Haruki pulled his gaze away and closed the system panel. He took out a ration pill and popped it into his mouth.
Crunch~
He bit down gently, crushing it.
Immediately, a bitter taste exploded across his tongue, making the corner of his eye twitch involuntarily.
"No wonder nobody likes eating this stuff—the flavor is terrible."
Shaking his head, Haruki forced himself to swallow the gritty remains.
Soon, a warm sensation arose from his stomach, rapidly spreading throughout his limbs and body.
Without wasting time, Haruki sat cross-legged, focused his mind, and began refining his chakra.
After more than two hours, his chakra was fully restored. He stopped the Chakra Refinement technique and began practicing Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique.
The Transformation Technique was straightforward—he simply needed to methodically gather chakra and alter his appearance, earning proficiency as he went.
But the Substitution Technique was different; practicing it required preparatory tools, like a wooden board for the substitution.
This technique wasn't about spatial displacement but more of a visual illusion.
In the moment of being attacked, the user swiftly replaced their body with a prepared substitute, causing the opponent to misjudge the attack.
This gave the user the chance to counterattack or escape.
Thus, this technique heavily tested a ninja's timing skills.
Used well, it was a divine skill; used poorly, it revealed even more openings.
However, no matter how masterful, the Substitution Technique had its limits.
As long as there was a substitution process, there would inevitably be flaws.
Such flaws might not matter much in fights between genin or chunin, but at the jonin level, almost everyone could seize such chances.
Therefore, jonin rarely used Substitution to confuse opponents in serious battles.
For Haruki, this was still far ahead.
At his current stage, Substitution Technique was a rare and valuable life-saving skill.
So even though practicing it was troublesome, he bore it without impatience.
After about ten minutes, his chakra was drained again.
Haruki swallowed another ration pill and started refining chakra once more.
Two hours later, with chakra mostly restored, he resumed practicing Transformation and Substitution.
This routine continued until late at night, when Haruki finally completed his last training session.
Compared to before, today he had spent two extra hours on Chakra Refinement, raising his chakra capacity by 2 points and proficiency by 3 points.
Meanwhile, the extra 100 chakra restored helped boost the proficiency of Transformation and Substitution by over ten points.
Don't underestimate these small improvements—many small gains add up.
How much would that be after a month? A year?
Well, a year was a bit far off...
But a month was something Haruki could look forward to.
If it weren't for how mentally exhausting refining chakra and practicing ninjutsu were, and how eating too many ration pills caused digestive issues, he might try training through the night.
Ha~~~
Stretching and yawning, Haruki washed up a bit and returned to his room.
Soon, familiar soft snores filled the air.
Time passed, second by second.
At one moment, a figure appeared on the power pole outside the window.
A pair of crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan eyes watched Haruki intently, seemingly observing.
After a while, the figure disappeared.
Deep within the Uchiha clan territory, in the residence of the clan's elder.
Knock knock knock~
A gentle knocking came at the door.
"Come in!"
An aged voice called from inside.
Uchiha Haruto pushed the door open and bowed respectfully to the elder seated behind a desk.
"Elder!"
"Oh, it's Haruto," the elder looked up and asked, "What brings you here?"
"Reporting, Elder. I have the observation results regarding Haruki."
Haruto replied respectfully.
The elder's eyes flashed sharply, then he asked slowly, "So? Has the Sharingan awakened?"
"No."
Haruto shook his head.
"After days of observation, there has been no explosive growth in his chakra, and his mental state remains stable.
We can basically confirm he does not have the aptitude to awaken the Sharingan."
"I see."
Although the elder had expected this answer, he couldn't help but feel some disappointment.
Usually, clan members with the aptitude for Sharingan would awaken it immediately after a traumatic event like the loss of their parents.
Even if it didn't awaken immediately, their body and mind would show signs, and with a little further stimulus, awakening would follow.
But Haruki, after learning about his parents' sacrifice, neither awakened immediately nor showed physical or mental changes for some time afterward.
Thus, it was basically certain he lacked the aptitude for the Sharingan.
"Elder, shall we continue observing?"
Seeing the elder remain silent, Haruto spoke again.
"No need."
The elder waved his hand.
"You may leave."
"Yes, Elder!"
Haruto bowed and exited.
Haruki didn't know that this was the last chance the clan had to consider him seriously.
Had he awakened the Sharingan now, spurred by the compensation news, he might not have skyrocketed immediately—but his path ahead would certainly be much smoother.
He might even have gotten a bodyguard as a genin.
Indeed, that was the Uchiha clan: tough to deal with outside, but quite united within.
Well…
Except for that one traitor!
Since Haruki didn't awaken the Sharingan, he was destined not to enjoy the treatment given to geniuses.
But even if he knew this, he wouldn't mind.
His reliance had never been on the Uchiha clan.
With his proficiency panel, he believed he could grow up strong eventually.
Five days later.
School was almost over.
Clap clap clap!
Sugiki Ichito clapped his hands and shouted loudly:
"Everyone, come here!"
"Teacher, what is it? School is almost out!"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
At the call, over thirty students jostled together noisily, chatting and pushing each other.
Haruki stood on the outskirts silently.
From Ichito's serious expression, he sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, Ichito's next words confirmed his suspicion.
"Quiet!"
Ichito shouted.
Once the crowd settled, he announced:
"The village has decided to change your annual exam in half a month into a graduation exam.
Those who pass will be granted the status of Konoha Genin—a true ninja."
Though he had expected it, Haruki felt a surge of urgency hearing it for real.
But unlike him, many students in the crowd cheered excitedly.
"Teacher Sugiki, is that true?"
"Yeah, can we really become ninja early?"
Hearing their naive excitement, Haruki shook his head silently.
These kids have been protected too well; they don't realize how dangerous being a ninja is—especially in these times.
If he could, Haruki wished he could stay in school forever.
But that was impossible.
Now, he just hoped they wouldn't be sent straight to the battlefield after graduation, or…