Chapter 9: The Rejected Izayoi
Points could only be obtained by decomposing traits. Izayoi had known this since he was three years old. Back then, in order to reasonably hang around the vicinity of the Hyūga compound, he had made friends with a group of kids and pyed ninja games with them. Due to being too popur, he incurred the displeasure of some peers and got into fights with a few children. Among them, several kids possessed White-rank *Ninja Aptitude* traits. After obtaining these traits, the system prompt also offered the choice of "Fuse or Decompose." By decomposing those traits, Izayoi received twenty-five points in total; each White trait decomposed yielded a random single-digit number of points.
Now, decomposing a Purple trait instantly yielded a four-digit sum of points. Blue-rank traits could now be upgraded.
"So, how many points are needed to upgrade a Blue trait?" Izayoi was very curious and couldn't resist tapping the plus sign [+] next to *Chakra Control*.
Immediately, his status panel changed again.
[Host: Izayo[Talent Traits: ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Red), Beyond Kage Aptitude (Gold), Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan (Purple), All-Affinity Constitution (Purple), Chakra Control (Purple), Medical Genius (Blue)][Points: 793]
The *Chakra Control* trait turned from Blue to Purple. The plus sign next to *Medical Genius*, however, disappeared. His points had decreased by nine hundred and ninety-nine.
"Trait ranks are divided into White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Red. Decomposing White gives random single-digit points, decomposing Purple gives four-digit points, and upgrading Blue requires the maximum three-digit number (999) points. Is this point cost random or fixed?" Izayoi pondered inwardly. "If it's fixed at the maximum number for each tier, does that mean White to Green costs 9 points; Green to Blue costs 99; Blue to Purple costs 999; Purple to Gold costs 9999; Gold to Red costs 99999; and Red to the unknown next level costs 999999 points?"
Izayoi didn't know. He currently had no traits below Blue rank, nor did he have a rge number of points for testing. Even if he had surplus points, Izayoi wouldn't use them to upgrade low-level traits. Except for special traits like *Byakugan* and *Chakra Control*, he didn't pn on upgrading any traits below Red rank anymore.
As long as he awakened the Tenseigan, he would possess numerous techniques offering an overwhelming advantage. Developed to its peak, it granted power on the Six Paths level. That one pair of eyes would be enough for Izayoi to st until the final battle of Shippuden. Rather than wasting points on trash traits, it would be better to save them for eventually upgrading the *ōtsutsuki Bloodline*. If the *ōtsutsuki Bloodline* were upgraded again, its purity would surely reach the level of the off-world ōtsutsuki cn members. At that time, perhaps it might even lead to abilities like different colored Rinnegan, or even Karma seals and Shinjutsu (Divine Techniques).
Of course, this was all just specution, and still a long way off for Izayoi.
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Time moved to September 1st. The Ninja Academy began its second term.
This term, Izayoi finally started attending csses with his main body, though only for the afternoon sessions. In the second term, mornings were still dedicated to academic subjects. Afternoons now included Taijutsu sparring, in addition to physical education and shuriken throwing practice.
Unfortunately, the Taijutsu sparring partners were randomly assigned by Iruka Umino. Izayoi wasn't matched against Naruto Uzumaki or Sasuke Uchiha, nor against Hinata.
"Iruka-sensei, can I request a match against Sasuke?" When he heard about the random matching, Izayoi proactively approached Iruka, wanting to fight Sasuke Uchiha.
Iruka Umino hesitated slightly but ultimately shook his head. "There will be no special treatment for Taijutsu sparring. Its purpose is to remind everyone that the enemies you encounter might be evenly matched, weaker than you, or even stronger."
"You must adapt to evenly matched fights, as well as battles where you are crushing the opponent or being crushed... Improve through hard-fought struggles, gain a sense of accomplishment from victory, and taste the bitterness of defeat, constantly growing through these experiences."
"I understand, Iruka-sensei." Seeing Iruka refuse, Izayoi didn't insist. He decided he would challenge Sasuke Uchiha after school instead.
However, after school, Sasuke Uchiha's reply made Izayoi's mouth twitch slightly.
"Sasuke, want to have a match?"
"Sorry, I'm not interested. I need to go home and train."
Sasuke Uchiha, not yet the avenger, wasn't as cold and aloof as his ter self in the original story. Still, he unhesitatingly refused Izayoi's challenge, eagerly running off towards home. After the Nine-Tails Rampage, the Uchiha cn was suspected of being the mastermind, and their compound had been forcibly relocated from the central district to the vicinity of the Naka River. Sasuke, who hadn't yet mastered the Body Flicker Technique, had a considerable distance to cover from the academy to his home. Right now, all he wanted was to go back and train with his older brother; he had no time to waste on Izayoi.
Before Izayoi could even attempt to provoke him about the Uchiha cn or goad him into a fight, Sasuke had already disappeared without a trace.
Izayoi felt quite helpless about this. He didn't switch targets to challenge Naruto Uzumaki either. Although the major exam determining the top student hadn't occurred yet, Naruto's overall grades from the first term already pced him dead st in the year. After all, even the worst students knew how to pronounce the word "chakra." Only Naruto Uzumaki could still mispronounce it even after graduation, indicating his academic scores were likely bnk papers or random scribbles, just like his Chunin Exams written test. Being somewhat malnourished, his physical education scores weren't reaching the mid-to-upper range either.
For Izayoi, an honor student, to suddenly challenge the dead st would easily attract the attention of the ANBU, or even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, who constantly monitored Naruto. The former might be manageable, but the tter (Danzo) would likely suspect Izayoi knew something, or assume Izayoi was a pawn sent by someone to get close to Naruto. To prevent unforeseen incidents, they might very well take certain countermeasures. At that point, Izayoi's situation would become very disadvantageous. That wasn't what he wanted.
Therefore, Izayoi's targets, for the time being, remained only Hinata and Sasuke Uchiha.
Rejected by Sasuke, Izayoi didn't resort to pestering him relentlessly. It was already September of Konoha Year 54; only three months remained until the year's end. Next year would bring the infamous genocidal boy cn annihition incident. At that time, Sasuke, having become an avenger, would definitely not refuse Izayoi's challenge anymore.
So, the next day, Izayoi continued to attend css with his main body but didn't proactively request a match against Sasuke, nor did he challenge him after css.
Being matched against Sasuke Uchiha or Naruto Uzumaki would certainly be good. But the other cssmates weren't bad either. After all, besides the two Saviors of the Shinobi World, this cohort also included the new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho and the Sensory Team (Team 8). The other students all possessed at least the baseline *Ninja Aptitude (White)*. Every single one had traits; even decomposing White traits yielded single-digit points. And the Konoha 9 members possessed Blue, Purple, even Gold and Red traits. Obtaining any one of those would be a huge gain.
Uncertain whether Shadow Clones could trigger trait acquisition, Izayoi naturally couldn't afford to skip the afternoon csses.
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