"If Water Release and Fire Release count as skills..."
"Then if I put 'Water Release' in two passive skill slots at once, wouldn't that no-cost rule mean I could cast water release ninjutsu without spending mana?"
Without waiting for the system to answer, Lei Dou put it to the test.
[Passive skills 1, 2: Water Release]
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Boom!
A raging torrent erupted from his mouth like a wild dragon, roaring as it swept through the woods before him.
The tremendous force snapped every tree within ten meters clean in half, as though a bulldozer had plowed through them.
The great trees crashed to the ground, and the churning water sounded especially harsh in the still night.
Lei Dou stood where he was, letting the spray wash back over his cheeks.
He stared at his hands, trembling uncontrollably with excitement.
"It's real... it costs absolutely nothing!"
With Water Release in two slots, casting it really didn't cost any mana!
In theory, casting Water Release was essentially a matter of performing water nature transformation. Since the system handled that step at no cost...
Then sending the water he conjured out of thin air flying was naturally free too!
"Who would've thought? I didn't manage to create Boil Release, but I unlocked 'unlimited firepower' mode instead..."
Morning sunlight spilled over the streets of Konoha.
At the Ninja Academy's entrance, Lei Dou shuffled through the gates with two dark circles under his eyes, yawning nonstop.
Nearby, Ino bounced over like a cheerful little sparrow.
"Lei Dou-kun! Good morning!"
"Huh?"
"Why do you look so worn out today, Lei Dou-kun? You look completely drained. Were you out stealing last night?"
Stealing? This was way more exhausting than stealing.
Lei Dou had barely closed his eyes after getting home the night before.
First, he'd worked his way through Fire Release, then practiced dual nature transformations.
After that, he'd recklessly tried fusing them and blasted himself into a soot-covered mess.
He'd spent most of the night at it. Though Boil Release remained out of reach, he'd at least figured out the approach.
Most importantly, he'd accidentally unlocked the ultimate cheat: "unlimited ninjutsu."
He couldn't eliminate the cost of every nature yet, but at least he could now spray single-nature Water Release around like a water gun.
His current strategy was simple: put Water Release in two skill slots and Taijutsu in another two.
That meant Lei Dou could unleash a relentless barrage of Water Release at no cost while fighting hand-to-hand with unlimited stamina.
As for the occasional ninjutsu of another type, that little bit of chakra expenditure barely mattered.
With the Chakra Extraction Technique, he could replenish it in no time.
That enormous payoff made Lei Dou feel all the suffering he'd endured the night before had been worth it.
After returning home late that night, Lei Dou had slotted in the two broad skill categories, Fire Release and Water Release, and hadn't removed them since.
His current passive skill setup was downright luxurious:
Passive skills 1-4: Chakra Extraction Technique (still the core) Passive skill 5: Fire Release Passive skill 6: Water Release Passive skill 7: Konoha Style: Swordsmanship
Increasing his total chakra reserves remained his top priority.
Although Water Release could be cast at no cost, its maximum power still depended on how much "capital" he invested.
The more capital he had, the more devastating his cost-free skills would become.
So Lei Dou hadn't been idle the night before. While the skills ran passively, he'd manually refreshed the Chakra Extraction Technique's state.
With the boost from Konoha Style: Swordsmanship, his physique was quietly growing stronger too.
The improvement wasn't as outrageous as the Taijutsu boost, but it was still considerable.
In just one day, Lei Dou felt his strength had increased by at least another adult man's worth.
Even more ridiculous were his speed and reflexes, which were shooting up like a rocket.
As for his understanding of swordsmanship, Lei Dou felt he'd already reached the stratosphere.
If he sparred with Hayate again using swordsmanship alone, he could probably finish him in a single move.
With fewer copies of the Chakra Extraction Technique equipped, his total reserves still seemed to have doubled when he woke up.
That put him at roughly twenty-four times Sasuke's chakra.
But after doing the math carefully, he found that the acceleration of his growth had actually slowed.
"Lei Dou-kun! Lei Dou-kun?"
Seeing Lei Dou stare blankly without answering, Ino was practically itching with curiosity. What on earth had he done last night?
Her repeated calls in his ear finally brought Lei Dou back to his senses, and he nodded at her.
"Yeah, I'm listening."
"So what exactly were you busy doing last night, Lei Dou-kun?"
"Nothing much. I just stayed up all night training."
Training?
Wasn't that pushing himself too hard?
"With the graduation exam coming up, training is important, but you can't ruin your health over it, Lei Dou-kun!"
As Ino fussed over him, she turned and rummaged through the backpack behind her.
A few seconds later, she produced a beautifully wrapped pink lunch box.
Blushing slightly, she offered it with both hands. "I got up extra early to make this lunch especially for you, Lei Dou-kun. It's made with love!"
Lei Dou felt its satisfying weight in his hands, along with its lingering warmth. "Thanks!"
A chubby figure suddenly darted over from beside them, practically drooling. "Why does only Lei Dou get one? Ino, I'm hungry too! I want some!"
Choji was downright uncanny. Whenever the scent of food drifted through the air, he always seemed to teleport over immediately.
His sudden, booming voice startled Ino, as though someone had exposed a little secret she'd kept hidden in her heart.
The girl's face flushed bright red, and she stammered for ages without getting out a complete sentence.
Seeing that, Lei Dou shot Choji a sharp look and came straight to her rescue. "You want the lunch? Sure. Hand over all the snacks in your bag, and I'll trade you!"
"Huh? No way! Absolutely not!"
At the mention of confiscating his snacks, Choji's food-guarding instincts kicked in, and he shook his head like a rattle.
While they were making a racket, a cold figure passed by with his hands in his pockets.
Sasuke glanced sideways at Lei Dou, a trace of impatience in his eyes. "What a noisy bunch."
Leaving that icy remark behind, he walked toward his seat without looking back.
Lei Dou watched Sasuke's retreating back and thought he was as withdrawn as ever.
He clearly longed for attention and wanted to fit in, but his prickly pride and concern for the Uchiha name probably wouldn't let him swallow his ego.
The bell rang, and the dull theory lesson was practically a lullaby.
Lei Dou had stayed up far too late, and now his eyelids kept drooping. He simply couldn't hold out any longer.
He shot Ino a look, asking her to keep watch, then slumped over his desk, tilted his head, and started catching up on sleep.
Before long, thunderous snoring shattered the classroom's peace.
This was a sacred classroom. Sleeping was bad enough, but someone actually dared to snore with such rhythm!
Of course, the source of the noise wasn't Lei Dou, but Naruto, who was sitting near the front.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
Veins bulged on Iruka's forehead. His furious roar rang out like a lion's, making the windows throughout the school building tremble.
Naruto, who had been enjoying a lovely dream, was scared out of his wits.
He sprang from his chair, shouting groggily, "What's going on? Are we under attack? Where's the monster?"
Only after rubbing his eyes and finding Iruka glaring at him with a chilling, murderous stare did he realize he was in trouble.
Sakura rolled her eyes beside him and said sharply, "Sleeping right through class? Naruto, you're completely hopeless!"
Naruto hadn't been particularly bothered by the teacher shouting at him, but those words from his crush shattered his young heart into dust.
He turned to Sakura with an aggrieved expression, only to catch sight of the sorry state of the back row out of the corner of his eye.
Sasuke and Lei Dou were both sprawled over their desks, sleeping instead of paying attention too!
Indignant, Naruto pointed toward the back and shouted, "Why am I the only one getting yelled at? Those two are sleeping just as soundly!"
The instant Sasuke was dragged into it, Sakura's expression shifted from disgust to concern, and she shot Naruto a fierce glare.
Ino immediately joined the ranks of the boys' defenders, glaring viciously at Naruto.
Sakura argued with complete confidence, "How can you compare yourself to Sasuke-kun? He must have worn himself out studying so hard!"
Not to be outdone, Ino added, "Exactly! Lei Dou-kun trained late into the night too. He fell asleep because he exhausted himself trying to get stronger. That's nothing like you being lazy."
Hearing someone mention his name, Lei Dou blearily lifted his head from his arms.
He wiped away the nonexistent drool at the corner of his mouth and asked blankly, "What happened?"
Iruka finally snapped, crushing the chalk in his hand to powder. "All three of you, get out and stand in the hallway!"
Lei Dou stood up, utterly bewildered and feeling deeply wronged. I'd only taken a nap. Did he really have to get that angry?
Who the hell had worked Iruka into this menopausal rage?
Iruka's gaze shifted to the corner. "And you, Shikamaru! Don't think I didn't see you spacing out. Out you go too!"
Shikamaru sighed helplessly and scratched his head. He thought he'd reacted quickly enough, so how had he still been caught?
The four of them left the classroom in a dejected line.
Once they were standing in the hallway as punishment, Lei Dou asked Shikamaru beside him what had happened and finally learned the whole story.
He turned toward the culprit. "If you get caught, just take it! Did you really have to drag the rest of us down with you? Naruto, that's pretty disloyal!"
Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave Lei Dou a sheepish grin. "Sorry, sorry! I just reacted without thinking!"
Beside them, Sasuke gave a cold snort and turned his head away.
Though the prickly young master was unhappy about getting dragged into it, his aloof image kept him from saying much.
Since sleeping was out of the question, Lei Dou decided he might as well use his punishment time productively.
This was a good chance to think through the problem of Kekkei Genkai and review his progress with fire nature transformation.
"Come to think of it, Lei Dou, when did you start sleeping in class too?"
Shikamaru folded his arms and eyed him suspiciously. "You used to be the most attentive student in our class."
He'd already had a vague sense that Lei Dou had changed recently, that something about his demeanor was different, but this was the first time he'd seen him sleep in class.
Naruto nodded vigorously beside him. "Exactly! Lei Dou, you never used to sleep during Iruka-sensei's lessons!"
Leaning against the wall, Lei Dou waved a hand casually. "It's nothing. I just went a little overboard training at home last night. I probably didn't get to bed until two in the morning."
That explanation made perfect sense. Shikamaru sighed with an expression that said he should have known. "You're pushing yourself way too hard. Training that late? No wonder you couldn't stay awake in class."
With the graduation exam approaching, Shikamaru figured Lei Dou was making one last push to earn a good score and graduate without a hitch.
"Some things are decided the moment you're born. No matter how hard you struggle, it's pointless."
Sasuke, who had been silent all this time, abruptly offered that bleak remark.
Lei Dou gave him a puzzled look, but didn't think Sasuke was mocking him.
The loneliness in his voice sounded more like a lament over the heavy fate he himself carried.
Naruto, however, immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Tch! What's with the brooding act? Your grades are only a tiny bit better than mine! What's there to be so smug about?"
Clenching his fists, Naruto shouted with absolute conviction, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, will surpass you someday! Just you wait, Sasuke!"
Caught between them, Lei Dou and Shikamaru exchanged helpless glances. Here the two rivals went again.
After all these years, everyone was thoroughly used to it.
The pair traded barbs like a comedy duo, and Lei Dou had long since grown tired of listening.
He simply closed his eyes, shut out the noise around him, and focused on sensing the subtle state of the fire and water chakra nature transformations inside his body.
After a full night of passive training, both nature transformations should have made another breakthrough.
Watching Lei Dou stand motionless with steady breathing, Shikamaru assumed he'd fallen asleep again.
He muttered inwardly, That's a pretty handy skill, sleeping standing up. I'll give it a try too!
So Shikamaru copied Lei Dou, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes.
But within minutes, his body began swaying uncontrollably like a roly-poly toy.
He couldn't fall deeply asleep while standing at all. Yet when he secretly opened his eyes to check on Lei Dou, the other boy was rock-steady, without so much as a wobble.
Shikamaru was so envious of that steadiness that he even wanted to ask him for the trick.
Little did he know that Lei Dou had no attention to spare for him. His entire focus was inside his body.
There was the scorching, violent power of flame.
There was the dense, cool presence of flowing water.
Just as I thought. After the system's passive training, the power of these nature transformations has taken a qualitative leap!
With the same chakra expenditure and the same jutsu structure, Lei Dou felt that his current Water Release and Fire Release would probably be more than twice as powerful as before.
He just didn't know whether these enhanced fire and water natures had reached the threshold required to fuse them into a Kekkei Genkai.
But just then, Lei Dou keenly detected a troublesome new problem.
As the nature transformations of the two streams of chakra grew stronger, controlling those completely opposing forces simultaneously became exponentially more difficult.
Looks like increasing their power alone isn't enough. My chakra control has to keep up too!
And maintaining nature transformations at this intensity takes an astonishing toll on my mental energy!
Although he'd only taken a cursory look within himself, the perceptive Lei Dou had already spotted these hidden risks.