More Speculation About the System

Realizing this possibility, Hoshi no longer cared that Sakumo and Jiraiya were beside him. He directly entered the system in his mind and found the system log he had always ignored in an inconspicuous corner.

At the bottom of a long list of "Trained diligently for xx days, experience +1," there really was an additional entry: "Over-level Combat with Hatake Sakumo, experience +5." Seeing that record, Hoshi's grin nearly reached his ears. He had previously needed to train himself half to death for three to five days just to gain a single point of experience.

In that case, if he fought Sakumo every day from now on, wouldn't becoming a Sword Saint be just around the corner?

With that thought, Hoshi threw an arm around Sakumo's shoulders and flashed the dejected Sakumo a brilliant smile:

"Don't be so discouraged, Sakumo. Who wins or loses isn't the important part. As ninjas, we shouldn't focus on temporary gains and losses. We should focus on what we gain, right?

Setting victory and defeat aside, today's fight will definitely benefit both of us greatly. That's the true meaning of sparring and exchanging techniques, right? Over the next three years, if we fight like this every day, we'll definitely improve and grow stronger together, right?"

Sakumo stared blankly at Hoshi, who had suddenly become incredibly passionate, feeling somewhat at a loss. For some reason, even though he thought everything Hoshi said made sense, that dazzling smile still sent a chill through his whole body.

Hoshi's sudden enthusiasm made Sakumo extremely uncomfortable. While agreeing with Hoshi's words, he instinctively tried to dodge the arm draped over his shoulders.

Hearing Sakumo agree with him, Hoshi released him with a grin. In his eyes now, Sakumo was no longer Sakumo—he was a ladder leading straight to the Sword Saint stage!

Just then, the gate to Hoshi's home creaked open. The newcomer was none other than Hayate Rie, who had just gotten off work at the hospital.

The moment she entered, she saw two little boys standing beside her son and froze for a moment. "Hoshi, these two are...?"

Seeing that his mother had returned, Hoshi stepped forward to take the ingredients for dinner from her as he said:

"Mom, let me introduce them. This is Hatake Sakumo, a new classmate I met today. And that one over there is Jiraiya. They're the friends I made at Ninja Academy."

Jiraiya and Sakumo came to their senses as well and bowed to Rie together. "Hello, Auntie. Sorry to disturb you."

Rie could hardly believe her ears. Her son had actually made friends too. Attending Ninja Academy really hadn't been in vain!

With that thought, an enthusiastic smile bloomed across Rie's face. "Hello, you two. Don't just stand around in the yard. Go sit inside."

Since Jiraiya and Sakumo were the rare friends Hoshi had brought home, Rie was exceedingly warm toward them, pulling the two inside and insisting that they stay for dinner.

For this meal, Rie gave it one hundred and twenty percent. She made several homestyle dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and Jiraiya ate as if he wanted to bury his head in the plates.

Even Sakumo abandoned his earlier reserve, his chopsticks flying as he stuffed all kinds of food into his mouth.

After dinner, Rie even wanted them to stay the night, but Jiraiya and Sakumo refused to trouble her any further.

With Rie calling after them to come visit whenever they had time, the two hurriedly said their goodbyes and headed home. The moment Rie closed the door after watching them leave, she hugged Hoshi tightly and said excitedly:

"Hoshi, Mommy is so happy that you made friends! You have to keep working hard and make more and more good friends from now on. Of course, it'd be even better if you found a girlfriend too."

Hoshi could not help rolling his eyes. "Don't you think it's a little too early to ask your six-year-old son to find a girlfriend?"

But Rie spoke as if she had every reason in the world. "How is it too early? Your father and I met around your age, and then Eiichi proposed to me when we were sixteen...

"Hoshi, you're even more handsome than your father was when he was young. You'll definitely be popular with girls at school. If there's a girl you like, bring her over for Mommy to see so I can give you my opinion.

"And if you like more than one, that isn't a problem either. Mommy is very open-minded. As long as they're all good girls, having three or four girlfriends is fine. Whether the Hayate Clan flourishes will depend entirely on you, Hoshi."

(ー_ー)!! Hoshi was completely speechless before this mother of his, whose values seemed somewhat broken.

After returning to his room, Hoshi did not immediately pick up his sword to train. Instead, he lay on his bed, entered the system, and carefully studied the experience log.

Today's events had made him realize two things. First, he had suddenly discovered that burying himself in hard training did not seem to be the method of cultivation encouraged by the system.

Previously, because he had been a shut-in at home by himself and could only train alone, Hoshi had mistakenly believed that the system only absorbed energy through training.

But thinking carefully about all the novels and Japanese anime he had watched in his previous life, aside from the great Saitama, who among the others had not gradually grown stronger through battle?

Perhaps compared with burying himself in hard training, the system wanted him to continuously challenge stronger opponents with the sword in his hand.

The five experience points he gained from over-level combat against Sakumo today were the best example. Sakumo currently possessed, at the very least, Genin-level strength.

Although Hoshi was somewhat stronger than Jiraiya and the others, the difference was limited. At most, he was around the level of a fourth- or fifth-year Ninja Academy student.

A Ninja Academy student defeating a Genin above his level—that was the real reason he had gained five experience points.

Continuously challenging stronger opponents and absorbing experience through battle after battle—perhaps that was the system's proper way of being used.

The other thing was that, from today onward, Hoshi needed to develop the habit of never letting his sword leave his hand and always using it in battle.

Because he had discovered that although both had been fights, he gained experience when he fought Sakumo, while the system had not reacted at all when he fought Jiraiya.

Even in games, a level-one-hundred expert could gain a point or two of experience from killing a level-one monster. There was no reason for fighting the slightly weaker Jiraiya to yield absolutely no experience.

The issue lay in Hoshi not using a sword. It was probably because he had no sword that the system automatically judged his fight with Jiraiya not to count as Swordsmanship training, which was why he gained no experience at all.

Therefore, if he wanted to grow stronger quickly in the future, Hoshi had to be like Sakumo and never be without a sword, resolving every battle with the sword in his hand.

With that in mind, Hoshi got up, ran downstairs to his cheap father's study, and dug through his collection until he found a Wooden Sword suited to his height and an elegant, slender Dagger.

The Dagger was slightly longer than a modern dining knife but far sharper. The Wooden Sword was for sparring at school, where using a real blade would be inappropriate, while the exquisite Dagger was for handling unexpected situations.

After placing both the Wooden Sword and the Dagger beside his schoolbag, Hoshi, having finished all this, began his next line of research.