Chapter 7: Another Drop, A Blue Light Orb

In the clearing, Yagyu and Sasuke Uchiha stood two meters apart, facing each other.

Iruka stood between them, calling out, "Both sides, perform the Seal of Confrontation."

Hearing this, Yagyu and Sasuke each raised two fingers of their right hands.

Iruka stepped back a few paces, raising the whistle hanging around his neck, and declared, "The rule is simple: whoever falls to the ground first loses. Begin!"

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As the sound of the whistle echoed, Yagyu and Sasuke lowered their hands and charged at each other.

When they got close, Sasuke raised his right hand and threw a punch.

Yagyu sidestepped the attack, attempting to grab Sasuke's arm to execute an over-the-shoulder throw.

However, it seemed Sasuke had anticipated this. His punch wasn't fully committed; as soon as his fist extended, his left shoulder had already gathered strength. With a quick pivot, he retracted his right arm and crouched, aiming a sweeping leg kick to trip Yagyu and end the fight quickly.

The next moment, something that stunned Sasuke, Iruka, and the entire class occurred.

Sasuke's calculated sweep missed completely.

Yagyu, who had been standing right in front of him, vanished with a swift swish.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt two hands gripping his shoulders and flinging him forward.

Due to his sweeping motion, Sasuke was already angled toward the ground. The sudden force propelled him face-first into the dirt, as if he'd tripped over thin air.

Iruka, instead of announcing the match's result, stared at Yagyu in disbelief and exclaimed, "Was that... the Body Flicker Technique?!"

"What... what just happened?"

"Did Yagyu just disappear and reappear?"

"That's the Body Flicker! It's a technique I've seen my older brother use!"

"I've seen my dad use it too!"

"That's amazing!"

The awestruck murmurs from the crowd reached Sasuke's ears.

Embarrassed by his awkward landing, he stood up quickly and, unwilling to accept defeat, said to Yagyu, "Again!"

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Iruka blew his whistle and declared, "Match over. The winner is Yagyu!"

Shwoom!

Almost immediately after Iruka's announcement, a blue glow erupted from Sasuke's body.

A beam of blue light shot out, landing on the ground nearby, forming a floating blue orb.

Yagyu's eyes lit up at the sight, and his mind began to churn.

With both Naruto and Sasuke, the drops had occurred simply because he knocked them to the ground.

He hadn't restrained them, knocked them unconscious, or killed them.

All it took was Iruka's announcement of the match result.

This mechanic reminded Yagyu of certain fighting games where victory was decided when time ran out.

Did this mean that as long as his opponent was declared defeated, the system's loot drop function would activate?

"Damn it!"

While Yagyu was deep in thought, Sasuke muttered angrily.

However, since his clan hadn't been destroyed yet, Sasuke wasn't as extreme or obsessed with victory and honor as he would be in the future.

After Iruka's reminder, he walked up to Yagyu and extended two fingers for the Seal of Reconciliation.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Yagyu returned the gesture, sealing the match with mutual respect, before returning to the group.

As the subsequent matches played out, Yagyu watched absentmindedly, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

When the taijutsu portion of the exam concluded, Yagyu finally organized his thoughts. Rising to his feet, he headed toward the survival training field.

Wearing his trademark polite smile, Yagyu greeted his enthusiastic classmates while summoning his virtual panel visible only to him, checking the blue orb that had automatically been stored in his inventory.

[Inventory: Yin Attribute (Blue)]

Seeing the orb's description, Yagyu froze for a moment.

The Yin attribute—so chakra attributes could drop too?

There were seven types of chakra attributes: Yin, Yang, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning.

Shops specializing in ninja tools often sold chakra testing paper that could detect Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning attributes.

However, the Yin and Yang attributes were considered hidden.

Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning could be innate or learned later.

Yin and Yang, on the other hand, could only be obtained innately unless something altered the body.

Yagyu had previously tested his chakra and knew he had Water and Earth attributes.

As for Yin and Yang, he wasn't sure if he'd possessed them before awakening his cheat system, as his virtual panel didn't display them.

However, after merging with Asura's chakra, Yagyu was certain he'd gained the Yang attribute.

And now, with the drop from Sasuke, he had acquired the Yin attribute.

Once he fused this, Yagyu's chakra would consist of Yin, Yang, Water, and Earth attributes.

This realization brought Yagyu immense joy.

After fusing the blue orb via the virtual panel, Yagyu murmured to himself, "Gold and blue... I wonder how many colors these orbs come in."

But more than the orb's rarity, he was curious about the drop mechanics.

Reflecting on his earlier matches, Yagyu realized why he'd only had two drops in six months.

It was all about the type of victory.

In games, there were many ways to win: time-outs, knockouts, best two out of three...

Then there was defeating enemies, completing quests, or triggering specific conditions.

Different types of victories likely yielded varying ratings, affecting drop rates and rewards.

The simplicity of these school matches probably explained the low drop rate.

Of course, this was just Yagyu's speculation.

He couldn't confirm it yet—not without taking extreme measures like knocking classmates unconscious or worse.

If he tried that, his ninja career would end before it even began.

Proving his theory would have to wait until after graduation.

Looking at Sasuke ahead of him, a bold idea suddenly struck Yagyu.

But he dismissed it almost immediately.

What was he thinking?

The Uchiha Clan Massacre orchestrated by Konoha's higher-ups wasn't something a rookie like him could meddle in.

Even Yagyu startled himself with the audacity of his thoughts.

He had grown arrogant since gaining his cheat abilities, and that wouldn't do.

In this ninja world teeming with shadowy manipulators, he needed to tread carefully until he became strong enough to fear no one.

Calming his thoughts, Yagyu prepared himself for the final part of the exam.