Mikami Yuu didn't think much of it. He picked up the fruit and headed next door to the Nohara house.
Nohara Rin opened the door.
"Oh—Yuu-kun, you're here… These fruits are for our family? That's really too embarrassing. They must be expensive."
"It's fine. You, Uncle Hiroshi, and Aunt Misae have looked after my family a lot lately—some fruit is nothing. When my dad comes back, we'll all go eat Yakiniku Q together."
Mikami Yuu smiled and tossed out a polite line.
At that moment, Nohara Hiroshi inside heard the voices and poked his head over. "It's Yuu… Since you're already here, why bring anything? Come in and sit for a bit?"
"No, I've got to go back and help my mom with work."
"Tsk tsk, little Yuu is so well-behaved. Rin, look at him."
Hiroshi walked over, exchanged a few polite words with Mikami Yuu, and took the two bags of fruit.
Then, as if he remembered something, he suddenly asked, "By the way, Yuu—do you know your chakra nature?"
"I don't. Why?"
Mikami Yuu answered.
Chakra test paper was pretty pricey—one sheet cost a thousand ryō at ninja tool shops. The Ninja Academy definitely wasn't going to test students for free, and Mikami Yuu had never tried it on his own. Back then he had no chance to learn jutsu anyway. But judging from the fact that he could "romance" Great Fireball, he should have Fire nature.
"I see… Well, I happen to have an unused test strip. Let's test you."
As Hiroshi spoke, he motioned Mikami Yuu inside and took out the test paper.
When Mikami Yuu infused chakra into it,
the paper first ignited, then went out, and became damp.
"Water and Fire…"
Seeing the result, Mikami Yuu sighed.
How to put it…
If he could choose, he'd actually want Wind. Wind Release was basically one of the highest attack-power basic natures, and it could combine with Fire to form Scorch Release—like that teacher in the next village, Pakura.
Whereas Water leaned more toward support and demanded strong chakra output. It was a "high ceiling, low floor" type—really not ideal for civilian ninja.
But Hiroshi actually relaxed.
"Yuu, your chakra nature is the same as Rin's—Water and Fire."
"Perfect. I've got two scrolls here, both Water Release. I've already mastered the techniques on them. Rin can't learn them yet, so I'll lend them to you first—take a look and see if you can learn them. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me anytime."
"Huh?"
New jutsu?
Mikami Yuu's eyes lit up like a degenerate staring at a beautiful girl. He looked straight at Hiroshi. "Th-this… is that really okay?"
"Of course it's okay. Anyway, when Tajima comes back, he'll teach you too. Learn a couple now—might help with next year's graduation exam. And if you really feel bad about it, then when your dad's back, have him teach Rin some of the jutsu he knows. Problem solved."
Hiroshi laughed and patted Mikami Yuu on the shoulder.
With things said this far, Mikami Yuu stopped being polite and thanked him seriously. "Then thank you so much, Uncle Hiroshi!"
Come to think of it, ninjutsu scrolls were pretty valuable—kind of like books back in the bamboo-slip era.
Most ninja tool shops didn't sell them. Even if they did, it was usually only D- or E-rank basic techniques. Anything C-rank or above was basically held by the clans and the jōnin. For ordinary civilians who wanted to learn, there were usually only two ways—
First: find a good teacher… or a good wife… or a good sugar-daddy, and learn from them.
Second: accumulate merit and exchange for jutsu through the village.
Once you learned a technique, whether you taught it to anyone else was up to you. But generally, unless there was family connection, almost nobody would pass precious jutsu outward. From that angle, what Hiroshi was doing was basically sugar-daddy behavior.
And when Hiroshi went into the bedroom, took out the scrolls, and solemnly placed them into Mikami Yuu's hands—
Mikami Yuu saw several lines of text flash across his vision:
[Ding!]
[Detected potential romance target: "Water Release: Wild Water Wave." Time-limited encounter mission triggered!]
[Detected giftable item · limited skin — Clone Technique: Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!]
"…?!"
Wait—
Gift?!
Limited skin?!
Mikami Yuu's eyelid twitched, and his breathing sped up.
So… the [Give Gift] function meant giving ninjutsu scrolls?!
That made sense.
A ninjutsu scroll was a carrier that recorded a technique. It was basically like clothing—something you used to cover yourself—so… scroll = limited skin… honestly, that logic was weirdly consistent?
Then…
By that logic, Hiroshi giving him scrolls was basically like "giving him girls," wasn't it?
And the Three Basic Jutsu and Great Fireball…
Were they basically running around naked in front of him every day?
Th-this is so lewd?!
So that's what kind of galgame you are—an R18 adult game!
Mikami Yuu mocked the system in his heart, but on his face he wore an even more sincere smile. After thanking Hiroshi once more, he walked out of the Nohara house with light steps.
Back home,
and with his bedroom door shut,
Mikami Yuu immediately placed the jutsu scrolls on his desk. He washed his hands and face first, then sat down and opened the galgame interface.
[Transformation Technique: Good evening, Mikami-chan. It's so late and you're still going to practice? You're really hardworking!]
[Clone Technique: Hmph. Hardworking? You're probably just here to say "goodnight" again. Seriously, you're like a tape recorder—same few words every day, no originality at all.]
[Transformation Technique: Don't say that. A jutsu like us that no one values… only with Mikami-chan do we feel what it's like to be treated equally. We also need to become better so we can keep up with him.]
[Clone Technique: …You really spoil him.]
"…"
Mikami Yuu's mouth twitched. He looked at the Three Basic Jutsu sisters—more accurately, the "two-jutsu" argument—speechless for a moment, then cleared his throat.
"So, Clone Technique… do you want a gift?"
[Clone Technique: ?]
Right then,
at his desk, Mikami Yuu slowly unwrapped the Water Clone scroll and unfolded it.
As the full scroll spread out under the light,
Clone Technique's avatar showed a subtle change in expression.
[Transformation Technique: Wow, such a pretty new outfit! And it's water-blue too—it looks really nice. Clone Technique, looks like Mikami-chan really cares about you. He even prepared such a great gift for you!]
[Clone Technique: …Hmph. It's passable. Is this only for me, or does everyone get one?]
"…?"
~~~
Thank you for reading! More Chapters in my Patreon Page! Please check it out!
–› Patreon.com/Bleam