[Name: I'm Xiao Ming]
[Class: None]
[Level: Lv.13 (125 / 2500)]
[Chakra: 130 / 130]
[Skills:
Gentle Fist (Lv.3)
Clone Technique (Lv.2)
Substitution Technique (Lv.5)
Transformation Technique (Lv.2)
Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv.3)
Byakugan (Lv.3)
Fire Release · Unknowing Fire (Lv.1)]
[Experience Pool: 0]
[Equipment:
(Bandit's Left Greave)
(Bandit's Right Greave)
(Bandit's Right Bracer)
(Bandit's Saber)
(Bandit's Armor)]
[Inventory:
Kunai (0)
Explosive Tags (9)
Shuriken (99)
Steel Wire (0)
…]
Akira felt a clear increase in chakra flowing through his body.
His strength, agility, and overall physical condition all rose slightly.
Although there was no visible attribute panel, level-ups always provided a full stat increase—it just wasn't very dramatic.
Roughly ten percent.
Nawaki stared at Akira, eyes wide.
For just a moment, it looked like a golden light had flashed over Akira's body—
Like a god descending into the mortal world.
Then it was gone.
Maybe it was just his imagination.
He turned to Sōsuke.
"Hey… did you see a golden light just now?"
Sōsuke stiffly shook his head.
He still couldn't accept what had just happened.
That was Hyūga Hizashi.
One of the Hyūga Twin Stars.
And he lost.
Akira didn't care about Twin Stars.
He squatted beside Hizashi and slapped his face twice.
"Wake up," Akira said seriously. "You haven't paid yet."
That money was important.
It was literally his living expenses.
Hizashi opened his eyes groggily and stared at Akira.
Akira immediately stepped back.
"Don't try to scam me."
Hizashi stood up expressionlessly.
Pain throbbed at his forehead—Akira's axe kick had landed squarely on his head.
"That just now," Hizashi said coldly, "was Strong Fist."
Gentle Fist and Strong Fist were two completely different paths.
No Hyūga had ever chosen the Strong Fist route.
"So what?" Akira shrugged casually.
Crushing Fist was something he'd pieced together himself using memories from another life.
Pure power.
Pure impact.
No system skill.
Just raw martial force.
Hizashi gave Akira one long look.
Then turned and left.
No hesitation.
Akira handed the banknote to Nawaki and scanned the crowd.
"Anyone else?"
Night blanketed Konoha.
Moonlight spilled down, yet it was completely outshone by the lights of countless shops.
Akira exhaled slowly.
"Big bro," Nawaki said excitedly, "we made twenty-three thousand ryō today."
He handed over twenty thousand.
Akira took out three thousand and returned it.
"Your cut."
"Thanks, big bro."
Two thousand ryō was more than enough to stabilize Akira's finances for a while.
But money wasn't the real prize.
The real gain was—
[Experience Gained: 5625]
Akira clicked his tongue quietly.
"Ninjas really are valuable."
He'd originally just wanted one level-up.
This was enough for two.
A few more rounds like this, and he'd hit Level 18.
At Level 18, class change became available.
And among those classes—
Were methods to remove the Caged Bird Seal.
"After class change, I still need to farm skills…"
Akira resisted leveling up again.
Eighteen wasn't far anymore.
Right now, strengthening his combat power mattered more.
He took 3500 experience and dumped it straight into Substitution Technique.
Each level only cost 100 EXP.
To reach max—
Exactly 3500.
[Substitution Technique (Lv.10) — MAX]
[Trait Available]
[Trait Options:]
[Swap — Can substitute with any active item]
[Explosion — Substitution items detonate violently]
[Confusion — Enemies lose visual lock after substitution]
Akira didn't even hesitate.
First choice: Swap.
Second choice: Swap.
Third choice: Still Swap.
This was basically Flying Thunder God Lite.
[Substitution Technique (Lv.10) — Trait: Swap]
An enormous amount of information flooded into Akira's mind.
A once-simple jutsu suddenly became terrifyingly complex.
His head throbbed.
Brain capacity increasing…
He checked his remaining EXP.
[Experience Pool: 2125]
"Big bro!!"
Nawaki's shout snapped Akira back to reality.
"Huh?" Akira scratched his head. "What did you say?"
He'd been fully absorbed in the system panel.
Nawaki sighed and repeated himself.
"Big bro, I have classes tomorrow. I can't help you run the arena anymore."
Akira waved dismissively.
"No problem. I'll handle it myself."
The experience gain was way too good to stop now.
They packed up the kunai and steel wire.
Akira made a show of stuffing them into his ninja pouch—
In reality, they went straight into his inventory.
Seeing everything was done, Nawaki finally asked:
"Big bro, you're already a ninja, right? Missions pay well. Why not just do those?"
Akira sighed.
"It's not that I don't want to. It's just not possible."
"My team's a mess, and your sister's busy saving lives. She barely has time to sleep."
With tensions rising between the Five Great Nations, missions increasingly turned lethal.
Wounded shinobi were piling up.
Tsunade was overwhelmed.
With this lineup, missions weren't happening anytime soon.
"That makes sense," Nawaki muttered.
"I'll head home then. I can come help again next weekend."
"Go on."
Akira waved him off.
He watched the street grow busier.
Neon lights flickered.
People laughed, joked, brushed past him.
The night belonged to adults.
…Maybe he should experience it too.
Even though he wasn't an adult.
And didn't even have a girlfriend.
He checked into an inn—alone, obviously.
That rented house?
He planned to cancel it tomorrow.
Once inside his room, he finally had time to test his new skill.
He picked up a shuriken and flicked it toward the wall.
"Substitution Technique."