That said, Ryūsei did not immediately fuse with Asura's chakra.
After taking a few deep breaths, he closed the virtual panel and turned his attention back to the training grounds.
As round after round of taijutsu sparring concluded, the first minor exam for the first-year students finally came to an end.
With a smile, Ryūsei bid farewell to his enthusiastic classmates—both boys and girls—before returning home, where he finally dropped his mask-like grin.
While changing his shoes at the entrance, Ryūsei summoned the virtual panel once more and tapped on the golden orb.
Just like in a game, a prompt immediately appeared before him, asking whether he wished to use it.
Taking another deep breath, Ryūsei selected [Yes].
Whoosh—
In an instant, the golden orb in his spatial backpack transformed into a beam of light, streaking like a meteor before merging into Ryūsei's body.
A golden flash enveloped him, reminiscent of a level-up effect in a video game.
And then… nothing else happened.
"That special effect was worth three cents at best."
Ryūsei couldn't help but make complaints before patting himself down, checking for any immediate physical changes.
Unsurprisingly, there were none.
He knew that even if there were changes, they wouldn't be visible externally—they would be internal.
Thus, Ryūsei walked into the living room, sat cross-legged on the tatami, and closed his eyes to begin extracting chakra.
Though he was just an ordinary civilian without any Kekkei Genkai, Ryūsei was currently a genius.
At least until graduation, he would remain a dazzlingly talented commoner.
His soul, that of an adult from another world, granted him advanced cognitive abilities akin to those of prodigies.
This same soul also endowed him with mental energy far surpassing that of ordinary people.
And chakra was the product of blending physical energy with mental energy.
Originally, Ryūsei's mental energy was "excessive" for his age, but since his physical energy was entirely average, his total chakra reserves were nothing extraordinary.
Mixing the two had always produced a very standard amount of chakra.
But now, as Ryūsei began extracting chakra as usual, the physical and mental energies surging from his 130 trillion cells felt like a child's trickle of urine suddenly turning into a fully opened faucet.
Once blended, the chakra vortex inside his body rapidly expanded at a visible pace.
Had anyone with a Byakugan or Sharingan observed him, they would have seen the blue chakra whirlpool within him slowly growing larger and denser in hue.
After what felt like an eternity, Ryūsei finally stopped extracting chakra and opened his eyes—now a shocked shade of red—muttering, "So this is what it feels like to be a cheater? How is anyone supposed to compete with this?!"
Free-to-play gamers and paying players had entirely different experiences, and paying players versus outright cheaters were yet another world apart.
Free players could only grind endlessly, paying players got to enjoy themselves, but cheaters? They had it even better.
Just by extracting chakra for a short while, his reserves had multiplied several times over.
For the first time, Ryūsei truly understood the cruel reality behind the phrase "Bloodline Supremacy."
Only by cheating could one stage a comeback!
After the initial shock wore off, Ryūsei suddenly chuckled. "Heh… Suddenly, life feels so much more meaningful. The world has become a far more exciting place."
It was like the break of dawn after a long night—the once treacherous path ahead had now smoothed into an open road.
But as he snapped back to reality, tension crept back into his heart.
The real test was yet to come. This would be the moment that proved the true caliber of his golden finger.
In the days that followed, Ryūsei continued living as usual—playing the part of a six-year-old child, enduring the discomfort of mingling with actual kids, and integrating into a small group just like in those typical anime tropes.
During this time, his consciousness did not drift into some mysterious space while he slept, nor did he encounter that white-haired old man floating in the air.
Ryūsei had no way of knowing whether the Sage of Six Paths was secretly observing him.
But for the next few years, he had no choice but to maintain his act—no more muttering to himself, no more slips.
If nothing happened to him in the coming days, it would mean his cheat tool truly stood above all else. That would be the best-case scenario.
But Ryūsei wasn't willing to gamble on it.
Only by remaining vigilant could he ensure his survival until he reached the pinnacle.
---
Time passed, and the second half of Konoha 54 arrived.
Winter came, bringing with it a flurry of snow.
Unbeknownst to most, five months had already slipped by since Ryūsei fused with Asura's chakra.
His growth during this period had been nothing short of staggering.
In terms of sheer chakra volume, aside from Naruto, no one in the first year—no, not even the sixth-year students—could compare to him.
And this was after less than half a year.
Ryūsei didn't even dare imagine how monstrous his chakra reserves would become by the time he graduated.
One thing was certain—it would be measured in units of "Kage-level."
While chakra quantity alone didn't equate to strength, having an overwhelming amount granted one the luxury of recklessness.
Those with meager reserves had to meticulously budget every drop in battle.
But look at Naruto—he could spam the forbidden Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu like it was nothing, and each clone could wield an A-rank Rasengan without breaking a sweat.
Such overwhelming numbers could easily compensate for any lack of combat experience.
And if someone with such monstrous stamina also trained relentlessly? Just look at Might Guy for the perfect example.
Ryūsei had no intention of squandering his gifts like Naruto had.
Even before entering the Academy, back when he had just learned to extract chakra, Ryūsei—being a reincarnator—had already begun practicing tree-walking and water-walking at home to build a solid foundation in chakra control.
Now that his reserves had skyrocketed, the first thing he did was begin learning the ultimate cheat skill—the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Though Ryūsei was an orphan, he came from a shinobi family.
His home was a standalone two-story house, one of the few inheritances left by his parents that hadn't been destroyed in the Nine-Tails' rampage.
After being raised in an orphanage until the age of three, Ryūsei was sent back to his family home to begin living independently.
During that time, the village hadn't confiscated his property.
While cleaning the house, Ryūsei had stumbled upon several scrolls.
These scrolls were another part of his parents' legacy—containing not only chakra extraction methods but also the basic Three Academy Jutsu, the Konoha's Body Flicker Technique, a few low-rank elemental ninjutsu, and most importantly, the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
In Ryūsei's eyes, the most valuable of these was undoubtedly the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
For most people, shadow clones were far from being a cheat skill—after all, the exhaustion from dispersed clones would return to the original body.
If the accumulated fatigue exceeded one's limits, it could literally kill a person.
Ordinary shinobi could only use one or two clones at most for training purposes.
But Ryūsei, like Naruto, was an exception—blessed with the Sage's body, his endurance was on a completely different level.
Naruto was an even greater outlier, as he wasn't just a Sage's vessel but also the jinchūriki of the strongest tailed beast.
Even if he wanted to die, the Nine-Tails wouldn't let him.
______
T/N: Please tell me if someone already translate this story