Naruto's Hidden Skill

Akimizu said, "You are a student now, and a student's duty is to study. As long as you achieve excellent grades, both teachers and classmates will notice you involuntarily, and this attention will be positive, not the negative kind you've experienced before. So, there is no need to worry about everyone's impression of you worsening."

Naruto's expression stiffened, then immediately slumped. He scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "Akimizu-sensei, I want to, but my theoretical grades are dead last, and my practical grades are also dead last. I've been learning the Three Body Technique for four years, and I still can't perform it completely even now."

Akimizu knew exactly where Naruto's problem lay.

First, the Nine-Tails chakra sealed within Naruto was disrupting the flow of his own chakra, making it difficult for him to perform ninjutsu that required high levels of chakra control.

Second, his low intelligence, combined with the fact that he spent a large portion of his time pulling pranks or thinking about how to make friends, wasted a massive amount of study time.

On top of that, with no one to teach him, no one to manage him, and no one willing to get close to him, it would be a miracle if he could learn anything at all.

Akimizu patted Naruto on the shoulder. "My relationship with Iruka-sensei is quite good. When he was handing over his duties to me, he told me to pay more attention to you. But your current situation is not good for Iruka-sensei, who taught you before, nor for your own future. If you can manage to stop skipping classes and pulling pranks on any teachers from now on, I can consider taking the time to help you improve your grades."

Naruto's eyes widened like copper bells. He never expected that this teacher, whom he had just met for the first time, would not only not despise him but would actually be willing to spend time teaching him.

He remembered the prank he had pulled on Akimizu-sensei just before class started and, for the first time, felt that his behavior was truly terrible.

Naruto pinched the inside of his thigh hard, afraid that he was dreaming, but the sharp pain that followed brought tears to his eyes. Realizing this wasn't a dream, he immediately said, "No problem!"

Akimizu said, "Go back to the classroom first. I look forward to your performance."

Naruto said with a serious face, "Don't worry, Akimizu-sensei, I won't let you down."

Akimizu watched Naruto's departing back and performed a Quality Appraisal on him.

[Name: Uzumaki Naruto]
[Chakra: 120,000 (???)]
[Quality: SSS]
[Hidden Skill: Talk-no-Jutsu (50% chance to turn enemies into allies after use)]
[Evaluation: Six Paths bloodline, extremely high combat IQ, suitable for training in Taijutsu and Wind Style ninjutsu. Strongly recommend binding.]

Talk-no-Jutsu?

Akimizu almost couldn't keep a straight face when he saw those three words.

The system's naming taste was truly hard to describe.

But thinking about the long list of people Naruto had persuaded with that mouth of his later on—Nagato, Obito, Sasuke—a 50% chance to turn enemies into allies didn't seem so hard to understand.

Just then, a message popped up in front of Akimizu.

[Detected that Uzumaki Naruto recognizes the player internally. Do you wish to bind and include him in key cultivation?]

Akimizu didn't overthink it, nor did he hesitate for a second. This was a top-tier talent strongly recommended by the system; hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to the system and irresponsible to himself.

[SSS-rank high-quality talent Uzumaki Naruto successfully bound. Current cultivation relationship level: Level 1 (Total of five levels)] [Obtained binding reward: Otsutsuki bloodline (5%)]

Akimizu first felt an incredibly vast, gentle energy surge into his limbs and bones without warning. This energy was not ordinary chakra, but something more primordial and original. It seeped into every meridian, every blood vessel, and every bone. He could clearly feel his body being transformed, and the hidden injuries accumulated deep within his body from years of fighting—injuries that even medical ninjutsu couldn't heal—were rapidly disappearing.

On his way back to the office, Akimizu opened his personal attribute panel to see if his evaluation had changed.

[Name: Kitagawa Akimizu]
[Age: 18]
[Chakra: 53,600]
[Chakra Attribute: Fire (Advanced)]
[Evaluation: With your physique transformed and mastery of advanced Fire Style chakra nature transformation, your strength has reached the Jonin level. What limits your strength is your basic ninjutsu repertoire and single chakra attribute. If you can supplement these two points, you will rank among the best of the Jonin.]

Akimizu never expected that a mere 5% Otsutsuki bloodline would forcibly increase his chakra capacity by 50,000 points. He was truly shocked, but thinking about how this was a world where bloodline determined everything, he felt it was normal.

Wasn't the origin of ninjas the moment Otsutsuki Kaguya ate the fruit of the God Tree?

She was the first person in this world to possess chakra. Later, her two sons, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, inherited this power and spread it, which led to the ninjas of today.

Akimizu had been worried that he wouldn't have enough chakra for his classes, but now it seemed he wouldn't have to worry about that in the short term. Even if he were to teach for twelve hours straight, it would only consume 12,000 chakra.

"Top-tier bloodlines really allow you to do whatever you want. You can easily obtain results that many people can't achieve in a lifetime of training."

Akimizu muttered to himself, his gaze falling on the word "Jonin" in the final evaluation, and his mood became increasingly pleasant.

He had thought his strength would at most reach Elite Chunin, but he hadn't expected to step directly into the threshold of a Jonin.

In the late stages of the story, anyone below Kage-level is just cannon fodder, but at this point in time, Jonin are recognized as the top combat power in every village, usually accounting for a pathetic 3% to 5% of the population. As long as he didn't leave the village, he would have more than enough to protect himself against any emergencies in Konoha.

"I just don't know which tier my strength falls into," Akimizu calculated silently in his heart.

There are tiers even within the Jonin.

The first tier is undoubtedly Kakashi the Copy Ninja and the "Youth" Might Guy. These two are nominally Elite Jonin, but their actual combat power is firmly at the Kage level. One can hold his own against any opponent no matter how strong they are, while the other has the strength of an ordinary Jonin in his normal state, but his combat power skyrockets when he burns his youth, stepping into the door of the Six Paths level.

The second tier consists of Yamashiro Aoba, Yamato, Maruboshi Kosuke, and Shiraumo Hayama. Although these people don't appear often and have a thin presence, they are steady and reliable every time they act, representing true Elite Jonin level.

The third tier—Akimizu's mind flashed with the figures of Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Mitarashi Anko. These three had full auras when they first appeared, but ended up being more disappointing than the last.