Iruka-sensei's voice droned on in the background. I was half-paying attention to what he was saying while also thinking about my own plans for the future.
"—and during the Third Great Shinobi War, the Hidden Leaf Village sustained heavy casualties. However, thanks to the strategic genius of the Yellow Flash of Konoha, many enemy advances were halted before they could reach the Land of Fire's inner borders. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was instrumental in…" Iruka continued on droning, but I tuned out the rest.
Not because history wasn't important — it was, especially now that I'm a part of this world but because I'd heard this story before. At least a dozen times from different sources, through threads, discussions about who was the strongest, from the anime itself, wiki pages, and fan theories/ fan-fictions itself.
Still, sitting here, listening to Iruka talk about my father like he was some legendary figure from a myth, hit me a little differently. I glanced around the classroom, scanning everyone's faces. Shikamaru sat in the back, half-asleep with his chin propped on his palm. Choji was munching on something despite the no-snack policy in the classroom. Hinata was quietly taking notes — or maybe sketching something — while sneaking glances my way every few minutes. Satsuki sat rigid and still, her attention glued to Iruka like a hawk.
No one was looking at me oddly. No whispered gossip flowed between sneaky glances. 'So… my identity as the Fourth's son isn't public either,' I thought. '...Probably for the best.'
I shifted in my seat, fingers pressed lightly to the fabric of my pants. The faint tension in my chakra told me the Leaf Sticking Exercise was still active. The chakra inside me moved slowly, the sensation like warm water flowing down carefully measured canals. I focused on the skill's status window.
[Leaf Sticking Exercise – Lv9]
EXP: 70/450
Control Bonus: +9%
The EXP gain had slowed again. The diminishing returns were brutal, but it made some sense as I got more familiar with my chakra, still, repeatedly doing the same thing wasn't going to help much. Still, at this rate, it'd take another 2–3 hours of active practice to hit level 10. Assuming that was the cap, I would then have to think of ways to explain the tree-walking exercise or ask Kushina about it.
'Maybe level 10 could be a soft cap. Like a threshold where new forms of control unlock automatically?' I mused. 'There's no description, so I'm flying blind here. I probably would have to work on tree and water walking all on my own with some bullshit to explain how I knew what to do.'
This system was clearly sophisticated enough, yet the rules were not clear to me. Even the game-like mechanics I had access to weren't clearly defined. If I wanted to figure things out, I'd have to push every edge and take notes along the way because this power quite literally governs my livelihood. The bell rang, slicing Iruka's lecture in half.
Chairs scraped against the floor as everyone stood up ready to bolt. Iruka clapped his hands, gathering back the scattering attention, "Alright! Out to the training field. We've got body conditioning and shurikenjutsu drills scheduled for this morning."
I released the chakra from my fingers and stood, looking down at my kunai pouch on the way out, making sure everything was in place. Now, it was time to figure out how the exp thing for stats works.
...
The academy's training field wasn't huge. Just a dirt oval, a row of target dummies, and a few sun-bleached posts for balance drills. There was a low wooden platform off to one side where Iruka usually stood with his clipboard. As we jogged onto the field, Iruka's voice rang out.
"We'll start with twenty laps around the perimeter! Let's go!"
As everyone goaned and gathered together, I took off at an easy jog with the rest of the class, sandals crunching over the dirt track as the continuous drills had crushed the grass before it could grow. The sun was rising now, but it wasn't too hot. I pulled up my system overlay again, setting it off to the side of my vision, keeping tabs on my stat changes.
The total lap length couldn't have been more than 250–300 meters. According to my memories, I can breeze through something like this. Lap one resulted in no change in experience. Lap two, still Nada.
I matched pace with the pack, keeping things in control to get some sort of baseline for now. Choji was already slowing down behind me. Shikamaru sighed dramatically every five seconds as he followed and slowly eased himself beside Choji. Satsuki ran ahead, eyes sharp, pace and her steps perfectly timed like an athlete. Ino caught up to me and shot me a grin.
"You look like you didn't sleep much," she said, voice light.
I smirked. "Maybe I was busy training, getting stronger."
"Or staying up late playing with yourself, imagining things." She shot back as I nearly tripped. She giggled and darted ahead before I could respond.
'Okay. Mental note: she's getting bolder.'
Lap three resulted in nothing, and I had to resist the urge to try and push myself. Then, finally, as I completed lap four, the exp counter beside PHY and AGI ticked up:
Phy: 9 {F+} (4/300){+}
Agi: 9 {F+} (2/300){+}
There it was, my first EXP points focused on physical development. Now theoretically I could challenge Lee and Guy with enough training, but from what I understand, the higher the stat, the harder it will be to earn these upgrades.
'So… one kilometer of jogging equals one EXP per stat. That's kind of trash? Right?'
I frowned and kicked up my pace. Legs pumping, and my breath still steady, I surged forward. The wind tugged at my shirt as I pushed. Without using chakra, I tried to speed up as hard as my physical body would allow. A hundred meters vanished under my feet in less than ten seconds as I approached speeds that should be the peak of human limits in my past life.
After half a lap at full sprint, the numbers ticked up again:
Phy: 9 {F+} (5/300){+}
Agi: 9 {F+} (4/300){+}
'As expected. The harder I exert myself, the more it multiplies efficiency.'
I concluded as I checked on my body, the burn in my thighs was manageable for now, though it would start to build up soon. My body wasn't screaming at me to stop yet, but it was definitely starting to whisper suggestions of rest as I continued to push.
Five laps, then six and seven flew by quickly. By the time I hit ten, I was drenched in sweat, and the muscles in my calves were twitching with effort. My lungs burned, asking me for a break. But I didn't stop. Not yet. I was trying to establish just how much exp I could gain as the difficulty increased.
Lap eleven saw my pace finally drop slightly, yet the efficiency of the exp gain increased rather than decreasing. All I had to do was make sure I was trying to sprint as hard as possible as my body struggled, the exp gained per lap multiplied.
On lap twelve, I had to slow down or risk pulling something as I started to lose some sensations in my thighs and calves. I slowed down to match pace with the rest of the class again, falling in behind Kiba and Narumi. Ino jogged up beside me again, frowning.
"You okay?" She asked, concerned.
"I'm good," I replied, focusing on looking at the numbers. The change was noticeable. Now, instead of 1 exp increase in 4 laps, the numbers increased by 1 in just two. So even with the same speed as before, my exhausted body meant I was using more energy and force.
"You sprinted like a maniac just now." She asked again.
"Gotta set the pace, right?" I chuckled, leaning into pride as I challenged her.
She rolled her eyes. "Show-off."
I waved her off and focused on the system overlay once again.
[Phy: 9 {F+} (57/300)]
[Agi: 9 {F+} (106/300)]
A solid gain, but again… the exp gain at normal exertion was so slow it wasn't going to scale well unless I pushed myself harder. Still, at least I did figure out how much it can scale. From my memories, Naruto never really tried to push as hard as I did just now, not that anybody does in our class. Except maybe Lee did last year, there were some rumors going around about that training madman.
But then again, maybe it is related to some form of alternate reality, since our chakra only activates after we turn 18 here, pushing too much before then might lead to injuries, as without chakra we aren't exactly superhuman.
'That makes a little sense, though I would like to verify that.'
Before I could start another mental optimization session on how to proceed with my training with the new knowledge, Iruka's voice cut in again.
"Everyone, group up!"
We all gathered in the center, some panting, some flopping to the ground in exhaustion. One civilian student had collapsed beside a tree, clutching his side. Iruka frowned. "This is why you need to know your limits. Just because someone else can run twelve laps doesn't mean you can as well. Don't overextend, otherwise you'll get injured."
I didn't look around, but I could feel the eyes on me.
'So they did start running harder when I passed them multiple times.'
"Next up!" Iruka barked. "Body conditioning. I want fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, fifty pull-ups, and a hundred squats! No cheating and no rests in between exercises! Let's go!"
Groans echoed across the field. Shikamaru flopped face-first onto the ground.
"This is inhumane," he mumbled, even though this was basic body conditioning.
"Get up, Shikamaru!" Iruka called, marching over.
Laughter rippled through the class. Even Satsuki cracked a faint smile as she dropped down onto all fours.
I took a few steps away from the crowd and dropped into position. Push-ups were first. I opened the system window again and started.
One. Two. Three...By ten, I noticed the first uptick in PHY stat. At fifteen, I gained another EXP, and the scaling law came into effect once again.
At Twenty.
[+2 EXP]
At Thirty-five.
[+3 EXP]
I kept going. The strain was once again starting to build, like someone tightening a band around my chest. By fifty, my arms trembled. I was going faster than most of the class, so I continued. The burn in my shoulders reached critical levels. My chest felt like it was on fire. Eighty-five, Ninety, and finally, One hundred.
[+10 EXP]
I paused slightly at that massive increase in EXP, looking at it for a moment. I forced myself to continue: one-twenty.
[+20 EXP]
At one-thirty.
[+30 EXP]
By the time I hit one-forty, my arms buckled, and I collapsed onto the dirt. My chest heaved with exertion, and my arms shook. But a slow grin stretched on my face as I looked up at the system screen.
...
[Name: Uzumaki Naruto]
[Age: 18]
[Level: 1 (0/100){+}]
[Chakra: 1600/1650]
[Physical Stats:]
Phy: 10 {F+} (15/300)]{+}
Agi: 9 {F+} (106/300){+}
Dex: 10 {F+} (0/300){+}
[Mental Stats:]
Ref: 11 {E-} (0/400){+}
Spa: 11 {E-} (0/400){+}
Cog: 23 {E-} (0/400){+}
[LP: 610]
...
'That's more like it.' I almost laughed but was interrupted, thankfully.
"Show-off," someone muttered nearby. I turned to see Kiba flopped on his back.
"Try keeping up next time," I replied.
"Pfft. I had Akamaru on my back."
Shikamaru groaned from his spot, still flat on his face. "Wake me when it's nap time…"
A few girls giggled at our banter, and Iruka's voice boomed again.
"You've got five minutes to hydrate before sit-ups! Move!"
I stayed where I was, eyes skyward, watching the clouds drift slowly past.
This world — this system — it clearly had two paths to progress: either work as hard as possible or, well, the other one also requires hard work, just a different kind.
I could feel my chakra buzzing beneath the surface, my body adjusting to new limits as chakra saturated my muscles, easing the fatigue.
'I could laze around and rely on sex to progress. But why would I slow myself down?' I wasn't planning on just surviving here after all.
---
AN: This should give you a basic idea of the training aspect, as expected, Naruto would do both, use LP on stats like reflex and cog to boost his reserves while training his physical body and jutsu's without using LP, for a while at least. Been a long while.