Mikami Yuu froze for a moment, then quickly realized—
Right. Who understands the Three Basic Jutsu better than the Three Basic Jutsu themselves?
He cleared his throat lightly and, following Transformation Technique's guidance, began instructing:
"Kurenai, your chakra is too scattered. You need to spread it evenly across your whole body… yes, like that—this already feels much denser than before… wait, the flow at your ankle is a bit sluggish. Adjust that again…"
As Mikami Yuu guided her, Kurenai worked hard to follow and adjust. She could clearly feel the warmth coming from the palm on her back. Her heartbeat started to speed up without her noticing, and her cheeks turned even redder.
Thankfully, since she was facing away, neither of them could see the other's face—so it didn't affect things too much.
Time quietly slipped by.
An hour later,
Mikami Yuu finished teaching.
Kurenai, after repeatedly using the Three Basic Jutsu, now had fine sweat all over her forehead from exhaustion—but her eyes sparkled with the joy of real progress.
With this round of guidance, her Transformation and Clone Techniques still weren't as refined as Mikami Yuu's, but they had undeniably improved. When she used them, the chakra flow in her body became smoother and more natural, and her chakra consumption dropped a little too—those were changes Kurenai could clearly feel.
"Thank you, Mikami! Your guidance was really useful!"
Kurenai pressed her hands together and thanked him sincerely. Then she rummaged in the backpack set aside, pulled out a few bills, counted them, and handed them over with a shy look.
"Um… I only brought 1,000 ryō today. Can I pay you the rest next time we meet?"
"No problem."
Mikami Yuu took the money cheerfully. "How about next time in two days? That gives you time to properly digest what you learned today."
"Mm!"
Kurenai nodded hard, smiling with relief. "Deal! I'll head back first. See you, Mikami!"
"See you."
Mikami Yuu watched Kurenai leave, then stayed at the training ground to practice alone.
The Three Basic Jutsu were definitely mandatory practice.
They were the first techniques he'd started "romancing," and they were also the ones with the highest progress—especially Transformation Technique, which was already at stage three. Mikami Yuu really wanted to see whether reaching 100 affection would cause some kind of qualitative leap.
Then came Great Fireball and Wild Water Wave.
Great Fireball was still sulking because Mikami Yuu had "held back" during his fight with Hizashi. Over the last two days it had been moody—always cold during [Talk]—but [Practice] still raised affection normally. At this pace, in another three to five days it would probably hit 50 affection and unlock stage two's trait.
As for Wild Water Wave…
[By a stream in Konoha, you encounter a silver-haired girl standing beside the water, her aura cold and clear like the moon in a mirror. Barefoot, she hovers above the stream, dancing with the surging water. Her graceful figure captivates you. Attempt to speak with her: Yes/No]
"Yes."
As Mikami Yuu chose that option, a dialogue box unfolded like rippling water, its border shimmering with cool silver light:
[Wild Water Wave Jutsu: …Hm? Boy over there—you've been watching for quite a while. What insights do you have about my "work"? (She doesn't turn around. She only lifts a hand slightly, and a ribbon of water flows through her palm like silk.)]
A: Sorry to disturb you! I've never seen such elegant dance. It's like you're creating art—truly breathtaking.
B: Whoa, that's awesome! Can you teach me? I want to spurt such a fierce water "pillar" too!
C: A beautiful creation that vanishes in an instant—just like water itself. Rather than wither alone, why not join me and imprint this beauty upon the ninja world?]
"…Seriously?"
What the hell is that B option—are you sure what you want to 'spurt' is really a "water pillar"?
Mikami Yuu had no strength left to complain.
Thinking back, the system's B options were almost never serious. The only time it had been correct was when he encountered Great Fireball. Most of the time, it could be ignored.
As for the other two…
They looked similar, but A seemed more positive.
Mikami Yuu made his choice.
[Wild Water Wave Jutsu: …Oh? Looks like you're someone who can appreciate art—unlike those ninja who only see water as a tool. Rare indeed.]
[Wild Water Wave Jutsu: But do you understand the true meaning of "form"?]
"Not really. Please enlighten me."
[…]
The encounter with Wild Water Wave went fairly smoothly.
Mikami Yuu had been bombarded by modern information his whole life. Even if he didn't truly understand art, speaking pretty words and setting up an "art lover" persona was easy enough. Besides, the "art" Wild Water Wave talked about wasn't that deep.
So very quickly,
Mikami Yuu's romance list gained another target, bringing the total to six.
He tried practicing Wild Water Wave a few times. He barely succeeded once or twice, but all he could spit out was a not-very-thick stream that flattened a small patch of water grass ahead of him. It was still far from having real lethality.
But there was no rush.
It was already in the romance list. He could take it slow—no one got fat in one bite.
Compared to the other techniques, practicing Healing Technique was a bit more troublesome.
Because he couldn't practice it alone—he needed a target to heal. Since he and Rin were only auditing students, there was no way they'd practice on real people, so he'd have to find another way—animals.
"…It's a bit late today. Tomorrow I'll buy a fishing net and catch some fish here to use as 'patients.'"
"Yeah. I can invite Rin and Obito too."
They were all auditing students and all needed practice. Splitting the cost of the net wasn't unreasonable, right?
…
After all that training, a lot of time had passed.
Only when the sun fully set and starlight began to glitter across the sky did Mikami Yuu, exhausted, start walking home.
As he neared his front door, he saw Rin practicing the Three Basic Jutsu alone by the fence in the yard next door. She had just finished a transformation and reverted to normal—right in time to see Mikami Yuu walking over.
"Huh? Yuu-kun? You're back?"
Rin jogged over along the fence, a bit of sweat on her forehead. She rose slightly onto her toes and looked out toward the street.
"Why were you practicing so late?"
"Ah—just did some extra training and got held up."
Mikami Yuu stopped and replied with a smile.
Rin's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds, then she asked as if casually:
"Um… was Yūhi also only heading home this late?"