Basic Swordsmanship covered every fundamental movement of the blade—chopping, thrusting, slashing, rising cuts, wrapping, circling, cleaving, breaking, lifting, tapping, and sweeping.
In essence, it contained the foundation of every sword technique.
Once those fundamentals were truly mastered, there was little need to deliberately study other schools of swordsmanship.
Any ordinary technique could be reproduced almost instinctively from the principles already learned.
Reaching a truly higher realm, however, was another matter.
Under the system’s classification, advancing swordsmanship to the Transcendent rank was extraordinarily difficult.
Under normal circumstances, a swordsman would need to study countless styles, comprehend their principles, combine everything he had learned, and eventually strip away all unnecessary complexity until he returned to the simplest fundamentals.
Only then could he hope to transcend ordinary swordsmanship.
Unfortunately, this was the shinobi world.
Swordsmanship here was largely treated as an auxiliary combat method alongside ninjutsu.
There weren’t thousands of developed sword schools to study.
There probably weren’t even a hundred.
For anyone else, reaching the Transcendent level through Basic Swordsmanship alone would have been virtually impossible.
Going beyond that was even less realistic.
Tenriki, however, was different.
The Limit Break System didn’t care about conventional limitations.
Whenever his skill reached a bottleneck, the system allowed him to break through it.
That was how Tenriki had crossed a barrier that should have required years—or even decades—of accumulated understanding.
For him, the supposedly impossible breakthrough had been almost embarrassingly simple.
Now that his swordsmanship had reached its current limit, Tenriki temporarily set it aside.
It was time to begin learning chakra.
Hiashi took the matter personally.
His son’s talent had already surpassed anything he had expected, so when it came time for Tenriki to learn chakra refinement, Hiashi simply postponed a clan meeting and decided to teach him himself.
“Hinata, you should listen as well,” Hiashi said.
“You can begin learning about chakra with your brother.”
Hinata sat up a little straighter.
“Yes, Father.”
Tenriki’s existence had already changed her childhood.
With an extraordinarily talented eldest son standing before him, Hiashi no longer placed the same pressure on Hinata to become the future clan head that she had endured in the original timeline.
Without everyone constantly expecting her to become strong enough to lead the clan—and without Hiashi repeatedly criticizing her failures—Hinata had never become quite as withdrawn as the girl Tenriki remembered.
She was still shy.
That part apparently needed no help from fate.
But she wasn’t nearly as emotionally closed off.
Hiashi began the lesson.
Normally, children wouldn’t formally learn chakra refinement until entering the Ninja Academy.
The future heirs of the Hyuga Clan obviously didn’t need to wait that long.
“Chakra is an energy created by combining physical energy and spiritual energy,” Hiashi explained.
“It is the foundation used to perform ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu.”
Tenriki and Hinata listened carefully.
“Physical energy is drawn from the body’s roughly one hundred and thirty trillion cells. Spiritual energy is strengthened through training, accumulated experience, and mental development.”
Hiashi continued patiently, covering the fundamentals piece by piece.
The explanation was tedious in places, but neither child allowed their attention to wander.
Once the general principles had been covered, Hiashi moved on to the Hyuga Clan’s chakra.
“The chakra of our Hyuga Clan isn’t considered to possess one fixed elemental nature. Another interpretation is that it has the potential for all elemental natures, although separating and applying those transformations is beyond what we currently use.”
He paused.
“That isn’t something either of you needs to worry about yet.”
Hinata nodded obediently.
Tenriki simply committed the information to memory.
“Our clan’s techniques center around the Gentle Fist, the Eight Trigrams techniques, Rotation, and other arts passed down through the Hyuga. Our bloodline also traces back to ancestors who possessed techniques of extraordinary power, including abilities such as the Rabbit Hair Needle and Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.”
Tenriki’s eyes sharpened slightly at the names.
Hiashi continued without noticing.
“Now, regarding the chakra points and chakra network…”
The lesson lasted the entire afternoon.
By the time Hiashi finished, both children had been given a thorough explanation of chakra fundamentals, the body’s chakra network, chakra points, and the principles behind the Hyuga fighting style.
Only then did they move on to the actual chakra-refinement method.
Tenriki sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
He followed Hiashi’s instructions and began attempting to draw out the energy within his body.
If chakra really comes from physical and spiritual energy…
A thought crossed his mind.
Then my spiritual energy should be far stronger than an ordinary child’s.
After all, this body might only be a few years old, but Tenriki possessed the memories—and soul—of his previous life as well.
He steadied his breathing.
Focused.
And began.
Before long, he sensed something.
A trace of energy.
Extremely faint.
Almost insignificant.
But unmistakably there.
Tenriki carefully extracted it.
Gathered it.
Directed it toward his chakra network.
The tiny current gradually condensed into something thinner than a strand of hair.
There it is.
Tenriki suppressed his excitement.
He guided the newly formed chakra slowly through his network, allowing it to pass through his chakra points and pathways little by little.
Nearby, Hiashi’s expression changed.
He had sensed it.
Chakra.
Already.
His heartbeat seemed to slam against his chest.
That fast?
Hiashi stared at his son.
Tenriki had only just begun learning the refinement method.
Yet he had already succeeded.
What kind of monster did I raise?
Shock quickly gave way to delight.
Then the clan head’s instincts caught up with the father’s pride.
Hiashi’s expression hardened.
No.
No one outside the clan can know about this.
He had lived through both the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars.
He understood perfectly well what happened when extraordinary talent became public knowledge.
The Uchiha might take notice.
Konoha’s leadership certainly would.
Other villages would be even worse.
A Hyuga child displaying this level of talent at three or four years old wasn’t merely impressive.
He was dangerous.
And valuable.
Both were excellent reasons for people to start making plans around him.
Hiashi immediately decided that Tenriki’s true rate of growth needed to remain hidden.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Tenriki’s chakra training progressed almost effortlessly.
His refinement speed exceeded even Neji Hyuga’s by several times.
Hiashi could hardly have been more pleased.
He also became increasingly cautious.
“Don’t reveal everything you’re capable of,” he warned Tenriki more than once.
“Being known as a genius is acceptable. Being known as something beyond human understanding is not.”
Tenriki understood perfectly.
So Hiashi gave him a simple standard.
Itachi Uchiha.
As far as the outside world was concerned, Tenriki only needed to display talent comparable to Itachi’s.
Anything beyond that could remain inside the Hyuga compound.
Hinata’s progress was considerably slower.
She couldn’t compare to Tenriki.
She couldn’t even compare to Neji.
But Hiashi didn’t criticize her.
He no longer needed Hinata to carry the future of the clan on her shoulders.
She was allowed to learn at her own pace.
And that alone made her childhood very different from the one Tenriki remembered.
“Here, Hinata. Try this.”
Tenriki held out an oversized lollipop as they walked along one of Konoha’s streets.
Hinata’s pale eyes brightened.
“Thank you, Brother.”
She accepted it with a shy smile and happily began eating.
The twins had left the Hyuga compound to wander through the village for a while.
Naturally, they weren’t actually alone.
Several Hyuga jonin followed discreetly behind them as guards.
Tenriki’s presence quickly attracted attention.
“Look! Isn’t that the Hyuga Clan’s genius young master?”
“He’s so handsome!”
“He looked at me!”
“No, he looked at me!”
“He smiled! He actually smiled at me!”
“Move! That smile was obviously meant for me!”
“He’s so friendly. Nothing like that cold Uchiha young master.”
“I don’t like the Uchiha one anymore. I like the Hyuga young master.”
“I heard he’s really nice too.”
“And very polite!”
“Exactly!”
Tenriki continued walking.
His eyebrow twitched.
At this age, his appearance really was beginning to stand out.
His features were already unusually well defined for a child, with a straight nose and a naturally warm expression.
Unlike the colder impression Itachi gave people, Tenriki’s smile made him seem approachable.
Apparently, that was enough to create a fan club.
At three or four years old.
Tenriki finally raised a hand to his forehead.
What is wrong with the children in this world?
They were barely old enough to train properly and already understood who was handsome, who was popular, and which clan’s young master deserved their loyalty.
He glanced at the girls arguing behind him.
They’re starting celebrity worship before they can even graduate from the Academy.
Tenriki had no words.
Absolutely none.