Passing through the central street, Kuroya turned into an alleyway.
Pushing open a slightly rusted gate, a modest courtyard appeared before him.
This was Kuroya's home.
Strictly speaking, it had been left to him by his parents.
His parents had died in the war, leaving behind this house and a pension.
Sitting on a wooden chair in the courtyard, Kuroya began his daily routine of zoning out.
"Tomorrow. The system activates tomorrow."
Muttering under his breath, a nearly transparent screen appeared before his eyes.
[Daily Doubling System Activation Countdown: 44 hours 44 minutes 44 seconds]
Beneath that line was his personal attribute panel.
Name: Kuroya
Age: —
Strength: —
Constitution: —
Agility: —
Spirit: —
Chakra Amount: 4
Skills: None
Jutsu: None
Overall Evaluation: Trainee Genin
His gaze landed on the word "Trainee", and a smile tugged at Kuroya's lips.
The reason he never bothered to learn the Three Basic Jutsu or kunai throwing at the Academy… lay in this yet-to-be-activated system.
Because he wasn't sure what the doubling would apply to—whether to attributes or to skills.
"If it's random every day, then the more skills I learn, the lower the chance it lands on an attribute."
"In that case, it's better to learn nothing until the system is active."
Kuroya's plan was simple.
First, double his four core attributes—ideally until he reached Kage-level, or even Super Kage-level.
Then, he'd learn skills and ninjutsu.
That way, even if he didn't know any jutsu, sheer physical power would be enough to protect himself.
On the other hand, if he rushed into learning kunai throwing, the Three Basic Jutsu, or some low-level techniques now, his power would just end up scattered and unfocused.
Of course, if the system doubled everything, then he wouldn't need to worry about any of this.
Closing the system screen, he began counting silently in his head.
Counting… and counting… until he fell asleep.
What a great way to knock himself out.
——
In a two-story home elsewhere—
Minato knocked, then stepped inside.
"Hm? Minato, weren't you supposed to meet your new Team today?" Kushina looked surprised, setting aside the clothes she'd been folding.
She and Minato were lovers, though not yet married. Whenever Minato had something on his mind, he came to Kushina to talk it out.
"Ahh… that Team, it's hard to explain."
With a sigh, Minato began describing the bizarre composition of his new team.
"The bottom three of the class, plus Kakashi, who no one wants to team up with. The Third really handed me a problem."
"So, what's your plan?" Kushina asked with a smile.
"I've decided. Starting tomorrow, I'll work on their sense of teamwork."
"How?"
"The bell test."
"So cliché."
"It's worth trying."
Truth be told, Minato didn't have any better ideas.
And the bell test was something every Team had to go through anyway—its purpose being to cultivate teamwork.
"Then you might be disappointed. At the very least, Kakashi definitely won't cooperate. He'll fight on his own." Kushina pointed out the obvious.
She knew a thing or two about Kakashi's situation.
Strong, solitary, anti-social.
After the suicide of his father, Sakumo, Kakashi had adopted the principle of prioritizing missions above all else. He would even disregard the safety of his teammates, and that was why no one wanted to partner with him.
For someone like that, trying to build teamwork through the bell test was… difficult.
"Actually, I'm not most worried about Kakashi. What troubles me more is that dead-last, Kuroya."
"If he's sent to the battlefield, he won't last long." Minato admitted with a headache.
After speaking, he placed the graduation records of the three before Kushina.
Reading through their scores, Kushina was stunned.
How could people like this graduate from the Academy?
What was the Third thinking?
Especially that boy named Kuroya.
So many missing scores, not even the most basic Three Basic Jutsu mastered—and he was still considered a genin?
"Is war coming?" Kushina murmured to herself.
She knew—only when war was at the gates would the village lower the graduation threshold.
And now, when someone not even qualified as cannon fodder could graduate, that said everything.
People like this, sent to the battlefield, would just be marching to their deaths.
——
"Achoo!"
Kuroya sneezed, waking up from his nap in the chair.
Looking at the darkening sky, his mood lifted.
Another afternoon wasted away.
One step closer to the system's activation.
After reheating some leftovers, he went straight to bed.
"Tonight I'll probably have trouble sleeping anyway… might as well stock up now."
Time passed.
At midnight sharp, Kuroya woke.
His eyes locked onto the countdown, heart pounding.
"Come on… my golden finger!"
"The strongest in the ninja world—starting with me!"
"I am the sun itself!"
Three.
Two.
One.
[Ding! Daily Doubling System Activated.]
[Random daily doubling begins!]
[Agility doubled!]
With the three system prompts, silence fell in Kuroya's mind.
Lowering his gaze, he checked his attribute panel.
Name: Kuroya
Age: —
Strength: —
Constitution: —
Agility: (★) Genin-level
Spirit: —
Chakra Amount: 4
Skills: None
Jutsu: None
Overall Evaluation: Trainee Genin
"That's it?"
Seeing his evaluation still stuck at Trainee Genin, Kuroya felt a pang of disappointment.
So this was what they meant by the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
But he quickly adjusted his mindset.
"In just one day, my speed jumped straight to genin-level. That's good enough."
What was there to complain about?
If averaged out, in just four days his attributes would all reach genin-level.
Ten to fifteen days to reach chūnin.
A month or two for jōnin.
"Half a year for Kage?"
"A year for Super Kage?"
"Three years to blow up the moon?"
"I ask you—who can compete with me!"
Brimming with ambition, Kuroya leapt from his bed.
And then—
Thunk!
His head smacked the ceiling, leaving a big bump.