Morning sun hit the floor, and Yoichi sat up with a fluid grace that didn't belong to a patient. Recovery was complete after three days in the hospital ward.
Outside, the village was buzzing with news of the previous night's ruckus.
An official announcement from the Hokage's office echoed through the streets and hospital halls, framing the infiltration as a minor incident.
The report claimed a lone mercenary had been repelled by Konoha's elite security, omitting the fact that Kakuzu had escaped the chasing squads entirely.
During this time, the constant intake of Qi Blood Pills and an unparalleled physical regeneration had knit flesh and bone back together at a speed that defied logic.
The combat had clearly acted as a catalyst. Movement was now evolving past the limits of a normal shinobi, fueled by a deep surge of vitality.
A blue screen flickered in his mind, showing the progress earned through blood and grit:
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Perfection) 341/1000] (+36)
[Mountain Crushing Fist: (Great Success) 489/500] (+26)
[Lightning Spear Thrust: (Great Success) 491/500] (+37)
[Phantom Steps: (Perfection) 5/1000] (+25)
Memories of the Mountain Crushing Fist and the Lightning Spear Thrust remained sharp.
Both techniques sat at the very edge of mastery, needing only a few more repetitions to reach their peak.
However, the lower limbs already carried an otherworldly power.
A single step off the bed made the world slow down as Phantom Steps flickered across the room.
Instead of just moving fast, faint afterimages lingered in the air like solid figures.
This perfection gave the legs a magical sensation of weightlessness.
A light push off the floor allowed the body to glide through the air for a short moment, defying gravity before feet touched the ground again.
The Heavenly Demon Posture acted as the foundation for this transformation.
It served as an anchor, letting the massive energy in the veins flow into the legs without tearing muscles apart during such supernatural bursts.
Three days of regeneration had reinforced the frame, letting perfection reach deeper into the bones. It provided a stable platform for flickering movements and aerial glides.
[Congratulations on Perfection-Level Phantom Steps!]
[Reward: 1 Prismatic Ticket!]
The door creaked open, and the three friends walked in with fresh medical supplements.
Tsunade froze in the doorway, the bottle of Qi Blood Pills nearly slipping from her hand. Jiraiya's jaw dropped, while Orochimaru's eyes narrowed into thin slits.
They expected to find a recovering patient, but the room felt charged with a strange energy instead.
Yoichi was suspended three inches above the floor, his body perfectly still.
Faint, ghostly afterimages shimmered in the air.
There was no sound of heavy breathing.
He simply drifted for a second before his feet touched the tiles with the silence of a falling leaf.
Within his mind, he looked at the notification for the Prismatic Ticket and felt a rare surge of satisfaction.
This reward made the brush with death and the grueling recovery more than worth the risk.
"You're supposed to be in bed," Tsunade finally spoke, her confusion clear.
She checked the monitors he had already detached. "We've been practicing the martial arts you shared, but this is different. I saw your charts, Yoichi. No one recovers in three days, and the steps we know don't let you glide like that."
She thought of the techniques Yoichi had gifted her, which provided her with overwhelming strength and vitality.
Even with that power, this level of recovery was alien.
Jiraiya rushed forward, circling the spot where his friend had been hovering.
His own style gave him incredible endurance and resilience, but even his conditioned body couldn't mimic that weightless motion.
"That wasn't the usual flicker," the white-haired boy whispered, eyes wide. "I've been working on the strength every day, but I couldn't even track you. Did you reach a new stage?"
Orochimaru remained by the door, gaze fixed on Yoichi's posture. Through the scripts Yoichi had shared, he had learned lethal and swift attacks. He could sense the massive surge of vitality in the room. It was an evolution that made their own progress with the shared arts look like child's play.
"The pills and the resources we shared helped," Yoichi said simply. He didn't mention the perfection of his steps or the new ticket waiting to be used. "But staying still was making me slow. I'm ready to leave. The hospital can't teach us the next level, but the training grounds can."
The growth was undeniable, turning a narrow escape into a massive leap in power. To maintain this momentum, he reached for his equipment.
"My bangles," Yoichi said, gesturing to the medical bag.
Tsunade pulled out the four dense metal bands, her expression tight with concern.
"You just finished three days of recovery. Pushing your body with this much weight is reckless," she warned, though she still handed them over.
The heavy metal clinked as he snapped them onto his limbs, but his posture remained perfectly steady against the sudden pressure.
These weights served as a necessary anchor for his perfected movements, grounding the supernatural lightness in his legs.
"Are you trying to break the floor or just yourself?" Jiraiya asked, watching the tiles for cracks. Yoichi took a silent step, moving with a fluid grace that ignored the added hundreds of pounds. "I need the resistance to stay sharp. Without these, I'll move faster than my eyes can track," he replied.
With a nod toward the open window, he signaled it was time to leave.
Encouraged by his impossible recovery, the trio followed him with newfound fire in their eyes.
No one wants to be left in the dust, that includes them as the exceptional geniuses.
Soon, five days of grueling training began.
Yoichi consumed every last one of his Qi Blood Pills, the medicinal heat fueling a relentless cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Beside him, the Sannin pushed themselves to the brink, their enthusiasm brimming as they witnessed his growth firsthand.
Tsunade's punches began to crack the earth more deeply, Jiraiya's stance became an immovable wall, and Orochimaru's strikes turned into lethal, hissing streaks of speed.
By the evening of the fifth day, the training ground was a landscape of craters. Yoichi stood in the center, opening his panel to confirm the evolution of his arts.
[Mountain Crushing Fist: (Perfection) 1/1000] (+12)
[Lightning Spear Thrust: (Perfection) 1/1000] (+10)
[Phantom Steps: (Perfection) 5/1000] (+4)
[Tickets: 4 Prismatic, 2 Gold, 12 Silver.]
Yoichi clenched his fist, feeling the air vibrate.
The Mountain Crushing Fist has reached triple amplification, He thought, noting the terrifying density of his punch force. And the Lightning Spear Thrust finally has the swiftness of a spear from the heavens.
He looked toward the Hokage Rock, his expression darkening.
The village leaders are watching now. My time to grow in the shadows is getting shorter. I need more power before they decide I am a threat.
Yoichi closed his eyes, retreating into the quiet space of his consciousness to handle the system rewards.
「Prismatic Passive Roulette」
[Heaven Rewards Diligence]
[Gathering Storm]
[Wind Becomes Lightning]
[...]
[Drawing...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Prismatic Passive: Tenacious Heart!]
[Tenacious Heart] (Prismatic)
—When out of combat, recover 1% of HP per second.
[Drawing...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Prismatic Passive: Energy Efficiency!]
[Energy Efficiency] (Prismatic)
—In combat, reduce energy consumption by 20%.
A warm, steady pulse originated from his chest as the Tenacious Heart began knitting his muscles back together.
He realized the recovery was not free, as he could feel his Qi Blood reserves being taxed to fuel the rapid cellular repair. It was a fair trade, ensuring he could bounce back from death as long as his energy held out.
At the same time, his internal pathways felt smoother. The Energy Efficiency passive refined his output, though it too required a constant spark of his life force to keep the flow optimized.
Driven by the lingering heat of his success, Yoichi didn't stop. He ignored the warning bells in his mind and threw a third Prismatic ticket into the spinning void of the roulette.
He was chasing the peak, his ego bolstered by his perfected arts and the recovery of his heart.
The wheel in his consciousness blurred into a blinding streak of light, clicking with a heavy, mechanical finality that resonated through his soul.
[Inventory: 1 Prismatic, 2 Gold, 12 Silver Tickets]
[Drawing...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Prismatic Passive: Excellent Offspring!]
[Excellent Offspring] (Prismatic)
—Success rate in producing offspring is extremely decreased! However, your offspring is guaranteed to surpass your aptitude, innate divine abilities, and cultivation base!
Yoichi's soul seemed to leave his body as he stared at the notification. A small, hysterical twitch started in his left eye.
I asked for power to survive the leaf, not a divine vasectomy, he thought, his mental voice cracking with disbelief.
The heavens give me the heart of a god and the efficiency of a machine, only to tell me the family line ends here unless a miracle happens.
The triple-amplified force of his fist felt like a cruel joke.
He was a master of the lethal spear from the heavens, but the system had just placed his own "spear" under a permanent, high-level sealing jutsu.
He didn't just turn red this time; he turned a ghostly, ashen white. He sat perfectly still, his breath coming in shallow hitches.
Sure, my son would be a literal deity, He lamented silently, but at this rate, the chance of him even existing is lower than me becoming the next Hokage by tomorrow morning.
He was holding enough power to level a forest, yet he felt like the most vulnerable person in the Land of Fire.
The silence of the clearing felt deafening, every rustle of the wind sounding like the universe laughing at his reproductive misfortune.
"Yoichi, seriously, you're turning blue," Tsunade said, stepping closer with a glowing hand ready to perform a diagnostic.
Yoichi recoiled as if she were a literal demon, scrambling backward with a speed that left three afterimages.
He hit the trunk of a tree and slid down, his eyes glazed and staring into the middle distance.
"Don't touch me," he rasped, his voice cracking. "I just... I need a moment to mourn my legacy."
Jiraiya and Orochimaru exchanged a look of pure confusion, watching their normally stoic friend crumble into a heap of existential crisis over a power they couldn't even see.
Yoichi sat against the tree, his mind still reeling from the joke played by the Prismatic Roulette. He needed to settle his spirit and wash away the cold dread.
He shifted his focus to the two Gold Tickets in his inventory.
Anything but more kids, he thought. He started the gold spins, watching the inner wheel of his mind turn with a steady hum.
[Inventory: 1 Prismatic, 0 Gold, 12 Silver Tickets]
[Drawing...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Gold Passive: Injury Conversion!]
[Injury Conversion](Gold)
—Every time you receive damage, 10% of that damage is converted into Qi Blood.
[Drawing...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Gold Passive: Unyielding Heart!]
[Unyielding Heart] (Gold)
—When HP is below 50%, all attributes increase by 20%.
A gritty, tough energy settled into his bones. I get hit, I get more fuel. I get hurt, I get stronger, he thought, his breathing finally leveling out.
It was a perfect match for his other powers.
If he took a wound, his Qi Blood would spike, feeding the rapid healing of his Tenacious Heart.
He was no longer just a fast hitter; he was a fortress that could fight better the more he was pressed.
He looked up from the dirt, the white color of his face fading as he found his focus again.
The system hit my legacy, but it gave me the tools to stay alive today, he mused, clenching his fists.
He felt his Second Heart pumping Qi Blood through his veins, ready to power these new survival tricks.
The "Excellent Offspring" problem still hurt his pride, but being nearly unkillable made the bitter pill easier to swallow.
"He's back," Orochimaru whispered, his yellow eyes tracking the shift in Yoichi's aura. Yoichi stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. He looked at his three teammates, who were still watching him with confused faces.
"I am fine," Yoichi said, his voice flat. "The training is over. Let's go back before the ANBU find us." He began to walk, his Phantom Steps more fluid than before, leaving the Sannin to scramble after him.