Breakthrough to Beginner Level

Uchiha Yama was actually a pretty decent guy. The compensation he spoke of wasn't just empty words.

Before Hoshi left, Uchiha Yama repeatedly assured him that Uchiha Iwa would definitely never bother him again.

At the same time, he gave Hoshi and Sakumo five thousand ryo each. On top of that, Hoshi received a special payment for emotional distress.

It was a Ninja Tool Sealing Scroll. According to Uchiha Yama, it contained two hundred kunai, two hundred senbon, and two hundred shuriken.

This scroll was worth quite a bit. Ninja tools were not cheap—just one well-made kunai cost at least three or four hundred ryo. A single Ninjutsu Scroll like this could sell for no less than a hundred thousand ryo, equivalent to the reward for a mediocre B-rank mission.

Just think about it: one scroll cost a hundred thousand ryo, and Tenten used at least two scrolls every time she fought. Tsk, tsk. Wasn't that why Tenten was the true little rich girl?

That was genuine Ninja World money power.

After politely bidding farewell to Uchiha Yama, the god of wealth, Hoshi and the others left the Police Force together. Along the way, Sakumo quietly poked Hoshi and asked curiously, "Uchiha Iwa clearly never hit you. Where did the wound on your stomach come from?"

Hoshi glanced at the baffled Sakumo and whispered in his ear, "Actually, I rubbed it myself while I was lying on the ground."

Sakumo's expression instantly turned into that of an old man staring at a phone on the subway. Say no more—Hayate Hoshi was truly a wicked man.

While the two of them were whispering behind the others, Mito suddenly said, "Your two friends are still at the Senju Clan Compound. Would you like to check on them first?"

Hoshi's heart stirred at those words. He knew that Mito was probably about to begin her recruitment efforts.

Hoshi did not dislike Mito's attempts to recruit him. Familiar with the Original Story, he knew very well that no matter how many twists and turns were in Mito's heart, at her core, she only wanted what was best for Konoha and Tsunade.

Thinking of how the Sannin had been formed in the Original Story, Hoshi suddenly felt that this had probably been arranged by Mito from the very beginning. Otherwise, how could three people with such vastly different backgrounds have been placed together and received Hiruzen Sarutobi's instruction?

After arriving at the Senju Clan Compound, Mito indeed did as Hoshi had expected. She gave Jiraiya and the others each a meeting gift, along with a reward for defeating the spies.

Once Jiraiya and the others learned that Mito was the wife of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, they had already respected her immensely. When they saw that Mito was treating them so well and was even willing to give them Ninjutsu Scrolls, they were so moved that they practically wanted to pledge their lives to her on the spot.

Even the usually calm Orochimaru and Sakumo had fervent looks in their eyes as they stared at the scrolls in their hands.

For commoner children like them, who lacked clan resources, calling these scrolls a life-changing favor would not be an exaggeration.

By mastering the techniques within, they could directly narrow the gap between themselves and clan children. Add in their considerable talent... in short, there were only two words for it:

Take off!

After leaving the Senju Clan Compound, Sakumo and the others were still in a daze. Jiraiya, who was missing his front teeth, kept muttering vaguely:

"This gift is way too valuable... Is this the foundation of a great clan?"

Hoshi found it secretly amusing. Looking at the three of them now, with their lives seemingly thrown into doubt, no one would have guessed that they would become Konoha's three greatest powerhouses in the future.

The four parted ways at a crossroads. After returning home and enjoying his mother's lavish dinner, Hoshi picked up his Wooden Sword once again and headed into the courtyard.

The disturbance caused by those two spies had kept him from training today. Since it was still early, he naturally had to work a little harder.

Sigh, a man who was outstanding, diligent, and especially handsome like this was truly hard to find even with a lantern.

After about half an hour of swordsmanship practice, Hoshi suddenly felt that something was different. His sword swings seemed to have become smoother.

He raised his hand and performed a set of basic Konoha-Style Swordsmanship movements. Sure enough, the Konoha-Style Swordsmanship that had previously felt somewhat sluggish now felt far more natural to use.

After completing the entire set of basic Konoha-Style Swordsmanship movements in one go, Hoshi's heart stirred. He put away his Wooden Sword and entered the System Space. Just as he had expected, his Swordsmanship Level had broken through! His current Swordsmanship Level was now: Basic Swordsmanship 3/100.

He had already expected to break through after the Combat Assessment, but he had not expected to do so on the very day of the assessment. He really had to thank those two Iwagakure spies.

Those two spies had given him 8 experience points, and those 8 points had helped him complete the breakthrough.

He glanced at the system evaluation. The new evaluation read: Your swordsmanship has finally begun to enter the gate, but in the eyes of experts, it is still riddled with flaws. Do not become complacent because of this; it may cost you your life.

Emmm, the system really could not say anything nice. Still, compared to the previous two, this one was not bad.

After the system evaluation came the exciting moment.

Hoshi took a deep breath, turned around, and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Looking at his handsome face in the mirror, Hoshi felt much more reassured.

His face was still pale enough. Time to go all in—today, he would be a European lucky bastard.

Returning to the System Space, Hoshi began drawing a skill.

After a series of changes, a skill name slowly settled into place: Skill: Line of Moonlight.

Skill Description: Hold the blade in a reverse grip and launch a rapid dashing attack. After activating the skill, the host gains a 20% attack speed bonus.

It looked rather ordinary, but it seemed like a very practical skill. Dash skills were highly sought after. If the distance was long enough, that would be absolutely fantastic.

After leaving the System Space, Hoshi immediately chose to activate the skill and see its effects.

Standing in the center of the courtyard, Hoshi followed the system's description and held the Wooden Sword in his right hand in a reverse grip, activating Line of Moonlight.

As the skill activated, Hoshi uncontrollably lowered his body. With a burst of force beneath his feet, his body shot forward like an arrow.

At that moment, the Wooden Sword in his hand gained a layer of silver flowing light, making it especially eye-catching in the hazy night.

Feeling the changes in his body so clearly, Hoshi was overjoyed. Then... his joy turned to sorrow.

Hayate Hoshi had been so focused on the special effects on his Wooden Sword that he completely forgot he was still charging forward. By the time he realized it, it was already too late.

His body had an intimate, solid encounter with the wall. The sound startled Rie, who was still washing dishes. Still wearing her apron, she hurried out and saw her son sprawled against the wall, holding his nose and staring at the sky.

She hurried over, helping him up while frantically trying to stop Hoshi's nosebleed.

"Xiaoye, what are you doing in the middle of the night? If there's something troubling you, tell Mom."