The sunlight in Konohagakure was annoyingly bright.
A crowd packed around the red results sheet outside the Ninja Academy gates, leaving no room to squeeze through.
Shimozuki Raito fought his way to the front and scanned the comprehensive assessment rankings.
At last, he spotted his name in the unremarkable hundred-and-seventieth spot.
It felt as though someone had stuffed a lump of wet cotton into his chest, and he let out a heavy sigh.
Lei Dou turned away listlessly, slipped out of the crowd like a loach, and trudged home with his head hanging.
With only a few months left until the graduation exam, his current situation left him utterly frustrated.
Everyone said people who transmigrated came with plot armor and could start throwing their weight around the moment they arrived.
But I'd already spent a full twelve years in this Hokage world.
I was the same age as Naruto Uzumaki, and I'd even had the bad luck to end up in his class.
As a transmigrator, I was an embarrassment to the whole lot of us. My ninjutsu was mediocre, my taijutsu was weak, and my chakra reserves were pitiful!
"Mediocre" summed me up in every respect!
The only thing I had going for me was a fairly handsome face, good enough to rival that Sasuke Uchiha kid. Everything else was worthless.
My only consolation was that this handsome face made it easy to get noticed, so I'd become acquainted with the main cast.
Even if my strength never amounted to anything, those connections were there. Surely the future Seventh Hokage would look out for me a little. Making a living shouldn't be hard.
But after finally getting the chance to come to an anime world, could I really spend my entire life being this pathetic without any regrets?
Hell no!
Lei Dou dreamed of defying fate, but reality was too solid a wall.
Talent was something you were born with, and his family background gave him nothing to brag about, either.
The Shimozuki name sounded impressive, but it was really just a declining little clan of a dozen or so people, hardly worth mentioning in Konoha.
The only clan member with any real reputation was Shimozuki Hayate, the Special Jōnin who was always coughing.
By their family relationship, that sickly fellow was actually Lei Dou's older cousin.
Unfortunately, Lei Dou's aptitude was nothing to write home about, so his relationship with his cousin amounted to a nod and a greeting whenever they met.
He pushed open his slightly shabby front door. The house was silent.
The parents Lei Dou had inherited in this world had died during the Nine-Tails' Attack, leaving the other clan members responsible for looking after him.
His clansmen had handled the funeral arrangements and sent him living expenses every month. They had even pooled money for his Ninja Academy tuition.
Aside from a little compensation money, his parents had left him only this old three-bedroom house.
It wasn't large, but to Lei Dou, who lived alone, it felt empty and even a little desolate.
He walked to the refrigerator, opened it, and took out a can of chilled soda.
He hooked a finger under the tab.
With a hiss, white vapor escaped.
Gulp, gulp!
The icy liquid poured down his throat, and he drained more than half the can in seconds. Lei Dou then flung himself onto his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Looks like I'll be a Genin forever after graduation. I'm doomed to accomplish nothing and spend my whole life just scraping by!"
[Ding! God-Tier Skill System activating...]
Huh?
The mechanical voice that suddenly sounded in his mind sent a jolt through Lei Dou, and he sprang straight off the bed.
"I... is this my cheat?"
Oh, dear system! You kept me waiting so long!
Twelve years! Do you know how miserable these twelve years have been?
Lei Dou's face twisted wildly, caught between laughter and tears. He looked utterly ridiculous.
[Warning! An error has occurred!] [Warning! An unknown error has occurred!]
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't mess with me! I'll stop complaining, okay?"
Every nerve in Lei Dou's body went taut. As though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him, his elation instantly turned to terror.
If it crashed the moment it came online, he really would find a block of tofu and bash his head against it!
[Attempting to restart system...]
"Yes, yes! The almighty restart! Restarting fixes ninety-nine percent of problems. It'll definitely be fine..."
Lei Dou pressed his palms together and muttered prayers like a madman.
[Restart failed!] [System auxiliary functions severely damaged!] [Shop module data lost!] [Quest assignment module lost!] [Status panel module lost!] [... data lost!] [... severely damaged!]
"You're screwing with me, aren't you?"
Lei Dou's mouth twitched uncontrollably. At least let me see what the complete version looked like!
"Fine, lose the auxiliary functions! As long as the core is still there, it can work. I'll take a defective one!"
He clutched the bedsheet beneath him so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes wide as he stared at the flickering virtual screen in his vision.
The red warnings flashing across it sent his emotions on a roller-coaster ride.
[System core logic module lost!] [Critical error!] [Collapse alert!]
It's over! Completely over. What's the damn point without the core?
A system that dropped dead the moment it appeared? What a disgrace to all systems!
Could any cheat be more embarrassing?
[Performing final diagnostic...] [Only surviving module: skill slot loading module] [Skill slot module damage at seventy percent. Attempting forced activation...]
Skill slots?
What good were some lousy skill slots? And even those were half wrecked...
[Skill slots successfully force-activated!] [Currently available empty passive skill slots: seven] [Currently available active skill slots: three] [Abnormal data detected in active skill slots. Attempt repairs?]
Repairs?
Why even ask? Of course!
A perfectly good cheat had been reduced to this one surviving scrap in the blink of an eye. If he didn't repair it, even that last shred of hope would be gone.
[Collecting remaining active skill data...] [Active skill one: Gluttony of ※] [Skill effect: ��ÌÌÌ... (corrupted text)] [Active skill two: ※※ Walker] [Skill effect: ��ÌÌÌÌÌÌ... (corrupted text)] [Active skill three: Great Sage ※] [Skill effect: ÌÌÌÌÌ... (corrupted text)]
Well, damn. It gave me a whole pile of unreadable gibberish!
Could this thing even be repaired?
[Performing deep repairs on active skill slots. Time required: unknown]
Screw that!
Unknown repair time? So who knew when these three seemingly awesome active skills would finally unlock!
Lei Dou could only pin his hopes on what remained. What was going on with the passive skill slots?
[Passive skill slot 1: empty] [Passive skill slot 2: empty] [Passive skill slot 3: empty]
[Passive skill slot 7: empty]
Completely empty. Even emptier than his pockets.
At least the active skills had a few lines of gibberish to show for themselves. Why was there nothing at all in the passive skill slots? Had everything been lost?
[All original passive skill library data detected as lost. Host may manually load existing skills into empty slots.]
Manually load?
So I had to put them in myself? What would loading a passive skill even do?
[Scanning skills currently known to host: Chakra Extraction Technique, Academy-Style Basic Taijutsu, Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique... Basic Kunai Throwing, Basic Cooking, Basic Walking, Basic Jumping... Basic Language, Elementary Mathematics, Everyday Communication... Basic Chewing, Basic Swallowing...]
Lei Dou stared at the list, speechless with exasperation.
Did this system count eating and drinking as skills?
Then did wiping my ass after using the toilet count, too?
[Scan result: Advanced Buttock Cleaning Techniques]
Get lost!
Why was wiping my ass classified as advanced? Was I exceptionally gifted at that?
Lei Dou looked helpless. No matter how he looked at it, this surviving skill slot module felt like an unreliable knockoff.
Whatever. That was just his luck.
Lei Dou's gaze settled on the first and most important skill on the list—Chakra Extraction Technique.
With nothing to lose, he tapped it and dragged it into the first passive skill slot.
[Passive skill loaded successfully!]
That was it?
What did it actually do?
[Currently running passive skill: Chakra Extraction Technique] [Skill effect: mobilizes and combines physical energy and spiritual energy to generate chakra.] [Status: running continuously]
Huh?
Running... continuously??
It had already started?
It started working automatically the moment I put it in?
Chakra Extraction Technique was the foundation of being a ninja. That needed no explanation.
The teachers had begun teaching it on their second day at the Ninja Academy.
In theory, everyone had chakra, but ordinary people had no idea how to access it.
Only those with the aptitude to become ninjas could sense and combine their physical and spiritual energies.
For six years, Lei Dou had practiced diligently, rain or shine.
But!
Talent was infuriating. Lei Dou's current chakra reserves put him at the very bottom of his class.
Forget comparing himself to geniuses-he was still a fair distance from meeting the standard for a proper Genin.
And chakra refinement wasn't something you could do twenty-four hours a day just because you wanted to.
A person's energy was limited. Both body and mind needed time to recover.
Geniuses might have higher limits, but even they had limits.
Overdoing it could cause dizziness at best, unconsciousness and shock at worst, or even a decline in chakra reserves.
Lei Dou's current limit was three sessions a day. If he dared attempt a fourth, he would definitely faint and end up in the infirmary.
His teacher had said that his limit would increase as he grew older.
But then there was Naruto, that freak from the Uzumaki Clan, who could train casually and still seem like he was cheating.
That kid could probably have done it over a hundred times a day even on his very first attempt, as easily as playing around.
That was the unbridgeable gulf between ordinary people and walking cheats.
[Passive skill: Chakra Extraction Technique] [Automatically completed 1 cycle]
The moment the system notification ended, Lei Dou froze.
A familiar warmth suddenly rose in his lower abdomen and slowly spread throughout his body.
He knew that sensation all too well. Normally, he only got to enjoy it three times a day.
It was the telltale sign that chakra refinement had succeeded and his total reserves had increased.
Though each session only added a strand as thin as a hair.
The chakra inside Lei Dou was pitifully scant, only about as thick as his little finger-and that was everything he had accumulated over six years.
Such meager reserves didn't even reach the minimum standard for a Genin.
By his estimate, that stream of energy would have to grow at least another size thicker before he could meet the Genin standard.
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the sliver of energy that had appeared out of nowhere. There was little of it, but its quality was exceptionally high, utterly pure.
Normally, he could only refine chakra of this quality when he was at his most mentally refreshed and focused.
Yet this passive skill slot seemed to have directly replicated his performance at his peak.
Most importantly, it required absolutely no attention from him. And after that last round of refinement, neither his mental energy nor his stamina had been depleted at all!
Was this...
Free chakra?
[Passive skill: Chakra Extraction Technique] [Automatically completed 1 cycle]
Before Lei Dou could even process it, warmth surged through his body again, and another sliver of chakra appeared.
This time, Lei Dou could no longer keep his expression under control.
It... it increased again!
It had been less than ten minutes, hadn't it? And it had already completed two cycles?
Was this the power of idle training?
This was utterly broken!
Not only did it train automatically, but it also consumed nothing. At this rate, he could lie there doing nothing and farm chakra twenty-four hours a day without interruption.
Once every few minutes, over and over.
The amount he could farm in one hour would equal several months of grueling training!
Breaking through the Genin threshold seemed... right within reach!
Lei Dou kept his eyes tightly shut, focusing entirely on the changes inside his body.
Another five minutes passed, and the warm current appeared again.
Lei Dou sat motionless on his bed, like an old monk deep in meditation.
Before he knew it, half an hour had passed.
The system had automatically run the refinement process six times for him.
Only then did Lei Dou slowly open his eyes, uncontrollable joy shining in them.
Before, he could exhaust himself every day and only manage three cycles. Now he had completed six in half an hour.
And his body felt fantastic, without the slightest trace of fatigue, as though he hadn't done anything at all.
But the genuine increase in chakra couldn't lie.
The energy flowing inside his body was clearly stronger than before.
At this rate, all he had to do was sleep, and he would definitely cross the Genin threshold by tomorrow morning.
His chakra reserves doubling was a sure thing.
"Wait! Don't celebrate just yet!"
He had endured over a decade of hardship. He could wait a little longer.
He still had six empty slots. He needed to pick a few more useful skills to fill them!
Lei Dou sank his awareness into the skill list and looked at the jumble of everyday skills.
Eating, drinking, and bathroom activities were obviously out. Ninjutsu was naturally his first choice.
But while browsing the list, Lei Dou suddenly noticed that the very first selectable skill was still Chakra Extraction Technique!
"Does this mean... I can install the same skill more than once?"
Deciding to give it a try, Lei Dou dragged that icon into another empty slot with a trembling finger.
[Passive skill loaded successfully!] [Current passive skill: Chakra Extraction Technique] [Status: Continuously running]
Holy shit! It actually worked!
[Passive skills 1 and 2 have completed one cycle]
The next second, two warm currents erupted inside his body simultaneously.
Double the fun?
Installing two meant getting twice the training speed.
Lei Dou's eyes gleamed, and he nearly shouted with excitement.
But he clamped a hand firmly over his mouth.
I still have five empty slots. If I fill them all with Chakra Extraction Technique...
He would take off at seven times the speed! Seven automatic cycles every five minutes, each producing peak-quality chakra.
At that training speed, even Sasuke, the Uchiha Clan's genius, or Naruto with his Uzumaki Constitution couldn't hope to catch up!
Lei Dou's refinement was fully automatic, with no consumption, no bottlenecks, and no fatigue.
Every cycle perfectly reproduced his personal best.
"All in! Fill every slot!"
With a grand sweep of his hand, Lei Dou boldly filled the remaining five slots with Chakra Extraction Technique.
Seven times his peak efficiency!
＜
[Passive skills 1, 2, 3...7 have all completed one cycle]
[Passive skills 1, 2, 3...7 have all completed one cycle]
At dawn, the first ray of sunlight spilled into the room, and Lei Dou jolted awake.
Looking at the familiar ceiling, he realized he was still lying on the bed in the same position as last night.
Oh no! When did I fall asleep?
My idle training didn't stop, did it?
He hurriedly summoned the system interface with a thought.
Seeing all seven icons still running, Lei Dou let out a long breath of relief.
He had gotten so excited last night that he had planned to watch it all night, terrified that the system would stop working if he fell asleep, or that he would wake up and discover it had all been a dream.
Now his worries finally faded. The system was still there. All of this was real!
"Right, how much chakra do I have now?"
[Passive skills 1, 2...7 have all completed one cycle]
Just then, an enormous torrent of chakra erupted inside Lei Dou.
He was completely stunned.
Feeling the astonishing energy surging through his chakra pathways, he realized it had far more than merely doubled since yesterday!
His current chakra reserves had definitely broken through the Genin threshold long ago.
In fact, he hadn't just met the standard. He had surpassed it by a mile. He had probably already brushed against the Chunin threshold, putting him at the level of a veteran Genin.
The amount had more than doubled, and all of it was chakra of the highest purity.
In quality, it left his old, impure energy in the dust.
"I just had a good night's sleep, and my chakra doubled? And the quality is this incredible?"
Staring at the word "passive" on the interface, Lei Dou suddenly understood.
"So passive means fully automatic idle training. No matter what I'm doing-walking, eating, sleeping-it keeps working like crazy!"
"Does that mean I'll be getting stronger every moment from now on?"
"This is amazing! This broken system is an absolute treasure!"
Stores, quests, rewards... screw all of them. I don't care anymore.
These few skill slots alone were enough to send him soaring.
The best part was the incredible freedom. He could install whatever he wanted, without any side effects.
Even if those three garbled active skills could never be repaired, this passive idle training alone was enough to defy all reason.
His only regret was having so few slots. If he had a hundred, or a thousand, wouldn't he shoot straight into the heavens?
At that thought, Lei Dou slapped himself. He was getting too greedy.
He should just count himself lucky to have a cheat.
Suddenly, another warm current surged inside his body, and his chakra increased again.
"One cycle every five minutes, seven slivers per cycle!"
"Twenty-four hours a day makes 1,440 minutes, or 288 cycles. Multiply that by seven, and I can refine chakra 2,016 times a day!"
Over two thousand times in a single day!
Even a chakra monster like Naruto couldn't actively refine chakra that many times in one day!
At Lei Dou's old snail's pace of three cycles a day, this single day's output equaled two years of hard training!
And no one could be in perfect condition every single time!
Grrrr...
His stomach growled at an inconvenient moment.
"Time to fill my belly first!"
Excited or not, he still needed to eat.
Lei Dou dug a few slices of bread out of the fridge and made do with a quick bite.
After eating and drinking his fill, he glanced at the calendar.
"It's Saturday. No need to suffer through school."
"Perfect. I'll stay home these next two days and see where the limit really is!"
The passive skills needed no attention at all, and they didn't occupy his body's chakra pathways either.
They simply generated chakra out of thin air and poured it into him.
Lei Dou lounged on the couch for an hour, then started getting bored.
"I've got nothing else to do. Might as well train actively too!"
Although he could only actively train three times a day, every little bit counted. He couldn't let it go to waste.
He returned to his bedroom, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to focus.
Lei Dou began actively training for the first time in a while.
This time, it felt easier and more effortless than ever before.
He guided his physical and mental energies into merging, the entire process as smooth as if it had been oiled.
The old sense of resistance was completely gone.
A perfect chakra refinement cycle came to a successful end.
He opened his eyes and checked the clock on the wall.
Compared to the system's incredible five-minute speed, his own active training had taken nearly thirty minutes for a single cycle.
The difference in efficiency was enormous!
[Detected that the host has performed a high-quality skill execution exceeding the current record] [Update skill template?]
Huh?
Exceeded the record?
Did that mean my manual attempt just now was even more perfect than the one recorded by the system?
Indeed, he had never experienced that kind of effortless control before.
"Update?"
Lei Dou tentatively confirmed it in his mind.
[Skill template updated!]
The next second, the running icons in all seven slots flickered, each completing its upgrade.
Five minutes later, the next batch of chakra arrived.
The amount this time made Lei Dou's eyes widen once again.