Outside the hospital room door, hushed conversation drifted from the corridor.
"...It's this one, A-307." A young nurse's voice carried a mix of excitement and nervousness. "When changing his bandages, be gentle—don't disturb his rest."
"That's the kid who took down a Cloud jonin and two chunin by himself?! Seriously? How old is he? He hasn't even graduated from the academy yet, right?"
"Absolutely true! My cousin's neighbor went to investigate the scene—said it was brutal! One Lightning Release jutsu skewered them like yakitori!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't talk carelessly!"
"I know," another, calmer voice replied. "Honestly, I still can't quite believe it. The report says he single-handedly..."
"Shh—" The young nurse quickly interrupted. "Stop it—what if he hears? Anyway, be respectful. The Hokage himself gave strict orders to use the best medicine and ensure his complete recovery."
"Understood, understood. A Konoha hero—who'd dare be negligent?"
Creak—
The hospital room door opened gently.
Hiroki leaned against his headboard, pretending to gaze out the window. In reality, he'd heard every word of the conversation outside.
Such praise was somewhat uncomfortable. Since graduating elementary school in his past life, he'd rarely heard such generous, direct compliments given without any consideration for his reaction.
After entering the workforce, workplace colleagues praised him even less.
Everyone's mindset had stabilized—they just wanted to earn money and get promoted. Who had energy left for compliments?
Only when gaming would anyone shout "awesome" or "nice."
...
"Sawada-kun, we're here to change your bandages." The young nurse entered carrying a tray, wearing a professionally gentle smile, though her eyes couldn't hide curiosity and a trace of... awe.
"Thank you for your trouble." Hiroki nodded.
The young nurse skillfully unwrapped the bandages on his arm, treating his wounds. The instant she approached, a familiar popup quietly appeared in Hiroki's consciousness space.
Ding~
Detected connectable computer 'Nakajima Aki', temporary connection established via 'Chakra Communication Protocol'.
Open and view files?
There it is.
So it wasn't a dream after all.
His cheat ability could connect with anyone.
All people—whether ordinary civilians or ninja—seemed to be treated as computers by his cheat system.
Hiroki's heart stirred. This was his first time actively exploring his cheat ability's capabilities in a non-combat state. He wanted to know exactly what this "connection" could do.
He mentally selected "Yes."
Instantly, a window labeled "Nakajima Aki's Computer" popped up. Rather than checking her memory drive first, Hiroki directly opened the Temp folder representing real-time thoughts.
In an instant, countless trivial thought files refreshed on his "screen" like a waterfall.
Oh_my_god_he's_so_young_looks_so_thin.log
Is_this_the_genius_who_took_down_three_Cloud_ninja_alone.log
He_killed_three_ninja_and_doesn't_even_have_obvious_wounds_truly_a_hero.log
He_looked_at_me_did_I_do_something_wrong.log
His_face_is_so_handsome_will_he_get_even_more_handsome_does_he_have_a_girlfriend.log
Should_I_ask_for_his_autograph_as_an_example_for_my_little_brother.log
No_no_too_forward_she'll_think_I'm_a_fangirl.log
Sob_sob_I_am_a_fangirl_I_want_to_lick_his_cheeks.log
Hiroki: "..."
He felt his mouth twitching.
Wait, were girls' thoughts always this active?
This feeling was too strange—displaying someone's mental commentary in real-time like bullet comments, only to discover they were "hyping" him up this much made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Ugh! Kind of cringeworthy...
Hiroki resisted the urge to close the window and began searching for more valuable information.
Soon, he found a folder labeled "Medical Care & Nursing" in her D: Drive (Memory).
Opening it, the files inside made his eyes light up.
Medical_Ninjutsu_Mystical_Palm_Technique_(Beginner).dat
Chakra_Precision_Control_(Proficient).dat
100_Common_Phrases_for_Street_Arguments_(Master).pdf
Dating_Pursuit_Guidelines_(Master).pdf
Comprehensive_Pharmaceutical_Knowledge_(Konoha_Edition).pdf
Found it!
He could copy not just combat jutsu, but also medical ninjutsu and support skills!
Even some weird random things!
Elation surged through Hiroki. Without hesitation, he selected all these files and pressed Ctrl+C to copy.
Then he opened his own D: Drive (Memory), created a new folder called "Skill Backup," and firmly pressed Ctrl+V to paste!
A file transfer progress window immediately popped up.
Calculating required time and space...
Total: 5 files, Total size: 21.4MB
Copying files from Other Computer (Nakajima Aki) to My Computer (Sawada Hiroki)...
Estimated time remaining: approximately 12 minutes...
Twelve minutes?
Hiroki frowned. He was currently in balanced mode! This speed was much slower than expected.
Just then, the young nurse had efficiently changed his bandages and picked up a thermometer.
"All done, Sawada-kun." She glanced at the thermometer reading, her face showing a relieved smile. "36.5 degrees—completely normal. Your physical constitution is remarkable—recovering so quickly. I've already communicated with your attending physician. You can complete discharge procedures this afternoon."
As she spoke, she tidied the tray and turned to leave.
Connection interrupted.
Disconnected from computer (Nakajima Aki).
Target lost, file transfer failed.
As she left physical contact range, the transfer progress bar in Hiroki's consciousness space instantly turned gray with an annoying notification box popping up.
Hiroki: "..."
He leaned against his headboard in slight silence.
This cheat ability was undoubtedly powerful—heaven-defying even. Theoretically, given enough time and contact opportunities, he could copy the knowledge and skills of everyone in the entire shinobi world.
But... it wasn't exactly user-friendly.
First, "connection" required physical contact—sustained physical contact. This meant he couldn't just grab random people on the street and start "downloading."
Randomly grabbing a ninja was impossible—who knew what they'd think.
Copying jutsu required sufficiently long physical contact—at minimum holding hands. But for people who weren't close enough, maintaining hand-holding for over ten minutes without letting go was already difficult enough.
Second, "downloading" took time. Even for medical ninjutsu like Mystical Palm Technique in balanced mode during non-combat, it took this long. What about larger jutsu files—wouldn't those take days?
In rapidly changing combat, this was completely impractical.
He couldn't expect to be in kidnapping situations every time with enough prolonged contact with another ninja.
Unless...
Sawada Hiroki pondered, opening the "Network and Internet" settings.
Six or seven WiFi signals flickered on the list.
Unless he tried connecting to these WiFi signals to see if he could download any jutsu from them.