Shuichi silently summoned his status bar and then allocated one point to his first skill.
As a skill refresh sound rang out, the Body Talent Enhancement skill reached Level 1, and a warm current appeared in his body. Shuichi felt as if his body was being bathed in gentle sunlight.
Not long after, the warm current gradually disappeared. Shuichi clenched his fist, clearly feeling his entire body filled with strength.
If someone were watching him, they would notice that Shuichi's breathing had become much more even, his face began to show a healthy flush, and his hair seemed to have more luster under the sunlight.
"Hoo..." Shuichi let out a soft breath, genuinely grateful that the heavens had given him a cheat when he transmigrated. "Now, let's start testing the effects."
Following the same running pace as in the morning, Shuichi began to run at a steady speed.
"One lap, two laps, three laps..."
When he ran until he felt the same physical sensation as when he finished in the morning, he was surprised to find that he had run more than double the total number of laps compared to the morning.
"Is this what 'Yang Release' means? My body's recovery ability has also improved." Shuichi was very happy now; the effect of allocating one point was even better than he had imagined, and he felt that his future was already bright.
"Next up is the other skill." Shuichi had already made detailed plans and preparations for evaluating the system's stat allocation.
He immediately ducked into the narrow alleyways between the houses on a nearby street, walking back and forth. When he found a relatively wide house passageway, he stopped and took out the two small balls he had bought last time from his pocket.
"Now it's time for Mental Energy and Reaction Speed. Let's see how they work." With that thought, Shuichi immediately focused his attention.
Estimating the approximate landing spot of the ball after it bounced back towards him, he briefly closed his eyes and threw one of the balls in his hand towards the ground with all his might.
The small ball first hit the ground at an extremely fast speed, then, after colliding with the wall, it rapidly flew towards Shuichi.
Shuichi quickly opened his eyes after throwing the ball, trying his best to clearly see the trajectory of the small ball. His body immediately reacted and performed an evasion movement.
This was a small game Shuichi had devised himself to train his reaction ability and a part of his body coordination.
In his imagination, this should be played by two people, one throwing and one dodging, somewhat similar to squash in his previous life, preferably in a small enclosed room.
As for the balls, he had originally planned to use highly elastic rubber balls, as such balls would bounce back from the wall at a faster and more unpredictable speed. It was just a pity he hadn't found any yet.
Although using ordinary toy balls wasn't as effective, it was enough for Shuichi to get a general understanding of his reaction ability.
"System, allocate one point to the second skill." Shuichi once again brought up the familiar interface in his mind and allocated one point to the second skill, Mental Energy Enhancement.
This time, there was a huge change in his mental state. Shuichi felt that all five of his senses had become sharper, the mental exhaustion from the previous test immediately subsided, and it was easier to focus his attention than before.
The doubled increase in Mental Energy also had other effects, such as stronger Chakra control, and possibly even an improvement to his soul.
He already had a rough plan for these aspects and would conduct more detailed tests when he allocated points to the Mental Energy skill next time.
After allocating points to the second skill, Shuichi once again started his small ball throwing activity. This time, he immediately felt a certain improvement in his dynamic vision; the trajectory of the small ball was clearer and more visible.
As for reaction speed, the change didn't seem very significant, but during multiple throws, he felt an improvement in stability, making it easier to unleash his absolute maximum reaction speed.
Striking while the iron was hot, Shuichi directly added one point to the third skill as well. This time, the feedback on reaction speed was very obvious, much like the feeling of suddenly switching to 0.75x speed when watching a video in his previous life.
Additionally, according to the skill description, his learning ability should have also greatly improved, and he planned to test it thoroughly when he returned home that night.
When he continued the ball bouncing test, Shuichi found this feeling incredibly exhilarating.
Aside from the small ball's flight speed appearing much slower in his eyes, his brain could also process more information in the same amount of time.
This would completely compensate for the lack of combat experience in future Ninja battles, and at the same time, greatly increase the probability of making optimal choices during intense combat.
...
Winter twilight always arrived early, and Shuichi embarked on his journey home.
Today's tests left him very satisfied. He didn't plan to immediately allocate the remaining point.
Because the system description clearly stated that the effects of these allocations were multiplied based on his original basic qualities, excluding the system itself.
This remaining point should have been allocated to the ultimate skill, Flash. Considering the very long cooldown in the early stages and the skill's utility, Shuichi found that always leaving one skill point unallocated before the skill reached max level could better help him resolve crises.
For example, if a future danger involved being surrounded by a large number of enemies over a wide area, the effect of Flash would be very poor. However, allocating points to Body Energy and Mental Energy could temporarily increase his Chakra reserves to catch enemies off guard.
And if he encountered a top-tier expert with extremely strong individual power, or if other crisis situations arose, he could instantly allocate to Flash to turn the tide.
Shuichi also considered some other details. The increase in the third skill, Reaction Speed, could indeed immediately boost combat power.
However, reaction speed needed to be perfectly coordinated with muscle memory to achieve maximum effect. If his reaction speed was too fast but his body couldn't keep up, then the value of the points allocated to the third skill would not be realized in the short term.
After simulating the effects and impacts of various allocation plans, Shuichi set the tone for future allocations: allocate points equally between the first and second skills, because due to soul fusion, his spirit was currently much stronger than his body.
The third skill would receive one point for every two points allocated to the first and second skills. In special circumstances, such as suddenly acquiring the Flying Thunder God Technique in the future, he could prioritize the third skill when a major adjustment to his combat system was needed.
...
After sorting out his cheat, Shuichi went home, read for a while, and generally felt the changes in his cognitive abilities.
Before falling asleep, Shuichi read one last summary of the Hokage plot progression and some important intelligence he had compiled, then tore the paper into many small pieces, intending to dispose of them in different places over multiple times.
Starting tomorrow, he would begin to address his financial constraints and also set himself various daily training tasks, including running, stretching, reaction training, and familiarization with hand seals, among other things.
Thinking about how he already had an awesome cheat and that the path to becoming a strong individual in the future was clearly visible, Shuichi smiled faintly and slowly drifted into dreamland.
Tonight's Gekko seemed exceptionally bright, reflecting on the boy's delicate face as if with a hazy beauty.