The man living in this house was Shimozuki Hayate, the member of the Shimozuki clan currently doing the best for himself in Konoha.
Although he was only a Special Jōnin, he was already a pillar of the clan.
"Lei Dou? Are you here to see Uncle Masano?"
Shimozuki Hayate stood there holding a plate, stuffing breakfast into his mouth as he looked at the boy outside with his trademark dark circles beneath his eyes.
"Yes! Morning, Hayate!"
"Uncle Masano left on a mission early this morning. He's not home. Is there something urgent you need him for?"
A mission? What rotten timing.
Lei Dou's mind raced. His gaze settled on the sickly Special Jōnin before him, and he began weighing his options.
He wondered whether Hayate would be willing to teach him a thing or two. He was a Special Jōnin, after all. Even if swordsmanship was his specialty, surely he knew at least one beginner-level genjutsu?
A Special Jonin was still a Jonin. His basic abilities had to be solid.
Lei Dou took a deep breath and gave Shimozuki Hayate an earnest look.
"Hayate, I actually wanted Uncle Masano to teach me a simple beginner-level genjutsu!"
"I'm about to take the graduation exam and become a Genin, but my skills are far too uneven. I don't know a single genjutsu, and that worries me. I wanted to learn a little to protect myself, so I won't be helpless if I encounter an enemy who specializes in it!"
Graduation?
Hayate stopped chewing, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes. Has that much time passed already?
Thinking it over, he realized it really was graduation season, and Lei Dou was exactly the right age to graduate this year.
Shimozuki Hayate set down his plate, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
He wasn't particularly close to this younger cousin of his, Lei Dou. All he remembered was that the boy's parents had apparently died during the Nine-Tails' Attack.
Uncle Masano and the others had been helping look after the orphan all these years.
As he recalled, the boy's aptitude as a ninja was utterly ordinary. Whether he could even graduate from the demanding Ninja Academy was still an open question.
"Don't stand in the doorway. Come inside, and we'll talk!"
"Yes. Sorry for intruding!"
Lei Dou obediently took off his shoes and stepped into the entryway.
He sat properly on the cushion opposite Shimozuki Hayate, who casually asked, "Have you had breakfast?"
"I already ate!"
"Good."
Hayate's slightly weary eyes swept over Lei Dou, and he discovered that the boy seemed like a completely different person from the last time they had met.
His appearance hadn't changed, but his whole bearing seemed transformed, carrying a confidence and sharpness that hadn't been there before.
The change was subtle, but it couldn't escape the eyes of a seasoned ninja like him.
Confidence was only natural. With a fate-changing marvel like the system in his hands, it would have been downright absurd for Lei Dou to remain timid.
"Not bad. Looks like those years at the Ninja Academy weren't wasted. You seem much livelier!"
Shimozuki Hayate's praise stirred nothing in Lei Dou, though he wore a polite smile.
Lei Dou had always been a good-looking boy. With this newfound confidence, he looked even brighter and more energetic, making quite an appealing impression.
Hayate nodded inwardly as well. In terms of looks alone, the boy was definitely the standout among the clan's younger generation.
He smiled and decided to test him. "Come on, let me see your chakra foundation. If you want to graduate and become a ninja, you can't have a pathetic chakra reserve!"
If Shimozuki Hayate remembered correctly, with Lei Dou's dismal talent, even reaching the minimum chakra requirement for graduation would be a close call.
"Yes. I'll do my best!"
Without wasting words, Lei Dou closed his eyes and began mobilizing the surging energy within him.
This basic release of chakra was as easy as breathing for him now. All he had to do was direct the chakra inside his body toward its surface.
Whoosh!
An invisible wave of force burst out around Lei Dou, sending a breeze through the bangs over Hayate's forehead.
Shimozuki Hayate's hand trembled slightly around his teacup, and his gaze froze.
The intensity of that chakra fluctuation... this was no dead-last student. It far exceeded the standard of a newly graduated Genin and even approached the threshold of a veteran Genin!
The boy had chakra reserves like these before even graduating. He had certainly kept them well hidden.
In that respect, his talent made him an outstanding prospect even among the clan members who were already ninja.
Did I misjudge him before? Is this boy actually a late-blooming genius?
Lei Dou keenly caught the fleeting surprise in Shimozuki Hayate's eyes.
But the other man was a worldly Special Jōnin, after all, and didn't lose his composure. Lei Dou simply pretended not to notice.
In truth, this amount of chakra wasn't anything special to him. It was probably only at the entry level of an ordinary Chunin.
There was still a gap between him and an elite prodigy like Sasuke Uchiha, never mind a walking cheat like Naruto, who had more chakra than he knew what to do with.
Even though Sasuke hadn't awakened his eyes yet, his chakra reserves had definitely reached peak Genin level long ago.
To expand his chakra reservoir further, meditation alone wouldn't be enough. He also needed the stimulus of intense combat and physical growth.
Lei Dou wasn't worried in the slightest. His greatest asset was time. As long as his passive skill slots kept running, surpassing Sasuke, or even Naruto, was purely a matter of time.
"I never imagined you had such talent. You haven't even graduated, and your chakra already exceeds that of an ordinary Genin!"
"With a promising youngster like you in the clan, I'll have a little less to worry about in the future!"
Shimozuki Hayate smiled with relief, a hint of color returning to his somewhat pale face.
The Shimozuki clan had few members, after all. To hold its own within a behemoth like Konoha, it desperately needed fresh blood.
"Since you have enough chakra, are you hoping to become a genjutsu specialist?"
Lei Dou hurriedly shook his head. "No, I don't want to focus on genjutsu. I just want to learn one or two simple ones for self-defense and understand how they work!"
"I see..."
Shimozuki Hayate nodded thoughtfully. Lei Dou's approach struck him as sensible, without blindly trying to learn everything.
Knowing yourself and your enemy was the key to victory. Learning about genjutsu to better counter it made perfect sense.
"Unfortunately, I don't know anything about genjutsu either, so I can't teach you."
Well, then!
Although he'd been prepared for it, hearing Shimozuki Hayate personally admit he knew no genjutsu still gave Lei Dou a headache.
Now I'm in trouble. Will I have to swallow my pride and ask an Academy teacher?
"But if you really only want to learn a few beginner-level genjutsu, I can get you some basic scrolls. You can study them on your own!"
Oh? Now that's a pleasant surprise!
Lei Dou promptly stood and bowed. "Thank you so much, Hayate!"
Hayate waved off the courtesy. "We're family. No need to be so formal."
"By the way, since you don't want to specialize in genjutsu, do you know any swordsmanship?"
Swordsmanship?
Caught off guard by Hayate's sudden question, Lei Dou couldn't follow his train of thought.
He shook his head honestly. "None at all!"
"Then are you interested in learning?"
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Interested? Of course I am! Looking cool is a lifelong pursuit!
Lei Dou nodded furiously like a chick pecking at grain.
"Good. Give me a few minutes to finish breakfast, then we'll go to the village's Public Training Ground. I'll teach you some fundamentals first!"
"If you show enough talent with a sword, I'll pass on my signature technique-Konoha Style: Swordsmanship!"
Shimozuki Hayate's Konoha Style: Swordsmanship? That flashy-looking Dance of the Crescent Moon, right?
Although it hadn't looked particularly impressive once the original story's power scaling spiraled out of control later on, it was still a rare, high-level technique for the current Lei Dou!
"Great! I'll work hard!"
Seeing his enthusiasm, Shimozuki Hayate stopped dawdling and polished off the food on his plate in a few mouthfuls.
Then the two headed to one of Konoha's public training grounds, one following the other.
"Hey, Hayate! Did the sun rise in the west today? You finally get a day off, and you're still here this early for extra practice?"
As soon as they entered, an acquaintance greeted Hayate in a familiar tone.
Hayate smiled and nodded, casually pointing at Lei Dou behind him. "Not extra practice. I brought my little brother to practice swordsmanship!"
"Little brother? Since when did you have a little brother, Hayate?"
"He's a younger cousin from the clan!"
"Oh! Got it! The kid looks pretty sharp! With a face like that, he'll be a real heartbreaker. Bet you get plenty of love letters at school!"
Uh!
Lei Dou offered an awkward smile. He was admittedly rather handsome, but heaven was his witness-he really hadn't been dating!
He did get along fairly well with those important female characters, but theirs was a pure friendship between classmates!
"All right, enough wisecracks. Go do your own thing. I've got teaching to do!"
With a few words, Hayate sent his overly friendly companion on his way, then turned to Lei Dou with a serious expression.
"All right, enough chatter. Let's begin!"
As he spoke, he pulled a Wooden Sword from his equipment pouch and tossed it to Lei Dou.
"Every towering building starts from the ground. We'll begin with the basics: holding and swinging a sword!"
Watching Lei Dou's awkward grip on the wooden sword, Hayate corrected him. "Watch carefully and follow my movements. Don't let your mind wander!"
"Right!" Lei Dou gripped the hilt tightly, his expression focused.
Basic swordsmanship sounded simple: just thrusts, chops, taps, upward cuts, flicks, snaps, intercepts, slashes, and guards.
It was a classic case of "my brain understands, but my hands refuse." Only by trying it himself did he realize how much depth there was to it!
Take the simplest move, the thrust. The coordination between the flick of the wrist, the force from the palm, and the extension of the arm was incredibly delicate.
The sword tip had to stay fixed on a point ahead like a snake's flickering tongue. Even as the body moved, its aim couldn't shift in the slightest.
This tested not only the coordination of the arm joints, but the stability of the entire body's core.
The principles weren't difficult, but the simpler a movement was, the more clearly it exposed a person's fundamentals and talent.
Hayate watched Lei Dou clumsily imitate him, his movements as stiff as a puppet's.
The little expectation he had instantly plummeted. This boy truly was a blank slate, and not a particularly good one at that.
Although it was his first time practicing these movements, he was picking them up far too slowly, nowhere near Hayate's minimum expectations.
To put it in more professional terms, the boy's aptitude for swordsmanship was downright painful to behold!
Hayate silently sighed. Miracles really weren't so easy to come by.
How could a small, declining clan like the Shimozuki casually produce an extraordinary prodigy?
At Lei Dou's current pace, forget inheriting Konoha Style: Swordsmanship. Even if he had a whole year, getting the basic movements smooth would be cause for celebration.
As for Dance of the Crescent Moon, that was firmly in the category of "maybe someday before he died."
While awkwardly going through the movements, Lei Dou was also secretly watching Shimozuki Hayate's expression.
The disappointment in his eyes and the sigh told Lei Dou everything he needed to know.
It seemed his talent for swordsmanship was probably no better than that of some random nobody.
But he wasn't discouraged. As long as he could learn these basic movements, even through crude imitation, once the system recognized the skill, he could put it in a passive slot and become a sword saint in no time.
The catch was that he first had to get his foot in the door and turn these movements into a skill the system recognized!
That thought left Lei Dou feeling helpless. Talent was something you were born with. What could he do about it?
[Beep-scanning] [Host detected learning a new skill system. Active skill module: Great Sage※ is attempting to activate]
Huh?
What's going on? Did an active skill just come back from the dead?
Didn't all three active skills say they were damaged and unusable?
It can actually activate on its own at a time like this?
[Active skill: Great Sage※ is requesting permission to provide assistance] [Does the host authorize activation?]
Well, would you look at that. This busted skill is pretty polite. It even knows to ask permission first.
It certainly lives up to the "active" label!
But its skill panel was a mess of garbled text. Apart from the words "Great Sage," the entire detailed description consisted of question marks.
What exactly does this active skill do?
Forget it! Might as well try a last-ditch remedy!
Since it was so eager to activate, he might as well let it try. The worst outcome was still just failing to learn.
Activate!
[Command confirmed: activating active skill: Great Sage※] [Warning: due to damaged core components, this skill currently possesses only 30% of the original computational capacity. The system is working urgently on repairs in the background...]
Ha! A defective version running at thirty percent?
He really couldn't expect too much. It was like trying to download a high-definition movie over dial-up.
It had activated, sure, but how much value could this badly damaged version still have?
[Analyzing the movement logic of the target skill] [Loading analysis progress...] [25%... 55%... 85%...] [100%] [Analysis complete. Congratulations, host. New skill successfully acquired: Basic Swordsmanship Mastery]
Huh?
Lei Dou froze, his mind buzzing.
It finished in the blink of an eye?
I've already got the new skill?
This active skill is actually a learning cheat?