"Good. Farewell."
With a flicker, Uchiha Shisui's figure vanished from sight. No hesitation, no wasted motion—the man truly lived up to the Will of Fire the original story praised.
"Sensei, announce the results already. I think the outcome is pretty obvious, isn't it?"Natsume Yō's voice cut through the silence. Everyone was still frozen in shock.
"…Natsume Yō, wins."Even though the jōnin instructor clearly didn't want to say it, he had no choice.
"The second match—Hyūga Tenshin versus Moonlight Hayate!"Another clash of clan heirs.
Of course, Yō wasn't about to miss this. Whether it was the Hyūga clan destined to become Konoha's strongest household, or the already-declining Moonlight line, both carried legacies that could be studied. Watching their techniques was practically free training.
"…Damn, the gap between commoners and clan kids really is ridiculous. No wonder, after all these years, so few from the civilian crowd ever shine."While most academy civilians were still fumbling with basic chakra extraction, clan heirs were already handed family-exclusive ninjutsu scrolls. Yō knew better than anyone how terrifying that difference could become.
"Defeating Uchiha Yūsuke doesn't mean much. There are still four, five others stronger than him. If I want to clear missions, I'll need to grind harder."The world was at war. On the battlefield, lives were cheaper than ants. Without strength, you wouldn't even survive a single day.
He clenched his fist. No room for laziness. I don't exactly have extra lives lying around.
Sure, he had a system. But it wasn't the kind that showered him with golden loot boxes or divine weapons out of nowhere. Still, Yō wasn't discouraged. If he worked hard enough, the system would eventually cough up something big. Every system had its trump cards.
By the end of the day, after watching match after match, Yō's head buzzed with insights.
"Ding! Insight detected. Recording successful. EXP +2, Coins +2. Reward: Taijutsu Scroll — Konoha Whirlwind (fragment)."
The sudden system chime made him blink. Another hidden trigger, huh? Sweet—two more EXP points in the bag.
"Heh. A few more triggers like this and my progress bar will hit the cap. Breakthrough to Chūnin might not be far off."Yō chuckled at himself. He'd already filled nearly a third of the bar.
But then, the system's cold voice slapped him with reality:
"Notice: Insight-triggered EXP gain can only occur once. Future insights will yield Coins only."
"…Seriously? Way to kill the mood."He rubbed his nose, exhaling. The system really knew how to dump a bucket of ice water on him at the perfect time.
By sunset, the sparring was over.
"Natsume Yō, I hope I get the chance to fight you. Since you could take down Uchiha Yūsuke, you should at least last a few moves against me."Hyūga Tenshin approached with what looked like a polite smile—but his eyes carried the arrogant pride of his clan.
"Same here." Moonlight Hayate also stepped forward. "Yō, let's see if you can survive more than three moves against me."His tone was no less proud, brushing Yō off as if he were just another obstacle.