A night passed.
Before dawn had fully broken, Cangyue made a rare trip outside.
Calling him an early riser wasn't quite accurate.
He hadn't slept at all last night.
The Flame and Thunder Swords lay neatly beside his bed, while black flames and lightning flashed through his mind all night.
Whenever he closed his eyes, he couldn't help recalling the four sword moves he had unleashed yesterday.
Cool.
So damn cool.
The only problem was that his swordsmanship level wasn't high enough yet.
Cangyue opened the system panel as he walked.
[Total Valor Points earned: 113] [Available Valor Points: 58] [Mastered: Genin-level ninja tool throwing, level 1 swordsmanship] [Cost to upgrade swordsmanship to level 2: 100 Valor Points]
Level 1 swordsmanship merely filled in his fundamentals, teaching him how to grip a sword, apply force, move, and perform basic slashes.
At level 2, his swordsmanship would advance from basic command to true proficiency.
Then, he would not only wield the Flame and Thunder Swords more freely, but also integrate his twin swords, footwork, and elemental powers into a seamless whole.
As for later upgrades, the prices would only keep rising.
[Cost to upgrade swordsmanship to level 3: 300 Valor Points] [Cost to upgrade swordsmanship to level 4: 800 Valor Points] [Cost to upgrade swordsmanship to level 5: 2,000 Valor Points]
Cangyue's eyelid twitched as he read.
The system really hadn't left him any loopholes to exploit.
The higher his swordsmanship level, the more outrageous the upgrade cost became.
Still, that was probably for the best.
If level 5 swordsmanship cost only a few dozen Valor Points, he could spout a few badass quotes at random people and max out that very day.
That would be a little disrespectful to the Shinobi World.
Right now, he needed another forty-two points to reach level 2 swordsmanship.
Today happened to be the weekend, and Konoha's streets, parks, and training grounds were full of people.
As long as he found the right audience, earning forty-two Valor Points wouldn't be difficult.
He had only one goal today.
Upgrade swordsmanship to level 2!
As Cangyue pondered where to find a quality audience, a series of booming calls suddenly approached from the distance.
"Burn bright, Rock Lee!"
"Youth is forged through handstands!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
Cangyue looked toward the voices.
At the far end of the early-morning street, two green figures were racing toward him on their hands.
One had a bowl cut.
So did the other.
From a distance, they looked just like two big frogs traveling upside down.
Might Guy and Rock Lee.
Cangyue's eyes brightened slightly.
Ordinary students could only provide a small amount of Valor Points, but Might Guy was different.
This was the man who would one day nearly kick the story straight into its finale.
If Cangyue could stir up a strong enough emotional response in him, Guy alone would be worth a whole crowd of ordinary spectators.
A premium resource had delivered himself right to Cangyue's doorstep.
Might Guy planted his hands on the ground and flipped smoothly to his feet.
"Young Cangyue?"
Once he recognized the figure ahead, his eyes widened.
"You're actually up this early today!"
Cangyue almost failed to maintain his composed expression.
That remark stung a little.
When he first transmigrated to the Shinobi World, he too had harbored grand ambitions of training hard, punching out Madara, and kicking Kaguya around.
And the Taijutsu master most easily accessible in Konoha was none other than Might Guy.
Back then, he had often trained alongside Might Guy and Rock Lee.
Handstand laps, punches and kicks, long-distance runs around Konoha-he had suffered through them all.
Later, he gradually faced reality.
Training hard all day was less useful than going home, lying down, and waiting for Naruto to grow up.
If the sky fell, Konoha's crown prince would hold it up.
And so, Cangyue had decisively quit the youth training squad.
He wouldn't get out of bed until classes were about to begin.
As a result, whenever Might Guy saw him up early, he reacted as though the sun had risen in the west.
Cangyue suppressed his embarrassment and adopted an indifferent expression.
"I'm doing my morning training."
"Morning training?"
Might Guy's eyes immediately lit up.
"Excellent! It seems you've finally felt the call of youth again!"
"Come on, do fifty laps around Konoha on your hands with us!"
After a moment's thought, Might Guy took the initiative to lower his demand.
"Since you haven't trained with us in so long, you only need to do thirty laps today!"
Rock Lee also looked at Cangyue expectantly.
"Cangyue, come sweat out your youth with us!"
Cangyue looked at the two of them, then glanced down at the hard ground.
Thirty handstand laps? Not happening.
He had come out today to earn Valor Points, not measure Konoha's circumference with his scalp.
But simply refusing would be far too ordinary.
For a premium audience like Might Guy, he needed a sufficiently profound reason.
Cangyue clasped his hands behind his back and gazed toward the horizon.
"Guy-sensei, you're too attached."
Might Guy froze.
"Attached?"
"The moment you reach out to chase strength, it has already slipped through your fingers."
"True cultivation lies neither in how far you run nor in how many punches you throw."
Cangyue's tone was calm.
The morning breeze stirred the hem of his clothes, and the Flame and Thunder Swords on his back lightly clinked together.
"With every breath, I complete a full cycle of cultivation."
"By lifting my eyes to the clouds, I comprehend the workings of heaven and earth."
"Even with my eyes closed in dreams, I temper my sword heart."
"Though my body remains still, my heart has crossed a thousand mountains."
Might Guy fell silent.
Rock Lee stood dumbstruck beside him, his mouth hanging open.
They hadn't understood a word.
But every sentence sounded incredibly impressive.
Especially the line about his body remaining still while his heart crossed a thousand mountains-it made Rock Lee start thinking despite himself.
Had all those roads I ran on my hands been traveled by my body, or by my heart?
Might Guy's thick brows furrowed.
Action was everything-that was the conviction he had lived by for years.
Yet Cangyue had proposed an entirely different path.
Rather than relying on repetitive exercise, he trained through breathing, observation, and sleep.
Was this an excuse to avoid training, or some special realm I'd never encountered before?
Might Guy studied Cangyue seriously.
The boy before him had indeed trained alongside him once.
Now, Cangyue not only possessed two longswords with extraordinary auras, but also carried himself with a presence entirely unlike before.
Could he really have found a training path uniquely his own?
[Valor Points +100]
The sudden notification made Cangyue perk up.
A hundred points!
Might Guy's emotional response alone had yielded more than those of many ordinary students combined.
As expected of the man who nearly kicked the story straight into its finale.
Strong people really are worth a fortune!
After pondering for a long while, Might Guy suddenly broke into a hearty smile.
"I don't understand any of it!"
Cangyue: "..."
"But everyone has their own youth!"
Might Guy gave him a thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming in the morning light.
"Since you've found your own training path, follow it with courage!"
"We must continue our own training too!"
Rock Lee's passion immediately returned.
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
The two dropped into handstands again and raced down the street.
"Youth!"
"Burn bright!"
Their booming slogans gradually faded into the distance.
Cangyue remained where he stood, the inscrutable look on his face slowly giving way to a smile.
After all that talking, he had really just wanted a plausible way to refuse the handstand laps.
He hadn't expected Might Guy to supply his own interpretation and hand over a hundred Valor Points on top of it.
Sometimes, the audience's interpretation mattered more than the performer himself.
He had enough Valor Points now.
Rather than upgrading immediately, Cangyue continued down the street.
Improving his swordsmanship would bring a flood of insights, so a busy street wasn't a suitable place for the upgrade.
If he accidentally drew his swords and sliced a roadside stall in half, the Valor Points he had earned today might not even cover the damages.
Before long, a park appeared ahead.
A thin mist shrouded the park in the early morning, dew clung to the grass, and only a few elderly people were out exercising.
There weren't many people, and it was quiet enough.
Just right for an upgrade.
Cangyue entered the park and sat down on a bench.
[Total Valor Points earned: 213] [Available Valor Points: 158]
"Upgrade swordsmanship to level 2."
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