This guy was even more afraid of trouble than I was. He'd kept himself hidden so well.
Choji stuffed chips into his mouth and asked indistinctly, "Lei Dou, if your swordsmanship is that good, why haven't we ever seen you use it in combat class?"
"School exams don't test how well you can cut people down. Why would I use it?" Lei Dou shrugged.
That explanation... made so much sense that there was no arguing with it.
"You're bluffing, right? A hundred ninja? Who would believe that?"
Kiba held Akamaru in his arms, looking utterly unconvinced.
Shino, however, pushed up his sunglasses in the corner and thought, Rumors don't come from nowhere. Lei Dou must have a secret.
Hinata and Sakura were also sneaking looks at this formerly "invisible" classmate who had suddenly burst into the spotlight.
Just then, an orange figure rushed over like a whirlwind, grabbed Lei Dou's shoulders, and shook him so hard he nearly threw up.
"Lei Dou! You jerk, how could you!"
Naruto shouted noisily, "You went and got this strong behind our backs! Come on, teach me! I want to fight a hundred people by myself too!"
Naruto had always thought Lei Dou was a fellow bottom-of-the-class loser. Then the guy had suddenly taken off, leaving Naruto desperate to catch up.
Before Lei Dou could speak, a cold snort came from beside them.
"Hmph! Just a bunch of useless Genin."
Sasuke walked over with his hands in his pockets and a cold expression.
"Trash who can't even pass the Chunin Ninja Exams are meaningless, no matter how many there are."
"What's there to brag about in beating losers like that?"
Sasuke was deeply annoyed.
He was supposed to be the genius of their year, yet this usually unremarkable guy had stolen his spotlight.
Swordsmanship? A second-rate trick like that was nothing before the power of the Uchiha.
He stared provocatively at Lei Dou, itching for him to draw his blade right then so he could prove that the Uchiha were the strongest.
But Lei Dou couldn't even be bothered to look at him. He yawned and waved a hand.
"Yes, yes, you're right about everything. The rumors were exaggerated anyway. It wasn't anything that amazing. I just got lucky."
That dismissive attitude was even more infuriating than a direct rebuttal.
Sasuke felt as though he'd punched a pillow. Seething with nowhere to vent his anger, he snorted and turned away.
Hearing this, their classmates also began to think the rumors had probably been exaggerated. They were all the same age, after all. How could the gap between them be that wide?
Only Shikamaru sighed helplessly.
His mother had forced him to go train yesterday, and he'd witnessed the whole thing himself.
That ghostlike footwork, that lightning-fast blade.
Without the restraint of his Shadow Imitation Technique, Shikamaru felt he would probably be taken out before he even had a chance to draw a kunai.
Lei Dou was the real monster of their year.
The final bell finally rang.
Iruka had barely said, "Class dismissed," before Lei Dou rushed out of the classroom like a gust of wind.
He went home, grabbed his Jonin blade, and headed straight for his secret base.
Great Sage had completed its calculations. The essence of hundreds of styles of swordsmanship had been perfectly integrated into Water Breathing.
Lei Dou drew his blade and assumed his opening stance.
He ran through Water Breathing's First through Tenth Forms in one fluid sequence.
The feeling was indescribable!
Every swing not only took less effort, but also packed vastly more power. The flowing water changed shape at his will, and his sword techniques were so sharp they seemed capable of slicing the air itself.
In Konoha's swordsmanship circles, he was now unquestionably in a league of his own.
"Next up, allocating my skill slots."
Lei Dou sat down cross-legged.
Slotting Water Breathing twice would eliminate both stamina consumption and Water Release costs. That alone would make him unbeatable.
To keep getting stronger, though, he needed to develop new skills.
"Speed! No martial art is unbeatable except sheer speed!"
Yesterday's battle had made him realize that simply being fast wasn't enough.
Anyone who knew the Body Flicker Technique could still hold their own for a while.
So an ordinary Body Flicker Technique wouldn't do. He needed something big!
"Body Flicker Techniques fall into three types: Ninjutsu Body Flicker, taijutsu-based, and elemental."
The ninjutsu version was the one he'd just obtained through analysis. It used a chakra burst to power the feet-in other words, the standard variety.
The taijutsu version was Might Guy's specialty. Ordinary people couldn't pull that off.
What Lei Dou wanted was Ninjutsu Body Flicker!
Something like Shisui's body flicker, Hanzō's Water Body Flicker, or Gaara's Sand Body Flicker Technique.
These techniques weren't just fast. They also transformed the user into an element, making them unpredictable and almost impossible to guard against!
Their only drawback was the complicated hand seals and lengthy preparation.
But for Lei Dou, who had "passive skill slots," was that even a problem?
Once he put it in a skill slot and raised its proficiency, instant activation would be entirely possible.
"Great Sage, analyze which type I should develop."
[Great Sage: Fire Release offers powerful bursts, the highest speed, and offensive capability. However, the host's Fire Release database is insufficient. Recommended development: Water Release: Body Flicker.]
"Exactly what I wanted!"
Water Release: Body Flicker would turn his body into flowing water, combining immunity to physical attacks with high-speed movement. It was practically the ultimate assassin skill.
[Great Sage: Building model... Estimated calculation time: one month.]
"A month? It'll be too late by then."
Lei Dou frowned.
[Great Sage: Providing additional Water Release Ninjutsu samples or raising existing skill levels can shorten the required time.]
Getting more Water Release Ninjutsu wouldn't be easy. The people at the training ground now ran whenever they saw him.
That left improving his existing skills!
With a thought, Lei Dou began rearranging his lineup.
[Passive skill 1: Chakra Extraction Technique (maintain chakra growth)] [Passive skill 2: Water Release Nature Transformation (core)] [Passive skill 3: Water Release Nature Transformation (stacking!)] [Passive skill 4: Body Flicker Technique (foundation)] [Passive skill 5: Water Breathing (coordination)]
What a luxurious setup!
Two layers of Water Release enhancement, plus the boost from Water Breathing. That was triple the fun.
[Great Sage: Calculation efficiency increased based on current configuration. Each hour of operation adds 1% progress. Estimated completion: 4 days.]
Four days!
Now that was more like it.
Great Sage also indicated that its background calculations wouldn't interfere with him going out to analyze and copy techniques.
Even if the training ground was empty, he couldn't just sit around.
Lei Dou stayed home and furiously ground proficiency.
The Body Flicker Technique's status updated thirty-two times!
Water Release Nature Transformation updated four times!
Each update meant his understanding of that field had deepened another level.
Another new day arrived.
Lei Dou stretched, feeling the surging power within him.
His chakra reserves were already five hundred times those of an ordinary person. Although their growth had slowed, that was still enough to terrify anyone.
He opened his front door and found a note lying quietly in the mailbox.
The handwriting was neat and graceful, with a hint of gunpowder about it-not really.
"Tenten: Lei Dou, your custom ninja blade is ready. Come pick it up soon! -Tenten's Ninja Tool Shop."
Lei Dou's eyes lit up.
This was the weapon he'd specifically commissioned earlier, a piece of equipment made exclusively to complement Water Breathing.
He would skip the training ground after school today and get his blade first!
Lei Dou spent the entire school day distracted, his mind filled with thoughts of his new blade.
Ino, sitting beside him, looked puzzled. Was this guy in love? Why was he so distracted?
With the skill slots as his cheat, Lei Dou didn't even need to examine just how absurdly powerful they were.
Great Sage's analysis function alone was enough to let him breeze through all those dull theoretical lessons at school.
Those ninjutsu principles and chakra formulas had once given Lei Dou splitting headaches just looking at them, making him wish he could drop dead on the spot.
Now, with Great Sage's assistance, it was as though the data were being poured straight into his brain. Mastering them couldn't have been easier.
When the final bell finally rang, Lei Dou packed his things and raced straight to Tenten's family ninja tool shop.
He pushed open the shop door to the clear ringing of wind chimes, and the familiar scent of metal mixed with machine oil greeted him.
He waited patiently in a corner until Tenten had seen off the previous group of picky customers with a smile.
Only then did Tenten beckon mysteriously and lead Lei Dou into a small private room behind the shop that wasn't open to customers.
As though displaying some priceless treasure, she carefully brought out a long object tightly wrapped in thick, coarse cloth.
Her deliberately mysterious manner piqued Lei Dou's curiosity.
"Stop keeping me in suspense. How did the ninja blade turn out?"
Seeing his impatience, Tenten covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes curving as she teased him. "It's only at times like this that you act like an actual little kid!"
What was wrong with being a kid? This body really was a little boy's, thank you very much!
Lei Dou didn't answer. His gaze stayed glued to the still-covered ninja blade in Tenten's hands, burning with enough eagerness to scorch through the cloth.
Tenten stopped teasing him and grew a little more serious. "I really splurged on a special alloy for this blade. Since I gave you my word, of course I did everything I could to make it the best it could be!"
"I hope it meets your exacting standards!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she flicked her wrist, and the layers of wrapping slid away.
The instant Lei Dou saw the blade in full, he froze, his pupils widening slightly.
This ninja blade was breathtakingly beautiful.
Its blade was black as ink, with faint blue patterns flowing across it as though they were breathing. Though it was the length of a standard katana, its width had been cleverly increased.
The hilt was wrapped only in black cord, plain and unadorned, without any unnecessary decoration.
Yet that very simplicity exuded a cold, lethal aura that suited the blade perfectly.
If not for those strange patterns glowing faintly blue, Lei Dou might have thought he'd wandered onto the set of Bleach and gotten his hands on Ichigo Kurosaki's Tensa Zangetsu.
The details weren't exactly identical, but it captured at least seventy or eighty percent of the same spirit!
"What do you think? Are you happy with it?"
Tenten clasped her hands together, her voice carrying a rare hint of nervous anticipation.
Lei Dou came back to his senses and nodded repeatedly, unable to hide the delight in his eyes. "Happy... it's absolutely perfect!"
"Don't just look at it. Pick it up and try it!"
Lei Dou took a deep breath, gripped the hilt, and lifted it. The heft in his palm surprised him. It weighed far more than he'd expected.
"It's heavy!"
Tenten spread her hands helplessly as she explained, "There's no helping it. To get that strength and sharpness, we had to use a very dense special metal, so naturally the weight went up. But it's absolutely the best choice for making a top-tier weapon!"
Despite his complaint about the weight, the muscles in Lei Dou's arm tightened smoothly as he swung the blade. His movements flowed without the slightest sign of strain.
Instead, he made the heavy blade look effortless to wield.
Watching Lei Dou casually twirl the blade through a beautiful flourish, Tenten found that even knowing how frighteningly strong he was hadn't prepared her for how easily he handled it.
"Looks like I worried for nothing. It seems to suit you pretty well!"
"It really does. It's a little on the heavy side, but that heft actually makes it feel like a perfect fit!"
At the words "perfect fit," two inexplicable blushes bloomed on Tenten's fair cheeks, and her eyes shifted shyly away.
"Since you like it so much, give it an impressive name! Not every ninja blade has one, but they say weapons with names have more spirit!"
Huh?
Lei Dou couldn't help chuckling in disbelief. Did the Shinobi World have superstitions like this too?
Apparently, superstition really was universal, no matter which world you were in.
A name...
Lei Dou gently stroked the cold, black blade, his fingertips tracing its blue patterns. "Let's call it... Zangetsu!"
Since it looked so much like Tensa Zangetsu, he might as well pay homage and take the last part of its name.
"Zangetsu... Shimozuki Raito and the ninja blade Zangetsu. Those names sound surprisingly good together!"
"Thank you, Tenten. The quality of this ninja blade is absolutely flawless!"
Even without testing it in battle, Lei Dou could clearly hear the piercing shriek of air being ripped apart with just a light swing.
That hair-raising sharpness filled Lei Dou with delighted surprise.
With this magnificent weapon, the destructive power of his Total Concentration: Water Breathing would definitely skyrocket exponentially!
He gently slid the pad of his left thumb along the blade's spine. It felt bitingly cold, even carrying a faint chill that set it apart from ordinary steel.
Lei Dou turned his wrist, and Zangetsu slid securely into its sheath with a crisp click. He raised his head and looked sincerely at Tenten.
"I won't forget this favor! Thank you, Tenten. I really love this blade!"
"As long as you like it! That means our earlier bet is officially settled now!"
"Yeah, no problem!"
Lei Dou nodded and adjusted the Ninja Blade. For a twelve-year-old boy, wearing it at his waist meant it nearly dragged along the ground, making it look rather awkward.
He could only change its angle and strap it horizontally across his back.
That would also make it easier to draw.
"Um... Lei Dou, do you have any plans tonight? I'd like to invite you to dinner!"
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