Early the next morning.
Fang Xu and Kurenai Yuhi had just run to the intersection when they saw Rin Nohara standing there waiting.
"Morning, Fang Xu, Kurenai."
Kurenai Yuhi smiled. "Rin, you really came."
Rin Nohara nodded.
"I said I would."
Just as the three were about to start running, hurried footsteps came from behind them.
Asuma ran over with a small bag on his back, still looking a little awkward.
"I was just passing by."
Fang Xu glanced at him.
"Passing by here to run laps around Konoha's outskirts?"
Asuma huffed.
"None of your business."
Kurenai Yuhi looked at him and said softly, "Asuma, since you're here, join us."
Asuma's expression immediately softened.
"Okay."
They had not been running long before Obito Uchiha rushed over too.
He clearly had not fully woken up, and even his goggles were crooked, but the moment he saw Rin Nohara, he straightened up.
"Rin! I came too!"
Rin Nohara smiled. "You can do it, Obito."
Obito was instantly full of energy.
"Don't worry! I'm the future Hokage!"
Watching this, Fang Xu could not help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Just like that, the morning training group grew from two people to five.
Two days later, Might Guy joined them too.
After that, Ebisu, Genma Shiranui, Namiashi Raidō, and others also began showing up.
At first, some only came to watch, but as they watched, they could no longer sit still.
Fang Xu was training, Kakashi was training, Guy was training, and Kurenai, Rin, Asuma, and Obito were training too.
With the most prominent students in class all increasing their training, who among the rest dared slack off?
"How many laps are you running today?"
"Three."
"Three? Weren't you doing two yesterday?"
"Fang Xu and the others are already running four. If I don't train more, I'll just get beaten up in sparring class."
"Then I'll add another lap too!"
Conversations like these soon spread through the class.
During morning lessons, the students asked more questions.
During afternoon sparring, more students volunteered to challenge others.
After school, some stayed on the field to practice shuriken, taijutsu, and the Three Body Technique.
Watching this, Suzuki Nakamura initially thought he was seeing things.
Before, the moment the final bell rang, the students would race to leave.
Now, the field actually grew livelier after the bell.
Even more absurdly, this enthusiasm was not confined to Fang Xu's class.
When students from other classes saw it, they could no longer sit still either.
The lower grades felt they could not lose to their peers, while the upper grades felt ashamed to be outworked by younger students.
Within days, the Ninja Academy's field and training grounds were filled each morning with students who had arrived early to train.
There were not enough target ranges or wooden posts to go around.
Even the empty space beside the field was being used to practice hand seal speed.
A storm of competitive overtraining swept through the entire Ninja Academy.
The Hokage Office.
After reading the report sent over by the academy, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help smiling.
The report stated it clearly.
Recently, the time Ninja Academy students voluntarily spent training had increased dramatically.
There were more questions in theory classes, greater participation in combat classes, and more students staying after school to train.
When they traced the cause, it turned out to have begun with Fang Xu starting his morning training.
Then Kurenai Yuhi joined, Rin Nohara was drawn in, and Asuma and Obito followed.
With students like Kakashi and Might Guy, who already worked hard, added to the mix, the entire class was swept into the competition.
Finally, that sense of urgency spread throughout the school.
Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the report and exhaled a puff of smoke with a smile.
"The influence of a good example really is clear."
What pleased him most was Asuma.
Over the past few days, Asuma had been training on his own without needing him to keep watch.
He was taking shuriken throwing, taijutsu, and chakra control far more seriously than before.
His strength was improving at a visible rate.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the window, looking toward the distant Ninja Academy, his face showing a little more satisfaction.
"Now that's more like my son."
A week soon passed.
That night, Fang Xu shut the doors and windows and sat at his desk.
On the Attribute Panel, the cooldown for his exchange talent finally reached zero.
[Exclusive talent: Exchange Level 1.] [Cooldown complete.]
Fang Xu looked at the scroll on the desk, his breathing slowing slightly.
It was a scroll of the Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique that he had personally copied out and organized.
He had already memorized the original training instructions.
The jutsu formulas, chakra circulation routes, and hand seal sequence were all written out in full on the scroll.
It was just right for an exchange.
In his first exchange, he had obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
In his second exchange, he had traded Obito's black hair for the Attribute Panel.
This time, he wanted to see what a ninjutsu scroll could get him.
Fang Xu pressed his hand against the scroll and silently said to himself.
Exchange.
The thought settled.
The Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique scroll on the desk vanished without a sound.
That familiar pulling sensation appeared again.
Fang Xu's consciousness was abruptly lifted high.
The next instant, the scene changed.
A mountain forest appeared before him.
The night was deep, shadows of trees crisscrossed, and the ground was littered with broken blades and bloodstains.
Several Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen lay around the area, their bodies mangled, already lifeless.
At the center of the woods stood a tall man.
He wore a purple-black kimono, with a sword hanging at his waist and six eyes on his face.
Every eye carried a suffocating sense of pressure.
Upper Rank One, Kokushibo.
At his feet, a boy lay sprawled miserably on the ground.
The boy wore a Demon Slayer Corps uniform and was covered in blood and grime, his face devoid of dignity, leaving only fear of death.
Kaigaku.
At this moment, Kaigaku was utterly terrified.
He clung desperately to Kokushibo's leg with both hands, his voice trembling.
"Don't kill me!"
"Please, don't kill me!"
"Let me become a demon!"
"I'll do anything as long as I can live!"
Kokushibo looked down at him.
There was no pity in his six eyes.
Only scrutiny.
Kaigaku tightened his grip, repeatedly knocking his forehead against the ground.
"I don't want to die!"
"I haven't become strong yet!"
"I don't want to die here like this!"
Kokushibo watched him and fell silent for a moment.
In Kaigaku, he saw his former self.
To surpass his younger brother, to escape death, to hold a sword for longer.
He, too, had once abandoned his human body and accepted demon blood.
Kokushibo slowly raised his hand and cut his fingertip.
A drop of dark demon blood was forced out of the wound and hung from his fingertip.
"If you can withstand Lord Muzan's blood..."
"Then you will have the right to live."
Kaigaku raised his head, his eyes filled with a greedy desire to survive.
"I can withstand it!"
"I know I can withstand it!"
Kokushibo flicked his finger.
The drop of demon blood fell toward Kaigaku's open mouth.
At the very instant the demon blood fell into Kaigaku's mouth, a scroll abruptly appeared in midair and dropped with a clatter.
Kokushibo raised his hand and caught it.
Several words were clearly written on the scroll's outer covering.
Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Technique.
At the same moment, Kaigaku's body suddenly went rigid.
The wild joy on his face instantly turned to horror.
"Aaaaah!"
A piercing scream tore through the mountain forest.
Kaigaku clutched his throat with both hands, rolling frantically on the ground.
"Where's my power?"
"My body... why..."
He could clearly feel the physique and strength he had forged through years of practicing breathing techniques being forcibly drained away by something.