Dance of the Crescent Moon

"The system detected it too...?"

Hearing the system announce the two sword techniques, Sasuke was ecstatic!

Just as the system had acknowledged the ninja sword and Gekko Hayate had treated it with such importance,

how could these two sword techniques be anything ordinary?

At that thought, Sasuke could no longer hold back his excitement.

He brushed a hand over his waist, and a scroll appeared in his palm.

"Back in the days of the Konoha White Fang, he made a name for himself throughout the Shinobi World with his swordsmanship alone. If I master this inherited style of swordsmanship, I'll be unstoppable..."

Grinning, he unrolled the scroll.

But before Sasuke could get a good look at it, the scroll began to slowly catch fire from where his hands gripped it!

"Damn it!..."

The sensation of fire searing his fingers was so sudden that Sasuke reflexively flung the scroll away.

The next moment.

Before Sasuke could rush over to put out the fire,

the scroll had already turned into scattered ashes and vanished on a gust of ill wind.

"What...?"

Seeing this, Sasuke felt completely numb!

He'd gone to all that trouble, only to get his hopes up for nothing!

Then, as if recalling something, his expression suddenly darkened.

"Damn it, Gekko Hayate looks honest, but was he actually trying to trick me with a fake scroll?..."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. But he knew the gap in their strength was far too great. Even if he went after Hayate now, he'd only be throwing his life away.

"Hmph! Gekko Hayate, I'll remember this. Just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll settle this with you!..."

Fuming, Sasuke sat down on a nearby boulder.

But just then,

a needle-sharp pain struck his brain.

It was unbearable. In both his lives, Sasuke had never experienced such inhuman torment!

Clutching his head, he fell to the ground, rolling around and banging his head in agony.

Time seemed to stand still. After an unknown length of time, everything went black, and he lost consciousness.

The chirping of birds rang in Sasuke's ears.

He lay motionless on a boulder beside the pool, his expression peaceful.

At some point,

his eyelids twitched a few times, then slowly opened.

"Good thing I'm still alive..."

Sasuke murmured weakly, his gaze unfocused.

He believed that the scroll Gekko Hayate had given him was the root of all this.

Perhaps it had sealed some kind of forbidden technique.

Even though he couldn't see it, it could still have killed him.

"That guy was set on killing me. If he finds out I'm still alive..."

He paused, then sighed.

"Looks like I can't keep lying low in Konoha anymore..."

As he thought this and prepared to get up,

a sudden flash of light appeared before his eyes. Then, scene after scene, like a 3D projection, materialized in the empty space before him!

The scenes were made up of little figures.

Each one held a ninja sword, darting left and right with incredibly nimble footwork!

"This is... Dance of the Crescent Moon!..."

Just as Sasuke was staring in astonishment at the sword technique performed by the little figures,

a row of inconspicuous text suddenly appeared in the lower-right corner of the space before him.

[Konoha Style Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon.]

The characters flowed like dragons and phoenixes, with strokes as firm as iron and as sharp as hooks, as if they carried some profound meaning—mysterious beyond words!

Now that he knew what he was looking at, Sasuke wasn't about to waste another second.

He slowly closed his eyes and, in an instant, immersed himself in the freely shifting sword forms before him!

The next morning.

As the first rays of sunlight spread across the Valley of the End,

Sasuke finally opened his eyes again.

Though he hadn't slept all night, he was now full of energy.

Golden light shone from his eyes, as if two ninja swords were about to leap out of them!

"Dance of the Crescent Moon, First Form: Wind Slash—complete!..."

He roared, his presence overwhelming.

At that moment, Sasuke was like a ninja sword about to be drawn from its sheath, its edge exposed and its killing intent concealed!

"Looks like I misunderstood Senior Gekko Hayate..."

"That headache earlier was probably the system's doing..."

"Damn it, the technique level was so high it nearly fried my CPU..."

With his thoughts clear and his mind at ease, Sasuke summoned the system panel with a thought.

Name: Uchiha Sasuke.

Faction: Land of Fire, Konoha Hidden Village. [Secretly harboring rebellious intentions; potential missing-nin.]

Level: 5 (50/1000).

Attribute Points: 5 (Note: Used to directly increase the host's attributes.)

Skill Points: 5 (Note: Used to directly increase the host's skill levels.)

Attributes: Constitution: 12. Agility: 12. Intelligence: 8. Charisma: 35.

Skills:

[Substitution Technique: Level 2.]

[Transformation Technique: Level 2.]

[Clone Technique: Level 2.]

[Chakra Control: Level 2.]

[Taijutsu: Level 3.]

[Genjutsu: Level 2.]

[Shurikenjutsu: Level 2.]

[Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique: Level 3 (45%)]

[Konoha Style Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon: Level 2 (75%)]

[Konoha Style Kenjutsu: Hazy Moonlit Night: Level 0 (Not yet learned.)]

Seeing the glaring words after his faction, Sasuke couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

"What do you mean, 'secretly harboring rebellious intentions; potential missing-nin'?"

"System, did you just coat that little mouth of yours in honey?..."

Though he was a little annoyed, when he saw his attributes had increased, he couldn't help feeling a little smug.

"My charisma's gone up so much my brain can barely keep up."

"Come to think of it, should I just take it easy and live off my looks?..."

After indulging in a flight of fancy, Sasuke looked lower and couldn't help frowning.

"Dance of the Crescent Moon is only Level 2?"

"Should I try using a skill point to force it up a level?..."

After a whole night of training,

Sasuke had gained an even deeper appreciation for the intricacies of Dance of the Crescent Moon.

Though he had managed to reach the threshold of mastery in just one night,

taking it any further wouldn't be possible in a short time.

Thinking of how Gekko Hayate had spent more than a decade training before bringing every sword form to the threshold of mastery,

Sasuke finally gritted his teeth and spent one skill point on Dance of the Crescent Moon!

[ Ding! Congratulations, Host! Dance of the Crescent Moon has leveled up! ]

[ One skill point consumed. Current skill points: 4. ]

Seeing the notification, Sasuke winced at the cost.

But he had no choice.

Everyone knew that Fire Style couldn't kill anyone in the Naruto world, especially the Uchiha Clan's Fire Style...

The Great Fireball was already at the level of a Level 3 Chunin technique.

But it took too long to cast, so it couldn't kill anyone. At best, it was useful for scaring people.

Dance of the Crescent Moon was different.

Not only was it fast, but it also concealed deadly attacks. That made it an excellent technique to use against an opponent!

Opening the system panel again, Sasuke turned his attention back to the skills list.

[Konoha Style Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon: Level 3 (98%)]

"So close..."

Seeing this, Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration.

At Level 2, he had mastered the First Form, Wind Chaser, and reached the threshold of mastery.

Level 3 should at least count as a little success.

But if he accidentally reached Level 4...