Points can only be obtained by decomposing entries. Sixteen Nights knew this when he was three years old.
At that time, in order to appear near the Hyuga Clan without arousing suspicion, he made friends with a group of children and played ninja games with them. Because he was too popular, he drew resentment from some of the other children and ended up fighting them.
Among those children were several with white entry ninja qualifications. After their entries were revealed, the system prompted him to either fuse or decompose them. By choosing decomposition, Izanami obtained twenty-five points. Each decomposed white entry yielded a random number of single-digit points.
Now, however, decomposing purple entries provided thousands of points at once. Meanwhile, all blue entries could be upgraded.
"So, how many points are needed to upgrade a blue entry?"
Izanami was curious and couldn't help but click the plus sign behind the "Chakra Control" entry.
Immediately, his system panel changed again:
[Host: Izanami]
[Talent Entries: Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Red), Super-Kage Qualification (Gold), Bloodline Limit: Byakugan (Purple), Full Attribute Constitution (Purple), Chakra Control (Purple), Medical Genius (Blue)]
[Points: 793]
The "Chakra Control" entry changed from blue to purple, and the plus sign behind "Medical Genius" disappeared. His points also dropped by 999.
"Entry levels are White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, and Red. Decomposing white entries randomly grants single-digit points. Decomposing purple entries grants four-digit points. Upgrading blue entries requires hundreds of points. Are these point requirements random or fixed?"
Izanami mused silently: "If the upgrade values are fixed at maximum, then it would be: White to Green requires 9 points, Green to Blue 99, Blue to Purple 999, Purple to Gold 9999, Gold to Red 99999, and Red to a new unknown level might require 999999?"
He wasn't sure. At this point, he no longer possessed any low-level entries below blue, nor did he have enough surplus points to experiment with.
Even if he had extra points, Izanami wouldn't waste them upgrading low-level entries. Apart from special cases like Byakugan and Chakra Control, he didn't plan to improve anything below Red.
Once he awakened the Rinnegan, he'd have access to numerous dimensionality-reducing abilities. Fully developed, those eyes could rival the strength of the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Just a pair of eyes would be enough to survive until the final battle of the Shippuden storyline.
Rather than waste points upgrading garbage entries, it was far better to pour everything into upgrading the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline. If he could upgrade it again, the bloodline purity would match the level of the extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki clan.
At that point, he might unlock other Rinnegan colors, Karma marks, and even divine-level techniques. Of course, all of this remained speculative—for now.
The Beginning of a New Semester
September 1st arrived, marking the start of the second semester at the Ninja Academy.
This time, Izanami attended class in person—but only for the afternoon sessions. The morning classes remained focused on cultural subjects, while the afternoon now included physical education, shuriken throwing, and physical combat duels.
Unfortunately, these physical combat duels were randomly assigned by Iruka Umino. Izanami didn't get paired with Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, or even Hinata.
"Iruka-sensei, can I apply to fight Sasuke?" Izanami asked directly upon hearing about the random pairing.
Iruka hesitated, but eventually shook his head.
"There will be no special treatment in combat duels. The point is to remind everyone that your opponents may be equal to you, weaker, or stronger. You must learn to adapt—whether you are matched equally, dominate, or are completely overwhelmed. That's how you grow: through bitter defeat or earned victory."
"I understand, Iruka-sensei."
Since Iruka didn't approve the request, Izanami didn't push further. He figured he'd just challenge Sasuke after class instead.
But Sasuke's reply left him speechless.
"Sasuke, want to spar after class?"
"Sorry, not interested. I have to go home and train."
Unlike his later avenger persona, Sasuke at this stage wasn't cold or antisocial. But he still flatly rejected Izanami's offer and dashed home without hesitation.
Following the Nine-Tails incident, the Uchiha Clan had been forced to move from Central Street to near the Nanga River, due to suspicions that they were involved in releasing the Nine-Tails.
Young Sasuke, who hadn't yet learned the Body Flicker Technique, had a long walk back home from the academy. He was eager to get back and train with his brother. He had no time for Izanami's challenge.
Before Izanami even had a chance to provoke Sasuke or manipulate him into a fight, the boy had already vanished.
It was frustrating.
Still, Izanami didn't redirect his attention to Naruto.
Despite the absence of a formal final exam, Naruto's grades in the first semester were solidly last place. Even the worst students knew how to pronounce "Chakra" correctly.
Naruto, however, could still mispronounce the word even after graduation—proof that his academic scores were comparable to turning in a blank paper during the Chunin Exams.
Due to malnutrition, Naruto also lagged behind in physical education.
As a top student, Izanami's challenge to Naruto would draw unwanted attention from ANBU, especially from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura—both of whom were already monitoring Naruto closely.
Hiruzen would probably do nothing, but Danzo might suspect Izanami of being a planted spy sent to manipulate Naruto. Danzo would not hesitate to take preemptive action, which would put Izanami in a dangerous and passive position.
That was not something he wanted.
So for now, Izanami only targeted Hinata and Sasuke.
Having been rejected by Sasuke, he didn't press further. It was already September of Konoha Year 54, meaning only three months remained in the year.
Next year would mark the infamous "filial extermination event."
At that time, Sasuke—driven by vengeance—would certainly be willing to spar.
Shifting Strategy
The next day, Izanami once again came to class in person, but refrained from asking Iruka to let him fight Sasuke or making another after-class challenge.
Sure, it would be great to be matched with either Naruto or Sasuke.
But the rest of the class wasn't worthless either.
Besides the two future saviors of the Ninja World, the class also included the new generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the sensory unit's successors.
All of them had at least White-level entries. Even decomposing one such entry would net single-digit points.
Moreover, someone like Shino Aburame could possess higher-tier entries—blue, purple, or even gold and red.
Revealing just one of those would be an incredible gain.
Since Izanami still wasn't sure whether his shadow clone, Izayoi, could cause others to reveal entries, he couldn't afford to skip the afternoon combat classes.
For now, he would continue to participate in person, observe, and accumulate knowledge—and points.
For more chapters
patreon.com/Ben479