Youthful Love and Exploding Stats

Waking up, the dawn light was pale outside the window.

Perhaps because he went to sleep early, Uchiha Hara felt unusually refreshed.

This was likely the best sleep he had experienced since transmigrating.

The haze and tension that had been piling up in his heart since his transmigration seemed to have dissipated by more than half with last night's bloody settlement.

This sleep was exceptionally deep and peaceful.

Getting up, he practiced a set of Taijiquan in the renovated training ground, feeling his vital energy and blood circulate smoothly throughout his body, along with vigorous energy, as if an endless supply of strength was surging within him.

This tangible sense of growing stronger made his heart surge, and a smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of his mouth.

After finishing a simple breakfast, he set out for the academy.

Just as he walked a short distance, he ran into Kurenai Yuhi waiting at the intersection.

"Morning, Hara-kun!" Kurenai Yuhi greeted with a smile, looked him over carefully, and said with some curiosity, "I feel like today... you seem a little different."

She tilted her head and thought. "Though your complexion is still a bit pale, you don't seem as gloomy. Did something happy happen?"

Uchiha Hara felt a slight chill in his heart, realizing he was getting a bit carried away. He quickly reined in his outward emotions and recovered his usual calm.

He looked at the pretty and cute girl in front of him, had an inspiration, and said softly, "Isn't it worth being happy just to see you at this time?"

Kurenai Yuhi was stunned at first, and then two blushes flew across her face. She chuckled with a bit of small triumph, "I go out at this time every day! From now on... can we arrange to go to school together?"

Looking at the girl's expectant gaze, Uchiha Hara suddenly felt a bit dazed.

Back in middle school in his past life, there seemed to have been such a girl who would always "happen to run into" him on the way to school. The two of them would walk side by side with mutual affection, green and wonderful.

Yet at that time, he was too timid, wanting countless times to hold her hand or carry her for a bit when she said she was tired, but he never managed to summon the courage.

Later as the years passed, he saw many people and experienced many things, but that heartbeat and regret belonging to the very beginning of youth remained deeply buried in his heart.

Only later did he realize that feeling was called youth.

Looking at the pretty young girl in front of him now, Uchiha Hara was unwilling to wait until he was old to regret it. Hesitating no longer, he nodded and then naturally reached out, gently holding Kurenai Yuhi's slightly cool, petite hand.

"Ah!" Kurenai Yuhi let out a soft cry, instinctively wanting to pull back, but Uchiha Hara held on with a bit of strength.

She struggled twice, and finding she couldn't break free, she gave up with a blushing face, letting him hold her hand as her body unconsciously leaned in a bit closer.

The two of them walked side by side toward the academy, holding hands just like that.

However, this cozy scene happened to fall into the eyes of Sarutobi Hiruzen and his son, Asuma, not far behind them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was heading to work and Asuma was heading to school; they were just heading out together, never expecting to witness this sight.

Seeing that Kurenai Yuhi was actually holding hands with Uchiha Hara in such an affectionate manner, Asuma was instantly struck as if by lightning, his eyes widened and tears gushed out uncontrollably.

"That girl... must be Shinku's kid, right?" Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and asked in a flat tone.

Asuma choked up and nodded. "Father, Uncle... didn't Uncle and the others agree that when she grows up, she's supposed to marry me as my wife?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as wisps of smoke rose up. "How can you take a joke between adults seriously? Who can say what things will be like over a decade from now?"

"I don't care! I'm going to marry Red!" Asuma cried out with a sob. "Father, you're the Hokage! Can't you... can't you make Uchiha Hara change classes?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly and shook his head. "The Hokage's authority isn't used for things like this. Asuma, if you truly like Kurenai Yuhi, you should work hard to improve your own strength and grades, and use your excellence to attract her."

"But whether it's written tests or practicals, my grades are better than Uchiha Hara's!" Asuma felt aggrieved and uncomprehending.

Looking at his son's painful appearance, a flash of complexity crossed Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.

He remembered back when the six of them studied under the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. At that time, both his strength and tactical mind surpassed Kagami Uchiha's, yet Utatane Koharu had eyes only for Kagami Uchiha.

Later, Kagami Uchiha married a woman from his own clan, and Hiruzen had thought his chance had come, only to find that Utatane Koharu would rather remain unmarried for life than give him the slightest chance.

Love, it seemed, was truly unreasonable!!

He could only pat his son's shoulder and advise, "Perhaps... you could try casting your gaze toward other girls? I remember there are quite a few pretty and outstanding girls in your class."

"Do I really... not stand a chance at all?" Asuma asked with tearful eyes, his voice carrying despair.

"None." Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly shook his head, his tone carrying a trace of the vicissitudes of someone who had seen through the ways of the world.

He knew very well that once a woman in this world set her mind on someone, it was extremely difficult to change.

Even if a rival died, it was useless, because living people could compete even less with dead ones.

A woman would rather spend her whole life in widowhood for a lover than remarry.

And cases of widows living in lonely widowhood with their sons after their husbands died were even more countless.

The reason Uchiha Amano was able to win over many widows wasn't because those widows lacked steadfastness, but because Uchiha Amano controlled the finances and used the widows' children as leverage.

Watching those two figures holding hands and walking into the distance ahead, Asuma finally broke down completely, turned around with his face covered in tears, and ran back toward home.

He didn't want to go to school today, and didn't want to face that blinding sight.

Watching his son's dejected back, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed once more and instructed the empty air, "Go help Asuma take a leave of absence."

"Yes." A barely perceptible response came from the air.

Arriving at the academy and sitting in his own seat, Uchiha Hara's mood had completely settled.

He casually slumped over his desk as if catching up on sleep, but in truth, all his awareness had sunk into his sea of consciousness, summoning up that familiar panel.

[Individual Status Panel]
Vitality: 1.726 (+0.600)
Energy: 1.726 (+0.600)
Spirit: 1.726 (+0.600)
[Talents]
Enhanced Perception (Blue)
Enhanced Stamina (Blue)
Cat's Coordination (Green)
Steel Bones and Iron Muscles (Green)
Skin Color Change (Green)
Infrared Vision (Green)
Spirit Illusion (Green)
Memory Enhancement (Green)
Low-Light Vision (Green)
Three-Dimensional Balance (Green)
[Chakra Natures]
Fire, Earth, Lightning, Wind
[Skills]
Tai Chi
Uchiha Style Swordsmanship
Leaf Style Taijutsu
Kunai Throwing
Shuriken Throwing
[Jutsu]
Fireball Jutsu

Looking at the soaring stats on the panel, Uchiha Hara felt inspired.

The three dimensions of vitality, energy, and spirit directly increased from 1.126 to 1.726, an increase of 0.6 all at once!

This was equivalent to the two corpses, Uchiha Amano and Uchiha Jiang, each providing him with roughly 0.3 in vitality and spirit.

Comparing this to the 0.1 boost previously provided by refining Kiryu Daiki (who possessed a blue talent), it could be roughly deduced that an adult, well-conditioned elite Chunin or special Jonin had a life and spiritual foundation about three times that of an academy student.

Then the life and spiritual foundation of a Jonin and elite Jonin should be roughly 4 times that of an academy student.

Although Kiryu Daiki had a blue talent, considering that the Uchiha bloodline was roughly equivalent to a blue talent as well, this ratio was reasonable.

And Uchiha Hara was only five years old this year, yet his baseline stats had already reached 1.7!

This had already surpassed many ordinary Chunin.

More importantly, what he enhanced was his most fundamental origin. As his body grew naturally, even without consuming any further blood or soul essence, his vitality and spirit attributes would rise like the tide, reaching around three times their current level in the future—about 5.1!

A stat of 5.1 was definitely not weak, even among Kage level powerhouses!

Life and death crises can be considered completely behind me now. A powerful wave of confidence surged in Uchiha Hara's heart.

As long as he grew step by step, the Kage level was merely his baseline. Furthermore, he possessed an heaven-defying divine artifact like the Demon Refining Pot.

There were no new skills added. Cultivation was a very personal matter, and coupled with the fact that Uchiha Jiang was old and Uchiha Amano was a good-for-nothing, he deliberately discarded any personal training memories those two might have carried to prevent them from influencing himself.

As for chakra natures, Lightning and Wind were added. Up to this point, he already possessed the four natures of Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Wind, lacking only Water to complete the basic Five-Elements Seal.

He could feel that his own Uchiha bloodline had also grown much richer, yet the Sharingan had not awakened.

It seemed the key to opening the eyes lay not in bloodline concentration, but in intense emotional stimulation.

Even so, the comprehensive improvement of his baseline stats had greatly enhanced his five senses and insight. Combined with his numerous talents, he felt that his dynamic vision was perhaps already not inferior to an ordinary Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

Suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, Uchiha Hara turned his attention to the greatest harvest of this trip—resources.