Aoki Sora didn't stop running until nearly noon.
His legs were sore and close to giving out, but he wasn't complaining. He'd earned some solid progress.
"You've completed 10 laps around Konoha."
"Physique (Progress Bar) +1%. Chakra +1. Gained 1 Personal Enhancement Point. Gained 1 Shared [Physique Boost] Point."
"You've completed 10 laps around Konoha."
"Physique..."
Yup. Even just running laps netted him real benefits, something no one else could match.
A 1% boost per 10 laps? That meant 1,000 laps for a 100% increase in physique.
10,000 laps would mean a tenfold increase.
100,000 laps? That's 100 times his base physique.
(OG Author's Note: Simplified algorithm in use. Just assume the base stat keeps stacking endlessly. While the system shows Physique gradually leveling from C to B to A, the gains are calculated like leveling a base cultivation technique to Level 9999. Each level gives the same flat increase, like going up a staircase. Step height times 999 equals the height of step 999. Otherwise, if we used compound interest or real-world formulas, we'd end up with a math exam instead of a web novel. Accurate? Sure. Fun? Not so much.)
Granted, even with 100× physique, he still couldn't match Naruto's natural-born monstrous constitution.
But if his chakra volume hit 100×, that'd give him around 10,000 chakra units.
At that level, he could start stacking buffs, spamming transformation layers, and eventually unlock the God Tree Constitution.
And realistically, he wouldn't even need to run 100,000 laps.
Konoha wasn't exactly tiny. He could maybe manage 100 laps a day, tops. But once his physique hit a certain threshold, he'd unlock challenge quests that accelerated growth.
Also, every 10 laps gave him an enhancement point, which he could dump into chakra too.
Sure, it was only +1 chakra per point. But 10,000 laps meant 1,000 chakra points. All the little gains added up.
With everything combined, if he hit 50,000 laps, he'd have more than enough to reach the 10,000 chakra mark.
50,000 laps. At 100 laps a day, that's 500 days.
At 50 laps a day, it'd take 1,000.
Of course, that's the ideal scenario. Realistically, life would get in the way. He'd have missions, surprises, training.
Still, it was something to look forward to.
"I, Aoki Sora, will become... the Loop King of Konoha!"
After hitting 20 laps for the day, Sora grabbed lunch, then took a short break.
In the afternoon, a beautiful woman with violet hair came by and called him, Shiranui Hayama, and Mizumura Hojuin together.
"Starting today, I'll be your squad leader, alright?" she said brightly, smiling as she introduced herself.
Sora's heart skipped a beat.
He was briefly stunned by that light, carefree smile.
Yugao Uzuki.
In the original story, she lost her lover Hayate Gekkō early on. After that, her life was a quiet spiral of grief and loneliness, a textbook tragic beauty.
She could've been so happy.
Instead, all that awaited her was melancholy, silence, and a face that never smiled again.
Just remembering it made your heart ache.
But fortunately, in the game's Yugao Route, all of that could be rewritten.
Just like how the Kurenai Route added Sora as a "neighbor" and long-lost relative to forcibly tie him into her storyline, the Yugao Route rewrote her background too.
In this timeline, Yugao had moved as a child, so she never lived next to Hayate Gekkō.
Which meant she wouldn't spiral into that tragic fate after Hayate's death during the Chūnin Exams.
Of course, the two still knew each other from childhood. They trained in the same sword style and occasionally sparred, so they were close friends.
If Hayate still died, she'd naturally mourn. But she wouldn't collapse into lifelong grief.
At this point in time, long before any of that tragedy happened, Yugao still had a smile. A smile that never once appeared in the anime or manga.
Even though she had once served in the ANBU, outside of missions she still carried the cheer and charm of a young woman in her twenties.
And to someone like Sora, who knew the original story, who had seen that sorrowful face again and again, this smile felt like a ray of sunlight breaking through weeks of rain.
It was beautiful. And it hurt.
Because he knew how easily it could all be taken away.
But right now, it hadn't.
Not yet.
Sora quietly inhaled, watching that smile.
It made you want to protect her.
"Hmm? What's with the blank stare, handsome? You've already got a beautiful fiancée like Hinata, and now you're dazing off at me?"
Yugao's playful voice snapped him out of it.
"You wouldn't be one of those guys who flirts with other girls while having someone like Hinata crushing on him... would you?"
"Uh, no, I—"
Sora quickly shook his head, flustered.
"These new genin sure are entertaining," Yugao said, still smiling but clearly teasing. "You're young, but your heart's not small."
"This world's not without men who take multiple wives, you know. That said..."
She narrowed her eyes with a sly grin.
"Those men are usually daimyo, nobles, or shinobi with Kage-level power. I heard the Fourth Hokage had plenty of admirers. Young, strong, and handsome, who wouldn't fall for him?"
"So our dear little Sora here... why not try becoming Kage-tier first?"
"Otherwise, chasing after too many girls without strength? You might not even be able to keep Hinata!" She chuckled.
Sora was speechless.
Hey now. This isn't even the Hinata Route.
Still, if he ever got the chance, he wouldn't pass it up.
"Sensei, wait. So the Fourth Hokage had a lot of girls chasing after him?" Shiranui Hayama suddenly asked.
"Of course," Yugao replied. "He became Hokage at just 22. With that kind of talent and fame, it's only natural."
"If I'd been born in his era, maybe even I would've fallen for him."
"But a man like that only comes around once in decades. Maybe centuries."
"What do you think, Sora? How long before you hit Kage-level?"
"By then, I'll probably be 50. Gahaha..."
The unspoken message was clear. Don't get any funny ideas, kid. Just focus on keeping Hinata.
Sora: "..."
Just as he was about to say something, a sudden ripple spread across the sky.
The light and shadows shifted dramatically.
"Wait… could it be?!"
It had already happened twice this morning, so everyone instinctively looked up.
Something was about to be revealed.
And then—
"Sora, I heard you turned down the Fifth Hokage's offer to succeed them as the Sixth Hokage?"
A young woman's voice rang out in the air.
Hokage?!
Everyone turned sharply toward the boy named "Sora."
Wait… "Sora"? That name sounded familiar…
Wasn't he the one who had just gotten confessed to by that Hyuga girl this morning?
Yep. Aoki Sora.
And now?
The one speaking to him wasn't the Hyuga girl from before.
It was someone a bit older, still young, with stunning long violet hair.
And from her words, this Sora had been personally offered the position of Sixth Hokage by the Fifth?
Did that mean he already had Kage-level strength?
But he looked like he was only fifteen or sixteen.
And wasn't the Third Hokage still in charge right now?
There had only been a Fourth. Who was the Fifth, let alone a Sixth?
The Third Hokage: "???"
"...Eh, being Hokage sounds like a pain," Sora shrugged in the vision. "Too much paperwork, too much hassle."
"I'd rather just spend my days happily with someone I love."
"Someone you love?" the violet-haired woman echoed with a mischievous smile. "Are you talking about me? Or... someone else?"
"If it's me, I wouldn't say no."
"Uh—"
Sora hadn't even gotten to respond.
The screen faded to black, leaving the world in silence...
And endless imagination.
...
...
...
The transmission ended.
But across the world...
Countless people stood frozen in collective silence.
And then-
"EH?!"
An eruption of shocked voices followed.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 450, 800, 1200 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!