His face flushed red as he glared at Lei Dou and roared, "You little brat! Are you threatening me?"
Threatening him?
Beside them, Yugao looked utterly confused. Her beautiful eyes blinked, her long lashes fluttering with bewilderment.
Weren't these two clansmen? How had threats entered the picture?
"Hayate, what did this child just say? What threat?"
At his girlfriend's probing question, a sheen of cold sweat instantly broke out on Hayate's forehead. He hurriedly forced a stiff smile.
"N-nothing! He's just joking around with me. Kids say the darnedest things!"
Lei Dou folded his arms and watched Hayate's performance in silence, a wicked, triumphant smile tugging at his lips.
Hayate sighed helplessly, his shoulders slumping. "Shadow clones aren't something to fool around with. They require extremely precise chakra control. Unless your talent for ninjutsu matches your swordsmanship, you..."
"You don't need to worry about that, Hayate. If I can't learn it, I won't pester you. Just demonstrate it a few times!"
That confident?
Hayate raised an eyebrow. Instead, curiosity stirred within him, and he wanted to see what this kid was up to.
Yugao, who hadn't managed to get a word in, also watched the pair with interest.
The three strolled along and soon reached Lei Dou's private Secret Training Base.
Looking at the forest before him, which resembled the aftermath of a typhoon, Hayate's mouth twitched.
"If I remember correctly, those trees that took two people to wrap their arms around were still standing the last time I came here, weren't they?"
Lei Dou scratched his head, giving him an awkward but polite smile.
He couldn't exactly test the power of his ninjutsu on thin air. These trees had simply made a small sacrifice.
"All right, all right. Watch closely. I'm only teaching this once!"
"Whether you learn it is entirely up to you."
Yugao's delicate brows furrowed with worry. Was it really all right for a student who hadn't even graduated to attempt such a demanding forbidden technique?
Hayate gave her a reassuring look and lowered his voice. "Don't worry. I'm just going through the motions so he'll realize how difficult it is and give up."
Only then did Yugao relax a little.
After all, forbidden techniques were forbidden because they could endanger the user's life.
"Keep your eyes wide open, Lei Dou!"
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
[Great Sage System activated: analyzing at full speed...]
Poof! Poof!
Two clouds of white smoke burst into existence with muffled bangs. When the smoke cleared, two identical Shimozuki Hayates stood there.
Lei Dou stared intently at the paths along which those two masses of chakra flowed. To an ordinary person, the principles behind this miraculous ninjutsu would have been incomprehensible.
[Analysis complete.] [Congratulations, host. New skill successfully acquired: Shadow Clone Technique.]
Perfect! It's mine.
Hayate dispelled the clones and dusted off his hands. "Well? Too fast for you to follow? Want me to do it again slowly?"
Lei Dou waved away the offer. "No need to trouble yourself, Hayate. Thanks!"
Huh?
That was it? Did this kid even understand what he saw?
Before Hayate could react, Lei Dou suddenly reached back into his waist pouch, pulled out a bulging cloth bag, and handed it over.
"Here, take this. I've got food and a roof over my head, so you might as well use this money for now, Hayate."
"What's this?"
Shimozuki Hayate instinctively took the heavy little bag. He unzipped it and peeked inside, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
It was full of money!
"This... this is..."
"Lei Dou, what are you doing...?"
Hayate was completely stunned. He couldn't understand why the kid had suddenly handed him such an enormous sum.
Beside him, Yugao covered her mouth in shock. The bag was filled with high-denomination bills-almost enough for a down payment on a house in Konoha.
"Weren't you two saying on the way here how hard it was to save up for your wedding?"
Lei Dou beamed, showing a mouthful of pearly white teeth.
"This is the inheritance my parents left me. Uncle Masano specifically told me to save it for when I get married."
"But I haven't even hit puberty yet. Marriage is a long way off. Take it and get married first, Hayate. You can pay me back little by little when you're better off!"
Hayate froze on the spot, warmth surging through his heart.
Even Yugao hadn't expected Lei Dou, who usually seemed rather aloof, to be so generous when they needed it most.
"Lei Dou... thank you!"
"I... I don't even know what to say..."
Despite being a grown man, Hayate felt his eyes sting. He was so touched that he could barely speak coherently.
Seeing the two standing there awkwardly, overcome with emotion, Lei Dou waved dismissively. "All right, enough of the sentimental stuff. Get going. Don't interrupt my training!"
"I still need to make a final push for the graduation exam!"
At the mention of the exam, Hayate wanted to offer a few more words of advice, or take Lei Dou out for barbecue to properly thank him.
But on second thought, a ninja's graduation exam was a major milestone. It couldn't be taken lightly.
With Lei Dou's talent, he should have no trouble, but he still needed to approach it seriously.
"All right. Once your exam is over, I'll treat you to the most lavish feast you've ever had. Both to thank you and to celebrate you becoming a Genin!"
Hayate stopped protesting, though a trace of concern remained.
Was this kid really that confident?
What if he slipped up on the written test or some other part?
But thinking of Lei Dou's extraordinary swordsmanship, that possibility was practically nonexistent. His strength was more than enough to qualify as a Chunin.
Hayate kept those compliments to himself, afraid the kid would get carried away and become arrogant.
After all, the future revival of the Shimozuki would rest entirely on Lei Dou's shoulders.
Once the pair disappeared into the depths of the woods, Lei Dou found a clean slab of stone and sat down.
"Shadow clones secured. System, how long will it take to derive the Water Clone Technique now?"
[Great Sage: estimated derivation time: six hours.]
Six hours?
That was reasonably efficient. Not too slow.
But he could put the Shadow Clone Technique in a passive skill slot and strengthen it around the clock.
That should save him a great deal of training time.
"Then don't waste any time. Start now!"
Lei Dou issued the command with a thought, and the Great Sage System immediately began working at high speed.
While he waited, Lei Dou planned to refine his Wind Release nature transformation.
After a full day of idle Wind Release training yesterday, the chakra within him had become noticeably sharper. Its power had risen by more than a single level.
With his current mastery of Wind Release, he should have met the requirements to attempt developing the Ice Release kekkei genkai.
Of course, Lei Dou didn't need to handle such delicate work himself. He could leave Great Sage to calculate it in the background.
Compared with the system's precise calculations, fumbling around on his own would not only be inefficient, but might also leave him injured by an explosion.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Lei Dou abruptly opened his eyes and formed a one-handed Ram Seal.
Whoosh!
Despite the lack of moisture in the air, a stream of clear water appeared from nothing and instantly took on Lei Dou's shape.
Water Release: Water Clone had been successfully developed.
After Great Sage improved it using the principles behind shadow clones, its capabilities had undergone a complete transformation.
[Water Release: Modified Water Clone: possesses 20% of the original's combat strength. Has an independent chakra network and can perform ninjutsu other than Water Release. All attributes increase by 10% in specific aquatic environments.]
These stats utterly outclassed the original water clones from Naruto.
The original version had only one-tenth of the user's strength and couldn't freely use ninjutsu. It was little more than cannon fodder for scouting or taking hits.
Moreover, the original water clone lost much of its usefulness away from a water source. Lei Dou's improved version not only ignored terrain, but also eliminated the range restriction on controlling it.
The water clone before him raised an arm. Its entire arm instantly liquefied, incorporating the nature transformation of Water Release: Water Flow Blade to become a sharp, high-pressure water whip.
Crack!
With a crisp snap, a nearby tree trunk as thick as a bowl was severed clean through, its cut surface smooth as a mirror.
"Just as powerful as I expected. Now my clones can serve as front-line damage dealers too!"
Whoosh!
The water clone pushed off with both legs and darted through the woods, moving so quickly that it stirred up a strong gust.
Its explosive speed actually matched an ordinary Chunin using the Body Flicker Technique.
That speed alone brought the clone's combat strength to the threshold of a Special Jōnin.
The only uncertainty was its durability. If the slightest touch reduced it to a puddle, it would be of little use.
Lei Dou launched a fierce kick into the water clone's chest, sending it flying into a tree.
[Great Sage: thanks to the host's powerful water release nature transformation, the clone possesses extremely high surface tension and can withstand ordinary physical blows. Fatal injuries will still cause it to collapse. It cannot use Water Release: Body Flicker or Hydrification Healing.]
Watching the clone get up as though nothing had happened, Lei Dou nodded in satisfaction.
There were a few restrictions, but this level of durability was already enough to give his enemies a headache.
"Clone technique sorted!"
"Next are shadow clones. If I combine them with idle training in the passive skill slots, won't my training speed skyrocket?"
[Great Sage: no. Experience feedback from shadow clones cannot be added to the system's idle training gains.]
They couldn't be combined?
Why?
Was it because the skill slots themselves were already a cheat operating at the level of the world's rules?
[Great Sage: correct.]
Fine. I shouldn't be too greedy.
Even if he couldn't exploit a bug to farm experience, the absurdly powerful skill slots already left shadow clone training in the dust.
This tiny disappointment was nothing.
"Since that won't work, go all out on developing Ice Release!"
"My Wind Release nature transformation meets the requirements now, right?"
[Great Sage: requirements met. Begin derivation immediately?]
"Start!"
Ice Release!
It was a devastating weapon. Once he successfully developed it, his combat options would expand yet again.
Transparent Release Invisibility, Boil Release for high damage, and Ice Release for battlefield control—he would have three kekkei genkai at his disposal.
Wait!
If I combined Boil Release's intense heat with Ice Release's extreme cold, would it produce an even more outrageous chemical reaction?
Lei Dou's imagination ran wild.
Unfortunately, Great Sage was busy deriving Ice Release at full capacity and had no time for his fanciful ideas.
Estimated calculation time: 30 hours.
Just over a day. He could easily wait that long.
While the system worked in the background, Lei Dou began darting and weaving across the clearing, familiarizing himself with his new combat style.
To perfectly integrate swordsmanship and ninjutsu, he needed to build muscle memory for his newly acquired skills.
Boom! Boom!
Thunderous explosions echoed through the forest, startling countless birds into flight.
Meanwhile.
Inside a smoke-filled office in Konoha's Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi held a list of students about to graduate, his brow tightly furrowed.
"These little brats are about to graduate. Sorting them into teams really is a headache."
He pulled three files from the stack and laid them on his desk.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha... and this Shimozuki Raito."
The Third Hokage sank into thought, his pipe between his lips.
Looking at Naruto's report card, the Third sighed helplessly.
He was the Fourth Hokage's orphaned son, with the blood of the Uzumaki Clan in his veins. How could his abilities be so poor?
"Perhaps it's interference from the nine-tails chakra..."
Just as the Third shook his head and sighed, hurried, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded outside.
He swiftly swept the confidential documents on his desk into a drawer.
A moment later, someone roughly pushed the door open without even knocking.
"Hiruzen, what exactly are you thinking?"
The newcomer launched into an interrogation the moment he entered. In all of Konoha, only one man dared speak to the Hokage as though scolding a grandson.
"What are you trying to say?"
The Third didn't even raise his head. He merely took a deep draw on his pipe and calmly returned the question through the smoke.
"Do I really need to spell it out?" Shimura Danzō's face was grim as he slammed the door behind him, his lone eye fixed on the Third.
His gaze was as cold as ice that had lain frozen for ten thousand years.
The Third Hokage raised his head and looked at his former comrade. He did not know when Danzo's ambition had swollen to the point where it could no longer be ignored.
Perhaps he really had grown old and could no longer keep this beast lurking in the shadows under control.
"That brat from the Shimozuki clan! Why didn't you make him hand over the swordsmanship scroll for 'Water Breathing' to the village?"
So that was what he was after.
The Third Hokage sneered, but his tone was unshakable. "Every major shinobi clan in Konoha has its own legacy. There isn't a single law requiring them to surrender their secret techniques!"
"Bullshit! Spare me your bureaucratic doublespeak!"
Danzo slammed his cane against the floor with a dull thud.
"Of all the clans in Konoha, big and small, which one doesn't have its secret techniques recorded in the ANBU's archives? Yet now you're making an exception for some wet-behind-the-ears brat. Do you really think that highly of him? Watch out, or you'll raise another 'Konoha White Fang' you can't control!"
No matter how much Danzo roared, the Third Hokage remained as steady as a mountain.
If Lei Dou were made to hand over his swordsmanship, that power would pass straight into the hands of Danzo's Root.
This was not merely a matter of protecting a secret technique. It was also about preventing Danzo from using this swordsmanship, which could quickly produce formidable fighters, to expand his private army.
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