The sky darkened as dusk fell.
The Ninja Academy's dismissal bell rang right on time.
Cangyue strolled leisurely toward the school gates.
Parents waiting to pick up their children already crowded the entrance, craning their necks to peer into the school.
"Cangyue!"
A flash of gold darted past him.
Naruto looked back, waved at him, and flashed an almost painfully radiant grin.
"I'm heading home! See you tomorrow!"
Without waiting for Cangyue's reply, he slipped into the crowd.
Cangyue raised a hand and waved back.
He didn't call him out.
The brighter this kid smiled, the harder he was trying to put on a brave face.
Parents were everywhere, waiting for their children, yet not a single person was waiting for Naruto.
He simply didn't want his new friend to see the embarrassment of having no one come for him.
Cangyue said nothing, merely watching that golden figure gradually disappear into the crowd.
That stubborn retreating figure inexplicably reminded him of Obito Uchiha, unable to hide his tears.
It was all that scar-faced bastard's fucking fault.
Whatever. They were both kids without a family. Who had it any better?
Cangyue himself was an orphan, too.
His parents had both died in the Third Shinobi World War.
Fortunately, the village had issued a substantial survivor's pension.
He had lived on that money all these years, and life hadn't been particularly difficult.
He faintly caught some chatter nearby.
"That's him, the sleepyhead who always dragged us down. I heard he transferred to another class."
"Tch, who's he trying to impress? Look at him acting all aloof."
"What do you know? I saw him knock down the bully from the next class with a single twig this morning. He was so cool!"
"Seriously?"
People came in all kinds, and so did their opinions.
Cangyue couldn't be bothered with them and hurried outside.
He was eager to find somewhere deserted and open his starter pack.
But to onlookers, his haste only made him seem dismissive, cold, and arrogant.
[Valor Points +1]
Nice. Another freebie.
Cangyue briefly paused, unable to hold back a laugh.
It was also then that he began to understand how he earned valor points.
The more intense the emotional reactions of those around him, the more valor points he received.
The stronger the person whose emotions he stirred, the more valor points they could generally provide.
However, repeating the same behavior would usually produce diminishing returns.
Tsk, tsk. This system really cared about putting on a show.
After several turns, Cangyue arrived at a deserted training ground.
Everything was quiet, save for the rustling of leaves in the evening breeze.
He looked around, confirmed that no one was nearby, then rubbed his hands together.
A starter pack.
At last, you're here.
Cangyue eagerly summoned the system.
[Open starter pack?] [Yes/No]
Yes!
Cangyue gave the command silently.
A moment later, a dazzling light bloomed before his eyes.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Flame Sword.] [Congratulations! You have obtained the Thunder Sword.] [Congratulations! You have obtained basic physique enhancement.]
The light faded, leaving two swords floating quietly before him.
One was deep purple from end to end, its blade wreathed in faint black-purple flames.
The other was silvery white, with lightning flowing over its blade and crackling sharply.
Before Cangyue could inspect them, a third beam of light plunged straight into his body.
Boom!
A scorching warmth erupted from his heart and swept through his entire body in an instant.
His muscles, fascia, bones, and even internal organs rapidly transformed under the torrent of power.
His formerly rather slender body became firm and resilient, its long-dormant physical potential fully awakened.
Cangyue stood still, allowing that power to reshape his body.
His appearance underwent no dramatic changes, but his strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes all improved.
The chakra flowing through his pathways also increased, becoming richer and more vigorous.
Once the enhancement ended, Cangyue clenched his fists.
His knuckles gave a series of crisp cracks.
There was no discomfort, nor any awkwardness from the sudden increase in strength.
It was as though this enhancement had always belonged to him, merging completely with his body in an instant.
"Now that's a starter pack."
Cangyue nodded in satisfaction.
At the same time, two entirely different powers surged from the swords and traveled along his arms into his chakra pathways.
One was scorching and domineering; the other was swift and violent.
[Congratulations! You have awakened the following natures: flame nature, thunder nature.]
Cangyue's eyes lit up.
Thunder nature wasn't particularly rare, but this flame nature clearly wasn't ordinary fire nature.
The flames it produced were black-purple, with heat and corrosive power far beyond ordinary flames.
Their power would increase even further when unleashed through the Flame Sword.
Black flame!
This was far more overpowering than ordinary Fire Release.
As Cangyue stared at the two swords before him, an extremely familiar figure suddenly flashed through his mind.
These colors, this design...
"Aren't these Wandering Warrior Sasuke's twin swords?"
Cangyue blurted it out, his eyes going wide.
"Holy shit, you even got me these?"
"Fucking awesome!"
This starter pack was ridiculously good.
The Flame and Thunder Swords, flame and thunder natures, plus basic physique enhancement.
Offense, speed, and physical foundations-he had them all.
Cangyue reached out with both hands and grasped the Flame and Thunder Swords.
The instant the hilts settled into his palms, the techniques granted by level-one swordsmanship kicked in automatically.
Grip, force, footwork, strikes.
Every movement felt as though he had practiced it thousands of times, requiring no adjustment whatsoever.
The Flame Sword felt weighty and blazing, while the Thunder Sword was light and swift.
The two utterly different swords caused no conflict in his hands. Instead, they felt bound to his very blood, becoming extensions of his body.
With a thought, Cangyue poured chakra into both swords.
Hum!
Both swords responded at once.
Black flames rose, and lightning surged.
Purple-black and silver-blue light intertwined, illuminating the dim training ground as brightly as daylight.
"Fine swords!"
The smile in Cangyue's eyes deepened.
With weapons like these, not testing their moves would be like dressing in finery with no one around to see.
He turned his wrist, first pouring flame-nature chakra into the Flame Sword.
Black-purple flames roared up along its blade.
Cangyue stepped forward and instantly slashed the Flame Sword ahead.
"Flame Phoenix: Scorching Plains!"
In an instant, sword light erupted!
Although Cangyue had made only one forward slash, several intersecting black-purple sword trails appeared in the air at once.
So fast!
Multiple slashes seemed to land in the same instant, overlapping as they struck the wooden post ahead.
Boom!
Black flames erupted along the sword marks.
Before the post could even topple, the dense barrage of slashes tore it apart.
Before the broken chunks of wood hit the ground, the black flames clinging to them swiftly consumed them.
In moments, nothing remained but scorched ashes.
Cangyue looked at the Flame Sword and nodded in satisfaction.
Rapid consecutive slashes combined with black flame could instantly shred an enemy's defenses, then burn them a second time.
Attack speed and destructive power-it had both.
He then turned his gaze toward another wooden post.
"Flame-Treading Cloud Chase!"
Cangyue abruptly released the Flame Sword.
The Flame Sword flipped upward, black flames burning fiercely along its length.
Then he spun, swung his leg, and kicked the end of its hilt!
Whoosh!
The Flame Sword instantly became a streak of dark-purple light, tearing through the air straight toward the wooden post ahead.
The moment its point struck the target, the black flames coiling around its blade erupted!
Boom!
Violent black flames swept outward from the Flame Sword, engulfing the post and all the ground around it.
A black-purple pillar of fire shot into the sky.
Vegetation swiftly turned to ash in the flames, and the training ground's surface was scorched black.
Cangyue raised his hand.
The Flame Sword embedded in the scorched earth quivered, then flew back into his palm on its own.
"So cool!"
Cangyue's eyes lit up.
Kick the Flame Sword out, then detonate the black flames on its blade.
This move offered both ranged attacks and powerful area destruction.
If an enemy failed to dodge in time, the black flames would swallow them along with the surrounding area.
Most importantly, the move looked effortlessly stylish.
It perfectly suited his image as a powerhouse.
Cangyue put away the Flame Sword and raised the Thunder Sword instead.
Silver-blue lightning erupted from its blade, dense arcs illuminating his face.
As chakra continued to gather, the aura emanating from the Thunder Sword grew increasingly powerful.
Nearby pebbles trembled, while stray bolts of lightning kicked up dust from the ground.
Cangyue tightened his grip on the Thunder Sword and swung it fiercely upward.
"Awakening Thunder: Formation-Breaking Strike!"
The instant he unleashed the slash, a brilliant streak of lightning cleaved across the training ground.
Fast!
Almost too fast for the naked eye to follow!
The sword light had barely flashed when diagonal cracks running from bottom to top appeared simultaneously in the three wooden posts ahead.
The next instant, the Lightning Release Chakra stored in the slash marks erupted.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three wooden posts exploded at once.
The charred splinters had yet to scatter when the thunder finally followed, rumbling over the training ground.
Cangyue looked at the devastation before him, a flicker of admiration in his eyes.
This move concentrated powerful lightning release chakra into the blade, then unleashed it with an upward slash of extreme speed.
Its power was astounding, but its true strength lay in its speed.
The sword flashed first; the thunder followed.
An enemy might not even have time to react before the blade struck.
Cangyue smoothly drew the Thunder Sword back to his waist.
Wild lightning rapidly converged at its tip.
Dense arcs of electricity spread along his body and across the ground, giving off a piercing whine.
The next instant, his figure vanished.
"Lightning-Piercing Cloud Thrust!"
Boom!
Cangyue became a streak of silver-blue lightning, charging forward at tremendous speed.
The air along his path was forcibly torn apart, while stray arcs plowed a charred trail through the ground.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the other end of the training ground.
Cangyue held his forward-thrusting stance.
The Thunder Sword had pierced the final wooden post with perfect accuracy.
After a brief silence, violent lightning erupted from within the post.
Bang!
The entire wooden post exploded into pieces.
Countless charred fragments flew in every direction, but before they could reach Cangyue, the arcs surrounding him deflected them all.
Cangyue pulled out the Thunder Sword and turned to survey the ruined training ground.
Black flame still burned on the scorched earth, while lingering lightning flickered among the shattered posts.
Four sword techniques, executed in one seamless sequence.
Not a single pause, not a trace of fatigue.
It was as though these four techniques had long been etched deep into his body, ready to be executed flawlessly with a single thought.
Cangyue turned his wrists, and the Flame and Thunder Swords traced two brilliant arcs beside him.
"Flame Sword: Annihilation. The Thunder Sword reigns supreme in speed."
"One ferocious, the other swift."
"If they're this powerful on their own, then with both swords resonating together..."
Anticipation shone in Cangyue's eyes.
The power of flame and thunder combined would be far more than the sum of their parts.
Still, he had to take things one step at a time.
He had only acquired the swords today, yet he had already mastered four sword techniques.
There was no rush to develop the remaining, even more outrageous techniques.
Cangyue drew both swords back to his sides, bold confidence welling up within him.
"With these swords in hand, vast as the Shinobi World is, how many could stand against me?"
Just then, a figure passed along the path outside the training ground, angrily clutching a pile of potato chips.
It was Ino.
She had just come out of the convenience store, carrying ten whole bags of chips.
They were what she owed Choji after losing their bet.
The mere thought of it made her angry.
"That useless class bully cost me ten bags of chips!"
As she muttered, she suddenly heard a series of booming sounds from the training ground.
Mixed in were shouts of strange technique names.
Almost despite herself, Ino poked her head out to look.
The next instant, she froze.
In the training ground, the transfer student she had thought only knew how to act mysterious stood holding two swords, surrounded by black-purple flames and silver-blue lightning.
Around him, every sturdy training post had been reduced to fragments.
On the ground, fierce black flame lingered on one side, while lightning that had yet to dissipate danced on the other.
Flame and thunder intertwined, casting the entire training ground into alternating light and shadow.
The bags of chips in Ino's arms fell one after another.
"This guy... is actually this strong?"
She had bet that very morning that Cangyue would lose!
Lose? Him?
He had clearly been hiding his strength to catch everyone off guard!
And she had been so sure of herself when she made that bet with Choji. She had really misjudged him this time.
But...
Wait.
What were all those technique names he had just shouted?
"Flame Phoenix: Scorching Plains"?
"Flame-Treading Cloud Chase"?
"Awakening Thunder: Formation-Breaking Strike"?
"Lightning-Piercing Cloud Thrust"?
What even were those?
That was nothing like a ninja's style!
[Valor Points +2]
The shock in Ino's heart soon faded beneath an overwhelming sense that something was out of place.
All I can say is, your bravado got to me.
Cangyue slowly sheathed his swords.
He had heard Ino's footsteps the moment she approached the training ground.
Only because she had shown no hostility had he refrained from calling her out immediately.
Cangyue turned and looked toward the large tree at the edge of the training ground.
A corner of clothing peeked out from behind it.
"Spying on someone practicing swordsmanship isn't polite."
Cangyue's tone was calm, yet carried an air of unfathomable mystery.
"Moonlight as Eyes, Survey the Four Quarters."
Behind the tree, Ino went rigid.
Oh no, he spotted me!
No longer sparing a thought for the scattered chips, she turned and ran.
"I-I didn't see anything!"
She ran a long way in one go, her heart still pounding.
Cangyue walked out of the training ground and looked down at the bags of chips scattered across the ground.
He fell silent for two seconds before speaking slowly.
"A parting gift?"
Cangyue bent down, picked up a bag of chips, tore it open, and popped a chip into his mouth.
Mm, pretty crunchy.
In the distance, the girl sprinting away with her hands over her head already had cheeks as red as the evening sky.
[Valor Points +10]
Cangyue raised an eyebrow.
Oh? That earned points too?
Delighted, he picked up another chip.
The starter pack had not only given him the Flame and Thunder Swords and a powerful physique, but apparently taken care of tonight's dinner as well.
Before you continue