[Bond] Ch 2: System Panel

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"Young Master Yami, today is chakra extraction day."

In the courtyard of a wooden house, Shimura Yami listened intently as his Special Jōnin tutor, Ebisu, explained the techniques and key points of chakra extraction.

What is a Special Jōnin?

They are ninjas whose strength falls between a Chūnin and a Jōnin. They receive a Jōnin-level promotion due to their exceptional skills in a specific field, thus earning the title of Special Jōnin.

Ebisu was promoted based on his teaching abilities.

When it comes to chakra refinement, his knowledge and experience far surpass that of the Academy instructors.

The gap between ninja clans and civilian ninjas starts to show in these moments.

With the same physical fitness and mental energy, ninja clan members extract chakra more efficiently—not only do they have greater chakra reserves, but their recovery speed is also faster.

How is an ordinary person supposed to compete with that?

The only way to get stronger is to find a good teacher, but great teachers are usually from ninja clans.

Over time, factions naturally formed.

Even though Yami had a cheat-like system and a strong backing, he never slacked in his training. Instead, he was even more diligent than most people.

At the end of the day, this world respects strength. Without power, even if others respect you, it's just a facade—or they simply fear your authority.

In his past life, he was just an ordinary person. But now that he had the opportunity, Yami wanted to seize it and become someone extraordinary.

Still, his dedication only truly started when he turned five.

Chakra is extracted by drawing out the life energy from cells and mixing it with mental energy in a certain ratio. Training too early isn't necessarily a good thing.

The 'prodigy of filial piety'—Itachi—most likely fell sick because he overdeveloped his body too soon.

So yeah, young people should learn some restraint.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. After a respectful bow to each other, Ebisu left.

Ebisu was quite pleased with his student.

Yami's background needed no mention—Lord Danzo was practically on par with the Hokage.

More importantly, the boy was smart and attentive, understanding everything immediately without needing things explained twice.

Unlike some other ninja clan brats, who required Ebisu to spend half his time calming their tantrums like a glorified babysitter.

Meanwhile, Yami returned to his room, where the servants had already prepared dinner along with supplements to replenish his energy.

He frowned slightly but downed the bitter medicinal brew in one gulp before finally eating.

From a scientific perspective, cells only divide a limited number of times in a lifetime. Using chakra in battle is essentially "spending" one's life force.

But even if you don't extract chakra, cells continue dividing anyway. Most humans die due to organ failure rather than reaching the cellular division limit.

So as long as you maintain a balance and take care of your body, normal battles won't affect your lifespan.

Yami had learned all this from his grandfather, Shimura Danzo.

That old man might have aged, but he never let go of his ambitions for the Hokage seat. Because of that, he paid special attention to health preservation.

If this were anyone else, it'd be like an elderly protagonist in a shōnen manga. But…Too bad he is the infamous "Scapegoat Kage."

After dinner, Yami returned to his room.

The old man had been away doing who-knows-what for days now. In this massive estate, aside from servants and guards, Yami was the only resident.

Lying on his bed, he summoned the system panel with a thought, flipping to his personal stats page.

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[Name: Shimura Yami]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 6]

[Birthdate: April 1, Konoha Year 46]

[Chakra Attributes: Fire (Genius), Wind (Genius), Yang (Excellent)]

[Chakra Reserves: 6.1 Standard Genin Units]

[Chakra Control Talent: Genius]

[Mastered Jutsu: Clone Jutsu (Proficient), Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Basic), Fire Release: Blazing Meteors (Basic)]

[Nature Transformations: None]

[Special Talents: 'Hopes of a Father,' ' Mother's Love,' Senju Bloodline (Diluted, Developing), Swordsmanship Prodigy, Stealth Mastery, Expert Dango Maker, Fan Crafting Beginner.]

[Power Rating: Academy Bully—You're the one doing the bullying, nobody dares mess with you.]

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For someone with a system, this was a pretty underwhelming panel.

But considering he'd only had the system for a few days, aside from the one unit of standard Genin chakra he had "farmed," everything else was the result of his own hard work.

For a six-year-old, he had already met the graduation standards.

The system categorized abilities and jutsu into different rankings:

Talent Rankings: Basic → Good → Excellent → Genius → Extreme → Limitless

Jutsu Mastery Levels: Beginner → Basic → Proficient → Mastered → Extreme → Limitless

"Genius" was on par with the most famous prodigy in Konoha—Kakashi.
"Extreme" referred to someone like Hiruzen, the "Professor" of ninjutsu.

Looking at his current stats, Yami's future potential capped out at elite Jōnin. If he pushed himself, he might barely reach Kage-level.

But…

His gaze fell on two specific special talents.

[Hopes of a Father]: A father you never met had high expectations for you. All your existing attribute talents are raised by one level.

[A Mother's Love]: A mother's love is the greatest gift. In her final moments, she left behind something precious for you. This talent has three stages:

•Stage 1: Unlocks your maternal Senju bloodline, which develops automatically as you age. It disappears upon adulthood.

•Stage 2: Once you officially become a ninja, all your talents increase by one level (capped at "Limitless," some special talents excluded).

•Stage 3: At age sixteen, you will continue to be blessed by your mother's love, doubling your chakra reserves.

Parental love, huh…

Yami thought back to the gentle woman he only ever saw once, feeling a mix of emotions.

He already knew his mother was from the Senju Clan.

Back in the day, Senju Tobirama encouraged intermarriage between the Senju, other clans, and civilians. While this initially weakened the clan's combat power, it significantly increased the chances of talented ninjas emerging among civilians.

But… awakening Senju bloodline abilities wasn't easy.

His mother had left him the best possible gift.

The system never gave him a starter pack, but she had made up for it.

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