Chapter 23: A Kunai and a Conscience System
"The great Senju clan... is only this good?" Uchiha Ken sneered, his arrogance fully restored now that his wounds had healed. He looked down his nose at everyone.
"Hmph! So what about kunai throwing? Real battles are decided by ninjutsu! What's the use of a kunai?" Nawaki shot back, trying to salvage his wounded pride.
His words made Teacher Ueno Kuri's face darken. I'm here to teach you a fundamental skill, and you're calling it useless right in front of me?
Seeing the teacher about to explode, Hyuga Shinra quickly stood up to divert attention.
"Let me give it a try," he said, pulling a single kunai from his pouch. He spun it deftly around his fingers, the metal glinting.
"It's Shinra! He'll definitely be better than Uchiha Ken or Senju Nawaki!"
"Of course! Someone as handsome as Shinra-kun must be much stronger than those two ugly guys!"
The girls in the class immediately began chattering, their eyes turning to hearts as they praised Shinra while simultaneously insulting Uchiha Ken and Nawaki.
Hearing themselves called "ugly," both boys' faces turned green with indignation. They would admit they weren't as handsome as Shinra, but to call them ugly was a step too far.
"Hmph! A Hyuga trash who doesn't even have the Byakugan, and he's being hyped up like this?" Uchiha Ken spat, his voice thick with jealousy.
"How dare you insult our prince! Let's get him, girls!"
Teacher Ueno Kuri had to rush over to stop the group of frenzied fangirls. He sighed to himself, Girls these days are so precocious. Why didn't I get this kind of treatment when I was young? As a single man in his twenties, he couldn't help but feel a pang of envy for the young Hyuga boy.
Faced with this chaotic scene, a wave of smug satisfaction washed over Shinra. In his past life, he had been an average guy. While decent-looking, his looks had never been a meal ticket. In fact, a jealous, incompetent boss had once targeted him precisely because of his appearance.
He spun the kunai around his fingers one more time, then, with a flick of his wrist that was almost too fast to see, let it fly. The throw was so swift that even the Chunin-level Ueno Kuri only caught a blur of motion.
BOOM!
The wooden target fifty meters away didn't just get hit; it exploded into splinters. The kunai didn't even slow down, continuing its trajectory until it embedded itself deep into the stone wall at the far end of the training ground with a solid thwack.
There was a moment of stunned silence.
Ueno Kuri felt his throat go dry. If that kunai had been aimed at me... I'm not sure I could have dodged. The sheer power and speed were far beyond what he expected from a child. He looked at Shinra with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
"Shinra is amazing," Mikoto murmured, her eyes wide.
"I knew our prince was the best! I want to have his babies!"
"Screw that, Shinra is mine!"
"This is fake, right?" Senju Nawaki's expression was comically exaggerated, but internally, he was reeling. He hadn't realized Shinra was this strong. A kunai throw with that much force could pierce through most defensive ninjutsu... and through him, in a split second.
Amidst the shocked stares, Shinra retreated with a facade of nonchalance. Internally, however, he was thoroughly enjoying the sensation of having stunned the entire class. It was a rather childish satisfaction, but he relished it.
Uchiha Ken felt an invisible, stinging slap across his face.
Ahem! "Now that a student has... demonstrated," Ueno Kuri began, pulling the class's focus back to the lesson, "I should explain the proper technique for those who haven't mastered it yet."
He was here to teach, not to watch clan heirs show off.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on basic kunai drills. When the final bell rang, Ueno Kuri dismissed them.
After saying goodbye to Mikoto and the others, Shinra chose to walk home alone rather than with the other Hyuga.
"Ninja school is so boring," he complained to the empty street. "When will we get to the actually useful stuff?"
The only things of value to him at the academy were the theoretical classes—the history, the strategy, the things he couldn't learn from a scroll. The practical basics were already far beneath his level.
Back home, he flexed his fingers and began practicing hand seals. He could now form five seals in a single second. Given his nearly thirty years of cumulative life experience—and thirty years of being single—his hand speed was nothing short of exceptional.
After his seal practice, he took a bath, then dispelled his Shadow Clones. The familiar wave of crushing fatigue hit him, and he collapsed onto his bed, utterly spent.
My mental strength... it feels like it's grown again, he noted. Every time he pushed himself to this limit, his reserves of mental energy seemed to expand slightly.
Once he had recovered, he willed himself into the system's mental space.
"Hey, System," he called out, his tone shamelessly cheerful. "How about a free lottery draw or two? I don't mind if you skip the exchange points. I'm easy to please!"
The system, as usual, ignored him.
"Sigh." He let out an exaggerated sigh, then a curious thought struck him. "System, you must follow some kind of energy conservation, right? You can't just give me things for nothing. Where does the energy for my rewards come from?"
[The existence of this system cannot be comprehended by the Host at this time. This system does not adhere to the principle of energy conservation. Do not attempt to measure the system with scientific principles.]
"Uh... it doesn't follow conservation of energy?" Shinra scratched his head, completely baffled. If he couldn't even fully grasp the principles of chakra and ninjutsu, understanding the system was a fool's errand.
He decided to drop it. "Well, since you're in a talking mood, how about throwing a little benefit my way?" he asked, grinning.
He had learned long ago that thick skin was a virtue in any world. The timid seldom prospered.
After a long silence where he thought the system had gone mute again, a new message suddenly materialized in his mind.
[The system grants three additional lottery draws and 100,000 exchange points. Please check your status.]
"F*ck! Am I hallucinating?" Shinra blurted out, his eyes wide with disbelief.
It felt like winning the lottery. A massive, heavenly pie had just fallen from the sky and landed directly on his head. If this had come from anyone else, he would have been deeply suspicious of their motives. But this was from the system. Everything he had—his Tenseigan, his Sage Body, his very survival in this world—was thanks to the system. His trust in it was absolute.
"I can't believe begging actually worked! This system really has a conscience!"
"Wait," he mused, another thought occurring to him. "The system has never actually introduced itself. I don't even know what kind of system you are." It was true; he'd never asked, and the system had never volunteered the information.
"Anyway, thank you, System! The one and only, absolute best, most conscientious system! If I could give you a rating, it would be 10,000 out of 10!" He poured on the praise, hoping that if the system did have something resembling feelings, it might be pleased enough to grant him more rewards in the future. There was no harm in a little flattery.