After comforting Sakura, Hanyu Bai walked her home.
Bai didn’t head over to the BBQ restaurant to join Ino and the others either.
Today marked his ninth year since transmigrating, as well as the day his third cheat option would be granted, so he naturally wanted to claim his third cheat immediately.
Most importantly, even without counting the combat power boost from his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Bai was currently just a hair’s breadth away from Kage-level strength.
He couldn’t wait to break through to Kage-level with the help of this third cheat option so his Sharingan could evolve into a Mangekyo!
Unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan would immediately grant him five dojutsu that were practically divine jutsu!
Aside from the two unique dojutsu exclusive to each pair of Mangekyo, there was Susanoo, Izanami, and Izanagi!
Honestly, the Uchiha clan’s arrogance was truly forgivable; possessing a Mangekyo Sharingan that instantly granted five god-like techniques upon activation made arrogance inevitable!
Although the Mangekyo Sharingan corresponded to Kage-level, ninja battles were never a simple comparison of power numbers.
In a desperate life-or-death fight, any user of the Mangekyo Sharingan was capable of taking down a Beyond-Kage level powerhouse with them—of course, excluding figures standing at the absolute peak of Beyond-Kage like Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Amid his eager expectation, the third cheat option finally arrived!
[Option 1: Complete Mastery of Kido]
[Option 2: Zanpakuto]
“Ah, this…” Still the same straight-to-the-point style, but this time Bai felt somewhat awkward.
Scratching his head, he remarked with considerable disappointment: “Looks like my plan to break through to Kage-level via a cheat has fallen flat!”
As a veteran anime otaku in his past life, Bai naturally knew what Kido and Zanpakuto were.
First, it had to be made clear that comparing power levels across different anime franchises was the most foolish endeavor.
Since the System placed these two options before Bai, it meant both Kido and Zanpakuto remained within the power boundaries of the Naruto world.
There would be no broken scaling where a casual Bankai sliced through Six Paths powerhouses, nor would a Sharingan effortlessly crush a Zanpakuto.
According to Bai’s understanding, Complete Mastery of Kido was basically equivalent to a complete mastery of all ninjutsu.
Kido in the Bleach world was vast and profound, divided into Hado (Way of Destruction), Kaido (Way of Healing), and Bakudo (Way of Binding).
Aside from a few exceptions, almost any ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, or Medical Ninjutsu found in the Shinobi World had a Kido counterpart with similar effects!
Furthermore, casting Kido carried no chakra nature restrictions.
A Zanpakuto was equivalent to a Kekkei Genkai, with the power of Bankai sitting between Kage-level and Beyond-Kage level.
Its advantage lay in having no upper limit to its growth.
What made Bai awkward was that neither Kido nor Zanpakuto was something that could instantly boost his combat power right now.
Kido required learning, while a Zanpakuto needed Shikai to reveal its special capabilities.
Without Shikai, a Zanpakuto wasn’t even as useful as the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist!
In the end, Bai chose the Zanpakuto.
Complete Mastery of Kido was appealing to Bai as well, but alternatives to most Kido could easily be found in the Shinobi World.
Why take a detour to learn Kido when he could just learn ninjutsu?
At least in the Shinobi World, there were people who could teach Bai ninjutsu, whereas Kido was completely unique here—who knew how long it would take Bai to research it all on his own?
Those Kido masters in the Bleach world—wasn’t every single one of their ages measured in centuries?
Moreover, Bai could directly copy ninjutsu using his Sharingan to save huge amounts of time in learning and training.
Where was he supposed to copy Kido from?
Even if the Sharingan could copy it, nobody else knew any Kido!
By contrast, although no one in the Shinobi World knew about Zanpakuto, people still practiced swordsmanship and could teach Bai how to handle a sword.
Achieving Shikai and Bankai required Jinzen (blade meditation) and communicating with the Zanpakuto; while it sounded mystical, mysticism had its perks—who was to say Bai wouldn’t unlock Shikai the instant he picked up the sword?
Thinking along these lines, Bai made up his mind.
“System, I choose Option 2: Zanpakuto!”
In the next instant, a flash of white light burst before Bai, and amidst the glowing mist, a sheathed Asauchi landed in his hands.
The scabbard was jet-black, and the hilt wrapped with blood-red cloth; other than that, it looked like a very standard issue Asauchi.
The moment his hand gripped the hilt, Bai felt a resonant tremor in his soul, as though this sword was an extension of his own spirit!
The miracle of unlocking Shikai upon contact didn’t happen to Bai.
Fortunately, alongside the Zanpakuto, the System granted Bai introductory swordsmanship experience so he wouldn’t be helpless with a blade.
From that day onward, Bai never let the sword leave his side, attempting to communicate with his Zanpakuto even while at the Academy.
When Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi learned Bai wanted to learn kenjutsu, neither stopped him.
Bai’s talent had already thoroughly astonished both women.
Whether in Genjutsu or ninjutsu, neither had anything left to teach him; the rest depended entirely on Bai exploring and synthesizing the material himself.
With such talent, the two women didn’t worry that he’d bite off more than he could chew.
In fact, they hoped practicing kenjutsu would distract him enough so he wouldn’t be promoted to Jonin too early.
First, as his big sisters, it would be embarrassing for them; second, becoming a Jonin too early was never a good thing.
Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha served as prime cautionary tales!
In present-day Konoha, a prodigy whose talent was stunning or even terrifying would either be tamed into an obedient dog or turned into a political sacrifice.
All in all, upon finding out Bai wanted to practice swordsmanship, Anko and Kurenai not only didn’t stop him, but actively arranged to find him a kenjutsu master.
Talking about the best swordsman in Konoha, that was naturally the former White Fang of the Leaf.
Regrettably, Sakumo Hatake had already committed suicide, and Kakashi, once a dazzling prodigy, had been wallowing in depression for years, abandoning the blade long ago—in truth, current Kakashi was more than qualified to teach Bai swordsmanship, but Anko and Kurenai couldn’t persuade him…
In the end, Anko and Kurenai brought over Hayate Gekko to tutor Bai.
At twenty years old, Hayate Gekko was already a Special Jonin of Konoha.
Honestly, in terms of overall combat power, Hayate Gekko sat around average among Special Jonin, but he attained his rank purely through swordsmanship specialization.
When it came strictly to kenjutsu, he was far more specialized than Kakashi, the son of the White Fang!
Swordsmanship was a branch of taijutsu, so Bai studied meticulously.
After all, among ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and taijutsu, taijutsu was Bai’s sole relative weakness.
Perhaps because he obtained a Zanpakuto, Bai displayed exceptional talent in swordsmanship; in just two or three short months, Hayate Gekko had nothing left to teach him.
Of course, that was also because Hayate Gekko held back his secret moves; at the very least, he hadn’t taught Bai the Dance of the Crescent Moon—after all, they weren’t related, and a Special Jonin coming personally to tutor Bai in kenjutsu was already giving ample face to Anko and Kurenai.
But it didn’t matter—Bai had already copied the Dance of the Crescent Moon during a spar with Hayate Gekko!
The Sharingan—anyone who used it knew how incredible it was!
As for how Bai made Hayate Gekko overlook his Sharingan…
Bai’s Genjutsu could accomplish that easily!