[III] 3/3

What she'd implied wasn't an answer to his question. It was an answer to all questions about her family. Being a mother, to her, was a priority over everything. Just as being a source of strength for his family was a priority for him.

With that, the knot of anxiety about Itachi's situation loosened a significant amount. While the intrinsic desire to stop a senseless loss of life like the massacre was still there, he was more concerned about his family's opinion if they somehow discovered he had chosen them over an entire clan. What if they hated him for it? Then he'd just be going in the same direction as Itachi.

Now the only thing he was scared of was not having enough power to combat a scenario like Itachi's. Unlike his family hating him, he could solve that incident with enough hard work and power.

"I love you too," He decided to reply, attempting to convey his understanding. "And I think the same, even if it is selfish."

Smiling along with him, she shrugged. "If anything, it's selfish to ask someone to do the opposite. The only person who might have a hard time answering is the Hokage."

"Although I don't really get where all that came from…" Mebuki stood up with a smirk, dusting herself off before continuing, "It doesn't matter. Because it's time to get to work."

"To begin this super special training session," She lifted her palm towards him, "I want you to punch me."

"Eh…?"

Mebuki snorted. "I want you to punch me. Go on, I won't hit back."

Haruki blinked. The swift change in subject was his main confusion. "I heard you, but, like, why?"

"Well, I was originally gonna teach you some chakra control techniques I came up with," Mebuki admitted. "But I realized you wouldn't know probably can't even feel your chakra yet, so we're starting with Taijutsu."

Were his chakra coils really that underdeveloped? Maybe. Though it was a much higher chance that there was some specific way of using chakra they taught at the academy. Chakra is basically a malleable life force, after all, so it was easy to see how using it incorrectly could be dangerous.

"After I get a gauge on your current physique and level of taijutsu, I can teach you a complimentary technique I learned in the war," Oh, she was still talking. He probably should've been listening. "Combining it with the control exercise I'm gonna teach you later and you'll basically be undetectable by everything other than sight."

That sounded… really useful, actually. Why didn't she teach any of this to Sakura in canon?

Ah, well, maybe this is a different Mebuki than canon. This version of Sakura's mom had to be quite different since she had a kid six years earlier than the standard timeline.

"Uh… okay," Haruki muttered, curling his hand into a small fist. And with it, he spent the rest of the day both punching, kicking, and being instructed on his bad movements.

The lesson was mainly about silence. Rather than focus on the fundamentals of fighting, she taught him how to approach battle without making a single sound. Starting from simple walking to throwing a full-force punch. Groundbreaking stuff, really.

But it was only after all was said and done that something truly groundbreaking happened.

A system message appeared.

⊱───────⊰☯⊱───────⊰

Hours later, Haruki flopped onto his bed with a groan. Why did both of his parents have to be such tyrants when it came to training? Didn't they know he was only a child? His body couldn't handle this much effort!

Well, those were the complaints any normal person would have, but he was careful not to say them out loud. Or even keep those thoughts in his head. Working hard was good, he just had to get used to it.

Though, it was a bit annoying when a screen popped up at the end of it.

[Rank Insufficient]

[Technique ⟪-???-⟫ requires skill ⟪-Taijutsu-⟫ to be Rank ⟪-D-⟫]

[Refer to ⟪-Quests-⟫ for further instruction]

Just… fantastic. All that hard work was squandered because his fundamental understanding of taijutsu was too low. He figured it was akin to trying to learn how to run before walking. Annoying that he wasted all that time, but it was good to know now instead of months later.

Imagine that. Training for months on end and not even realizing that you can't learn a technique because your understanding of the subject is bad.

Was that why most clanless shinobi peaked at chūnin? Because they didn't even know where they were lacking and wasted weeks worth of training for something they'd never achieve? At the end of it all, they'd likely declare they simply didn't have the talent.

Haruki snorted to himself. "Skill issue," he muttered under his breath.

With his training out of the way, he was planning on just cleaning himself up and going to bed after dinner. The day was already mentally and physically exhausting so he didn't really have any plans.

First, though, he needed to check out this new part of the system. Quests were never a big part of the whole 'gamer' thing for him, so he'd actually forgotten it could be a thing.

'Quests'

▽

=[Quest List]

▸Growth Quests (1)

▸Upgrade Quests (1)

▸Repeatable Quests (2)

▽

Well… that was pretty concise. He really didn't have much to say about it considering the page itself was as bland as it got. If anything, he was more surprised at the amount of quests than the quests themselves. After all, he'd only had the system for a few hours technically. What quests could it conjure up already?

Though there was one thing. Upgrade and repeatable quests seemed pretty self-explanatory, but what were growth quests?

[Growth Quests are a result of the user's desire. Objectives that display desperation for personal strength. Rewards that embolden the power of the user's kin.]

[Warning: Rewards from this questline are unique to the system. Utilize them wisely as one day this questline will end.]

Haruki's eyebrows flew up at the message. Reading it over, he closed it before sitting up on his bed. The idea that his quests seemed to be created and respond to his innate desire wasn't the surprising part. Nor was the warning, if he was honest. If anything, it reminded him of a main questline tailor-made for him.

No, what was surprising was the message itself.

The system just… responded to him. Like, without him saying a code word or clicking on any of the screens. That, as far as he could tell, wasn't normal.

Meaning that either the system was subtly changing over time… Or growth quests were so important that a warning was pre-attached to the quests page.

Both sides brought many questions that he probably should answer but… he was a blue-pill person to put it lightly. The origin of the system nor his existence in this world didn't matter. The 'why' and 'how' eluded him, but he wasn't gonna question or think about it. He already had enough problems as a ninja, he didn't need an existential crisis on top of that.

He'd rather stay in the blissful ignorance of illusion, thank you very much.

Shaking that unsettling thought away, Haruki clicked on the growth quest without hesitation. There was no point in delaying it for later.

▽

=[Growth Quest: Prodigy]

Description: Those who observe you all come to the same conclusion; Child Prodigy. But to what extent, some ask? They doubt your prowess based on presumptions. Shatter their expectations.

▸Objective: Defeat the most talented student, Itachi Uchiha, in single combat before he inevitably graduates early.

▸Time Limit: [6 Months]

▸Reward: Unlocks Title Function, [Title: Proven Prodigy], ???

▸Upon Failure: Growth Quest-line removed.

▽

…Hm.

His thoughts about this quest were actually quite complex. Many nuances and separate components drifted through his mind as his brain went into overdrive. Scenarios cropped up one after the other as he considered his chances.

Simply put?

"This is bullsh-"