Clone Technique, Do You Want a Gift?

Mikami Yu did not think much of it. He picked up the fruit and headed next door to the Nohara residence.

Nohara Rin answered the door.

"Oh, Yu, you're here... Are these fruits for our family? This is far too much. They must have been expensive, right?"

"It's nothing. You, Uncle Hiroshi, and Aunt Misa have looked after my family quite a bit lately. A little fruit is nothing. When Dad gets back, let's all go to Barbecue Q together."

Mikami Yu smiled and made the polite offer casually.

At that moment, Nohara Hiroshi inside also heard the voices and poked his head over for a look. "Oh, Yu... You came all this way, and you even brought something? Come in and sit for a while?"

"No, I still need to go back and help Mom with some work."

"Look at that, Little Yu is so sensible. Rin, look at him."

Nohara Hiroshi came over, exchanged a few pleasantries with Mikami Yu, and accepted the two bags of fruit.

Then, as if he had remembered something, he suddenly asked, "By the way, Yu, do you know your chakra affinities?"

"I don't. What's wrong?"

Mikami Yu answered.

Chakra test paper was fairly expensive—one thousand ryo per sheet at ninja tool stores. The Ninja Academy could not possibly test students for free, and Mikami Yu had never gone out of his way to try it. After all, he had not had the chance to learn ninjutsu before. Still, judging from how he could pursue Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu, he should have a fire affinity.

"I see... I happen to have an unused test paper here. Let's test you."

As Nohara Hiroshi spoke, he invited Mikami Yu inside and took out the test paper.

As Mikami Yu poured chakra into it,

the test paper first caught fire, then went out and became damp.

"Water and fire, huh..."

Seeing the result, Mikami Yu sighed.

How should he put it...

If he could choose, he would actually have preferred wind. After all, Wind Style was almost the most offensive of the five basic affinities, and it could also combine with fire to form Scorch Release, just like Teacher Pakura next door.

Water, on the other hand, leaned toward support and demanded a great deal of chakra strength. It was the kind with an extremely high ceiling and an extremely low floor. It was not suited for civilian ninja.

However, Nohara Hiroshi seemed relieved.

"Yu, your chakra affinities are the same as Rin's. You both have water and fire."

"Perfect. I have two scrolls here, both for Water Style. I've already mastered the jutsu on them, and Rin can't learn them yet, so I'll lend them to you first. Take a look and see whether you can learn them. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me anytime."

"Huh?"

New ninjutsu?

Mikami Yu's eyes lit up. Like an old pervert spotting a beauty, he fixed his gaze on Nohara Hiroshi. "Th... this is really okay?"

"Of course it is. When Tajima comes back, he'll teach you anyway. Learn a couple of moves first—maybe they'll help with next year's graduation exam. If you really feel bad about it, have your father teach Rin the ninjutsu he knows when the time comes."

Nohara Hiroshi laughed heartily and patted Mikami Yu on the shoulder.

With things having been said this far, Mikami Yu stopped being polite and sincerely thanked him. "Then thank you very much, Uncle Hiroshi!"

Come to think of it, ninjutsu scrolls were quite valuable. They were somewhat like books from the age of bamboo slips.

Most ninja tool stores did not sell them. Even when they did, they only sold basic D-rank and E-rank ninjutsu. Any ninjutsu ranked C or above was basically controlled by the various Ninja Clans and Jonin circles. If ordinary civilians wanted to learn them, there were usually only two ways—

First, find a good teacher, a good wife, or a good godfather, and learn new ninjutsu from them;

Second, accumulate merit and exchange it through the village.

Once someone learned ninjutsu through that route, who they taught it to was entirely up to them. Still, unless they were related, few people would pass precious ninjutsu on to outsiders. From that perspective, what Nohara Hiroshi was doing was practically godfather behavior.

And when the other man took the scrolls from the bedroom and solemnly placed them in Mikami Yu's hands,

Mikami Yu saw several lines of text flash before his eyes—

[Ding!]

[Potential pursuit target detected: "Water Release: Water Shockwave," triggering a limited-time encounter mission!]

[Giftable item detected: Limited Skin—Clone Technique: Water Release: Water Clone Technique!]

"?!"

Wait a second...

A gift?!

A Limited Skin?!

Mikami Yu's eyelid twitched, and even his breathing quickened.

So the [Gift Giving] function gave away ninjutsu scrolls?!

That made sense.

Ninjutsu scrolls were the medium that recorded ninjutsu. They were like clothes, used to cover and conceal the body, so... scrolls being equivalent to Limited Skins actually seemed fairly reasonable, didn't it?

Then...

Following that logic, wasn't Nohara Hiroshi giving him ninjutsu scrolls basically the same as giving him girls?

And the earlier Three Techniques and Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu... weren't they basically running around naked in front of him every day?

W-was it this obscene?

So this was the kind of Galageki you were! An R18 adult game!

Mikami Yu secretly looked down on the Gala System in his heart, but an even more sincere smile appeared on his face. After thanking Nohara Hiroshi once more, he left the Nohara residence with light steps.

After returning home,

and closing his bedroom door,

Mikami Yu immediately placed the ninjutsu scrolls on the table in his room. He washed his hands and face first, then sat before the desk and opened Galageki's interface.

[Transformation Technique: Good evening, Little Mikami. You're still practicing so late? You're really diligent!]

[Clone Technique: Hmph, diligent my ass. He's probably going to say things like "good night" to us again. Honestly, he's like a broken record, saying the same few words every day. There's no originality at all.]

[Transformation Technique: Don't say that. For ninjutsu like us, who aren't valued, only Little Mikami lets us experience what it feels like to be treated equally. We need to become even better so we can keep up with Little Mikami's pace.]

[Clone Technique: ...You just spoil him.]

"..."

The corner of Mikami Yu's mouth twitched slightly. Somewhat speechless, he watched the Three Techniques sisters—or rather, the "Two-Body Technique"—argue, then gave a light cough. "Um, Clone Technique... do you want a gift?"

[Clone Technique: ?]

Right then,

Mikami Yu slowly unwrapped the Water Clone scroll on the desk in his bedroom and gradually spread it open.

As the scroll's full form was exposed to the sunlight,

the expression on Clone Technique's portrait changed subtly.

[Transformation Technique: Wow, what pretty new clothes! And they're water-blue too—they look really lovely. Clone Technique, it seems Little Mikami really cares about you. He actually prepared such a wonderful gift for you!]

[Clone Technique: ...Hmph, it'll do. Is this just for me, or does everyone get one?]

"?"