Hanekawa watched Kurenai practice her Genjutsu, but his focus was entirely locked onto the system interface floating before him.
Now that he had gathered three distinct Genjutsu traits, he could finally synthesize a new one.
[D-Rank Talent Trait: Genjutsu Genin.] [Trigger Condition: Possess three distinct Genjutsu traits.] [Effect: Increases the raw potency of all your Genjutsu by 30%.] [Note: Acquiring more advanced Genjutsu will allow this trait to evolve and promote into the C-Rank trait ‘Genjutsu Chunin’.] According to the universal standards of the shinobi world, mastering the basic Three Academy Jutsu was all it took to become a Genin.
Since Hanekawa had already mastered three functional Genjutsu, calling him a Genin-tier illusionist was entirely accurate.
Furthermore, a 30% multiplier to his illusion potency was a massive tactical edge for early-game combat.
It might even allow him to clash head-on with a standard, baseline Sharingan.
The only slight disappointment for Hanekawa was that this specific trait was somewhat straightforward—a linear progression path that essentially mirrored the exact road Shinku Yuhi had already traveled.
But thinking about it logically, it made perfect sense.
In the brutal late-game scaling of the Naruto universe, no matter how flawless your ordinary Genjutsu was, could it ever hope to outclass a Mangekyō Sharingan?
The traditional Genjutsu pathway could only serve as a temporary stepping stone.
Ninjutsu and Taijutsu were vastly more lucrative areas to dump resources into, boasting a much higher structural ceiling—unless, of course, the system eventually handed him a pair of Sharingan.
Once his stamina recovered, Hanekawa excused himself and headed out to the backyard woods.
His current meager chakra reserves weren’t anywhere near deep enough to support learning high-level techniques anyway, so he needed to let his baseline stats catch up first.
Pulling up before a wooden post, Hanekawa produced a long, slender steel needle from his pouch—a senbon.
Aside from the standard kunai and shuriken, this was the third most universally utilized projectile weapon.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Hanekawa launched the needle, sending it slicing through the air to pierce dead center into the target.
Just like shuriken, senbon operated on the core fundamentals of hidden projectile throwing, so the muscle memory translated smoothly.
A peaceful Sunday quickly drew to a close.
Looking at the rapidly filling progress bar for Seven Varieties of Ninja Tools, Hanekawa let out a highly satisfied smile.
A brand-new week arrived.
Early Monday morning, the Class 1-A classroom was already buzzing with energetic chatter.
Since the morning bell hadn’t rung yet, the students were huddled in small groups, gossiping and hanging out.
Kurenai sat resting her chin in both hands, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Right next to her, Asuma Sarutobi was talking a mile a minute, relentlessly detailing his weekend training exploits.
She literally didn’t want to hear a single word of it.
Kurenai’s gaze subconsciously drifted toward the back row.
Hanekawa was hunched over his desk, studying his textbook with such intense concentration that she felt guilty about marching over to interrupt him.
In her memory, from the literal day he transferred into the Academy, he had been this aggressively diligent.
She personally couldn’t match that level of academic discipline to save her life.
If she stared at a book for more than thirty minutes, her brain would completely zone out, and the slightest breeze outside would distract her.
Kurenai zoned out, watching him.
My follower really is remarkably good-looking.
Even though she had completely abandoned the realistic notion of defeating him in training, her grand blueprint of being the big sister boss was still alive and kicking.
After all, a kid without a dream is no different from a salted fish.
Asuma, who had been rambling on, suddenly caught on to the dynamic.
Following Kurenai’s line of sight toward the back window, his face instantly twisted into a scowl.
Him!
Him!
It’s always him!
That villainous Hanekawa kid!
Asuma was practically huffing with pure prepubescent rage.
No way.
He refused to let Hanekawa swoop in and steal all his spotlight.
“Hey, Kurenai,” Asuma said, tilting his chin up proudly.
“I actually managed to master a Wind Style ninjutsu yesterday.” In the Academy, successfully learning an elemental release outside the mandatory Three Academy Jutsu was a massive, undisputed hallmark of a prodigy—especially considering they had only been enrolled for a mere two months.
In the entire class, only Kakashi Hatake stood on equal footing with him in terms of execution.
He could already vividly picture Kurenai’s amazed, starry-eyed reaction.
A wide grin spread across his face, right on the verge of letting out a triumphant chuckle.
“Oh.
So what?” Kurenai asked casually, barely glancing up.
The proud grin completely froze on Asuma’s face.
Wait, ‘so what’?!
Is that not insanely impressive?!
You won’t even throw a single compliment my way?
“Hanekawa learned three entire Genjutsu over the weekend!” Kurenai declared, her voice swelling with immense pride, looking exactly as though she was the one who had pulled off the monstrous feat.
“Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!” Asuma recoiled, executing a tactical back-lean.
“Stop making things up.
Real life doesn’t work like a fairytale!” Who on earth could master three distinct illusions in a single weekend?
“You don’t believe me?” Kurenai snorted softly.
“Of course I don’t,” Asuma said, stating it as an absolute law of nature.
As the Hokage’s son, backed by a Special Jonin private tutor, his baseline knowledge of shinobi development vastly outperformed everyone else his age.
Kurenai had clearly been thoroughly hoodwinked by that villainous Hanekawa kid.
Learning three Genjutsu in a couple of days was unheard of.
“Just you wait,” Kurenai offered a look composed of three parts amusement, three parts triumph, and four parts utter nonchalance.
She stood up and marched straight toward the back row.
But the moment she pulled up before his desk, she hesitated slightly.
Am I going to drag him into unnecessary trouble?
“Is something wrong?” Hanekawa asked, looking up from his textbook.
Kurenai bit her lip and quickly detailed the exact nature of the dispute.
“A minor issue.” Having been thoroughly immersed in his physical conditioning grind over the past week, Hanekawa had almost completely forgotten about Asuma.
Now, he was instantly reminded of their scheduled showdown.
Why bother waiting three months to settle scores?
Why not just pull the trigger and clear the board today?
He had just successfully locked down the Weapon Tool Throwing and Genjutsu Genin traits, and his hands were practically itching for a live combat test.
Even if Kurenai hadn’t brought it up, he would have looked for a viable excuse to move the timeline forward.
“Asuma.” Hanekawa strode over, sliding into Kurenai’s empty seat.
“What do you want?” Asuma straightened his posture, his eyes practically throwing sparks as he glared across the desk.
Nearby, Mizuki subconsciously perked up his ears, his face melting into a look of pure gossip.
“I want to move our duel forward,” Hanekawa cut straight to the chase.
“How about we settle it today after school?” “Move it forward?!” Asuma blinked, thoroughly caught off guard, but that confusion instantly morphed into pure indignation.
This was a blatant, unadulterated insult!
It had only been a single week since their talk—did this kid honestly think he stood a ghost of a chance already?
It was a complete delusion!
“Fine!
Wait for me after school!” Asuma crossed his arms over his chest, snapping aggressively.
“Just don’t cry to the teacher when you lose!” Hanekawa offered a subtle nod.
Exchanging a brief, knowing glance with Kurenai, he calmly turned on his heel and walked back to the protagonist seat by the window.
Dominating Asuma in a schoolyard fight was just a casual side-quest.
His absolute top priority remained locking down the first-place rank on the theoretical exams to secure the Top of the Class trait.
Fortunately, possessing the cognitive architecture of a fully grown adult made processing elementary-tier curriculum incredibly smooth.
“Damn it!” Asuma muttered, thoroughly infuriated by how utterly unfazed Hanekawa looked.
Give me a shred of basic respect, bro!
Am I not even worthy of being treated as a serious rival?
Asuma gritted his teeth.
The moment the final bell rang, he was going to deliver a devastating defeat to Hanekawa.
Once he proved his absolute strength, winning Kurenai back would be a walk in the park, right?
“What are you looking at, Kakashi?” Rin Nohara noticed Kakashi’s focus shifting toward the back row.
Following his line of sight, she discovered he was staring intently at the new transfer student, Hanekawa.
“They’re going to duel after school,” Kakashi said, his tone entirely level.
Interesting.
You’ve successfully caught my attention.
For Hanekawa to boldly challenge Asuma after being enrolled for a mere week was entirely outside his calculated expectations.
Furthermore, Asuma’s combat baseline wasn’t weak; even Kakashi himself had to exert a conscious amount of effort to thoroughly dismantle him in a sparring match.
Kakashi could smell the distinct aura of a kindred prodigy.
“How do you even know they’re holding a duel?” Obito asked, looking thoroughly bewildered.
“I overheard them,” Kakashi cast a brief, flat glance his way.
“As a shinobi, keeping your baseline senses sharp is standard operating procedure, isn’t it?” “You arrogant bastard!” Obito snapped, instantly provoked by the passive-aggressive jab.
“Let’s go outside right now!
I challenge you to a 1v1!” “Not interested,” Kakashi said, entirely dismissive.
“Obito, stop it,” Rin quickly stepped in to defuse the rising tension, offering a gentle smile.
“Don’t fight inside the classroom.
The morning lecture is about to start anyway.” “Fine!
I’ll let you off the hook today solely out of respect for Rin!” Obito huffed proudly, crossing his arms.