Located in the "Spire District"—a cluster of mid-tier residential towers reserved for recognized shinobi clans—the Kagutsu clan stood out. The Iron gates were of high purity, and the shinobi on duty showed their strength. As for the view, it was one of industrial grandeur and damp shadows, quite unique and premium.
Ryugo's home was functional: reinforced steel walls, moisture-resistant tatami, and the ever-present hum of the village's circulatory systems were muffled by the glassware on the window.
Tonight, however, it felt different.
Ryugo slid the door open to the scent of seared fish and medicinal herbs.
His mother, Ayame Kagutsu, stood by the small kitchen alcove, her hands moving with the effortless precision of a jonin performing a covert strike. At the low table, his father, Daiki Kagutsu, was already seated, polishing a kunai with a cloth. He looked up, and a rare, sharp smile touched his lips.
"You're late," Daiki said, but there was no reproach. His eyes, the same sharp grey as Ryugo's, held a glint of assessment. "How is your training going?"
Ryugo placed his wet gear in the entryway alcove and bowed slightly. "Good, Father. My teammates are reliable, and they agreed to let me handle the strategy side like you taught me"
"Sit," Ayame said, placing a steaming bowl of miso soup before him. Her movements were quiet, fluid. Like his father, she wore the subtle, worn markings of a seasoned operative. She mentioned that she had retired. But her chakra, even suppressed, was telling. "You've grown. Your chakra signature is denser. Sharper."
[Ayame Kagutsu - Lv. 55 Jonin]
[Daiki Kagutsu - Lv. 65 Jonin]
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the only sounds the rain and the clink of chopsticks. Finally, Daiki set his bowl down.
"The Takeda girl", he began, his voice low, "Ameruyi. Your teammate."
Ryugo nodded, chewing slowly. "Yes. She's strong. Disciplined."
"She is", Daiki agreed, "And her placement on your team was not entirely random."
Ryugo paused. "What do you mean?"
Ayame exchanged a glance with her husband. "The Dark Hall makes team assignments based on balance and potential", she explained, "Technically, they set up noble clan heirs with shinobi clansmen to build their leadership skills. But clan influence… has weight. The Council don't really care whether it is a Kagutsu or a Shikabane. After hearing about the girl's flawless records, your father called in a favor. An old debt owed by a logistics officer who handles initial rosters"
Daiki grunted. "The Takeda are a noble clan. Arrogant. But their kenjutsu is without peer in Ame. To have their fifth heir as your close comrade…it is a connection. An opportunity. It was worth the favor"
Ryugo absorbed this. So, even within the rigid system, strings could be pulled. It made sense. In a village built on castes and clandestine power, influence was another form of currency.
"I see", Ryugo said, "Thank you. She is…She was arrogant. But she respects strength, and she learned to trust us"
"And the Waraiko boy?" Ayame asked, her tone neutral.
"Tetsu," Ryugo corrected gently, "He is weak in direct combat. But his genjutsu is refined. His observation skills are decent. The Waraiko are often dismissed, but I believe they are late bloomers. I don't see much value in his bloodline, but his genjutsu is useful"
Daiki's smile returned, wider this time. "Good. You see beyond the surface. Like a true bounty hunter should. The Waraiko have produced terrifying interrogators and infiltrators in the past. Their 'Laughing Rain' is no joke in enclosed spaces. You'd do good not to underestimate him. They are a late bloomer bunch."
He leaned back. "You have a solid cell. Far better than if you'd been saddled with dead weight. Your growth would have been stunted"
The unspoken truth hung in the air: in this world, to be held back was to die. The plot was already dangerous. Putting 236 players knowing part of the plot was bound to change everything. It was not a butterfly effect that was to happen. It was massive chaos.
And worse than everything, those players could grow by killing and completing missions. The more chaotic the world, the stronger the players would become. It was almost as if the system was telling players to become evil villains.
'Not that I am against it', Ryugo thought inwardly, 'I just need to make sure I benefit from it and Amegakure is the perfect place for that'
"Speaking of growth," Ayame said, rising. She walked to a sealed chest in the corner, input a quick chakra sequence, and withdrew a long, narrow bundle wrapped in oilcloth. She laid it on the table before Ryugo. "A reward. For successfully becoming a genin"
Ryugo unwrapped it. Inside was a sword. Not the standard-issue Ame katana, but something sleeker. The blade was a dark, smoky grey, almost black, with a subtle wave pattern etched into the steel. The guard was minimal, a simple circular Tsuchigomo crest of black iron on it. The hilt was wrapped in dark blue, water-resistant cord. It was a tool, not an ornament. It felt alive in his hands.
[Storm-Sever Katana – B-Rank Sword
A blade that has served for a few years, but still durable and sharp due to excellent maintenance. It was forged by an Expert (B) blacksmith using Tsuchigumo hydrophilic quenching techniques, and black iron.
Sharpness: B | Durability: B | Chakra Conductivity: C.
Special Effect: +50 Proficiency to Rain Swordsmanship (Ame Kenjutsu) Skill when equipped]
"It's beautiful," Ryugo said, his voice barely a whisper. He felt the balance. Perfect. More importantly, the proficiency gain to the Rain Swordsmanship was immensely powerful. Despite practicing kenjutsu on a daily basis for a month, he had only raised it by 30 points. Raising it further would probably be twice slower from this point on.
Having an item capable of raising it by 50 points...Now that was a treasure worthy of B-rank. However, the true alue of the katana came from its sharpness and durability. Both at B-rank. It truly was a masterpiece.
At this point, Ryugo felt like the system was balancing things out. It seemed like his parents had a very high standing in the clan. He was not the heir, but he was definitely part of the main family line. His grandfather was the current patriarch, and both his parents were of jonin rank, even though his mother had retired. Had he chosen a stronger clan, perhaps he would have been a mere secondary branch family line member.
Ryugo smiled thinking about those who blindly chose the Uchiha clan. Would they even awaken the Sharingan? At the very least, getting a B-rank sword at this point of his training was a godsend gift.
"It is a tool," Daiki said bluntly. "Use it. Your kenjutsu has improved according to what you told me last week. This will improve it further. But a sword is just metal. For a Kagutsu, it must become lightning"
Ayame knelt beside him. "Our bloodline, the Raikōgan, is more than just perception," she said, her finger tracing a line in the air, her pupils brightening, leaving sparks as she moved, "When awakened, it allows you to see the electrical potential within chakra—the paths of least resistance, the points of highest energy. This applies to everything, including a blade"
She placed her hand over his on the hilt.
"Channel your Raiton chakra. Not as a blast, but as a sheath. A constant, controlled flow along the blade's edge"
Ryugo focused. He drew a trickle of chakra, sharp and bright, from his core. He guided it down his arm, into the hilt. Blue-white sparks crackled along the smoky steel, clinging to the edge, but it only lasted a second.
*BOOM*
As he lost control, he dispelled the chakra. Otherwise, the table would have been cleaved. It was massive power output, but if not controlled, it could not be used in combat.
"Good control, I am impressed. Most people would have blown a bolt", Ayame noted, "But you are forcing it. You are manually directing the flow. When the Raikōgan awakens, you will see the blade's own latent electrical pathways—the impurities in the metal, the stresses from forging. Don't worry too much about it"
She released his hand. The lightning on the blade sputtered and died. "You will understand when you see it"
Ryugo looked at the sword, then at his parents' expectant faces. They believed his dojutsu was still sealed, dormant. A prize for the future.
He smiled, a small, private thing. "I will make you proud."
Later, in the solitude of his room, Ryugo held the Storm-Sever katana (B) horizontally before him. The rain streaked the window, casting wavering lines of light across the dark blade.
He took a deep breath.
[Raikōgan: Activate]
A pulse, like a silent thunderclap, echoed behind his eyes. The world did not so much change as clarify.
Colors muted into shades of grey and blue.
But superimposed over everything were lines of voltage, electrical potential: the charge in the air, the faint static in the pipes, the living current of his own chakra system.
He looked at the sword.
And he saw it.
Faint silvery lines ran through the blade, like a nervous system of trapped lightning. Points of brighter intensity shone at the tip, along the edge's curve, and deep within the tang. They were like stars in a grey sky.
He didn't think. He simply knew.
He channeled his chakra onto those points. Instead of pushing it out, he let it flow into the hilt and connect. A spark jumped from his chakra pathway to a bright point in the tang. From there, it raced along a silvery line to the next node, and the next. In an instant, the entire blade's lattice ignited.
*BRRR*
The Storm-Sever katana was now sheathed in a roaring, coherent mantle of blue-white lightning.
It wasn't just coating the blade; it was fused with it, amplifying its presence.
The chakra drain was significantly less than his earlier forced attempt. It was efficient. It was sustained. It was controlled.
[You have learned the Lightning Release: Storm-Cage Blade (C)]
[Your understanding of the skill has reached 5 points]
[Skill Description (Storm-Cage Blade)
By utilizing the Raikōgan's perception of electrical potential, you can channel Raiton chakra along a conductive weapon's innate pathways, creating a sustained, high-frequency lightning field. The higher the quality of the blade, the lesser the consumption.
Cuts will benefit from enhanced penetration and severing power depending on the chakra output and blade quality.
Contact delivers a potent numbing/paralyzing shock.
Chakra cost reduced by 40% compared to manual lightning coating
Proficiency: 5/100]
Ryugo gazed at the humming lightning in his hand, a reflection of his own hidden power dancing in his activated, lightning-bolt pupils. A laugh, quiet and triumphant, escaped his lips.
Little did they know.
The gamer of Amegakure was already ahead of the script.
[Status Update:
New Skill: Storm-Cage Blade (C) (5) New
Raikōgan Proficiency: (C) 15 -> (C) 18 (↑3)]
He deactivated the blade and his dojutsu. The room returned to normal, just a boy with a sword in a rainy city.
His parents had definitely shown him love in the previous weeks. Meals, advice to his questions...even scrolls.
But giving him a jutsu and a B-rank sword? Now that was good, heartfelt love.
Before going to sleep, he picked up a scroll.
[Records of the Red Canyon Battle (D)]
A blue screen immediately spawned.
[Mission - Erudition (E)
You have had the curiosity to open scrolls to cultivate your understanding of the world and wars. One of the scrolls you found in your family's library is called Records of the Red Canyon Battle, written by Hitori of the Sky Eyes. His reputation and political standing in Amegakure is second to Hanzo the Salamander only, as he led the General Amegakure Corps in pyrrhic victories despite a lack of resources and weaker forces
Task: Read the Records of the Red Canyon Battle (43%)
Rewards: 50 EXP, Strategy Proficiency +3]
When the body is tired, cultivate your mind.
As a true gamer, Ryugo began to train some more.