Hanekawa Satoru soon met Yuuhi Shinku.
The man sat stiffly on the living room sofa, dressed in a black bodysuit and green jonin vest, looking extremely serious. Satoru remembered he had unfortunately died during the Nine-Tails attack.
"Sit," Yuuhi Shinku nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Shinku-san," Satoru replied politely.
"From now on you'll live here. I'll teach you genjutsu," Shinku paused before explaining, "This is the Hokage's order."
The Hokage?
Satoru pondered this. Could it be because of his 'Full Soul' trait?
"Huh?" Yuuhi Kurenai, who had been listening nearby, asked curiously, "Why?"
"Satoru is naturally suited for genjutsu," Shinku answered. After receiving Hiruzen's notice, he had examined Satoru himself and confirmed this.
"More than me? You said I had strong genjutsu talent!" Kurenai put her hands on her hips, puffing out her cheeks in protest. Her delicate face wore an indignant expression that looked adorably fierce.
Satoru couldn't help but smile. Kurenai's strong personality was evident in the original story - her preference for hard liquor and vodka made that clear.
"Kurenai, you're already a ninja academy student. How can you compare yourself to Satoru?" Shinku coughed lightly. He wasn't lying to Kurenai, but even among geniuses there were differences.
"He's not a student?" Kurenai blinked in surprise.
"Not currently," Shinku recalled the information Hiruzen had provided. "He hasn't had any exposure to ninja knowledge yet."
"I see." Kurenai turned to study Satoru. Her first impression was that he was exceptionally good-looking, with delicate features like a finely crafted doll.
"Alright then!" Kurenai suddenly declared loudly, thumping her chest. "From today onward, I'll take care of you!"
She tried to adopt a tough big sister attitude, but paired with her doll-like face, it only came across as cute. If Shinku hadn't been present, Satoru would have been tempted to pinch her cheeks - they looked irresistibly soft.
But what should he call her? Kurenai-nee? Kurenai-chan? That sounded more like some senior citizens' social group.
Shinku smiled a fatherly smile. His gaze shifted from Kurenai to Satoru. "Let's eat first, then I'll teach you some basic ninja knowledge."
"Won't Satoru attend school?" Kurenai asked reflexively.
"He will," Shinku answered. "The Hokage has arranged for him to join your class as a transfer student."
"Yay!" Kurenai suddenly got excited. In her mind, Satoru would now be her little follower - having him around would definitely boost her status.
Satoru fell into thought. Who were Kurenai's classmates? The original timeline was confusing enough that he wasn't entirely sure.
After the meal, Satoru followed Shinku to the small yard outside. Kurenai tagged along, claiming she needed to review basics but really just curious about Satoru's talent.
"A ninja's first lesson is chakra extraction," Shinku stood facing Satoru and began explaining the concept of chakra.
According to the Book of Seals, the mixture of physical and spiritual energy is called stamina, which forms the foundation for taijutsu.
The chakra ninjas extract is neutral chakra converted from this stamina. Through hand seals, this chakra can be guided and refined - undergoing nature and form transformations to ultimately release ninjutsu.
"Any questions?" Shinku asked, observing Satoru's focused expression.
While chakra extraction was taught at the academy, many students learned it earlier - especially those from ninja clans or with ninja parents. Getting a head start undoubtedly provided an advantage in the academy.
Take Hatake Kakashi from Kurenai's class for example. While others were learning the three basic jutsu, he was already studying earth release. Beyond talent, the main reason was his father - the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo - ensuring he never lacked resources.
"No," Satoru shook his head.
"Then give it a try," Shinku said expectantly. "Normally, chakra extraction takes a month, but geniuses can do it in three days."
"I did it in three days!" Kurenai immediately raised her hand eagerly, as if afraid Satoru might miss this fact.
Was she actually a genius? Thinking about it, Kurenai really was. Her poor battle record was just bad luck running into several monsters. But to be fair, against freaks like Uchiha Itachi, over 99% of ninja would be helpless. In short, Kurenai was a genius by normal standards.
Satoru exhaled, focusing on controlling the physical energy from his body's 130 trillion cells and his innate spiritual energy. In the original work, spiritual energy referred to accumulated training experience. But thanks to his Full Soul trait, Satoru already possessed substantial spiritual energy.
"So fast!" Shinku suddenly raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What's fast?" Kurenai didn't immediately understand.
"He's already extracted chakra," Shinku said, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
"That's impossible!" Kurenai froze in place, utterly shocked.
If extracting chakra in three days made you a genius, what did extracting it in three seconds make you? A complete monster.
At that moment, Satoru shuddered as excitement welled up inside him. Before he could even celebrate his chakra extraction, a new trait notification appeared:
[New trait acquired]
[E-Rank Innate Trait: Ninja]
[Activation Condition: Successful chakra extraction]
[Effect: Chakra extraction speed increased by 10%]
[Note: Has two synthesis paths]
[Path 1: Combine with E-Rank Trait "Three Basic Jutsu" and E-Rank Tool "Shurikenjutsu" to synthesize D-Rank Trait "Average Genin"]
[Path 2: Combine with E-Rank Trait "Three Basic Jutsu", E-Rank Tool "Shurikenjutsu" and E-Rank Trait "Academy Top Graduate" to synthesize C-Rank Trait "Genius Genin"]
Satoru roughly understood the system's logic now. New traits were likely triggered by his actions, meaning he could experiment with different behaviors for potential surprises. As previously mentioned, certain special traits could be synthesized - 'Ninja' was clearly one such trait.
The system provided two synthesis paths, offering more flexibility than he'd expected. Undoubtedly, 'Genius Genin' would be superior to 'Average Genin'. But dominating the academy would be extremely difficult - especially with Hatake Kakashi in their year. Still, it wasn't impossible, and Satoru had no intention of being ordinary.
A small advantage still counts as an advantage. He was a man with cheats after all!
Satoru ended his meditative state and looked at Kurenai, momentarily taken aback. The little girl now looked like a wilted eggplant, even her slightly curled hair seeming to droop. Adorable.
"Congratulations, Satoru," Shinku said with a warm smile.
Hiruzen had entrusted Satoru to him, and with such talent, their family now had security for the future.