"Without Ninjutsu Talent, Can One Truly Not Become an Excellent Ninja?"

"Haa... haa..."

"For Dad's sake, I must be able to do this..."

"..."

At the Ninja Academy playground, Might Guy, who had been running continuously since noon, had reached the bottom of his physical reserves. His gasps grew louder and louder, and at this point, he could only rely on self-encouragement to keep going.

The crowd of onlookers gathering nearby grew larger. Some of the boys who had successfully enrolled watched Might Guy suddenly collapse and immediately mocked him:

"Talking big about 500 laps, he can't even do 100!"

"What a self-deluded idiot!"

"If he failed the test, he should have just gone home early..."

The jeers from the perimeter did not affect Might Guy. After crawling up from the ground, he continued to run, as if he had broken through a limit; his speed actually became faster than it was before he collapsed.

Without receiving the response they wanted or seeing the scene they had expected, the crowd gradually began to disperse. No one really wanted to watch Might Guy complete his "self-challenge."

When the sunset appeared, Might Duy, who had been secretly watching his son from behind the fence, was once again streaming with tears.

Although in his view this was the wrong method, he still encouraged him in his heart:

"You're using the wrong method, Guy, but keep going..."

"..."

In the woods beside the playground, after finishing their "hearty" game of kick-the-can, the group was completely exhausted.

Their bodies were tired, but they had spent the afternoon having fun. After resting, the boys laughed and said their goodbyes.

Genma Shiranui, sprawled on the ground, was so tired he had dead-fish eyes. He took the drink Ebisu handed him, gulped it down, and complained:

"I've come back to life!"

"Why is it that Shu can always find people so easily? And your stamina is just absurd!"

Kakashi, maintaining his deadpan expression, looked at his empty wallet and then glanced at Shu Furukawa, who was handing out drinks on the other side. He responded simply, feeling somewhat unwilling:

"Because he can sense our positions."

"That's cheating!"

Hearing his friend's complaint, Ebisu pushed up his small sunglasses, looking proud, and retorted righteously:

"Ninjas are supposed to cheat. This is the 'privilege' of a genius."

"You're the one who needs to be rescued every time! That's something Shu should be saying!"

Genma Shiranui stood up and shouted, getting into a row with Ebisu.

Ignoring their childish behavior, Kakashi moved over to Shu Furukawa's side and looked toward Might Guy in the playground, whispering:

"You must be able to sense my chakra!"

"Who told you to always hide in the nearest treetop..."

Shu Furukawa, having played "games" all afternoon, muttered subconsciously.

The silver-haired kid had too strong a desire to win and had forcibly dragged out the game time; in the end, it had become a "battle" between the two of them.

"Next time, I'll definitely be able to rescue more teammates than you!"

"..."

Hearing Kakashi's serious declaration, Shu Furukawa almost couldn't keep a straight face. If he remembered correctly, when they first met two months ago, the other boy wouldn't have played these childish games.

Ebisu, who had followed them over, saw Might Guy collapsed on the ground in the playground and said with some sympathy:

"I remember his ninjutsu and genjutsu are both poor; only his athletic ability is passable."

"There's no need to exhaust himself like this."

Genma Shiranui sighed along with him. Hearing the two start to gossip in low voices, Kakashi recalled the scene at the school gate where he met Might Guy and his father after the entrance exam, and felt a sense of doubt:

"Is this the rival my father spoke of? This guy still hasn't shown any outstanding talent."

Falling, getting up—the cycle repeated. After watching for a while, Kakashi felt bored. Among his peers, he still believed that only Shu Furukawa was his true rival.

After all, he had spent a long time gathering "intelligence" before enrollment. Kakashi trusted his own judgment, temporarily pushed his father's words to the back of his mind, and waved goodbye:

"It's getting late, bye!"

"Bye!"

As Genma Shiranui and Ebisu laughed and said their goodbyes, Shu Furukawa noticed that Might Guy hadn't been able to get up for a long time. He walked over to him and handed him a drink:

"Incredible stamina. Someone is treating today, don't be shy!"

"I'm already 5 years old, yet I can't even run 500 laps around the playground... I've failed to live up to my father's support for me..."

After finishing the drink, Might Guy stood up and whispered, choked with emotion. Shu Furukawa was about to offer some "chicken soup for the soul," but a dark shadow suddenly flashed out from behind him.

"Guy, you idiot!"

Might Duy shouted as he punched his son, sending him flying. Shu Furukawa, who had dodged aside, saw this scene and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Do not shed tears for your own hard work; you have simply used the wrong method of self-discipline!"

"..."

Tear-streaked, Might Duy began his "Father-Son Classroom." The two would occasionally let out passionate shouts, eventually embracing and sobbing into a tangled mess.

Overwhelmed by a surge of awkwardness, Shu Furukawa attempted to slip away quietly, but the father and son suddenly appeared at his side. They bowed rapidly, immediately flashed their thumbs up, and shouted in unison:

"Thank you for your support once again!"

"Guy, you have reaped the rewards of friendship through your own efforts—this is what youth is all about!"

After the pair embraced once more, the "gushing" tears had already soaked parts of their spandex suits. Shu Furukawa pretended not to notice, nodded in greeting, and let out a long sigh of relief after a brief exchange of pleasantries.

Walking home, he greeted familiar shopkeepers along the way. Thinking back on the failed attempt earlier that day, Shu Furukawa sighed helplessly to himself:

"As expected, I have no talent for 'Talk no Jutsu'!"

"..."

Late at night, Might Guy, suffering from insomnia due to worries about the supplementary enrollment list, noticed his father was also awake. After a moment of hesitation, he asked cautiously:

"Dad, is it really impossible to become an excellent ninja without talent for ninjutsu?"

"Guy, your youth has only just begun. Youth should never retreat; hard work will surely yield results."

Hearing the encouragement, Might Guy said nothing more. Although he always projected an air of absolute confidence when outside, he was well aware of his father's situation. Tears welled up in his eyes once again as he secretly made a wish:

"If only I had outstanding talent for ninjutsu, too."

--

The last day of March, in the 42nd year of Konoha.

"Shu, I really want to see you grow up healthy..."

"I don't want to die, Shu. I want to see you again so badly."

"..."

Startled awake, Shu Furukawa instinctively clutched his forehead. The image of the two people from his dream, collapsed in a pool of blood, left him gasping for air.

Noticing it was not yet 6:00 AM, Shu Furukawa looked at the photo frame on his bedside table.

In the group photo, the young man and woman named Ichiro and Aoi were only 22 years old. They were holding their young child, their smiles exceptionally bright, their happiness visible to the naked eye.

Ever since the two perished during a mission at the beginning of January, Shu Furukawa had triggered his "talent" through a somewhat hellish process, completing his first [Collection].

"Aoi, Lord Sakumo will recommend me for promotion to Jonin after this mission ends! I'll be able to earn more money in the future."

"How about it, Shu? This is the Shadow Clone Technique! Haha, usually only Jonin can master this B-rank ninjutsu!"

"As expected of my child, you love reading even at such a young age. You will surely revitalize the Furukawa Clan in the future..."

"Once our savings grow a bit more, I want to seek a job in the Medical Corps so I can watch over Shu's growth with peace of mind."

"What a cute child, he even gets shy at home!"

"..."

The nightmare forced Shu Furukawa to rise, his mind involuntarily flooded with memories since arriving in this world. The warm scenes surged forth, only gradually dissipating once he sat at the dining table.

Milk, fried eggs, and a sandwich. Eating his breakfast in silence, Shu Furukawa's thoughts drifted. Suddenly connecting this to scenes from the anime of his previous life, he mocked himself internally:

"Is this some kind of alternative 'Tsukuyomi'? A remake of Sasuke Uchiha's experience."

Finishing his solitary breakfast, Shu Furukawa began his routine summary of his "cheat" in a notebook. Over the past three months, he had basically clarified some of its functions:

"Confirmed: The abilities from the XX-world nostalgic browser game are limited to Collection."

"Normally unable to collect from the living? Collecting yields partial ninjutsu insights and training experience, which can rapidly improve oneself."

"Confirmed: Collecting increases mental power, and the sensory range is also expanding, though the side effects are very obvious."

"Can collect plants; the 'essence' components cannot be determined, requires experimentation?"

"Collect Kekkei Genkai?"

"The essence of Collection?"

"..."

Finishing his daily summary in Chinese characters, Shu Furukawa subconsciously twirled his pencil, struggling to recall the anime episodes he had watched on Star TV and Youku in his previous life:

"I should have never skipped those filler episodes!"

In his youth, he only cared about the Naruto and Sasuke plotlines.

After starting work, he had "graduated" from the 2D world.

By the age of 30, he was suffering from "electronic impotence," wanting only to play idle games.

Still unable to organize any information useful for this point in time, Shu Furukawa burned the pages of his notes and continued to flip through the scrolls and records left behind in the house:

B-rank—Earth Style: Earth Wall.

B-rank—Water Style: Water Wall.

C-rank—Earth Style: Earth Shore Return.

C-rank: Water Style: Water Formation Wall.

D-rank: Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.

In addition to these detailed records of ninjutsu, there were also Lightning Style: Thunderbolt, the Shadow Clone Technique, and insights into nature transformation and shape transformation.

Shu Furukawa had already basically mastered Earth Style: Earth Shore Return and Water Style: Syrup Capture Jutsu, and the basic D-rank ninjutsu were a matter of course for him.

It was slightly different from his original memories; civilian ninjas did not have that many techniques.

It seemed that Ichiro, who was qualified to be promoted to jonin, excelled more in taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, and mission performance, having only mastered two nature transformations, water and earth, and was mostly skilled in auxiliary defensive ninjutsu.

"Chakra really is a marvelous energy!"

Although ordinary ninjas could not store chakra, once it was refined into a bodily instinct, it allowed even a small child to scale walls and walk on roofs.

Perhaps because he had absorbed the "harvested results," Shu Furukawa could clearly feel his own growth, as his body was gradually turning the gained experience and insights into instinctive reactions.

Tomorrow, the Ninja Academy would officially begin, and for the sake of a greater goal, Shu Furukawa began to ponder the plans he had formulated:

"Possessing the three attributes of water, earth, and lightning, if I can successfully learn medical ninjutsu, entering the Konoha Hospital might save me some training time."

Before heading out, Shu Furukawa, dressed in his clothes and protective gear, looked at the photo frame once more. Thinking of the dreams he had over the past few months, he let out a long sigh and whispered:

"I will live brilliantly; life should not be so fragile."

At the Ninja Academy, cherry blossoms were in full bloom along both sides of the road.

The father and son in green spandex, who had been waiting early in front of the bulletin board, hugged each other and wept with joy again when they saw the name "Might Guy" appear.

The parents around them who were watching the supplementary list took a step back when they saw this scene. The beaming Might Duy squatted down, placed his hands on his son's shoulders, and exhorted him loudly:

"Guy, you have no talent for ninjutsu, and in my opinion, this is a thing to be happy about."

"Knowing your shortcomings allows your strengths to shine; your taijutsu has already begun to sparkle!"

Looking at his father's confident smile and raised thumb, Might Guy nodded repeatedly. Having successfully entered the Ninja Academy, the boy was much more confident, and he loudly cheered himself on:

"I will work hard! As soon as I finish 500 laps around the playground, I will go and challenge Shu and Kakashi!"

"That is what youth is all about, Guy!"

"..."