"(#`O′) Holy shit?"
Genye instantly turned into a furious child.
"So the Eight Inner Gates don't count as one skill, and you want me to replicate it eight times, you scam of a system?!"
[Be content, host. At least I didn't split the reward into dozens of fragments and make you slowly combine them.]
Genye: (,#゜Д゜)
At that moment, he was reminded once more of the terror of being controlled by a certain game studio.
Genye obediently shut his mouth.
The system interface continued scrolling.
[After adjusting for the host's personal traits, the system has developed a new skill for the host: "My Door Is Always Open"!]
"...Open arms are waiting for you?" Genye couldn't help singing it aloud.
Kai: [゜ω゜;≡]
Seeing Kai standing beside him, completely bewildered, Genye awkwardly cleared his throat twice and opened the skill description.
[My Door Is Always Open: The host can keep a weakened version of the First Gate open at all times, increasing all attributes by 20%. It consumes very little stamina and places almost no strain on the body.]
"Holy shit, that's awesome!" Genye was instantly thrilled.
Although it was weaker than opening the actual Gate, being able to maintain a 20% boost all the time definitely made this a god-tier skill!
Genye got carried away. "System, give me another draw!"
[Ding! Replication complete. The host has obtained a new skill: "Nunchaku Mastery"!]
Genye: "..."
Sure enough, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
Genye sighed quietly and looked at Kai beside him. "Kai, do you have a spare pair of nunchucks at home? Could you give me one?"
Since he'd drawn the skill, he couldn't very well let it go to waste...
"Genye, you know how to use nunchucks too?!" Kai's eyes lit up again.
Genye rolled his eyes. "Of course. I'm a man of great wealth and countless talents. I can sing, dance, rap, and play ping-pong, too."
"Yoshi! Wait here!"
Kai dashed into the house and soon came running back with two pairs of nunchucks.
Kai shoved one pair into Genye's hands and said excitedly:
"Genye, have a clash of sticks with me! Let's have a duel where every strike lands!"
Genye: "???"
What kind of outrageous talk was that? Did he want to get beaten to death with a flurry of sticks?
At Kai's insistence, Genye still went outside with him to spar in a small grove.
After all, he wanted to see what level the nunchaku technique he'd copied was at, and whether he could use it in a real fight.
To be honest, it was ridiculous that the Hyuga Clan didn't teach its members to use weapons and only let them fight with their fists.
Apart from Kunai, Genye couldn't use anything. Whenever he ran into someone with a sword, he was so constrained in a fight that he could barely do anything.
It was a miracle the Hyuga Clan had survived this long.
"Genye, here I come!" Kai twirled his nunchucks and said impatiently.
"Bring it!" Genye tucked one end of his nunchucks under his arm and beckoned to Kai.
"Take this!"
Kai gripped his nunchucks and appeared at Genye's side in a flash, the free end sweeping toward Genye's face.
Whoosh!
Genye dodged to the side and flicked his arm, sending the nunchucks in his hand darting toward Kai's wrist like a striking snake.
"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"
Kai swung his nunchucks in the opposite direction, deflecting Genye's attack. Then he turned and whipped a back kick at him.
"Block, transform, and strike!"
Genye raised an arm to block Kai's kick, then turned his arm and nunchucks into a whip, countering with a Lightning Five-Chain Whip.
"Weary Bird Returns!"
Gripping his nunchucks in both hands, Kai changed the direction of his attack twice in quick succession, then unexpectedly whipped them at Genye's waist.
"Over Mountains and Ridges!"
Genye turned his wrist, sweeping his nunchucks through an arc in the air. The chain twisted slightly as he caught Kai's nunchucks against it.
"Leaf Rock-Breaking Rise!"
Kai remained calm. He tightened his grip on his nunchucks with one hand and used the tension to surge forward, driving an elbow hard into Genye's chest.
"Iron Mountain Lean!"
Genye quickly turned sideways, tensed his arm and tucked it against his side, then twisted his waist and dropped his shoulder to meet Kai head-on.
Bang!
The two were both sent staggering backward by the force of the impact. They grimaced with pain, but soon charged at each other again.
"Meteor Chasing the Moon!"
"Snowflakes Covering the Peak!"
The metal nunchucks blurred in their hands as they relentlessly chopped, swept, struck, and whipped at each other, producing a series of dull thuds.
After a flurry of exchanges, Kai sprang back and looked at the nunchucks in his hands, puzzled.
"Genye, why do I feel like you're using exactly the same moves as me?"
Genye didn't know what to say.
He'd noticed it too. They'd both learned from the same teacher, so neither could counter the other's moves.
In the end, the spar ended in a draw, and Genye spent an unforgettable night at the Might Household.
Damn it, who does a thousand handstand push-ups after dinner just to help the food go down?!
Weren't they worried about getting a stomach prolapse?!
What Genye didn't know was that from that day on, Kai considered him his lifelong friend and rival.
Several months later, in the southeastern part of the Land of Fire, three figures darted through the forest like ghosts.
"Since Hizashi Hyuga left, this is the first time our squad's taken an A-rank mission," Asuma said cheerfully.
The kid was gutsy and had never known fear. He was excited now.
"That's not a good thing," Genye said, shaking his head. "If they're starting to send Chunin on A-rank missions, it means the village has run out of people."
Konoha was fighting on two fronts against Cloud and Rock, with its main forces committed to the front lines and the rear left undefended.
The wily Kirigakure had quickly noticed this and sent nearly a hundred shinobi into the Land of Fire to probe whether Konoha still had the strength to respond to a large-scale war.
The mission Genye and the others had received was to wipe out this Kirigakure vanguard and force the village to back down.
Of course, theirs was just one of many squads, responsible for only a small area.
"What are you talking about?" Asuma immediately objected to Genye's words.
"The village chose us because we're strong enough. After we finish this mission, maybe we'll even be nominated for Special Jōnin!"
Genye was speechless. "Don't get cocky. Who knows whether there are any tough opponents among these Mist Ninja?"
"Asuma, Genye's right. We'd better be cautious," Yuhi Kurenai said worriedly.
"You two..."
"Shh, don't say anything yet. Byakugan!"
Just as Asuma was about to say something else, Genye raised a hand to stop him and focused his Byakugan on the distance.
After a while, Genye slowly lowered his gaze and looked at his two teammates.
"I've spotted the enemy. Get ready for battle. It looks like a squad of Genin led by a Chunin."
When watching Naruto, you got the impression that Chunin were everywhere and Jōnin were a dime a dozen.
But in reality, Chunin were skilled enough to lead squads and were rare elites in the villages (according to the Book of En).
In battle, the opponents they encountered most often were the Genin, the most numerous and main fighting force of each village.
"Genye, you take the Chunin. Kurenai and I will deal with the other three Genin?" Asuma immediately got into position and suggested.
"That works for me. Let's move," Genye said with a nod.
The three of them took a detour, hid in a tree, and quietly waited for the enemy to arrive.
X-ray vision was the best!
A little while later, four figures moved silently into Genye and the others' view.
It was the Kirigakure squad they'd spotted earlier.
Asuma leapt down from the tree, puffed out his cheeks, and spat a huge cloud of gray smoke at the four of them.
"Watch out, enemy attack—secondhand smoke!"
Before you continue