The mont the idea hit him, Hoshiyomi ignored Jiraiya and Sakumo completely and dove into his system interface. Hidden away in a corner he'd always overlooked, he found a combat log he hadn't paid attention to before.
And at the very bottom—beneath a long list of entries like "Trained swordsmanship: 1 EXP"—was a new line:
Cross-rank combat – opponent: Hatake Sakumo → 5 EXP
Seeing that line, Hoshiyomi's grin nearly split his face.
It used to take three to five days of grinding just to earn one point. And I just got FIVE?!
If that's how it worked, then…
If I spar with Sakumo every day, won't I reach Sword Saint level in no ti?!
His eyes lit up. Without hesitation, Hoshiyomi slung an arm around Sakumo's shoulder and gave him a beaming smile.
"Hey, don't feel so down, Sakumo. Winning or losing isn't the point. As shinobi, we shouldn't obsess over the result of a single match—we should focus on what we gain, right?
We both learned sothing from today's match, yeah? That's the real purpose of sparring—to grow. Let's keep going! If we spar every day for the next three years, we'll definitely beco stronger together!"
Sakumo stared at him, stunned by the sudden wave of warmth. Everything Hoshiyomi said made sense… but for so reason, his enthusiastic grin gave him chills.
Sakumo nodded slowly, his expression awkward as he tried to step back from the over-familiar arm still wrapped around his shoulder.
Hoshiyomi, satisfied with the agreent, finally let go—smiling like he'd just signed a lifeti contract.
From now on, Sakumo isn't just a classmate... He's my personal EXP farm!
Just then, the front door creaked open.
Hoshiyomi's mother, Rie Gekkō, stepped inside, back from her hospital shift. She blinked in surprise at the sight of two unfamiliar boys standing in the courtyard with her son.
"Hoshiyomi? Who are these two?"
Hoshiyomi ran over to help with the groceries and said cheerfully:
"Hey, Mom! Let introduce you. This is Hatake Sakumo, and that's Jiraiya. They're my new classmates—and my new friends."
Jiraiya and Sakumo quickly caught on and bowed politely.
"Good evening, ma'am. Sorry to intrude!"
Rie could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her son... had made friends?
The Academy is already paying off!
A warm smile spread across her face.
"That's wonderful! Don't just stand around out here—co inside!"
She was so thrilled that Hoshiyomi had finally brought soone ho that she went all-out preparing dinner, pulling off a full spread of homade dishes that were as delicious as they were beautifully presented.
Jiraiya practically buried his face in his bowl, while even the usually reserved Sakumo couldn't help but devour everything in sight.
After dinner, Rie even offered to let them stay the night—but both boys politely declined.
As she waved them off with a cheerful "Co over anyti!", Rie closed the door behind her, then suddenly pulled her son into a tight hug.
"Hoshiyomi, I'm so happy you made friends! Keep it up, okay? Make lots and lots of good friends!"
She paused, then added with a teasing smile:
"And if you happen to find a girlfriend, that'd be even better."
Hoshiyomi rolled his eyes.
"Don't you think it's a little early for your six-year-old son to be dating?"
But Rie didn't miss a beat.
"Not at all. I t your father when I was about your age. And he proposed at sixteen!"
"You're even more handso than he was—girls are going to love you. If you fall for soone, bring her ho so I can et her, okay? Actually, even if it's more than one girl, that's fine too. As long as they're all sweet and kind, I don't mind a few girlfriends. The future of the Gekkō Clan might depend on you, you know!"
(ー_ー)!!
Hoshiyomi was speechless.
Later that night, lying on his bed, Hoshiyomi didn't imdiately return to training. Instead, he opened his system interface again, staring at the combat log.
Today proved two things.
First, he realized sothing important: brute-force training wasn't the system's preferred thod of growth.
Until now, he'd been practicing solo at ho like a shut-in, assuming the system only rewarded physical repetition. But now, thinking back on all the ani and novels from his previous life…
Almost no one becos strong just from grinding alone. They grow through battle.
Maybe that was the system's real design: not just training with a sword—but challenging stronger opponents and gaining experience through real combat.
The 5 EXP from sparring with Sakumo made sense now.
Sakumo already had at least genin-level strength, and Hoshiyomi, though stronger than most of his peers, was maybe on par with a fourth- or fifth-year Academy student at best.
So defeating soone above my rank was what earned that EXP.
Fighting stronger opponents and learning through battle—that might be how the system truly functioned.
The second thing Hoshiyomi noticed was subtler, but no less important: from now on, he needed to always carry a sword and fight with it during any kind of combat.
Because now that he thought about it—he had gained EXP from fighting Sakumo, but not from sparring with Jiraiya.
Even in gas, you still get 1 EXP for beating a level-1 monster as a level-100 character… so why did I get nothing from Jiraiya?
Then it hit him.
I didn't use a sword in that fight. The system must've considered it irrelevant to sword training.
Which ant if he wanted to grow faster, he had to be like Sakumo—never without a blade, and always using it in combat.
With that decision made, Hoshiyomi leapt out of bed and ran downstairs to his late father's study.
After digging through a few shelves, he found two items: a wooden practice sword suited to his height and a small, elegant dagger.
The dagger was just slightly longer than a butter knife, but far sharper—perfect for ergencies. The wooden sword, on the other hand, would be ideal for sparring at school, where real weapons weren't allowed.
He placed both beside his school bag.
And with his mind set on his next experint, Hoshiyomi began preparing for the next stage of his training.
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