Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
…
One slash after another.
Each strike was delivered with full force, and every strike was executed while maintaining his peak condition.
"Yagyu Style Swordsmanship is simple, but it is definitely not weak."
While training seriously and synchronizing his breathing, Yagyu thought to himself, "If it is trained to the highest level, within five meters the blade is faster, beyond five meters the technique is faster."
Clang.
The sound of the blade rang out continuously.
Yagyu practiced his swordsmanship with complete focus. Even in the freezing snow, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and waves of heat continuously rose from his body.
Ever since he activated the system, an entire semester had already passed.
Because of the Sage Body, Yagyu's physical development was faster than that of his peers. He was now nearly 1.2 to 1.3 meters tall, and beneath his slender appearance was a remarkably strong body.
This was the reason he had begun training in swordsmanship.
His Taijutsu and ninja tool skills had been directly implanted into him by the system through enlightenment, so after a period of familiarization he could completely master them. The two Ninjutsu left by his father had also already been fully cultivated.
In order to enrich his combat methods, he naturally set his sights on Yagyu Style Swordsmanship.
When it came to methods of becoming stronger, as long as Yagyu could accept them, he had already included them in his training plans for the coming years.
Time quickly reached noon.
Just as Yagyu became exhausted,
crunch.
crunch.
crunch.
The crisp sound of footsteps pressing into the snow approached. Ino appeared, holding a thermal lunch box wrapped in a towel.
"Yagyu!"
Seeing Yagyu resting, a hint of delight appeared on Ino's face.
"I brought you lunch!"
Hearing Ino's voice, Yagyu, who had been preparing to return home to eat, felt somewhat surprised. Looking at the lunch box wrapped in the towel in her hands, he said, "You actually came to deliver lunch to me? That's rare."
Hearing this, Ino wrinkled her nose slightly and rolled her eyes at Yagyu.
"Don't misunderstand. Aunt Yagyu asked me to help bring it to you, so I delivered it. Otherwise, unless you begged me personally, I would never come bring lunch to you."
Hearing her explanation, Yagyu believed it.
Given Ino's personality, if she had done it voluntarily she would have admitted it directly. This girl was unexpectedly straightforward.
Of course, in the middle of winter, being willing to agree to his mother's request and bring him lunch was already quite considerate. At the very least, it meant that she did not feel nothing toward Yagyu.
It was just that this small feeling had not yet begun to grow.
In fact, Ino was not a girl who easily became infatuated with someone or quickly fell in love. In the original story, the reason she competed with Haruno Sakura for Uchiha Sasuke was not because she liked him deeply, but because she was competing with Sakura out of pride.
This could be seen from how calm she remained after Sasuke defected.
To be honest, the speed at which Ino liked someone might even be slower than Hyuga Hinata. After all, Hinata had already fallen deeply in love with Uzumaki Naruto since childhood.
Hinata's problem was her shy personality, not the speed at which she developed feelings.
Of course, girls liking handsome boys was just as natural as boys liking beautiful girls.
"Alright, alright."
After hearing Ino's explanation, Yagyu showed a gentle smile.
"But I still have to thank you for bringing me lunch. I was already planning to return to the village and eat a bowl of ramen. Thank you, Lady Ino."
Taking the lunch box, he began eating heartily.
Sitting beside him, Ino watched the boy eating happily in front of her, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward.
Suddenly she felt that bringing Yagyu lunch here was actually quite nice.
"Hey."
She lightly kicked Yagyu with her foot and spoke.
"During the holiday, will you train here every day? If so, I can bring you lunch from now on. I'll just treat it as an excuse to slack off."
After one semester at the Ninja Academy, many students from secret Jutsu clans had already begun learning their clan's hidden Jutsu. Ino was naturally no exception.
Recently she had been going straight home after school, which made that obvious.
"As long as you can come, I have no objections."
Stopping his eating, Yagyu nodded.
"But wouldn't that be too troublesome?"
Thump.
Ino lightly kicked him again and looked at him speechlessly.
"You… idiot."
If she did not have some feelings for him, how could she possibly come deliver lunch in the cold winter? She certainly would not maintain such a seemingly close relationship with him at school.
Friends?
What a joke.
Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji were her closest friends, yet she still treated them roughly most of the time. They certainly never received this kind of treatment.
If Yagyu were a little more proactive, their relationship might have progressed long ago.
But instead,
in Ino's eyes, Yagyu was like a block of wood who simply would not respond.
"No, no."
Sensing the dissatisfaction of the girl beside him, Yagyu calmly explained, "Ino, you wouldn't understand. Right now I'm still not at the stage where I can relax. It's far from that time."
At the very least, he had to reach Elite Jonin before he could relax slightly.
As he spoke, Yagyu finished the lunch and stood up.
"I still need to become stronger. Some things can wait until a few years later before we talk about them."
Right now Ino was simply too young, it was not easy to make a move.
After all, Yagyu was not some degenerate who targeted children.
But he also understood that if he were to marry and start a family in the future, it would be impossible for him to marry someone older than him. Putting aside other reasons, his mother alone would never approve.
Then when he thought about it carefully, the future Ino would grow into a top-tier beauty.
If their relationship could be nurtured from childhood, that would not be bad.
But at the very least, she needed to grow up first.
"Hmph."
Finally receiving a somewhat proper response, Ino's face turned slightly red as she smiled.
"That's more like it. I'm going back now. My father is personally going to teach me Ninjutsu today. Hmm… I'll bring you lunch again tomorrow. Bye."
After saying that,
Ino skipped away happily, leaving the training ground in an extremely cheerful mood.
Watching her leave, Yagyu felt a strange sensation in his heart.
"Girls in this world really are a bit too enthusiastic."