The moment Shūyū activated the Senju Physique (Blue), a strange tingling sensation surged through his body. It was warm, electric—almost enough to make him groan out loud.
He held it in.
Then the real changes began.
His chakra surged.
If his reserves had previously been like a 100-milliliter bottle, they now overflowed like a 500-milliliter jug.
A fivefold increase.
With this kind of power, he could afford to be reckless with chakra expenditure.
Eyes gleaming, Shūyū called up his system panel.
— Name: Shūyū Hikaru— Level: Genin— Bloodline: Senju Physique (Blue)— Abilities: None— Ninjutsu: Body Flicker Technique (White)— Materials: Chakra (White) ×51, Kagura Mind's Eye (Blue) ×9, Uzumaki Bloodline (Blue) ×4— Special Materials: Yellow Flash (Blue) ×1, Nine-Tails Chakra (Black) ×1— Fragment Materials: Flying Thunder God Kunai Shard ×1— Items: None
"Not bad," Hikaru muttered.
The haul from this last practical training session had been phenomenal—32 Chakra (White) materials in one go.
But the true prize was activating the Senju Physique.
The moment he used it, a new stat had appeared on his interface: Bloodline.
Naturally. Something like the Senju Physique, born of lineage and blood, absolutely counted as a bloodline trait.
Another panel flickered open:
Senju Physique (Blue): Grants chakra capacity five times greater than average. Drastically boosts physical durability and regeneration.
"No wonder I feel like I'm overflowing," Hikaru murmured. "Five times the chakra of a normal person…"
The benefit wasn't just in chakra, either. His body felt sturdier, more resilient. Even his natural healing seemed faster.
A single material had elevated his combat capability across the board.
He flexed his fingers.
It was time to leverage that strength.
Though he'd focused heavily on developing the Rasengan this past month, his chakra hadn't increased at all through traditional refining. Not that it mattered.
He had the system.
Why waste time meditating when he could just synthesize chakra fruit?
One Chakra Fruit (White) equaled a full month of intensive chakra training.
And now, with 51 Chakra (White) materials in hand…
It was time to roll the dice.
"Begin synthesis," Hikaru said, eyes flashing.
He pulled up the fusion menu and began dumping materials in two at a time.
DING! Synthesis success — Chakra Fruit (White) obtained.DING! Synthesis failed.DING! Synthesis success — Chakra Fruit (Green) obtained.
One after another, the results rolled in.
Each successful ding gave him a thrill; each failure, a gut-punch.
When the 25 attempts were finished, Hikaru clenched his fists.
Eight successes.
Three green fruits. Five white.
That was his best conversion rate yet.
Gambling God title coming through, he smirked.
Without hesitation, he retrieved all the chakra fruits and consumed them on the spot.
The five White Fruits gave him the equivalent of five months of chakra cultivation.
The three Green Fruits? Nine more months.
Fourteen months of pure chakra gain, ingested in minutes.
His entire chakra network surged with power.
He could feel it—he was brushing up against the threshold for Chūnin-level chakra reserves. Just a little more, and he'd break through.
"Training?" Hikaru scoffed. "Who needs it."
Traditional cultivation? A joke.
Grinding a month for a trickle of chakra didn't compare to farming materials off his classmates and fusing them into pure, digestible power.
With enough Chakra (White), even Jōnin—or Kage—levels were within reach.
Hell, why stop there?
Of course, there was one tiny problem.
He was running out of classmates to farm.
"One class can only feed me so much…" Hikaru muttered, brow furrowing. "I need new sheep to shear."
The issue wasn't just numbers. His own class had started getting wise.
After the last training session, most of them avoided him like the plague. He couldn't even convince them to spar anymore—unless it was during mandatory practicals.
His only steady source of material now was Kushina, and even then, her drops were getting rarer.
He needed new blood.
"No reason I have to stick to my own year…"
Hikaru's eyes lit up.
There were dozens—hundreds—of students in the upper grades.
All older.
All stronger.
All potential loot pinatas.
"If I can't farm horizontally… I'll farm vertically."
He grinned.
Let the upperclassmen beware.
The real grind was just beginning.
Author's Note:Back from Qingming holiday and revving back up—apologies for the break! First of five chapters today let's gooo!