The First in History!

In the spectator stands.

Watching Asuma smoothly unleash taijutsu, genjutsu, and combined ninjutsu, every spectator marveled in admiration.

To Jōnin like them, this was nothing extraordinary.

But Asuma was currently taking his Graduation Exam.

He was facing an experienced Chūnin, yet he had already gained the upper hand.

Such a seamless battle showed none of a rookie's clumsiness.

"Another genius like Kakashi!"

"He's no worse than Shinya was back then!"

"At his age, he's already far stronger than I was!"

"As expected of someone taught by the Third Hokage himself!"

The chorus of praise left Sarutobi Hiruzen beaming.

Praise for Asuma made him happier than praise for himself.

Sarutobi Shinya smiled. "Father, it seems my little brother hasn't disappointed you!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen neither agreed nor disagreed.

He felt that if Asuma had listened to him and not spent so much effort training other Chakra Nature Transformations, his Fire Style would have been even more powerful.

Jiraiya laughed. "Asuma is much like Minato—a ninjutsu prodigy with sharp reactions and keen insight!"

Minato hurriedly said, "Jiraiya-sensei, I definitely wasn't this strong when I was nine!"

Jiraiya did not refute him. He turned to Orochimaru, who was watching with great interest, and asked with a grin, "Orochimaru, are you interested in taking on a student?"

"I trained Minato, and Tsunade is going to teach that girl Shizune. If you don't take an apprentice, we'll leave you behind!"

Orochimaru did not answer, but he was faintly tempted.

Everyone liked geniuses.

But at the thought of Nawaki, Orochimaru's heart turned cold again.

Life was too fragile. Asuma had performed well, but on the battlefield, he might die to a single trap.

Even the Hokage's son was equal before an Explosive Tag!

Elsewhere.

Hatake Sakumo watched the battle below with some regret. "At this rate, there won't be any need for swordsmanship!"

He had been looking forward to seeing how far Asuma's swordsmanship had progressed.

After all, Asuma could be considered half his disciple.

Below.

The battle continued.

The moment Kazuki landed, he threw himself awkwardly to the side, barely avoiding Asuma's Fire Style.

But before he could rise, a Kunai was already pressed against his neck.

He had lost!

Kazuki froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.

To be beaten so badly by a graduate...

Shaking his head inwardly, Kazuki got up and smiled. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, senpai!"

Asuma was very polite.

Nishikawa Masato had already arrived beside Sarutobi Hiruzen and handed over his score.

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly after looking at it.

The score was too high!

Since the founding of the Ninja Academy, no one had ever received such a high score on their Graduation Exam.

Both the Three Basic Ninjutsu assessment and the combat assessment were scored out of ten.

That meant full marks!

Sarutobi Shinya did not speak at this time. It would not have been appropriate.

But he felt that his younger brother Asuma deserved that score.

At nine years old, he had not been capable of what Asuma had done.

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression, Nishikawa Masato quickly said, "Third Hokage-sama, based on Asuma's performance, he fully deserves this score."

"No graduate in the past has ever accomplished what Asuma has. Setting combat experience aside, Asuma is now no worse than any Chūnin!"

Nishikawa Masato argued his case.

Jiraiya and the others also gathered around. After seeing the score, they all voiced their agreement.

Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered briefly before finally nodding.

Nishikawa Masato was overjoyed. After bowing, he leaped down from the spectator stands and handed the prepared ninja forehead protector to Asuma. Smiling, he said, "Congratulations, Asuma. Starting today, you are a true ninja!"

"Thank you, Masato-sensei!"

Asuma accepted the forehead protector, and for a moment, he could not help feeling a complicated mix of emotions.

He had been in this world for more than four years.

Four years of unchanging training had brought him to this point. It had not been easy.

But I'm still a child!

Asuma sighed.

He was only nine!

Soon, he would have to fight and kill!

Just as he was thinking this, the System Notification Sound rang out.

Congratulations on obtaining the achievement Konoha Ninja Academy Top Graduate. You have received 1 Attribute Point, 1 Skill Point, an additional 10,000 Experience Points, and 1 Graduation Skill Pack.

Asuma was both shocked and delighted.

However, he did not check the system immediately. After leaving the examination grounds, he met up with Kurenai and the others, and they went to the Dango Shop to celebrate. Only then did he head alone to the waterfall where he usually trained.

Standing one meter sixty tall, Asuma sat cross-legged bare-chested atop a smooth stone slab, his bronze skin exposed as the roar of falling water thundered in his ears.

He opened the system.

The first thing Asuma did was open the rewarded Graduation Skill Pack.

Congratulations, you have obtained Level 3 Body Flicker Technique.

Another Level 3 skill!

Asuma was overjoyed.

Moreover, Body Flicker Technique happened to be one of the ninjutsu he had not learned.

He immediately claimed it. The System Infusion took effect, and he instantly mastered the Level 3 Body Flicker Technique.

Asuma immediately used it. With a swish, his figure vanished from the stone and appeared a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.

He used the Body Flicker Technique again and returned to the smooth stone slab.

After sitting back down, Asuma focused on his Character Panel.

Character: Asuma

Level: 32

Age: 9

Faction: Konohagakure, Land of Fire

Experience Points: +/251,800

Achievements: Savior (1/10), Konoha Ninja Academy Top Graduate

Dopaminergic Attribute Points: 33+1

Dopaminergic Skill Points: 33+1

In a little over four years, his Character Level had reached Level 32.

However, in his first year after transmigrating, Asuma had gained as many as fifteen levels.

After that, the number of levels he gained each year had dropped off a cliff. It was now May, yet he had not gained even a single level this year.

That was because more Experience Points were needed at higher levels.

From Level 0 to Level 10, the gap in Experience Points between each level was 200.

From Level 10 to Level 20, it was 1,000.

From Level 20 to Level 30, it had risen to 10,000.

From Level 30 to Level 40, it was 50,000.

The further he went, the harder it became to level up.

He estimated that after Level 50, each new level would require a staggering million Experience Points.

If he had to rely on ordinary training, who knew how long it would take to gain a single level.

"I wonder whether carrying out missions and engaging in real killing can earn large amounts of Experience Points. If not, then I can only wait it out."

Asuma sighed.

Still, looking at the thirty-four Attribute Points and Skill Points he had accumulated felt incredibly satisfying.

Next, he opened his attribute tab.

Constitution: 31.26+17.54=48.8

Agility: 24.64+14=38.64

Intelligence: 38+22=60

Charm: 31+14+7=52

His gains over nearly three years were, in a sense, not even as great as those from his first year. The stat that had improved the fastest was still Intelligence.

This stat represented Mental Strength, comprehension, Learning Ability, and knowledge.

In fact, from his second year onward, his Experience Points had mainly come from studying.

Constitution still belonged to the second tier. In terms of training, Asuma's intensity was no less than Might Guy's. He had persisted for years without change, ate well, took plenty of supplements, and his body itself was still growing.

Agility and Charm had improved by similar amounts.

But over the past month, Asuma had felt that his Agility training was yielding barely any gains.

It seemed to have reached a bottleneck.

If he wanted to raise it quickly, it seemed he could only Add Points.

As for his Charm Attribute, Asuma had not caused any more trouble over the past few years. Its growth had come entirely through gradual accumulation.

Still, today's Graduation Exam alone had already brought him seven points of Charm.

Moreover, as news of his examination results spread—and perhaps was even passed along by spies from other ninja villages, drawing the attention of the major villages—he would surely receive another batch of Charm later.

This was different from the time he saved Hatake Sakumo.

That news had not been suitable for widespread dissemination. The only people who knew were Konoha's upper ranks.

Gathering his thoughts, Asuma looked at his Four-Dimensional Stats.

"With Constitution nearing fifty, if I compare it through Chakra Amount, I'm already close to a Jōnin!"

Asuma had no way to see other people's physical stats, so he could only use Chakra for comparison.

Chakra was formed from the combination of physical energy and Mental Energy, so to a certain extent, it could reflect the strength of one's Constitution.

A month ago, Asuma had compared his Chakra strength with that of his private tutor, who was also a Jōnin from the Sarutobi Clan, and roughly determined his own Chakra level.

His Chakra Amount was approximately four-fifths of that Jōnin's. It was very close.

Two months before that.

Asuma had also compared himself with Kakashi.

His Chakra Amount was about 1.5 Kakashis.

Of course, Kakashi was quite a bit younger than him.

And this also had much to do with his relatively high Intelligence Stat.

After all, the amount of Chakra was determined by both Constitution and Mental Energy.

The weaker stat determined the Upper Limit of one's Chakra Amount!

Asuma was very confident that, aside from those lunatics of the Uchiha Clan, among people his age, very few had an Intelligence Stat higher than his. There were scarcely any who could even match him.

"For Attribute Point allocation, Constitution and Agility should take priority. Intelligence is important too, but for someone with a system like me, it's actually the easiest to improve."

After looking over his various attributes and then at his Attribute Points, Asuma pondered for a moment before finally making up his mind.

"Add Points!"

Constitution +12=60.8!

The instant he added the points, Asuma felt warmth spread through his entire body.

His internal organs, muscles, bones, skin—every cell seemed to be breathing, devouring energy.

His vitality began surging at an extremely noticeable rate.

Twelve Attribute Points at once was equivalent to one quarter of his original Constitution.

"This feels amazing!"

Asuma could not help laughing aloud.

It took quite a while before the changes in his body finally ended.

He immediately leaped to the shore and lifted the man-sized boulder he normally used for training.

Light!

Far too light!

That was Asuma's first feeling.

But after throwing down the stone and looking at his attribute tab again, he discovered that his Agility and Intelligence had also increased.

Agility +1, Intelligence +2!

Asuma was both shocked and delighted. This had never happened before.

But after thinking it over carefully, he understood.

The body and mind were inseparable; a stronger body often drove Mental Strength Growth as well.

The Agility Attribute was also closely tied to Constitution and the mind.

Constitution, Agility, and Intelligence were all among the foundations of the Charm Attribute.

This had never happened before because he had never raised so much at once.

The subtle influence, coupled with his constant daily training, had kept him from noticing the close connection between them.

Unfortunately, his Experience Points had not increased.

Keep adding!

Asuma was addicted.