Chapter 2: The Realm of the Swordsman
Time flowed like water, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this week, Ryuzen rarely left his house except for meals. His withdrawn nature had become so pronounced that the neighbors could only watch with pity whenever they saw him. Children his age were outside playing ninja games with their friends, filling the streets with laughter. But this boy, once so lively and cute, had become a ghost after his mother's death.
This change wasn't only noticed by concerned neighbors.
It had also caught the attention of a young chuunin—one who genuinely cared.
Umino Iruka, an instructor at the Ninja Academy.
In the original story, after the Third Hokage himself, Iruka had been the first person to truly acknowledge Naruto Uzumaki. He would become one of the three most important teachers in Naruto's life, the one who first showed the ostracized boy that someone believed in him.
The Konoha Ninja Academy had been established by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, specifically to ensure the Will of Fire would be passed down to future generations. Every family, every orphan without parents, every child with nowhere else to go—they all had a place at the Academy.
It was vital for the growth of the new generation. So before each school term began, the Hokage personally arranged for Academy instructors to visit every orphan in the village, making sure they knew to enroll on time.
Of course, simply enrolling didn't guarantee you would become a ninja. The Academy's process followed a clear structure: enrollment testing, basic education, practical exercises, application training, graduation examination, and finally promotion to genin. The enrollment test itself was a filter—only those who passed could begin learning the fundamentals and become trainee ninja.
In the original story, Rock Lee had nearly failed the enrollment test entirely.
"Enroll?"
Ryuzen watched Iruka leave after his warm, earnest visit. Looking down at the admission notice in his hands, his mind drifted to thoughts of the twelve future ninja who would become known as the Rookie Nine and Team Guy. They were all children now, just like him.
Especially this generation's reincarnations of Indra and Asura's chakra—Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. At this moment, they were just ordinary kids. No one could imagine that eleven years from now, these two boys would become the saviors of the entire ninja world.
It was because of them that the power system of this world would eventually soar to absurd, dimension-shattering heights.
If this had been a month ago, Ryuzen would have already been planning how to befriend them, how to hold tightly to those two unbreakable thighs and ride their coattails to survival.
But now...
"My future is no weaker than anyone else's."
Ryuzen's expression hardened with determination as he turned and walked toward the training hall.
...
Five days later, Ryuzen passed the Ninja Academy enrollment test with flying colors—becoming one of the fastest students to clear the examination.
The so-called enrollment test was nothing more than a basic evaluation of physical fitness. But the true key to becoming a ninja was chakra, and that wasn't something they could teach in a single test. The advantage of being born into a ninja family meant Ryuzen had already refined his chakra long ago. He was ahead before the race even started.
Today was his first day of class.
Ryuzen woke early, long before the sun had fully risen. After washing up, he found himself standing in front of the full-length mirror, studying his reflection.
Silver hair framed a face still soft with baby fat. His eyes, a deep crimson, stared back at him from the glass. Despite his young age, there was something sharp in those eyes—something that hadn't been there a month ago. Looking at himself now, he could already see hints of the handsome young man he would become.
He had to admit, this body was blessed in the looks department. In this world where children seemed to mature far too quickly, appearances mattered. He suspected that would serve him well someday.
Dressed and ready, Ryuzen left the house and made his way through the village streets toward the Academy.
As he walked, his mind wandered. He pulled up the system interface in his thoughts, reviewing his progress.
*[Your Inheritance: 'Hawk-Eye' Dracule Mihawk Template has been unlocked to 0.94%.]*
Twelve days. Twelve thousand swings of the sword. Day after day, he had pushed his small body to its limits, and finally, his synchronization with Mihawk's legacy was approaching one percent.
It was only a tiny fraction—barely anything at all. But even that small amount had already changed him profoundly.
In the spiritual world, he had lived through Mihawk's childhood. The golden-eyed boy had grown stronger, defeating every opponent his age who dared to challenge him. Through penetration and comprehension, Ryuzen had absorbed all of it. Basic swordsmanship was no longer basic to him—it was instinct. The confidence Mihawk had earned through countless victories had slowly begun to seep into Ryuzen's own being, changing the way he carried himself, the way he met the world.
In the spiritual world, Mihawk had now been practicing kendo for over a year. He had faced and overcome many opponents his own age. And every time Ryuzen completed his daily task, he lived through those experiences as if they were his own.
This was the true power of the Strongest Inheritance System. It wasn't just about skills or techniques. It transferred everything—the training, the experience, the emotions, the mindset. Ryuzen didn't just learn how to swing a sword like Mihawk. He learned to feel like Mihawk. To carry that same quiet confidence, that same unshakeable certainty in his own strength.
And this was only from less than one percent.
The real Mihawk was forty-three years old. His life as a swordsman spanned more than three decades, of which childhood was merely the prologue. After Mihawk went out to sea, his strength would explode upward. On his journey to become the world's greatest swordsman, he would challenge countless masters of the blade. Every one of those battles, every hard-won lesson, every moment of growth—all of it waited inside the system, waiting to be unlocked.
Ryuzen entered the Academy grounds and found his assigned classroom. He wasn't the first to arrive. A dozen children his age were already inside, talking among themselves.
Among them, he spotted three familiar faces—three of the future Rookie Nine.
Yamanaka Ino, with her long blonde hair already styled in a way that hinted at the beautiful girl she would become. Nara Shikamaru, slouched in his seat with that permanently bored expression. And Akimichi Choji, already snacking beside him, blissfully unaware of the future that awaited them all.
"Wow... he's so handsome! He's totally my type!"
Ryuzen's entrance had drawn immediate attention. His finely featured face, still carrying that adorable baby fat, had caught Yamanaka Ino's eye instantly. Her exclamation of admiration made Shikamaru, sitting next to Choji, prop his face up with his hand in exasperation.
"Aren't all kids these days way too precocious?" Shikamaru muttered.
"You're the last person who should be saying that!" Ino shot back, glaring at him as she walked over for a better look at the new arrival.
"Yeah... how troublesome..." Shikamaru yawned unapologetically, completely unbothered by her reaction.
Ryuzen glanced briefly at Shikamaru and Ino, then continued to the back of the classroom without engaging. He found an empty seat near the window and sat down, already mentally elsewhere.
He didn't intend to specialize in ninjutsu. For his goals, the Academy was more of a formality than anything else. In a year or two, once he had built up enough chakra reserves, he would learn the Shadow Clone Technique properly. Then he could leave the theoretical learning to his clones while his real body focused on what actually mattered.
Why waste time sitting in a classroom when he could be practicing swordsmanship? Every hour spent here was an hour not spent chasing the next level of understanding—the ability to hear the breath of all things.
In the world of One Piece, swordsmen were divided into three distinct realms: the swordsman, the skilled swordsman, and the great swordsman.
No matter how superb their technique, a swordsman who only understood the physical aspects of the blade was still just a swordsman.
Only those who could sense the breath of all things—who could hear the world breathing around them—were qualified to step into the true realm of the swordsman.
This ability to hear the breath of all things was also called the realm of 'cutting steel'. It meant understanding something so deeply that you could cut it not with force, but with perception. It meant seeing the lines that ran through all things, the weaknesses that existed even in the strongest materials.
Only by stepping into this realm could a swordsman learn to wield flying slashes—to cut something without ever touching it.
And that was just the beginning.
Ryuzen gazed out the classroom window at the clear blue sky above Konoha. Somewhere out there, Naruto was probably causing trouble. Sasuke was probably brooding alone. And here he was, sitting in a room full of children, pretending to be one of them.
They had no idea what was coming. No idea that in eleven years, the world would nearly end. No idea that gods and monsters would walk the earth.
But Ryuzen knew.
And he intended to be ready.
(End of Chapter)
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