What Does It Mean to Romance Ninjutsu?

Konoha Year 45, winter.

The sun was setting.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the playground of the Konoha Ninja Academy, turning the falling sweat golden.

"Phew... phew... Guy, I can't go on..."

The handsome, white-haired boy, Haku, said between gasps.

"Hang in there, Yu! It's always like this the first time, but as long as you keep at it, you'll experience an even more wonderful feeling..."

"That feeling is called youth! We're almost done with our 200th lap!"

With his watermelon-cut hair and an outfit that made him look like a green frog, Might Guy ran while turning his head to give a thumbs-up. His buck teeth, white as Haku, gleamed in the sunlight.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking,

Haku, the white-haired boy, collapsed to the ground with a thud. Fortunately, he caught himself with an arm in time and did not smash his face into the ground. "I-I'll sit here for a while... Guy, keep running. Don't mind me."

"...All right, then!"

Might Guy did not think much of it.

After all, in his view, no matter how poor someone's physique was, they could not possibly collapse after merely running 200 laps around the playground, right?

"After I finish the remaining 800 laps, I'll come back for you!"

Watching Might Guy's retreating figure,

Mikami Yu let out a long sigh.

It had already been eight years since he had been reincarnated into the Naruto world.

During those first few years, Mikami Yu had fantasized about relying on his earth-shaking wisdom and peerless talent to make a name for himself in this world. He would punch Uchiha Madara, kick Black Zetsu and Obito, and spear Otsutsuki Kaguya...

But as time passed, especially after entering the Ninja Academy,

Mikami Yu had no choice but to acknowledge one fact:

He was just an ordinary person.

As everyone knew, surviving in the Shinobi World required influence, connections, and most importantly, bloodline.

And Mikami Yu was a civilian.

Although his experiences from two lifetimes had made him calmer and more composed than children his age; although from the age of three or four, he had drawn up training and diet plans for himself, drank a cup of warm milk before bed every day, and did twenty minutes of stretching exercises; although after enrolling, he studied as diligently as if he were preparing for the college entrance exams in his previous life...

All of that only allowed him to excel in academic subjects.

As for practical classes...

Mikami Yu's Ninjutsu grades were not ideal. He barely ranked in the middle.

If this were peacetime,

he might still have been able to work hard, reach Genin standards by graduation at twelve, spend a few years building seniority, apply to return to the academy as a teacher, and when Naruto's class enrolled, find a way to replace Iruka. Then he could raise the prince's affection points whenever possible and coast until Naruto graduated.

If everything went smoothly, when the Seventh Hokage got married years later, he would even have to invite "Teacher Mikami" onstage to say a few words.

Unfortunately...

Mikami Yu had been born a little too early.

The Konoha Ninja Academy was still operating under its wartime system. Children generally enrolled at four and graduated at eight or nine. In Mikami Yu's class were Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Might Guy, Nohara Rin, Sarutobi Asuma... a veritable gathering of immortals.

Among them, the most gifted one—Haku, the white-haired boy—had graduated in his second year, become a Chunin in his third, and now spent most of his time carrying out missions outside the village.

And the weakest one...

Everyone said Obito was the dead last.

What they did not realize was that in the real Naruto world, civilian-born children like Mikami Yu were the true bottom rung.

That guy had cheats built into him. It did not matter if his early growth was a little slow, and honestly, it was not even that slow. He was just not very bright and could not properly bring out his own strength;

while under normal circumstances, Mikami Yu could only lie beneath Konoha's massive carriage and serve as a speed bump—

The Naruto world of this era was far from peaceful. Conflicts between the various ninja villages were constant, and the full outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War was, at most, one or two years away. When that happened, even newly graduated Genin would be sent to the battlefield.

If he was lucky, he might survive until the end of the war with only minor injuries;

if he was unlucky, perhaps he could enroll in school together with Naruto and Sasuke...

"As a transmigrator, I'm already eight years old and I don't even have a cheat... Is that reasonable?"

Mikami Yu felt miserable.

He had already made up his mind.

At the end of this month would be the Ninja Academy's final exam for the semester, as well as the final major exam before graduation next February. If his practical grades were still like this by then, he would find an excuse to drop out and apply at Ichiraku Ramen as a noodle-pulling chef.

—This was the safest plan Mikami Yu could think of.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with becoming a powerful ninja and witnessing the higher vistas of this world,

but with the arm strength he had built up through years of training, becoming a noodle-pulling chef would give him a far broader future.

Besides, Uncle Ichiraku's daughter was fairly pretty. With his handsome looks, he could reluctantly marry into the family, change his name to Otsutsuki Yu, and call it a fine match...

[ Ding! System binding successful! ]

A line of text floated past his eyes.

"Eh???"

Mikami Yu jolted. What was going on? He really had a cheat? It had taken a full eight years to arrive??

[ System initialization complete. Core module loading... ]

[ This system is the Shinobi Galgame System. It is designed to help the host form bonds with eligible beautiful female characters, obtain generous rewards while enjoying sweet romance, and reach the pinnacle of life. ]

"Holy crap!"

Mikami Yu's eyes lit up, and he felt as if he had found a way out of a desperate situation.

It was here!

His golden finger!

Though the system's name seemed a little strange, it was still a cheat.

There were quite a few characters in the Shinobi World at this time who could be called "beautiful girls." Those his age included Nohara Rin, Yuhi Kurenai, and Mei Terumi; older ones included Tsunade; even Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto were not married yet...

A glorious vision of ruling the Shinobi World with beauties in both arms seemed to be slowly unfolding before him!

However—

[ Core module loading complete. ]

[ Beautiful female characters currently in contact with the host have been scanned and loaded: Transformation Technique, Clone Technique, Substitution Technique. Have fun romancing them! ]

"Ah?"

The smile froze on Mikami Yu's face.

Wait, wait a second?

Romance what?

The Three Techniques???

Clinging to his final shred of hope, Mikami Yu silently said, Open the system's main interface.

As soon as the words fell, a UI in the style of a Japanese GAL game unfurled before Mikami Yu's eyes like a halo. At the center of the softly drawn background image were three chibi Ninjutsu icons, each labeled with a name and an affection bar.

[ Current romance targets ]

[ Transformation Technique (Current Affection: 10/100—Stranger) ]

[ Clone Technique (Current Affection: 5/100—Stranger) ]

[ Substitution Technique (Current Affection: 5/100—Stranger) ]

Mikami Yu selected the [Transformation Technique] icon.

The interface changed. The chibi avatar icon remained on the left, vaguely resembling a black-haired beautiful girl with a somewhat sly smile. On the right appeared a detailed status panel and several raised option buttons:

[ Selected romance target: Transformation Technique ]

[Talk], [Practice], [Give Gift (Insufficient Affection; Not Yet Unlocked)], [Leave]

Mikami Yu selected [Talk].

[ At dusk, you encounter the Transformation Technique taking a stroll on the school playground. She seems delighted by your appearance and waves to you from afar as she jokes.]

[Transformation Technique: Hehe~ Little Mikami, who are you turning into today? During the last test, you transformed into Teacher Oki, but you moved with the same arm and leg on each side. Everyone laughed at you for ages! (￣▽￣*)~]

Three options appeared below:

[A: Sorry, I was too clumsy last time. I'll definitely work hard this time.]

[B: I was just trying to make everyone laugh!]

[C: (Silent, only watching her intently)]

"..."

Mikami Yu's mouth twitched, and he was completely speechless.

Come on, man...

You really were a gal game?

Talking to Ninjutsu, giving it gifts, raising its affection... Was that something a human being could even do?

Forget it. Forget it. This was clearly just a brain-dead system. He would act like it did not exist...

[Notice: The host's words and actions determine the romance target's affection. Whenever affection reaches a certain stage, the host's attributes will be slightly enhanced, with a chance of receiving special rewards related to the romance target.]

"Choose A."

That was what Mikami Yu said.

There were rewards, so what else was there to say?