After the battle ended, Jokichi held his book and returned under the tree to watch.
Iruka took a look and did not say anything.
Although he was only a Chunin, he still had the insight he should have.
During the previous match, the reaction, strength, and technique Jokichi displayed were far beyond what a first-year student should have.
At this moment, Iruka understood.
Jokichi was not daydreaming and slacking off in class, but because these courses were useless to him, he used the time for other things.
The sparring class proceeded methodically.
Iruka held the roster, pairing them up in groups of two for sparring.
The observing classmates, however, did not focus their attention on the sparring pairs, but were discussing the previous battle between Sasuke and Jokichi.
In their impression, although Jokichi's performance had never fallen behind, it was not outstanding either, coupled with his bookworm image of being immersed in textbooks every day.
They subconsciously thought Jokichi was very weak, and that anyone from the class would be stronger than him.
But now...
Sasuke, born in the Uchiha clan, with outstanding daily performance far exceeding everyone else, was easily defeated by Jokichi.
This was practically an instant kill.
This huge contrast made it hard for them to believe for a moment.
Although Naruto, Ino, and the others were happy for him, they were also quite surprised; they didn't think he could win beforehand.
Only Shikamaru had an expression taking it as a matter of course.
Through their daily interactions and the small details in his words and deeds, he had long guessed that Jokichi was very strong.
Although he did not guess he would be this strong, defeating Sasuke was within his expectations.
Jokichi knew absolutely nothing about the classmates' reactions.
He was completely immersed in the world of the book.
"The Land of Earth is full of mountains and stones, mostly fragile rock layers, which are natural traps. When executing missions in that country, one must constantly pay attention to the feeling of stepping on solid ground."
"The Land of Wind is deep in the desert, and sandstorms occur frequently. Before traveling, it is necessary to forecast the weather in advance. At night, one must guard against poisonous snakes and scorpions and take precautions."
"The Land of Rivers..."
This was an extracurricular book recording the geography of various countries on the continent, and Jokichi read it with great fascination.
By the time he came back to his senses, the school dismissal bell had already rung.
"It is already this time!"
Jokichi stood up and stretched, gathered with the others, and then left school.
Bidding farewell to his friends at the gate, Jokichi did not go to the nearby training ground to train, but went straight back home.
After closing and locking the door, Jokichi took out a pinch of hair, and the system's voice instantly rang in his mind.
[Ding! Discovered special material Incomplete Sage Hair, Residual Power of Indra, can forge special item Degraded Sage Crystal]
Wait, why is it a Degraded Sage Crystal?
Jokichi widened his eyes slightly.
This was the hair pulled out during the battle with Sasuke earlier. Logically speaking, it should forge a Sage Crystal just like Naruto's.
Why is it degraded?
Jokichi pondered hard.
He suddenly remembered that in the struggle between Indra and Asura, the Sage of Six Paths gave his power to Asura.
Asura possessed the power of Six Paths, while Indra did not.
Could this be the reason?
Jokichi was unsure, but at this point, he could only take it one step at a time.
Forge.
He silently chanted in his mind, and instantly, a thumb-sized blood-colored crystal appeared in his hand.
"Degraded Sage Crystal (Upgradeable): After swallowing, it will change the consumer's body bloodline, causing them to awaken degraded Sage Eyes. If the consumer possesses the power of Six Paths, the eyes will evolve into complete Sage Eyes over a long period of time."
It really is like this.
Jokichi understood in his heart.
In the anime, Indra himself did not have the Rinnegan. Sasuke also only awakened one Rinnegan because the Sage of Six Paths shared half of his power with him.
Now, neither Sasuke nor Indra had the power of Six Paths, so naturally, it was impossible to forge a crystal that could awaken the Rinnegan.
In the next second, the system's prompt confirmed his thoughts.
[Ding! Detected that the host has swallowed a Sage Crystal, possesses a perfect body, and contains the power of Six Paths within the body. Upon swallowing the Degraded Sage Crystal, the eyes will autonomously evolve slowly]
[Ding! Detected that the host has forged a large number of Broken Sage Crystals. They can be fused and upgraded with the Degraded Sage Crystal, which can greatly shorten the evolution time of the Sage Eyes]
"Is that so..."
Jokichi pondered slightly.
Uchiha Madara bit off a piece of flesh from Senju Hashirama, seized a portion of Asura's chakra from within it, and then spent decades drawing out the power of Six Paths, allowing his eyes to evolve into the Rinnegan.
Jokichi's current situation was exactly like this.
However, he himself already possessed the power of Six Paths and did not need to spend time drawing it out, so the time spent would be shortened a lot.
But exactly how long it would take was still unknown.
Since Jokichi could not figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
He first took out Itachi's Sage Crystal to fuse and upgrade with Sasuke's.
The information provided by the system did not change; only the surface of the crystal became a bit brighter.
Jokichi did not hesitate either, taking out all the Uchiha's crystals and fusing and upgrading them one by one.
After the upgrade was completed, the information provided by the system still had not changed, but the crystal itself had become more dazzling and bright, containing a coveted power within.
"If this awakens the Mangekyo, it should be the strongest Mangekyo, right!"
Jokichi held the crystal, smiled, and then swallowed it in one gulp.
The crystal went down his throat into his stomach, instantly turning into red energy roaming within his body.
Every time it completed a circuit, it would bring up traces of green fluorescence floating towards his brain.
Affected by this, Jokichi felt refreshed and clear-headed.
The state lasted for ten minutes.
Jokichi took off the Top Student Glasses, and then took off the Mangekyo contact lenses. A blood-colored hexagram suddenly appeared in his pitch-black eyes.
Jokichi felt the world had changed, becoming clearer.
The fine dust, and even the bacteria that were invisible before, were now clearly visible.
"Is this Sasuke's Mangekyo."
Jokichi looked at his hands; he could feel the power contained within his eyes.
Amaterasu, Kagutsuchi, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo...
It perfectly combined the abilities of Sasuke and Itachi's Mangekyo.
The visual prowess contained within it far exceeded the Mangekyo contact lenses fused from Itachi and Shisui.
Furthermore, the visual prowess was still constantly getting stronger.
Although the magnitude of strengthening was so faint that it was hard to detect, it won in being enduring.
Jokichi felt it for a moment; in about eight years or so, it could produce a qualitative change and evolve into the Rinnegan.
"Now I can truly breathe a sigh of relief."
Perfect Sage Body, Eternal Mangekyo...
Even if he did not practice, just waiting for his age to increase and his body to develop, he would naturally become stronger.
Kakashi became a Jonin at twelve, and Itachi became an Anbu captain at thirteen.
And what level he would grow to by that time was simply unimaginable.
One could only say, the future is promising.
Jokichi threw the Mangekyo contact lenses into the system space, and then put on the Top Student Glasses.
His blood-red eyes returned to normal.
He smiled at the mirror, fully concealing his sharpness.
"Mhm, for now, it is better to honestly develop!"
...
The next day, the sun was bright and beautiful.
Jokichi arrived at the academy early.
Ignoring the noisy classmates, after greeting the few people he had a good relationship with, he sat back in his seat and quietly read his book.
Everything in the outside world seemed to have nothing to do with him.