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The experiment period was very brief and ended quickly.
Because… school started.
Unlike the academic schedule in Ryūsei's previous life, the school terms in the ninja world were more similar to those of the island nation from his past.
The school year began in April and ended in March of the following year.
Similarly, it was divided into two semesters, with plenty of holidays in between.
Though the break between the end of one school year and the start of the next was less than a month, the experiments conducted during this time had already yielded results for Ryūsei.
He could use the "defeat enemies to loot equipment" method to extract his opponents' talents and abilities—whether innate or acquired—in the form of glowing orbs.
Moreover, the opponents who dropped these items did not permanently lose them, nor were they affected in any way.
During this period, the most valuable item Ryūsei had obtained was a blue orb dropped by Sakura.
Contained within the orb was Sakura's greatest talent—chakra control.
Even after losing her chakra control, Sakura did not forget how to climb trees with her feet. Soon after learning the Body Flicker Technique, she even mastered walking on water.
Of course, this wasn't the key evidence that confirmed Ryūsei's theory.
Aside from the blue orb from Sakura, Ryūsei had also defeated Hinata—the strongest in taijutsu—during a combat training session and obtained a white orb from her.
When he inspected the orb, Ryūsei was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected Hinata, whose future figure would be as buoyant as a floating raft, to be hiding such depths.
She had already mastered one of the Three Basic Techniques—the Transformation Technique.
Indeed, the white orb contained the Transformation Technique.
To verify this, Ryūsei deliberately asked the three girls if they knew the Three Basic Techniques. Sakura and Ino both shook their heads.
Not only did they not know the techniques, but they didn't even have access to the training methods.
Though they all came from shinobi families, their parents believed this was the time to build their foundations, so they hadn't given them any special training.
Especially Ino—before her Yin Release chakra reached a passable level, her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, probably wouldn't teach her any clan techniques.
Only the honest Hinata nodded and even demonstrated the Transformation Technique.
This not only confirmed Ryūsei's speculation but also showed that Hinata's physical talents surpassed those of Ino and Sakura.
The Byakugan granted Hinata astonishing spiritual energy, her voracious appetite, and daily Gentle Fist training all contributed to her physical energy far exceeding that of her peers.
Ryūsei wasn't surprised that she already knew the Three Basic Techniques.
However, Hinata's performance deeply shocked Ino and Sakura.
They clearly hadn't expected that the usually quiet and reserved Hinata was actually so much more skilled than them.
Fortunately, they had met Ryūsei and were exposed to these techniques—normally only taught to genin—early on. Otherwise, by the time they graduated, Hinata might have already left them far behind.
Ino, who had an extremely competitive spirit and refused to be outdone by her "little sister," pestered her parents for extra training every day after returning home.
To reassure them, she even demonstrated the Body Flicker Technique and told them about her training sessions with Ryūsei.
Thus, the name Ryūsei entered Inoichi Yamanaka's ears earlier than expected.
He hadn't anticipated that another genius from a civilian background would emerge in this generation.
Naturally, Ryūsei was completely unaware of this.
From the time he awakened the game system until now—a full year—Ryūsei had obtained four orbs in total: one gold, two blue, and one white.
The gold orb contained Asura's chakra, the blue orbs held Yin Release affinity and chakra control, while the white orb contained the Transformation Technique.
Based on the rarity of these abilities, it was clear that among the three orb colors, gold was the highest rank, followed by blue, and then white.
As for whether there were other colors, Ryūsei didn't know yet.
But in the future, if someone's body emitted a glow, he could judge whether his luck was good or bad based on the color.
---
April 5th, Year 55 of Konoha.
This day marked the start of the school year and the promotion ceremony.
The school's principal, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally attended and delivered a speech on the Will of Fire to the newly enrolled first-years.
Ryūsei had to admit—Hiruzen was truly the only person in Konoha who could suppress Danzo Shimura so thoroughly, keeping him somewhat "obedient".
Even though the content was the same as last year's speech, with just a few adjustments from Hiruzen, it still managed to ignite passion in all the students.
After the promotion ceremony, Ryūsei and his classmates officially became second-years.
At the same time, the final exam results were announced.
The top students of each grade had been selected.
And Ryūsei was one of them.
---
"Ryūsei, have you checked the rankings yet? You're the top student! Damn, you're amazing!"
"Look outside the window—so many senior and junior girls are staring at you!"
"Is this the popularity of the top student? Ugh, I'm so jealous!"
"Ryūsei-kun is so handsome! I want to join his fan club!"
...
Class 2-1, the new classroom.
The moment Ryūsei entered, he was swarmed by his classmates.
Even outside the classroom, a large number of female students had gathered just to catch a glimpse of the top student.
Among them were seniors and first-year juniors who had just enrolled.
Ryūsei wasn't the only one receiving this treatment—Neji Hyuga, now a third-year, was the same.
Neji, a year older than Ryūsei, had already been a school celebrity last year.
Now, Ryūsei's fame was no longer limited to his class or grade—he had become a schoolwide sensation.
This wasn't just because of his status as the top student, but also because, like Neji, he was extremely good-looking.
After finally dealing with his enthusiastic classmates, Ryūsei had just sat down when a small hand tapped his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw Ino smiling at him.
"How does it feel to be the top student?"
"Not bad. Everyone's just more enthusiastic than usual." Ryūsei shrugged, then glanced at Hinata sitting beside Sakura and teased:
"Hinata, did you ask Yumeko to switch seats with you?" Before Hinata could answer, Ino rolled her eyes.
"Do you really think someone as shy as Hinata would dare do that? Of course, it was me who asked Yumeko to switch!"
Sure enough, Hinata smiled shyly in response.
The classroom desks were arranged in rows of three. Ryūsei sat beside Shikamaru Nara, who in turn sat beside Choji Akimichi.
Behind them were Ino, Sakura, and Hinata.
As Ryūsei turned around to chat with the three girls, Shikamaru secretly observed the refined and elegant Hinata, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
'When did this guy get to know a noble young lady like her? What the hell happened during the break?'
But seeing how Ryūsei divided his attention equally, not just talking to Ino but also engaging Sakura and Hinata in conversation, Shikamaru's eyes flickered with disdain.
'That boat was already crowded with three people, and now he's adding another? This guy's definitely going to sink sooner or later.'
When that happened, he'd love to see how Ryūsei planned to handle it.