Over the following days, the commotion caused by Yakumo’s defeat of Hiraya Gensho finally died down.
Many people now looked at him with greater respect and recognition.
Yet Yakumo continued his routine as usual: reading books during the day and practicing swordsmanship at night.
The changes in how others perceived him had no effect on his schedule.
No matter how great the world might be, nothing mattered more than cultivating one’s strength.
Over the past few days, he had also been setting aside some time to practice the Hidden Mist Technique, hoping to master its basics as soon as possible.
Now that Four-Star Volley could no longer gain proficiency through ordinary practice, he finally had more time to learn other skills.
After Tuesday, Yakumo began systematically using Acceleration on the Chakra Extraction Technique to increase his chakra reserves.
Each time he spent 100 Gold Coins to accelerate it, he gained another 0.8 units of chakra.
July 25.
Sunday.
After submitting all his missions, Yakumo felt warm energy flow through his body.
His Strength finally surpassed ten points, and all his attributes were now above that threshold.
It was as though his body had undergone another transformation.
〖Personal Status〗
Name: Iori Yakumo
Age: 7
Constitution: 12.6 (Stamina, resistance, recovery)
Strength: 10.2 (Carrying capacity, attack power, etc.)
Agility: 10.1 (Nerve response, running speed)
Intelligence: 10.5 (Learning ability, mental resistance)
Chakra: 19.6 (30 points required for promotion to chūnin)
Gold Coins: 550
After all his attributes crossed the ten-point threshold, Yakumo sensed an inexplicable unity within his body.
Everything seemed to exist in perfect harmony.
He silently resolved that, from then on, he would try to keep his attributes balanced whenever he allocated points, allowing his body to maintain this state of perfect harmony and unity.
During their recent sparring sessions, he had become capable of dealing with Yasuko’s attacks with ease.
However, to prevent her from discovering the truth, he deliberately acted as though he was struggling every time they fought.
He didn’t want to reveal the secret behind his rapidly improving physical attributes.
Not even to Yasuko.
Some secrets were meant to remain hidden forever.
Yakumo studied his status panel before turning his attention to his remaining Gold Coins.
It seemed another skill could also be upgraded today…
The Hatake Secret Art.
As far as the Hatake Secret Art was concerned, he had only used Gold Coins to accelerate it once.
All the remaining proficiency had come from his own relentless practice, giving him an enormous sense of accomplishment.
Active Skill: Hatake Secret Art — Beginner, 380/400 [Acceleration]
Yakumo put on his shoes and walked into the courtyard.
He sat cross-legged, placed his ninja sword across his legs, slowly closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing.
He always felt that having a sword beside him made it easier to comprehend the various principles of the Hatake Secret Art.
Of course, that might simply have been an illusion.
『Acceleration!』
『Gold Coins deducted.
We wish you an enjoyable gaming experience.』
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Within his mind, a figure practiced swordsmanship year after year, day after day.
Eventually, the figure began coordinating the flow of chakra within his body with each sword movement.
At that point, the technique had evolved into a complete form of ninja taijutsu—a combat art combining physical techniques with chakra.
Yakumo opened his eyes.
Just as he had expected, spending Gold Coins on Acceleration had filled in the missing knowledge concerning chakra circulation within the Hatake Secret Art.
At last, he could claim to have mastered every aspect of the technique.
He was genuinely curious how Kakashi would react when he saw Yakumo perform the complete Hatake Secret Art.
When the time came, Yakumo would proudly announce that he was a swordsmanship genius!
“Phew…”
Active Skill: Hatake Secret Art — Proficient, 0/800 [Acceleration]
Yakumo gripped his sword and began moving through the courtyard.
Blades flashed in every direction, forming an impenetrable web of sword shadows.
The display was no weaker than the imposing performance Kakashi had demonstrated on the Academy training ground back in June.
Just then, a leaf drifted downward on the breeze.
Yakumo shifted his footwork, positioning himself precisely where the leaf would land, and delivered a horizontal slash.
The blade flashed.
The leaf split cleanly into two halves, the cut perfectly smooth.
The rest of the leaf remained untouched, even its delicate veins free from damage.
This was what true control looked like.
Concentrate the force of an entire strike along a single, razor-thin line.
Only after stopping did Yakumo notice the changes brought about by the breakthrough in the Hatake Secret Art.
His Agility had increased by three points, while his Strength had increased by one and a half.
This confirmed his theory.
When ninjutsu proficiency increased, the system primarily enhanced the technique’s power.
Swordsmanship, taijutsu, and ninja taijutsu, on the other hand, improved the attributes associated with the nature of the techniques being mastered.
After resting briefly, Yakumo began practicing his sword again.
True proficiency came from repetition—performing the same movements over and over until they became muscle memory and could be executed without the slightest deviation.
The process of becoming proficient was destined to be monotonous and tedious.
But only through such effort could one hope to reach the realm of…
Perfected.
At that moment, Yakumo finally understood the true purpose of Gold Coins.
They should be used when a skill could no longer advance through ordinary training or when proficiency could no longer be obtained through practice—not merely to save time.
The Beginner and Proficient stages could both be improved through training.
There was no need to waste precious Gold Coins on them.
Only when a skill reached Perfected, Master, or a higher stage—where ordinary practice could no longer increase proficiency—would spending Gold Coins be the correct choice.
Yakumo decided that, from then on, he would allocate his daily income of 150 Gold Coins as follows: 100 coins would be used to accelerate the Chakra Extraction Technique, while the rest would be saved for future use.
In other words, he would spend 700 Gold Coins each week to gain 5.6 units of chakra.
The remaining 1,300 Gold Coins would be saved for future breakthroughs beyond the Perfected stage.
Beneath a sky glittering with countless stars, a young boy practiced swordsmanship on the training ground.
His movements flowed endlessly, resembling a dance while carrying a natural rhythm of their own.
Over the following days, Yakumo carried out his training plan.
He began spending more time studying medicine, yet he also devoted more time to swordsmanship after school.
Although his daily routine was exhausting, his progress was impressive.
During the final three days of July, the Ninja Academy closed for its usual break.
After gathering for another meal, the group began training together.
Unfortunately, Obito Uchiha still hadn’t made any progress with his Fireball Technique.
Most of the time, Yakumo practiced the Hatake Secret Art alone at home.
Before he knew it, August had arrived.
August 1.
A new monthly cycle began.
『Conquer Nature』
Venture deep into the Forest of Death and defeat the black-and-white giant bear.
Mission Rewards: Three free attribute points and 1,000 Gold Coins.
Bonus Reward: Master Breakthrough Scroll.
After thinking it over, Yakumo decided to wait until the end of August before entering the Forest of Death alone to search for the black-and-white giant bear.
With another month of development, he would have a much better chance of defeating it.
Meanwhile, their homeroom teacher, Keisuke Shimizu, announced some good news during class.
Under Tsunade’s leadership, Konoha Hospital had decided to cooperate with the Ninja Academy to recruit a group of students with a special aptitude for medical ninjutsu.
The requirements were as follows:
Their chakra nature had to be either Water or Earth.They needed to possess a certain level of medical knowledge.They had to be willing to give up some regular class time in order to study advanced medical knowledge.
After passing a series of tests, the selected students would receive special allowances and permission to study medical ninjutsu.
At the same time, they would be required to undertake practical training at Konoha Hospital.
In the future, they might even have the opportunity to become Tsunade’s apprentices.
This was exactly the opportunity Yakumo had been waiting for.
Without the slightest hesitation, he went straight to Keisuke Shimizu and registered.
That very afternoon, he received a notification confirming that the entrance test would take place on the morning of Tuesday, August 3.
The examination would cover basic medical knowledge.
Among the first-year students, Rin Nohara had also registered, along with another classmate who usually went unnoticed.
Including Yakumo, these were the only three students from the entire first-year cohort who had signed up.