A white plume of steam trailed behind him, stretching into a perfectly straight line.
In a flash, Lei Dou's fist, wrapped in scorching steam, slammed into the tree trunk.
The next instant, the ancient tree snapped in half as though it were made of paper.
Wood chips still fluttered through the air, while a large section of the trunk at the point of impact had been pulverized into countless tiny fragments.
Not even its fibers remained visible.
A ring of white shock waves, visible to the naked eye, spread through the air.
BOOM!
The massive crown of the tree went flying dozens of meters, breaking several smaller trees along the way.
Finally, it shattered into a heap of broken branches and leaves.
Lei Dou stood where he was, staring at the devastation within ten meters ahead of him. It looked as though a hurricane had torn through the area.
"What terrifying power!"
Was this the true destructive power of a kekkei genkai?
[Congratulations! You have mastered a new skill, Boil Release: Peerless Strength.]
Strictly speaking, this technique was not ninjutsu, but an advanced application of Boil Release chakra.
As long as he possessed Boil Release chakra and instantly raised the chakra inside his body to its boiling point.
He could unleash this staggering strength.
Recovering from his shock, Lei Dou immediately felt a tearing pain shoot through his right arm.
That exquisite agony was practically killing him.
Although he could unleash such earth-shattering power, his current flesh-and-blood body seemed unable to withstand the recoil.
"No wonder Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, wore a suit of Steam Armor that covered him from head to toe!"
"A normal body couldn't withstand more than a few of these suicidal bursts!"
In the original story, Naruto could use it recklessly partly because the Uzumaki Clan was famous for its incredible vitality and toughness.
On top of that, he had a Nine-Tails power bank inside him providing endless healing, so naturally, he could go wild however he pleased.
But Lei Dou currently had neither a Nine-Tails cheat nor an Uzumaki constitution.
Although his passive skill slots had been steadily improving his physique, putting him far ahead of his peers and even above the average Chunin.
Ultimately, he was still within the bounds of a normal human.
Unless his physique evolved to Guy's absurd level, at which point the side effects of Boil Release might become negligible.
But looking at it another way, if his body became that strong, would the little boost Boil Release provided even matter?
So he had to find a way to solve this problem at its root.
"Wood Release!"
That was the first thought that sprang into Lei Dou's mind!
If he acquired Wood Release and gained a sage body like Hashirama, the First Hokage, capable of healing automatically without hand seals.
Then these minor side effects of Boil Release would barely tickle.
But!
Obtaining Wood Release was easier said than done.
"First, I need to learn Earth Release ninjutsu and acquire earth release chakra nature transformation!"
Under normal circumstances, acquiring ninjutsu of an additional nature was an almost impossible task for an ordinary ninja.
"If I graduate from the Ninja Academy successfully, I'll qualify to apply to learn a basic technique from the Five Basic Nature Transformations! But graduation is still a month away. That's too long. I can't wait."
As for asking someone for help, he could try his luck with Shimozuki Hayate. Uncle Masano, however, was out of the question. Supporting a family as a Chunin was already hard enough.
If Lei Dou made him run around handling his affairs too, who would look after Uncle Masano's wife and children?
Aside from stubbornly pursuing Wood Release, Lei Dou turned the problem over in his mind and came up with a compromise.
Perhaps a ninja could rely on external equipment instead of simply enduring everything with his body.
He could have a special suit of Steam Armor made, just like Han's.
But Lei Dou did not intend to become nothing more than a Steam Ninja. He had other paths to pursue.
He felt that having a cumbersome suit of armor made was unnecessary and did not suit his agile fighting style.
However!
The idea of relying on external equipment had real merit.
Using Boil Release to enhance his strength did not necessarily mean meeting force head-on with his fists.
He could also channel it through... a sword!
As it happened, his proficiency in Konoha Style: Swordsmanship was already quite high.
Lei Dou drew the Wooden Sword he carried at his lower back. His gaze sharpened, and his Boil Release chakra erupted once more.
Gripping the sword with both hands, he unleashed a fierce slash.
The next instant, Lei Dou watched in surprise as the air compressed into a white wave of steam that howled forward.
It plowed a seemingly bottomless trench through the hard ground.
This could work!
Lei Dou nodded in satisfaction, the corners of his mouth lifting.
Beyond being an efficient method of killing, swordsmanship incorporated its own unique techniques for applying force and principles of leverage.
The tremendous strength supplied by Boil Release could be perfectly unleashed through swordsmanship.
However!
Lei Dou glanced down at the weapon in his hand.
All that remained of his Wooden Sword was a bare hilt.
He had not struck anything. The sheer eruption of power alone had shattered the blade into powder.
Countless flecks of wood scattered on the wind.
Lei Dou sighed helplessly and tossed the hilt away.
Everything was ready now. All he lacked was a good blade.
Even ordinary refined-steel swords probably could not withstand this sort of abuse from Boil Release.
"Looks like I'll have to shell out a fortune for a custom Ninja Blade that can withstand my monstrous strength!"
Fortunately, he had always lived frugally and barely touched the inheritance his parents had left him.
Although Shimozuki Hayate had promised to give him a blade upon graduation, a standard-issue weapon would surely be of ordinary quality. Its edge would probably chip after only a few uses.
He would have to rely on himself and commission a top-quality blade!
His parents' savings should be enough, but having this blade forged would probably wipe out the money he had set aside to get married someday!
"See you tomorrow, Lei Dou! Make sure you come early!"
Standing at the school gates, Ino waved enthusiastically at Lei Dou, her smile radiant.
Lei Dou smiled back and nodded in acknowledgment.
He had finally made it to the end of Friday's classes!
Since developing Boil Release that night, Lei Dou had behaved himself over the past few days and stopped conducting dangerous experiments.
Every day, he attended school as usual, then did everything he could to increase his chakra reserves.
The configuration of his passive skill slots had remained unchanged: Chakra Extraction Technique, swordsmanship, and genjutsu.
After returning home from school each day, his only entertainment was practicing the Chakra Extraction Technique and continually refreshing its enhancement effects.
This ensured that his chakra growth remained efficient and would not hit a bottleneck as his total reserves increased.
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As he walked home, the setting sun stretched his shadow long.
Lei Dou sighed softly. "I was planning to spend tomorrow's weekend break practicing Water Release and looking into more advanced ways to develop my kekkei genkai."
"But Ino is just too enthusiastic. Turning down a girl's heartfelt invitation would make me completely clueless!"
Lei Dou smiled helplessly. Ino had been pursuing him more and more aggressively lately.
Strictly speaking, just about every girl who looked at him lately had stars in her eyes.
That had sent Ino's sense of crisis through the roof. Afraid another girl would snatch him away, she had rushed to invite him over to her house on Saturday.
Her excuse was so flimsy that Lei Dou wanted to laugh.
Ino's exact words had been, "My dog recently learned to spin a hula hoop. You absolutely have to come see it tomorrow, Lei Dou!"
Whether her dog could actually spin a hula hoop or not, Ino clearly had something else in mind.
As it happened, Lei Dou also planned to go out tomorrow and find a reliable ninja tool shop to commission a suitable Ninja Blade.
Over the past few days, he had been practicing Boil Release swordsmanship with an ordinary Ninja Blade, and its power was indeed astonishing.
But that ordinary Ninja Blade was already a sorry sight. Its edge was riddled with chips, and it was clearly on the verge of becoming scrap.
The combined abuse of Boil Release and monstrous strength was simply more than ordinary steel could bear.
After returning home, Lei Dou sprawled on the sofa for a while before getting up to make a simple dinner in the kitchen.
Once he had eaten his fill and washed the dishes, he prepared for his mandatory evening lesson as usual-updating the status of his Chakra Extraction Technique.
After days of round-the-clock idle growth, Lei Dou's chakra reserves had reached the point.
Where he could confidently declare that even a cheat character like Naruto, with the Uzumaki Clan's absurd physique, might not have more chakra than he did.
His mana bar had definitely reached the level of monsters like tailed beast jinchūriki.
Moreover, Naruto had to devote most of his chakra to suppressing the Nine-Tails' rampages, whereas all of Lei Dou's chakra belonged to him, free to use however he wished.
By that reckoning, the usable chakra at Lei Dou's disposal was even more frightening than Naruto's.
"After tomorrow, I can try whipping up a Rasengan!"
As a transmigrator, not knowing an iconic ninjutsu like the Rasengan would disgrace the entire transmigrator community.
Failing to put such enormous chakra reserves to use would be an utter waste.
"If possible, I also need to find a way to trick Shimozuki Hayate into teaching me... no, learn the Shadow Clone Technique and Body Flicker Technique from him as soon as possible!"
The Shadow Clone Technique needed no explanation. It was practically a training cheat, a cheat among cheats.
Although it might not provide as much of a boost to Lei Dou, who already had a system, having more skills never hurt. He had to give it a try!
But the Body Flicker Technique was the skill Lei Dou coveted most right now. Speed was the one thing no martial art could overcome, and in any world, it was the foremost key to survival.
"What kind of damned mission did Shimozuki Hayate take, anyway? I haven't seen so much as his shadow in days!"
It was normal for ninja to spend ten days or half a month away from the village on missions, but since he had not shown up for several days, he had probably gone to the border or somewhere even farther away.
Lei Dou stood before the bathroom mirror, studying the boy reflected in it.
The eight sharply defined muscles of his abdomen stood out, and the sleek, graceful lines of his body brimmed with explosive power.
His proportions were evolving toward the perfect golden ratio. Even his height had shot up two centimeters over the past week.
Growing taller during adolescence was nothing unusual, but two centimeters in a week was a little alarming.
It seemed that passively running Konoha Style: Swordsmanship was doing more than improving his swordsmanship.
It was also continually reshaping his physique. Although the process was somewhat slow, the cumulative effects were considerable.
His mental energy had surged as well. The most immediate benefit of this simultaneous physical and mental evolution was-
The Chakra Extraction Technique, which had once taken five minutes to complete a cycle, now took only four.
If this trend continued, the cooldown would eventually reach zero.
Then he would truly have unlimited firepower-a perpetual-motion chakra machine.
Since his physique and mental energy had improved again today, Lei Dou naturally needed to seize the opportunity to update his skill's status once more.
Although these updates yielded diminishing returns as time went on.
Without them, his chakra growth would slow to a crawl, becoming more sluggish by the day.
He took a deep breath, preparing to begin another round of chakra extraction!
[Great Sage: The system's computation function has been restored to twenty percent. It can assist you in calculating skill update paths.]
The sudden, emotionless mechanical voice made Lei Dou freeze.
His eyes snapped open, and he stared fixedly at the pale-blue virtual screen that appeared before him.
"You..."
Lei Dou blinked, making sure he had not misread the words on the screen.
The line displaying the skill's name.
Great Sage!
That was right!
It was Great Sage, no longer that damned garbled "Great Sage ※"!
Was this the active skill's true identity?
Great Sage was an incredible skill from that slime series, with abilities so overpowered they were outrageous.
Having it was essentially the same as carrying around a super quantum computer and an all-knowing, all-powerful encyclopedia.
He could even call it a highly intelligent artificial intelligence he carried everywhere.
"Have you fully recovered?" Lei Dou asked tentatively in his mind.
[Great Sage: Not fully. Only some core functional modules have been restored.]
Only some?
"Can you use your computation ability now?"
[Great Sage: Affirmative.]
"When did you recover?"
[Great Sage: Yesterday.]
"Damn it! If you recovered yesterday, why didn't you say so sooner? And did your name recover yesterday too?" Lei Dou was getting a little frantic.
[Great Sage: You did not ask. The name was also restored yesterday.]
Fine! You win.
Although this skill had incredible effects and possessed a degree of logical reasoning, it was only logic. It had no emotional intelligence whatsoever.
It had recovered without saying a word.
"So how much have you recovered now? How long until you're back at full strength?"
[Great Sage: Self-repair is estimated to require approximately thirty more days.]
Another month? So that meant it would fully recover right around the graduation exam?
Well, having a definite date to look forward to was better than waiting indefinitely.
Oh, right!
"You just said your computational capacity had recovered to twenty percent. Can you help me work out my skills?"
[Great Sage: Yes. Optimization calculations are available.]
"Then quit talking and get started!"
Lei Dou could barely wait. He wanted to see just how this legendary Great Sage could transform his training.
Lei Dou should have realized it sooner. It was called Great Sage, after all!
The most overpowered aspect of this skill was its ability to combine its owner's abilities in all sorts of ways and push their use to the absolute limit.
And if the skill could evolve further in the future, it might even become that legendary "King of Wisdom."