Early the next morning, in Yagyu's room.
"System, sign in."
With a hint of anticipation on his face, Yagyu spoke in his mind.
[Ding! Sign-in successful. Congratulations, you obtained: Mastery of Three Basic Jutsu.]
Buzz.
As the system's voice fell, a stream of information appeared in Yagyu's mind.
All knowledge regarding the Transformation Jutsu, Clone Jutsu, and Substitution Jutsu poured into his mind along with vast practical experience, as if it had merged directly with his soul.
In just a few seconds, it felt as if Yagyu had practiced the Three Basic Jutsu for many years.
"The Three Basic Jutsu…"
After suddenly mastering all the knowledge and experience of the Three Basic Jutsu, Yagyu's face showed a helpless smile.
"These are clearly the basic Ninjutsu taught at the academy. Since you're already rewarding me with Ninjutsu, couldn't you give something more impressive? Like the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, a top-level forbidden Jutsu?"
If he signed in and obtained the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, wouldn't that be wonderful?
Of course, Yagyu only thought about it for a moment.
First, the system's rewards clearly tended to give him things that were helpful for his current stage.
Second, even if he obtained the Flying Thunder God Jutsu now, with his current Genin-level chakra, he probably wouldn't be able to use it many times.
Overall, the system's reward mechanism centered around his current needs was quite good and made him very satisfied as its host.
"Time for school."
With a swift motion, Yagyu flipped up from the bed.
After washing up and eating breakfast, Yagyu helped his mother open the bookstore and then headed to the Ninja Academy.
…
Inside the classroom.
Yagyu entered the classroom almost exactly on time.
The previously noisy class suddenly fell silent, and many admiring gazes turned toward him.
Facing the attention of his classmates, Yagyu accepted it calmly.
After yesterday afternoon's practical combat class, although no official rankings had been announced, Yagyu's clean victory combined with the genius reputation he had built over the past two months made him the uncrowned king of the class.
Even without Iruka declaring any rankings, everyone had already recognized Yagyu as the strongest.
After Yagyu returned to his seat, the class gradually resumed talking again, although the discussions were quieter than before. Even so, Yagyu could still hear them.
"Yagyu-kun is so strong."
"He defeated Sasuke-kun in just two moves. Honestly, I think if he wanted, he could have done it in one."
"As expected of the genius Yagyu-kun."
"It's a pity that Yagyu-kun is too cold. Otherwise I would want to pursue him."
"Me too."
"…"
At first the discussions were normal, but gradually the topic began to drift in a strange direction.
Even with Yagyu's calm personality, hearing a group of six-year-old girls talking about pursuing him was enough to make him feel overwhelmed.
However, the feeling of being admired was actually quite good.
In truth, Yagyu's personality was somewhat reserved yet secretly proud.
Although he claimed to be uncomfortable with the attention, deep down he still enjoyed being the center of everyone's gaze.
Yagyu was feeling quite satisfied.
But the person being used for comparison, Uchiha Sasuke, was not happy at all.
From time to time, Sasuke glanced at Yagyu with unwilling eyes.
Clearly, although he accepted yesterday's defeat, he still held frustration in his heart and wanted another chance to defeat Yagyu.
Noticing Sasuke's gaze, Yagyu simply ignored it.
Stimulated by Yagyu's attitude, Sasuke suddenly stood up.
Looking at Yagyu with fighting spirit, he spoke loudly.
"Yagyu Sosuke, yesterday's defeat was only temporary. Next time, I will definitely defeat you."
The entire class instantly fell silent, and everyone looked at Yagyu and Sasuke.
If Yagyu was the uncrowned king of the class, then Sasuke was clearly the second strongest.
Now the second-ranked student was challenging the king, which was extremely exciting gossip.
After all, Sasuke was a member of the Uchiha Clan.
Hearing Sasuke's challenge, Yagyu smiled slightly.
To be honest, he neither disliked Sasuke nor liked him particularly. He simply treated him as an ordinary person, with a bit of classmate camaraderie.
However, since Sasuke had openly challenged him, Yagyu felt he should respond.
He turned his head and looked at Sasuke.
"I never consider those I defeat as my opponents. Uchiha Sasuke, I'll give you time to catch up, until you can no longer even see my back."
Cool.
After hearing Yagyu's words, the class fell silent for several seconds. When they looked at him again, their eyes burned with excitement.
That response was truly cool.
Of course, saying such words required great courage.
After all, such confidence might bring Yagyu a lot of trouble.
Showing off was fine, but overdoing it could cause problems.
However, Yagyu was not worried about that. He had absolute confidence in his own strength.
Besides, it was unlikely that many people would go out of their way to challenge him.
After saying that, Yagyu ignored Sasuke's reaction and quietly waited for the class to begin.
Iruka arrived soon afterward, and the lesson officially started.
While Yagyu was listening attentively,
whoosh.
A small paper note landed precisely on his desk.
After opening it, Yagyu looked slightly puzzled.
"Ino? What's wrong with that girl?"
The person who sent the note was naturally Ino.
Although the contents were mostly trivial matters, Yagyu continued listening to Iruka's lecture while quietly passing notes back and forth with her.
Time passed slowly in this unexpectedly amusing way.
…
In the blink of an eye, several more months passed.
The Ninja Academy's first winter vacation had arrived.
Konoha was now covered in silver, buried beneath thick white snow.
On the first day of the holiday,
inside the snow-covered training ground,
Yagyu held a sharp chakra blade and practiced the most basic sword-drawing motion again and again.
Unlike the common Konoha-style sword techniques that were often combined with Genjutsu,
Yagyu Style Swordsmanship was a pure sword technique.
In close combat, once unleashed, its power could be extremely terrifying.
Moreover, Yagyu Style Swordsmanship had only one defining trait.
Speed.
Drawing the blade with unparalleled speed, delivering a single decisive strike.
Aside from speed, it had no other special characteristics.
However, mastering this single characteristic completely could allow someone to gain a legendary reputation across the Shinobi World.
Just like the famous White Fang of Konoha.