Chapter 10: Sassy sys

Chapter 10 - Sassy sys The next day arrived, and Ren decided to follow his father's advice and take a more structured approach to training. "I'll start by running around the village. A full lap should be a good baseline for my endurance." With that goal in mind, he headed to the village gate, stretching as he prepared for what would likely be his toughest run yet. As soon as he was ready, he took off at full speed, following the village walls. At first, the run felt manageable. His legs moved steadily, and his breathing stayed even. "Not bad... I can handle this." But by the first hour, his breath grew heavy, and his legs started burning. By the second hour, his entire body ached, and sweat drenched his clothes. His pace slowed to a near crawl, but he refused to stop. By the third hour, he was barely holding on, his vision swimming, his lungs on fire. Then—finally—he saw it. The village gate. With whatever little energy he had left, he sprinted forward, forcing his body to move. With a final burst of speed, he touched the gate, completing the lap. Then he collapsed flat on the ground, arms spread out, gasping for air. There was only one thought in his mind— "Konoha is freaking huge." As Ren lay flat on the ground, gasping for air, a familiar system message popped up in his mind. [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [+2 AGILITY] [AGILITY: 11] [CONGRATULATIONS! USER HAS SUCCESSFULLY PUSHED HIS FIRST STAT TO GENIN LEVEL THROUGH TRAINING.] [REWARD: +1 GENIN LEVEL STAT POINT] Ren was too exhausted to even question what the Genin Level Stat Point was. "I'll deal with that later... right now, I just need to get home." With trembling legs, he slowly pushed himself up and began walking, his entire body screaming in protest. By the time he reached home, Ren was barely holding himself together. As he stepped inside, he noticed Juichi was already home, sitting at the table, eating something. Juichi glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "Morning." Ren barely managed to mumble back, "Morning..." before heading straight for the bath. As soon as the warm water hit his skin, his exhaustion took over, and before he knew it— He fell asleep. When Ren finally opened his eyes, he was no longer in the bath. Instead, he was tucked into his bed, feeling much more refreshed. He sat up, blinking. "Wait... how did I get here?" His answer was obvious. "Dad must've carried me." Glancing at the clock, he saw it was already noon. He leaned back against the pillow, thinking about his morning run, but then his mind shifted to the system message. "Right... I reached Genin-level Agility!" A smile spread across his face. "This is my first real milestone." Then he remembered the extra stat point and quickly asked the system, "What's a Genin Level Stat Point?" [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [GENIN LEVEL STAT POINTS DIRECTLY ENHANCE A GENIN-LEVEL ATTRIBUTE BY +1, REGARDLESS OF NORMAL POINT REQUIREMENTS.] Ren's eyes widened slightly. "So it's different from regular points? Interesting." Without hesitation, he dumped it into Chakra. [CHAKRA: 12] "Nice. Another step closer to using Shadow Clones properly." But then another question popped into his mind. "System, why didn't my Vitality increase even though my Agility went up by 2?" [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [ENDURANCE TRAINING IMPROVES STAMINA, NOT VITALITY. STAMINA IS A COMPONENT OF VITALITY, BUT IT DOES NOT INCREASE THE VITALITY STAT DIRECTLY.] Ren nodded slowly. "So stamina and vitality aren't the same thing. Makes sense." Then he asked, "So how do I improve my stamina, then?" The system responded instantly— [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF OR GROW UP.] Ren froze. Then stared at the message. Then blinked. "...Did the system just sass me?" For the first time since getting the system, he was completely baffled. Ren dragged himself to the kitchen, still feeling a bit sore but significantly better than before. He saw Juichi sitting at the table, finishing off his meal. Without saying much, Ren grabbed some food and sat down, eating quickly to refuel after his brutal endurance run. Juichi smirked. "So? How'd your training go?" Ren paused between bites, then sighed. "Let's just say... running around Konoha wasn't my best idea." Juichi chuckled. "Told you to train smart, not try to outrun the whole village in one day." Ren grumbled, but he knew his father was right. "Still, I did get results. My speed's improving." Juichi nodded in approval. "Good. But endurance training isn't just about running mindlessly. You need to learn how to control your breathing, pace yourself, and adjust based on terrain." Ren took mental notes—his father had experience, and any tips would help him improve faster. After eating, Ren stretched and looked at Juichi. "I'll do some chakra training outside. You mind watching?" Juichi raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Let's see how much you've improved." As they stood up, Ren silently reminded the system of something important. "System, can you pause chakra control notifications for now?" [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [AFFIRMATIVE.] He had no plans of telling anyone about the system. If his father—or any high-level shinobi—noticed him glancing at invisible messages, it could raise suspicions. "Better safe than sorry." Thinking about it, Ren decided he should buy some glasses soon—that way, when he checked system messages, his eyes would be hidden. "One of the golden rules of transmigrators never expose the cheat." They walked to the backyard, where Ren immediately started his Tree Climbing training. Juichi watched for a while before offering advice, correcting minor mistakes in Ren's chakra flow and balance. "You're pushing too much chakra into your feet. Try adjusting it slightly—let the chakra flow naturally instead of forcing it." Ren nodded and adjusted accordingly. "Right, I need to let it stabilize instead of overloading it." They continued training until evening, with Ren making steady improvements. Just as Ren was wiping sweat off his forehead, Juichi stretched and said casually, "Alright, enough training for today. We're eating out tonight." Ren blinked. "Huh? Where?" Juichi smirked. "BBQ restaurant." Ren's eyes lit up. "Meat?! Real food?! Finally!" The exhaustion from training vanished instantly, replaced with pure excitement. Juichi chuckled. "Heh, figured you'd like that." With that, they headed off to enjoy a well-earned meal. As Ren and Juichi walked through the streets of Konoha, they ran into a few neighbors and acquaintances along the way. Juichi, being the social type, stopped to chat with them briefly. "Ah, Juichi! Finally out of the hospital, huh?" one of the older men called out. Juichi grinned. "Yeah, they got sick of me taking up space." Ren stood quietly beside his father, listening but not engaging much. He wasn't antisocial, but he also didn't feel like making unnecessary small talk. After a few more brief conversations, they finally reached their destination—Konoha's BBQ restaurant. As soon as they sat down, Juichi waved a hand toward the waiter. "We'll take a big platter of assorted meats. And keep it coming." Ren grinned. "Now we're talking." While they waited for their food, they continued their casual conversation, mostly about training, Juichi's new job, and life in the village. Soon, their order arrived, the sizzling plates of freshly grilled meat filling the air with an irresistible aroma. Without hesitation, they dug in excitedly, eating while occasionally talking between bites. Ren, who had been surviving mostly on simple meals and snacks, felt like he was in heaven. As they continued eating, Ren thought about his training progress so far. He had been focusing mostly on chakra control, endurance, and raw physical stats, but there was still one area he hadn't explored yet. After taking a sip of water, he asked, "Hey, old man, do you think I should start training with weapons?" Juichi didn't even hesitate before answering. "No." Ren raised an eyebrow. "That was fast." Juichi sighed and leaned back slightly. "Look, kid, you're still growing. Right now, the best thing you can do is improve your body—get stronger, faster, and build a solid foundation. Weapons come later." Ren thought about it for a moment. "So you're saying even if I pick up a weapon now, it won't help much?" Juichi nodded. "Exactly. You might learn some basic swings, but if your body isn't strong enough to use a weapon properly, you'll just develop bad habits. And bad habits in a fight get you killed." Ren sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll focus on getting stronger first." Juichi smirked. "Good. Once you've built up enough strength and coordination, we can talk about weapons. Until then, just stick to the basics." Ren nodded, mentally filing the information away. "Guess I'll have to wait before I start any cool sword techniques." With that, they went back to their meal, enjoying the food while occasionally chatting about random things. After finishing their meal, Ren and Juichi returned home and went to their respective rooms. Ren, feeling satisfied and relaxed, collapsed onto his bed, ready to let his body rest after a long day of training and eating well. But just as he was about to drift off— [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [VITALITY +1] Ren's eyes snapped open. "Wait... what?" For a moment, he was completely stumped. His Vitality hadn't increased at all before, so why did it suddenly go up now? Then, he replayed the day's events in his head. He had pushed his body to the absolute limit with his insane three-hour village lap. After that, he had a long recovery period, including a deep sleep in the bath. Finally, he had eaten a large, nutritious meal packed with protein and nutrients to rebuild his body. As he pieced everything together, it suddenly clicked. Vitality isn't about short bursts of effort like Agility or Strength—it represents long-term durability, stamina, and body resilience. Pushing his body to extreme exhaustion forced it to adapt. Sleeping and proper nutrition helped his body recover and grow stronger. The combination of strain, rest, and proper recovery is what finally triggered the increase. Ren nodded to himself. "So that's how it works. Vitality increases aren't as simple as Strength or Agility—it's all about how well my body recovers and adapts." Just as he was feeling proud of figuring it out, another system message popped up. [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [INTELLIGENCE +1] [CONGRATULATIONS ON FIGURING OUT YOUR PROBLEM YOURSELF.] Ren froze. Then stared at the message. Then blinked. "Did... did the system just reward me for thinking?" For a moment, he didn't know whether to be happy or insulted. "So if I solve my own problems, I get Intelligence points? That's... actually really useful." This meant that growing smarter wasn't just about reading books—active problem-solving and real-world thinking could boost his Intelligence too. A grin spread across his face. "Alright, system. I see how this works." Feeling motivated, Ren finally closed his eyes, letting his body drift into a well-earned sleep. ____________________________________________ Updated Stats [AGILITY: 11 (+2)] [CHAKRA: 12 (+1)] [VITALITY: 10 (+1)] [INTELLIGENCE: 11 (+1)] {A/N- Should I add the upgrades like this in every Chapter??}