Nawaki's Fate

"Kirito, you're trying to scare me, right? You're deliberately trying to talk me out of graduating early, aren't you? How could that be? Even if I graduated now, I'd only be a Genin. The villages don't have that many Jonin, so why would the enemy specifically send out a bunch of Jonin to kill me?"

Nawaki felt a chill run through him at Kirito's words and forced a smile.

Nawaki knew exactly how strong he was. Becoming a Genin and graduating from the Ninja Academy would be no problem at all. Maybe, with his massive chakra, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the few Water Style and Earth Style ninjutsu he had mastered, he could even clash head-on with a Chunin.

But if he went up against a Jonin, there was no chance of winning.

Aunt Momoka at his house was a Jonin, and an outstanding one among Jonin at that. His grandmother was an even stronger figure among Kage-level Experts. That was why he understood a Jonin's strength very well. With his current power, if he failed to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu in time, he would be killed instantly.

So if things really were as Kirito said, then if he chose to graduate early and go to the battlefield now, he would definitely die.

He did not want to die. Before becoming Hokage, he did not want to die at all.

Besides, if he died, Grandma Mito, his sister, and everyone in the clan would definitely be devastated.

"Scare you? Hmph. I'll show you something interesting, then you'll know whether I'm scaring you or not."

Kirito let out a cold laugh.

After saying that, he took out a Summoning Card from his body, then used a simple and easy-to-learn space-time ninjutsu.

Summoning Jutsu: Release Technique.

A spatial distortion instantly appeared at the center of the Summoning Card, and a thick handbook immediately appeared in Kirito's hand.

Kirito quickly flipped to a certain page in the handbook, then held it out for Nawaki to see.

Nawaki leaned in for a look, and his small face instantly turned deathly pale.

On one of the two pages was a lifelike portrait, and that portrait was of him. His name was written above it as well. On the other page was some simple information about him and the bounty amount.

Without a doubt, the handbook contained a Bounty Notice about him.

He had never imagined that, at such a young age, without having offended anyone, he would actually be listed on a Bounty Notice—and that the Bounty would be so high.

"The Bounty is a total of 50 Million Yen, higher than most A-Class Criminals. So, what do you think? Am I scaring you? With that much money, it's enough to make countless hyena-like Bounty Hunters and Jonin from every village set their sights on you, isn't it?

"You are a direct blood relative of the First Hokage and Second Hokage, and you inherited the power of both the First Hokage and Teacher Mito at the same time. Nawaki, don't underestimate your own value. If you're killed, the First Hokage's bloodline will only have Lady Tsunade left.

"And Lady Tsunade is a woman. There are some things she ultimately can't conveniently step forward to do."

Kirito looked at Nawaki's terrified expression and spoke in a low, lingering voice.

"Gulp~"

Nawaki could not help swallowing.

Although he still did not quite understand why someone would put such a huge bounty on him, he finally understood one thing: Kirito was right. If he graduated early and went to the battlefield now, he would definitely die.

If he did not have the village's protection, and the protection of his clansmen and grandmother, perhaps he would have long since been killed by those people eyeing his Bounty.

For the first time, Nawaki felt the malice of the world, and fear filled his heart.

"Tap~"

A hand landed on his shoulder, and his mood immediately calmed down as his fear quickly faded.

"Nawaki, while we can still enjoy the village's protection, before we grow up in peace, we need to work hard to improve our strength. If you want to protect the people in the village, protect yourself, and live to become Hokage, then don't casually say stupid things like graduating early again. We are Konoha's new sprouts. The most important thing right now is to work hard and grow, not go to the battlefield unprepared and throw our lives away. Only after we grow up will we be able to properly protect Konoha's new sprouts."

Kirito spoke to Nawaki earnestly.

Six-year-old Nawaki could not fully understand everything Kirito had said, but he understood the part about working hard to become stronger, protecting the village, and then living to become Hokage.

And so, he made up his mind. He would wait until he had the strength of a Jonin before going to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

As Nawaki secretly made his painful resolve, a hint of surprise appeared on Kirito's face. The reason was that, after several months, he once again received a cheat notification.

You successfully changed Nawaki's fate and gained 1 Enhancement Point.

What was going on?

When had he changed Nawaki's fate?

Nawaki had not even graduated yet.

But it really was great.

"Go back and think it over properly. I've got something to do later, so I'll leave first."

Seeing Nawaki lowering his head in silence, not knowing what he was thinking, Kirito decisively found an excuse to say goodbye to him, then quickly returned to his own room in the Orphanage and silently called up his Attribute Panel.

Kirito's Attribute Panel was as follows:

Ninjutsu 1, Taijutsu 0, Genjutsu 0, Wisdom 4, Strength 3, Speed 3, Stamina 2, Hand Seals 2

(Ninjutsu: proficiency and mastery of ninjutsu, Taijutsu: proficiency and mastery of taijutsu, Genjutsu: proficiency and mastery of genjutsu, Wisdom: breadth of knowledge and level of Intelligence, Strength: muscle power throughout the body, such as arm strength and leg strength, Speed: agility of movement and reaction, Stamina: amount of chakra, Hand Seals: proficiency and mastery of hand seals)

Physique: Sage Transformation

Chakra Affinity: Lightning, Yin, Yang

Chakra Nature: Wind 0, Fire 0, Water 0, Earth 0, Lightning 1, Yin 0, Yang 0

Ninjutsu: Substitution Technique 1, Transformation Jutsu 1, Clone Technique 1, Lightning Style: Lightning Ball 1

Sealing Jutsu: Single Lamp Array 3

Summoning Jutsu: Inhalation Technique 1, Release Technique 1

Enhancement Points: 1

"So I wasn't hearing things after all. Which one should I add it to?"

Kirito looked at the new Enhancement Point that had really appeared, thinking excitedly.

Two months had already passed since the Ninja Academy started. Although his strength had been steadily improving, the rate of his progress was far below Chizuru's and Nawaki's.

Nawaki in particular—ever since Kirito taught him to use Shadow Clones to speed up his training, Nawaki's progress had been enormous, and it made Kirito start to feel a little pressure.

His Strength and Speed attributes had not changed for some time, while his Wisdom Attribute had unknowingly risen to 4 because he had accumulated a large amount of knowledge.

But Kirito knew that this was because his strength and speed had not yet reached the standard. Through cultivating Natural Energy and doing taijutsu training, he could feel his speed and strength slowly increasing every day.

The reason they had not been improving by leaps and bounds like at the beginning was, on one hand, that the gap between 3 and 4 was far larger than the gap between 2 and 3, and on the other, that his physical development had already reached a certain critical point. Continuing to make rapid progress had become extremely difficult.

At the end of the day, he was still a six-year-old brat. His body was still in its childhood growth phase, and no matter how hard he trained, there were limits—unless he had alien blood or stopped being human.

Kirito had long since noticed this, so he was not in a hurry.

Barring any accidents, once his body gradually grew, his Strength and Speed attributes would naturally improve, eventually erupting after enough accumulation.

What really gave him a headache was the Stamina attribute at 2. Compared with ordinary Genin, he had a fair amount of Chakra, but compared with Chizuru and Nawaki, the gap was huge.

Especially Nawaki's ridiculous Chakra reserves—the gap was so great it made him feel somewhat helpless.

The Sage Body formed by combining the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan was just that absurd.

Kirito could only drool with envy over it.

Every time he fought Nawaki, he had to use Chakra with painstaking care and rack his brains for tactics to deal with him, while Nawaki did not need to worry about any of that at all. He could casually split off a dozen Shadow Clones to fight him, charge in recklessly with all his might, and still end up evenly matched.

This gradually made Kirito understand Kakashi's suffering.

When a ninja's mana pool was large enough, they really could do whatever they wanted.

That was why he had wanted to learn from Orochimaru. Unfortunately, his bloodline fusion experiments were not going well, and there had not been much progress.

That path was temporarily blocked. He needed to study more medical knowledge and accumulate more experimental experience.

"Should I use it on Stamina?"

Kirito asked himself this over and over in his heart.

Finally, when his gaze landed on Lightning Release and Sealing Jutsu—

He figured it out.

Those who accomplished great things did not need to fight for a momentary advantage.

Even if he used the Enhancement Point on Stamina now, it would only rise from 2 to 3. His Chakra reserves still could not possibly surpass Chizuru's and Nawaki's.

Good steel had to be used on the blade.

He needed to maximize the value of his precious Enhancement Point.

With that, the choice went without saying.

It would still be Wisdom Attribute.

He wanted to continue improving his Intelligence, upgrade his brain's CPU, and thereby further strengthen his mental calculation ability, his capacity to learn Sealing Jutsu, and his control over Chakra.

These were all advantages that set him apart from Chizuru and Nawaki.

Since his shortcomings could not be resolved in a short time, he would continue strengthening his strong points.

It's hard for a newcomer to stand out. I hope all you readers can come by more often and raise the follow-up reading rate. After reading, I hope everyone will vote more for this book and invest a little. If you can spare some monthly tickets or tips, Haruko would be endlessly grateful. It's too hard for a newcomer with a new book.