Pick up a pencil to become a genin

{Please read the notes at the end of the chapter I have clarified some doubts.}

When the final exams concluded and the results were announced, significant changes were made to the academy's student rankings. Utakata had left the academy as Juichi said. The bottom five students in the elite class were demoted to regular classes, though they still advanced to the second year. On the other hand, several high-performing students were given the opportunity to skip grades entirely.

Among them, Ren, Eiji, and Hitoshi stood out the most all three were directly promoted to the sixth year. Several others were allowed to skip to the fifth year, but Ren and his friends had made the biggest leap.

On his first day in the sixth-year classroom, Ren immediately noticed something amusing he was the shortest student in the entire class. Eiji, being a giant, towered over most, and even Hitoshi blended in well with their new classmates. Ren, however, looked noticeably younger, but before anyone could comment on it, they quickly learned the hard way that he was also the strongest in the class.

During their first sparring session, Ren effortlessly dominated his opponent, proving to everyone that his small stature was nothing to mock. Sparring sessions in the sixth year were held three times a week, and in addition to taijutsu and weapon training, they also had ninjutsu classes. Unfortunately, these only covered the academy three jutsu nothing Ren hadn't already mastered long ago.

Among his new classmates, only one person caught his attention Yūgao Uzuki. She was well-known for her exceptional swordsmanship and was rarely seen without her weapon, though she wasn't permitted to use it in class. Yūgao already had a strong reputation within the academy, having been the top student in the second year, the previous year before being promoted directly to the sixth year.

Aside from adjusting to his new environment, Ren's second year passed without any major incidents. Unlike before, there weren't any significant events that could trigger system rewards.

The last time he had received a reward was from his first meeting with Hiruzen, a moment that still amazed him. That single encounter had granted him three mastery points, each capable of increasing his mastery by 10% (before reaching the advanced level). He had already used one on Chakra Control and another on Shadow Clone Mastery, allowing both to break into the advanced level within a few months.

For now, Ren decided to save the remaining mastery points for future use, knowing that his path ahead would only grow more challenging.

This year, the academy held a similar exam to the one they had in the first year, but this time, the fights were noticeably different. The students were no longer wildly throwing punches like untrained brawlers. Instead, they fought with more strategy and precision, showcasing the techniques they had developed over time.

Ren's opponent in the match was Yūgao Uzuki. He had to admit she had skills. Not enough to force him to go all out, but enough to make him acknowledge her talent. She was precise, disciplined, and had an instinct for combat that most students lacked and her kenjutsu was enough to overwhelm normal genins. Though Ren ultimately won the fight, he knew that Yūgao would be a formidable kunoichi in the future.

Despite this, Ren found the second year incredibly dull. In his first year, at least, he had weekly matches with Itachi, which kept things interesting. Now, however, there was no real challenge.

The only memorable event this year was when the sixth-year students were taken to visit Konoha's high-security prison, where death-row criminals were held. The purpose of this visit was to condition their minds against bloodlust and killing intent ensuring that when they entered real battles, they wouldn't freeze up in fear.

Ren had heard rumors that, during wartime, academy students were required to kill as part of their training. However, after the end of the Third Great Ninja War, that policy had been abolished. Even so, with the war still fresh in memory, the village ensured that students were still exposed to the reality of bloodlust and violence to prepare them for the dangers ahead.

When Ren first stepped into the prison, he immediately felt an overwhelming pressure. It was an entirely new sensation, unlike anything he had experienced before. His instincts screamed at him to turn back, but he forced himself to move forward.

As they descended deeper into the prison, the air grew heavier, and the bloodlust became suffocating. Even though he had trained intensely for years, his steps faltered for the first time. But he clenched his fists and pushed forward. In the end, he made it to the lowest floor before finally returning.

That night, he reflected on what he had felt inside the prison. He hated the feeling of being overwhelmed. He never wanted to experience it again so from that day forward, he asked his father to unleash his own killing intent during their spars. Juichi, though slightly surprised by the request, agreed.

It was a wise decision. Compared to the criminals in the prison, his father's bloodlust was in a completely different league.

Training under such intense pressure, Ren quickly adapted to the sensation. He conditioned himself to stay calm and move fluidly, even under overwhelming bloodlust.

During his second year, Ren had four shadow clones working in the basement almost all day. The only time they weren't training was when they dispelled and Ren didn't have the chance to make a new one. His intense use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu genuinely worried Juichi, who eventually sat him down to explain the dangers of overusing the technique. But no matter how much his father warned him, Ren could only assure him verbally that he was being careful.

Of course, he couldn't tell Juichi about the system's interference, which removed the usual risks associated with memory overload from shadow clones.

Despite his father's concerns, this intense training had massively improved Ren's ninjutsu arsenal. He now knew multiple C-rank wind and earth jutsu, making his combat ability far more versatile. One of his most powerful new jutsu was the B-rank Wind Cutter Technique a technique that generated razor-sharp blades of wind either from a ninja tool like a fan or directly from the user's hands.

Ren adapted this technique to work with his claws, and the combination was a perfect fit. Now, with a single slash, he could send blades of wind toward his enemies, slicing through objects from a distance.

When he first practiced Wind Cutter, Ren was reminded of the Rankyaku technique from One Piece, one of the Six Marine Techniques. Inspired, he tried to recreate it, but no matter how much he practiced, he couldn't replicate the effect.

Logically, Rankyaku was just another form of taijutsu using sheer leg strength to create blades of wind. In theory, it should have been possible to reproduce it with his enhanced physical attributes and wind affinity. Yet, he failed every time.

After weeks of unsuccessful attempts, Ren reluctantly gave up. He concluded that the mechanics behind Rankyaku were fundamentally different from traditional chakra-based taijutsu. Perhaps there was another principle at play that he hadn't discovered yet.

Even though his experiment failed, training for it had greatly enhanced his physical strength. In that sense, it wasn't a waste of time.

His earth-style jutsu had also advanced significantly, but unlike his wind techniques, he had never tested them in an actual fight. While he occasionally used wind jutsu in sparring or daily activities, his earth-style remained a well-kept secret.

For now, he intended to keep it that way.

During his daily runs around Konoha, Ren occasionally crossed paths with a younger Might Guy. The boy was exactly how he appeared in the future loud, energetic, and completely absorbed in his idea of youth. Every time he ran past Ren, he flashed his iconic thumbs-up and an impossibly wide grin, shouting something about the "flames of youth" before dashing off again.

Ren couldn't help but find him interesting. He had read stories about Guy in his past life, and seeing him now, still so full of energy and passion, made him wonder was this just his personality, or was it a way to cope?

Guy was a shinobi, after all, and shinobi had to kill. Did he shout and smile like that to distract himself from the mental weight of taking lives on missions? Or was he genuinely this optimistic?

Ren didn't dwell on it for too long. Even though Guy was a true monster in taijutsu, Ren had no desire to learn the Eight Gates Technique. The risks were simply too high, and the drawbacks far outweighed the benefits.

In Ren's mind, power without control was meaningless. If he couldn't fully control his strength, then that power wasn't truly his. That was a philosophy he would always stand by.

(Present Time)

Today was the graduation exam for the sixth-year students, and Ren sat in his usual spot at the last bench, sandwiched between Eiji and Hitoshi. Over the course of the year, both of them had made significant progress Eiji had reached Level 29, and Hitoshi had also climbed to Level 29.

What caught Ren's attention, however, was that Hitoshi had originally been lagging behind Eiji by two levels. By the mid-term exam, Eiji had maintained that lead, but within a single month, Hitoshi had caught up completely. That kind of sudden progress wasn't normal, which made Ren suspect that Hitoshi had received some kind of specialized training from the Aburame Clan.

As Ren was lost in thought, the classroom door slid open, and their instructor walked in.

His name was Seichi Kano a completely average-looking man with black hair and black eyes. Unlike his previous teacher, Utakata, there was nothing particularly intimidating or special about him. However, one difference stood out immediately Ren could actually see his level.

[Seichi Kano - Level 46] 'A Tokubetsu Jonin,' Ren thought.

Ren could now observe people up to Level 60, as his own level had risen to 40. Over the course of the past year, he had completely dedicated himself to physical training, choosing to ignore ninjutsu entirely. Even though his clones had continued working on jutsus, he hadn't attempted them himself even once.

Instead, his focus had been purely on strengthening his body. This relentless training was the reason he had managed to reach Level 40 the very limit of what a Chunin could achieve.

As Seichi droned on at the front of the class, Ren tuned him out and pulled up his system panel:

[NAME - REN TAKAHASHI]

[LEVEL - 40]

[ATTRIBUTES]

STR - 40

AGI - 48

INT - 44

VIT - 48

CHA - 50 

[TALENTS]

-Improved Chakra Control

-Enhanced Reflexes

-Genjutsu Resistance (A-Rank) 

[MASTERY PANEL]

Chakra Control - 78% (Advanced)

Fast Fist Taijutsu - 83% (Advanced)

Shurikenjutsu - 87% (Advanced)

Shadow Clone Mastery - 79% (Advanced)

Wind Style Mastery - 75% (Advanced)

Earth Style Mastery - 72% (Intermediate)

[AVAILABLE POINTS: 3 MASTERY POINTS] 

Ren looked over his stats with silent satisfaction. His physical attributes had soared, pushing him to the absolute peak of Chunin-level strength.

Even his mastery panel was looking solid. Shurikenjutsu, Taijutsu, and Chakra Control had all reached advanced level, and his elemental jutsu were following closely behind. His Shadow Clone Jutsu had also progressed significantly, meaning he could now sustain more clones for longer periods without excessive chakra drain.

Ren felt deeply satisfied with his decision to stay in the academy for another year. If he had graduated early, his progress wouldn't have been nearly as explosive.

At just eight years old, he had already pushed his physical body to its absolute limit. Further intense training wouldn't yield much benefit not until his body hit its growth spurt.

For now, he decided he would ease up on pure physical training and instead focus on other aspects of combat that could enhance his overall strength. His ninjustu arsenal needed refining, his strategy and adaptability needed sharpening, and most importantly he needed real combat experience, even though he would fight with Juichi frequently he knew in his heart that althought his father would push him to his limits he would not actually kill him so there was still a sense of safety.

Just as these thoughts swirled in his mind, Seichi Kano started distributing the exam papers, his voice cutting through the classroom:

"The graduation exam begins now."

Ren picked up his pencil, it was time to officially become a Genin.

{Note 1: This is it for the academy arc hope you guys enjoyed it. I know that it wasn't good to entirely skip the second year but I felt that there were not many things I could've written that would be enjoyable to the readers. Also I don't think I have exaggerated the stat increase but tell me if you think it was too much but just remember all he did was physical training for the whole year and also note that none of his stats are actually in the Jonin level which I believe would be truly OP for a genin.}

{Note 2: A lot of you guys have been questioning about the stat division at the beginning about why he did not invest all his stats in CHA and VIT so I'll explain. The points he received were 40 and he had to divide them in 5 stats, the maximum he could invest in 1 stat was 10 (The limit of an academy level student). I thought it would be understandable when I put 2 stats at 10 points that it would be the limit but I guess not since there were many comments regarding this. I have clarified it here and I'll also add this note in that chapter too to avoid confusion for the future readers.}

{Discord link:- https://discord.gg/JkMC5NE2 I have posted the character pictures there so you could join the discord to see them. I'll be adding them to webnovel soon too in the auxiliary chapter.}