A faint shimmer pulsed across the corner of Ishiki's system panel, drawing his attention like a magnetic tug.
His heartbeat quickened.
"A new gadget…?" he whispered.
He focused on the glowing icon. A new object materialised in his inventory: sleek, metallic, and unmistakably futuristic, completely alien to the feudal shinobi world.
It resembled a helmet, smooth lines, polished surface, and thin glowing grooves.
Ishiki opened its description.
Genius Helmet
A gadget from Doraemon. When worn, it grants the user immense intelligence: accelerated thought processing, heightened understanding of complex systems, and the ability to deeply analyse any subject with extraordinary clarity.
A slow, delighted smile spread across his face.
"This… this is perfect."
His biggest weakness wasn't effort or determination; it was experience. He had a child's body, a child's brain, and minimal life knowledge in this world.
But this helmet,
It could bridge that gap.
Without hesitation, he materialised it.
A soft hum filled the air as the helmet settled onto his head.
Instantly, the world snapped into a different resolution.
Colours sharpened.Sounds layered.Information flowed.Thoughts aligned into perfect order.
It wasn't overwhelming; it was liberating.
His brain felt like it had been shackled his entire life, and someone had finally unlocked the chains.
He closed his eyes.
And began to think.
His mind went first to the three basic jutsus he had learned:
Shadow Clone.Transformation.Body Replacement.
Techniques are simple in concept, but extraordinarily complex in execution.
Normally, a ninja had to train for weeks, months, even, to truly master their fundamentals.
But now?
With the Genius Helmet, Ishiki's brain worked with inhuman speed.
Shadow Clone Jutsu
He broke down the technique like an engineer dissecting machinery.
Chakra distribution across multiple bodies.Energy matrices splitting without destabilising the core.Feedback loops that returned information to the original.
What's the optimal chakra ratio?What's the minimum amount needed to create a stable clone?How can I reduce waste?
His thoughts turned into equations.Formulas.Blueprints.
Transformation Jutsu
He analysed the molecular illusion, the chakra sheath that wrapped around the body.
How to maintain it without constant focus?How to stabilise features so they don't flicker?How to reduce chakra leakage?
His brain answered instantly.
Body Replacement Jutsu
He studied reaction time.Microscopic chakra bursts.Trajectory shifts.Substitution timing down to fractions of a second.
He mapped out optimal escape vectors.Calculated distances.Derived muscle memory shortcuts.
His mind was no longer a wandering stream; it was a high-speed, multi-core processor operating with terrifying precision.
He began micro-practice: tiny movements, chakra flicks, rapid simulations inside his head.
The helmet amplified everything.
Minutes blurred into hours.
His thoughts spun faster.His breathing quickened.His head throbbed faintly at first…
Then violently.
"Ahhh!"
A stabbing pain exploded behind his eyes.
He ripped the helmet off, gasping for air as the world snapped back to normal, a little blurry, a little slow, a little disappointingly human.
His heart raced.
His brain burned from overuse.
But he was grinning.
He immediately checked his system screen.
STATUS
Name: Ishiki
Age: 12
Chakra: 5 / 46
Strength: 23
Ninjutsu:
• Shadow Clone — Beginner
• Transformation — Beginner
• Body Replacement — Beginner
Taijutsu: Beginner
Genjutsu: None
Elemental Affinity: None
A wave of satisfaction washed away the pain.
From Entry to Beginner in all three jutsus, within hours.
"This is incredible…"
The Genius Helmet practically rewrote his understanding of ninjutsu.
His growth speed would be monstrous with this.
But the joy dimmed slightly as he noticed the problem:
"Chakra… only five left."
Even thinking about the chakra at high speed consumes chakra.Practising theory consumed chakra.Simulations consumed chakra.
Everything costs chakra.
He sighed, sitting back.
"So this is the trade-off…"
Incredibly fast growth, but equally fast chakra depletion.
Still, he couldn't complain.
Because something clicked in his mind,a realisation that made his pulse quicken.
He looked through his past upgrades:
When he needed defence → Reverse Cloak.When he needed nutrition → Concentrated Food.
When he needed intelligence → Genius Helmet.
A pattern.
A clear, unmistakable pattern.
His eyes widened.
"The system… unlocks what I need. Exactly when I need it."
Not random.Not arbitrary.Not luck.
A tailored progression.
As if the system understood his limitations and supplied solutions.
"But it's not my shortcut," he murmured. "It's my tool."
It gave him what he needed,but he still had to put in the work.
And the biggest bottleneck right now?
He glanced at his chakra bar.
Chakra. Chakra. And more chakra.
He needed to increase it dramatically.
He needed a method, a hack, a way to skyrocket his reserves.
The system had given him three tools so far.
But the rest…He would have to earn.
A determined fire lit in his eyes.
He would master the helmet.He would grow his chakra.He would push every limit.
And someday,
He would stand shoulder to shoulder with the two boys destined to change the ninja world.