“Ranking system?”

  The Third Hokage furrowed his brows.

  He uood exactly what Kyoichi meant.

  Not all forbidden teiques posed the same level of danger. For instahe Impure World Reination was, in his view, an absolute forbidden jutsu—ohat toyed with the dead and could provoke the wrath of the entire ninja world.

  However…

  Teiques like Multiple Shadow e Jutsu weren’t ily catastrophic. As long as they were used within reasonable limits, the physical strain was manageable.

  The same applied to Eight Gates, Seven Heavens Breathihod, and the downgraded Cell Activation Jutsu.

  Was there risk?

  Of course.

  But it wasn’t necessarily life-threatening. The training process carried some danger, but pared to dying in battle, the risks were negligible.

  More importantly…

  These forbidden jutsu had the potential to ge the tide of battle.

  Still, implementing this system wouldn’t be easy.

  The Third Hokage hesitated.

  But he couldn’t deny that the idea was tempting. I years, Konoha had suffered signifit losses in flicts with other vilges, depleting its shinobi ranks.

  If they could reduce casualties among Special Jōnin and Jōnin-level shinobi, Konoha would gain a substantial advantage in warfare.

  After a long pause, he took a deep breath and sighed.

  “Lately, I’ve been refleg… Maybe I really am getting old. Ever since my teacher passed and I took over, Konoha hasn’t ged much.”

  “Uh…”

  Kyoichi secretly exhaled in relief.

  He k—

  The Third Hokage was going to agree!

  Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment before tinuing, “Alright, I approve this pn. Other than you, the only person in the vilge deeply ied in forbidden jutsu research is Orochimaru. I’ll call him in. We’ll als in Minato and Might Duy. The five of us will hold a meeting.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Kyoiodded.

  This ractically a done deal—now they just o establish the ranking criteria for forbidden jutsu.

  As Kyoichi left the office, the Third Hokage remained seated, lost in thought about Asuma and the others.

  Shisui was an exception—he had already been reized as a genius.

  But Asuma and Kurenai…

  Their transformation and rapid growth were almost unbelievable, even to him.

  Maybe…

  He really was getting old.

  ---

  [Mission plete: “bat Training” Exercise]

  [Evaluation: Exceptional]

  [Rewards]

  [1. Chakra Scalpel]

  [2. Konoha-Style Kenjutsu – Crest Moon Dance]

  [3. Vacuum Bde (Select 2 out of 3)]

  Additionally, there was a reward for Forbidden Jutsu Application Training—

  Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet.

  The reward itself was nothing special, but the Exceptional rating yielded three much more valuable options.

  All three were great choices.

  Kyoichi had long desired the Chakra Scalpel, but after some thought, he decided against it.

  Why?

  Because Tsunade’s scrolls already taihat medical teique.

  Given his excellent chakra trol, he was fident he could learn it on his ower to save his rewards for something he couldn’t easily obtain.

  With that settled, he made his choice—

  Vacuum Bde and Crest Moon Dance!

  After receiving the rewards, a thought struck him.

  “Wait a sed—”

  He immediately turned bad re-ehe office, where the Third Hokage uffing on his pipe while reviewing dots. Upon seeing Kyoichi, he coughed violently.

  Maintaining a posed expression, Hiruzen sat upright and asked, “Something else?”

  “Of course! Lord Hokage, you promised me that if I successfully hahe in Exams pnning, you’d get me a chakra bde.”

  “Uh…”

  The Third Hokage fell silent.

  He had been so preoccupied with other matters that he had pletely fotten about it.

  A chakra bde wasn’t cheap, and even with mohey weren’t easy to e by.

  After a moment of ption, he sighed, “Do you have any specific requests?”

  “Just a regur katana, something suited for Iaido. The Raijin Bde doesn’t feel right for me.”

  “That’s a reasonable request. Fine…”

  The Third Hokage nodded. “By the way, do you have any on suggestions for Asuma?”

  “Let him figure it out himself. Are you pnning to wield his on for him?”

  Kyoichi replied bluntly.

  If there was ohing he uood well, it was Asuma.

  The old man had a tendenianage—

  Not directly, but subtly, always steering Asuma onto the path he wanted him to follow.

  But…

  Asuma was as stubborn as a mule.

  Try to lead him, and he’d resist even more.

  At least, that was how things stood for now.

  “Fair point…”

  The Third Hokage nodded in agreement.

  As Kyoichi left the office, he thought about his two new swords.

  They were det ons, but the Raijiill felt awkward to use. The more he used it, the more he uood why Tobirama Senju had set it aside. It was fshy, sure—but that was about it.

  If anything, it was useful because Kyoichi didn’t specialize in Lightning Release, but most of the time, it was inferior tur sword.

  That wouldn’t do.

  Ohe war with Kirigakure started, he’d have to find a way to snate of the Seven Ninja Swords.

  Either the Executioner’s Bde or the Kabutowari would be great.

  Not because they were ily powerful, but because of their sheer size—

  Melt them down, and they’d provide a ton of chakra-metal.

  Who in their right mind would waste that much material on oversized cleavers?

  ---

  As he walked, Kyoichi focused on prehending Vacuum Bde and Crest Moon Dance.

  Both were excellent sword teiques.

  The former was a Wind Release kenjutsu.

  The tter…

  The swordpy itself wasn’t particurly impressive to Kyoichi—it was mostly just sshing movements, g any intricate teique.

  However…

  What made it truly valuable was the apanying assassination teiques—

  Stealth, cealment, identifying oints.

  That was the real essence of the move!

  With the system’s rewards, he could allocate ara e to medical studies, ensuring he mastered the Chakra Scalpel. The teique was difficult to trol, but simple in principle.

  As for Vacuum Bde…

  A powerful Wind Release sword teique—perfect for Shisui and Asuma, but Kyoichi wao modify it, iing it into his Iaido style.

  A quick-draw ssh enhanced with Vacuum Bde—

  Ideally, a sirike would finish the job.

  But…

  He wouldn’t rely solely on a single move!

  Kyoiever inteo be a Orike Wonder.

  Besides kenjutsu, he had ninjutsu, genjutsu, and now a deeper uanding of assassination. With his additional knowledge from Crest Moon Dance, his stealth abilities had improved signifitly.

  Though he wasn’t at ae level yet, his shadow e was diligently honing these skills.

  There was no rush.

  For now, Madara was still alive, keeping a watchful eye on Nagato.

  As long as no oried to interfere with Nagato, the Uchiha side wouldn’t even look his way.

  And holy?

  They weren’t worth his attention.

  Kyoichi uood.

  When Madara had proposed leaving Konoha, they hadn’t dared follow. Now they were being oppressed and suppressed, and suddenly, it was everyone else’s fault?

  If he were in Madara’s position, he’d feel the same way.

  Frankly, he was already being generous by not kig them while they were down.

  Just as Kyoichi was about to grab a meal and refresh his study-e, a Katsuyu fragment suddenly appeared beside him.

  “Kyoichi, Lady Tsunade asked me to deliver this to you.”

  “Much appreciated!”

  Kyoichi accepted the letter and ope while walking.

  Tsunade’s message was straightforward—

  Mostly praising his rapid mastery of Katsuyu Summoning and his mediinjutsu progress.

  However…

  The implication in her words was clear.

  Tsunade had learned from Katsuyu that Kyoichi was overseeing the in Exams.

  That was fine.

  He had never inteo keep it a secret anyway. If anything, knowing that she was aware gave him peaind—at least now, the "big spender" wouldn’t have to rely on gambling as an excuse to che his well-being.

  However…

  At the bottom, she mentioned something intriguing—

  A forbidden jutsu she was currently developing.

  Gcell