kurenai, this game could now be completed with her eyes closed.
However, Yuhi Kurenai enjoyed the process of playing with Akiyama Shun more than the game itself.
Naturally, Akiyama Shun also quite enjoyed the feeling of being around such a budding beauty.
During lunch, Yuhi Shinku suddenly spoke up at the table: "Oh, that's right, Shun. I heard from Kurenai that you've been doing very well in your ninja tool throwing class."
Here it comes!
Akiyama Shun felt a sense of "as expected" deep inside, but on the surface, he acted a bit shy: "Yes, Shinku-sama, I was just lucky."
"Hahaha, luck alone doesn't produce results like that. No need to be so modest. After we finish eating, I'll train you both; it'll be a good chance to see if there's anything you can improve."
Upon hearing this, Akiyama Shun immediately revealed a joyful smile.
"Then thank you very much, Shinku-sama!"
Of course, he wasn't happy about the training itself, but rather that all his predictions had been correct.
After the meal, Yuhi Shinku brought the two of them to his private, small-scale training ground.
Beside the training area sat a large chest; when opened, it was filled with shuriken, kunai, and other throwing weapons.
Yuhi Kurenai was the first to take some shuriken and head to the throwing position.
Ever since Akiyama Shun's performance last time, Yuhi Kurenai had been spurred on, and her training had become even more diligent than usual.
This made Yuhi Shinku nod repeatedly in approval.
Seeing his own child working harder, he was naturally the happiest person there.
"Hmm? Shun, what are you doing?"
Yuhi Shinku suddenly noticed that Akiyama Shun was standing with his back to him, fiddling with something among the shuriken.
Hearing the voice, Akiyama Shun turned his head to look at Yuhi Shinku.
"Oh, I saw some people training in the mountains behind the village who tied steel wire to their shuriken, and I wanted to give it a try."
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