Fusing Hatake Sword Style

As soon as Sakumo announced the start of the match, the two of them drew their wooden swords and charged at each other. The training ground rang with the sharp cracks of wooden blades clashing.

This time, Shangguan Yue didn't rely on brute strength to overwhelm his opponent. He held back all his senses and lowered his strength to match the other boy's.

The intense fight gave Shangguan Yue valuable experience, deepening his understanding of Basic Swordsmanship.

Thrust, slash, flick, hook, chop, sweep, lift, cut, press, draw, wind around the head, wrap around the body—he gradually grew more adept at each move, even as his opponent slowly backed him into a corner.

After all, when their strength was evenly matched and he couldn't use outside help, Shangguan Yue wasn't much better than anyone else. At most, he had a stronger physique.

Seeing Hatake Taro keep Shangguan Yue on the defensive, the little ones behind them jumped and cheered. "Go, Taro! You can do it!"

Shangguan Yue held steady and adapted to each move, retreating as he fought. Once he'd successfully recorded his opponent, he stopped holding back his physical strength.

Hatake Taro felt his hands growing increasingly numb as the tide gradually turned. Shangguan Yue's swordsmanship was still pretty terrible.

But his strength more than made up for it. Before long, Shangguan Yue was the one keeping Hatake Taro on the defensive, breaking through every technique with sheer force.

Hatake Taro was driven back step by step until his arm could no longer support the sword in his hand. It flew away.

Unwilling to accept defeat, Hatake Taro picked up his sword again, struck a pose, and shouted, "White Blade, cut!"

White light shimmered around Hatake Taro's sword, and streaks of lightning flickered across his body. He shot forward, slashing at Shangguan Yue.

Shangguan Yue raised his sword to meet the blow. With a clang, his wooden sword snapped. He retreated a step as Hatake Taro's wooden sword struck the ground.

"What kind of jutsu is that? His strength and speed both increased several times over."

Hatake Taro charged again. Shangguan Yue reached out one hand, and a wooden sword flew into it.

"Whoa, how did he do that? That was so cool!"

"No idea. Wait, isn't that my sword? How'd it fly over there?"

"..."

The onlookers were stunned by Shangguan Yue's move. He crouched slightly. "Draw-Sword Strike."

The two passed each other. Hatake Taro dropped to one knee, and both wooden swords had broken. The difference was that a cut had appeared across Taro's chest.

"Huh? Taro, are you okay?"

"Cough, cough. I'm fine."

Hatake Taro pushed aside the little ones crowding around him and looked at Shangguan Yue, unwilling to admit defeat. "You're strong. I lost."

"No. When it comes to swordsmanship, I'm the one who lost. I still have a lot to learn from all of you."

Shangguan Yue's humility won him the Hatake Clan's favor. After that, more members of the Hatake family came out to spar with him in a friendly manner.

Shangguan Yue gained a great deal from the experience and developed a deeper understanding of Hatake Sword Style. When the sparring was over, he said his goodbyes and left.

"Big brother Sakumo, I'll train at home from now on. I'll come back after a while."

"Sure, Yue. Swordsmanship can't be mastered overnight. You need to build a solid foundation."

"Mm. Thanks, big brother Sakumo."

This time, Shangguan Yue didn't go home. Instead, he headed to Tsunade's house.

"Chuuni, can Shadow Clones earn Luck Points by beating those students?"

"Yes. They're all your power."

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You never asked."

"You!!! Fine, I'll keep that in mind next time."

Before long, Shangguan Yue received the memories from his Shadow Clones dispersing. He saw that they'd been spreading rumors everywhere.

"Why hasn't Shangguan Yue been showing off lately?"

"Yeah, it's been ages since I saw him challenge anyone. Maybe he's scared?"

"Could be true, actually."

"I bet someone beat him so badly that he's afraid to challenge people now. Haha."

"Shh, keep it down. Shangguan Yue's coming."

"Why do these people love gossiping so much?

Looks like being famous really does come with its share of troubles. Whatever, let the main body deal with it. I'd rather go flirt with some girls."

Shangguan Yue watched his other self in the memories wandering from woman to woman as usual, and it annoyed him.

"I'm working myself to the bone every day, and you're out there flirting?

I'd better not go to school next time and get buried under a pile of girlfriends throwing themselves at me!

But why does the thought sound so exciting?

No, no, no! I'm a gentleman. I'll just let things take their natural course. It's not like I can control him anyway."

"Actually, with Shadow Clones, you could..."

"Shut up, Chuuni."

"You..."

"I said shut up!"

"Oh~"

"I've noticed that you're never around when I need you, but you show up all the time when I don't!"

"..."

"Gone again."

Shangguan Yue pursed his lips and went back to his challenge spree. Today, he'd recorded five members of the Hatake Clan, one after another.

There were trainees, Genin, and Chunin. Shangguan Yue didn't hesitate to put them all to work until the dead of night, when he finally felt satisfied and checked the prompt.

"Challenge successful. Obtained from the Hatake Clan: Lightning Style Chakra Activation Technique, White Blade sword technique, and 26 years of Basic Swordsmanship."

Each person had contributed a little to his Basic Swordsmanship, adding up to 26 years. The only sword technique he'd gotten was White Blade, whose power depended on the user's strength.

At Kage Level, it would be S-rank. Whether it could reach SS-rank was hard to say; its upper limit was uncertain.

White Blade: A single strike that gathers the user's full strength, aiming to kill in one blow. A one-sword style.

Lightning Style Chakra Activation Technique: A-rank jutsu. Wraps the body in Lightning Release Chakra to invigorate the body, significantly increasing a ninja's speed, strength, and reflexes.

Shangguan Yue was already very satisfied with these gains. In particular, he now had 26 years of Basic Swordsmanship—more than Hatake Sakumo.

His insight might not be as good as Hatake Sakumo's, though. After all, he'd challenged mostly Genin and Chunin, and even trainees.

Shangguan Yue's Basic Swordsmanship had now reached B-rank. In other words, judged solely as Basic Swordsmanship, it could already wield the power of a B-rank jutsu.

"Now I've got Hatake Sword Style, Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, and Lightning Style Chakra Activation Technique. I wonder what they'd fuse into.

They all look pretty good, but I can't tell what their limits are. I might as well take a chance. At worst, I'll start over.

It's just swordsmanship. It's just a jutsu. If the old doesn't go, the new won't come."

Shangguan Yue opened the Cultivation Room, dragged Hatake Sword Style, Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, and Lightning Style Chakra Activation Technique into the Smelting Furnace.

"Spend 200 Luck Points to deduce the technique?"

"Whoa, that's a lot. Confirm. That'll leave me with just over 100. Looks like the Ninja Academy doesn't have enough resources. I need to get out of school."

Then the memories of all three techniques vanished from Shangguan Yue's mind. He stared at the countdown and froze when he saw it was only one day.

"Chuuni, didn't the last one take a long time? Why does this one only need one day?"

"Your God-Slaying Art wasn't from this world, so understanding and deducing it took longer. For something from this world, one day is enough."

"Fine."

Shangguan Yue rubbed his hands together, his face full of anticipation. The two sword styles were among the best in this world, and with Lightning Release Chakra Mode added to the mix, just thinking about it made his mouth water.

"I can't wait."