Hikaru's blunt rejection of the teacher's "jump a grade" suggestion was met with surprising understanding.
The Chūnin instructor simply nodded.
"Well… with your skill level, I don't think there's anything I can really teach you in these practical lessons anymore," the teacher admitted with a sigh.
And he wasn't wrong.
Hikaru's close-combat mastery—especially after constant training under ex-Jōnin Yakushi Tori—had far exceeded what most academy instructors could handle. The only thing he lacked now was proper sparring partners.
Which… obviously didn't exist in this class.
There were only so many times you could trounce the entire student body before it got boring.
But if the teacher couldn't train him, then maybe…
"Sensei," Hikaru offered with a twinkle in his eye, "why not let me be your assistant during the practical classes? I could help guide the others in close-combat basics."
The teacher blinked, then chuckled.
"You want to be… my teaching assistant?"
After a moment of consideration, the instructor nodded.
"Fine. From the next lesson on, you're my assistant. But if you're helping, you'd better teach them properly."
"Of course, leave it to me!" Hikaru said, patting his chest proudly.
What he didn't say?
This "teaching assistant" gig was the perfect cover.
With it, he now had a legitimate excuse to fight his classmates during every practical class—farm them for materials—and nobody could say a thing.
Win-win.
Back in class, the teacher made the announcement: Hikaru was officially his assistant for combat training classes.
The rest of the students?
Stunned.
"Same age… same class… and he's our TA?!"
They couldn't complain, though. Every single one of them had been steamrolled by him just an hour earlier.
As everyone returned to their seats after class, Hikaru leaned back at his desk, eyes focused on his newest haul:
🧾 Status Panel
Name: Hikaru Aokyu
Level: Genin
Abilities: None
Jutsu: Body Flicker (White)
Materials:
Chakra (White) ×39
Kagura Mind's Eye (Blue) ×4
Sage Body (Blue) ×3
Uzumaki Bloodline (Blue) ×3
Special Materials (Fragments):
Nine-Tails Chakra Fragment ×6
Flying Thunder God Kunai Fragment ×1
Tools: None
Time to synthesize.
He activated the synthesis interface and began fusing materials two at a time—each attempt with only a 20% success rate.
The system responded with its familiar chimes:
[DING! Synthesis Success – Chakra Fruit (White)][DING! Synthesis Failed][DING! Synthesis Success – Chakra Fruit (Green)][DING! Synthesis Failed]...and so on.
Out of 19 attempts:
13 failed.
6 succeeded.
He ended up with:
5x Chakra Fruit (White)
1x Chakra Fruit (Green)
Not bad at all.
Had he used the "safe" method (10 materials for 100% success), he'd only get 4 guaranteed white fruits.
Instead?
By gambling with lower success chances, he beat the odds—and scored a valuable green fruit, which offered triple the benefits of a white.
"Gotta admit… sometimes it does pay to be a degenerate gambler."
He tucked the fruits into his system inventory.
Once he returned to the orphanage tonight, he'd down the entire batch.
That haul alone?
Eight months' worth of chakra cultivation—instantly.
His chakra pool was now brushing against Chūnin-level.
At this pace?
He wouldn't just graduate at the top—he'd soon leave everyone in the dust.
And no one, not even the Hokage, would see it coming.
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