Chapter 8: What's the Condition?

As soon as Sasuke finished speaking, numbers appeared before his eyes—a pleasant surprise he hadn't expected.

Actually, even he wasn't sure if this counted as showing off, but with the added points, it probably did. It seemed to have hit Naruto right in the feels!

It seems showing off can be aimed at a group of people, or it can be directed at a specific person.

As long as you get their *“weak” point!*

"Really... can you?!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke with wide eyes, a glimmer of cautious hope shining through his somewhat desperate face. It was like a drowning man spotting a lifeline but not daring to reach for it.

"Of course, I'm the top student in our class!" Sasuke declared confidently, without a trace of guilt.

"Oh yeah! Sasuke, you're super awesome!" Little stars twinkled in Naruto's eyes. He used to hate Sasuke, thinking he was a total show-off. But now that they were getting along, he found Sasuke more and more agreeable—more and more handsome the longer he looked at him.

No wonder Sakura likes Sasuke!

Naruto suddenly understood Sakura a little better.

+2

The numbers jumped again before Sasuke's eyes. He had already gained a lot of system points from Naruto.

"The ramen is ready."

Just then, a deep voice sounded. It belonged to the ramen shop owner, Teuchi.

Teuchi carried a tray with six bowls of ramen, placing it directly on the table in front of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Please enjoy your meal!"

After saying this, Teuchi didn't linger, immediately turning back to his station.

"Whoa, it smells so good, I can't resist! Sasuke, I'm digging in!"

Seeing the ramen placed in front of him, Naruto was practically drooling. The gloom in his heart vanished instantly, replaced by the joy of eating.

Without hesitation, Naruto dove in. Faced with such delicious ramen, he couldn't resist and started slurping down mouthfuls.

"I'm starting too," Sasuke said as he picked up the chopsticks from his bowl and began eating slowly. He wasn't as unrestrained as Naruto, appearing more refined—but not exactly elegant either.

How can I show off while eating ramen?  

Sasuke had already formed a conditioned reflex. No matter what he did, he would think about how to show off.

Eat upside down?  

Forget it.  

Sasuke suppressed the potentially embarrassing thought. There was no rush to show off; he might as well enjoy his ramen peacefully.

He opened the system panel and focused on the points.

*System points: 25 points.*

Sasuke was quite satisfied. He had just arrived in the ninja world and obtained the system not long ago, so he wasn't very proficient in showing off yet. He needed some time to master it.

Getting this many points on the first day...

Not bad!

Sasuke looked at the shop and lottery options, finding that both were still unavailable. Currently, the only use for system points was to improve attributes.

*Upgrading from E rank to D rank requires 100 points.*

Then...

*From D rank to C rank?*

Sasuke curiously clicked on the only D rank attribute, "Physique." A progress bar immediately appeared beside it.

*Rank D: (0/200)*

It would take 200 points to upgrade Physique to C rank.

The points needed to upgrade from D rank to C rank were equivalent to upgrading two E ranks to D rank.

Then let's add to Physique!  

After a little thought, Sasuke made up his mind and silently allocated the system points to the only D rank attribute, Physique.

*ding! *

Instantly, his Physique attribute changed.

*Rank D: (25/200)*

In that moment, Sasuke felt a subtle warm current flow through his body, like the feeling after strenuous exercise—a slight sweat followed by a refreshing sensation.

"I see!"

Sasuke's eyes suddenly lit up. He realized it wasn't just about crossing ranks to feel a change; the process of improvement itself brought changes.

Even within the same rank of D...

The effect of 0 points on the progress bar was different from 25 points!

Improving in real-time, getting stronger in real-time. When the progress bar was full, it would advance to the next rank, and the improvement gained then would be even greater.

Sasuke now understood the operating mode of his system more clearly.

After this round of attribute enhancement ended, the system points returned to zero. He needed to continue showing off to gain more points, and more points would bring more strength.

"Right? Ichiraku Ramen is delicious, isn't it?"

Naruto thought Sasuke was talking to him and replied with a smile. The current Naruto was smiling purely, truly treating Sasuke as a friend.

In the original story, the two were both rivals and friends, competing with each other. Although Naruto pursued Sasuke for many years without success, he would still get annoyed with Sasuke at times.

But now,

Naruto felt very comfortable.

The loneliness he had grown up with was being filled.

"It's alright."

Sasuke nodded. He had been eating ramen and looking at the system at the same time, with all his attention on adding points—not paying much attention to the taste of the ramen.

"Sasuke, how did you know I wanted to become Hokage?" Naruto, less hungry now, gradually felt like chatting.

"I told you, I know everything about you," Sasuke said lightly.

+1

"Impossible!" Naruto shook his head and said, "Even I don't know everything about myself."

"Naruto, I know everything you know! And I also know what you don't know!" Sasuke stared at Naruto and said in a low voice.

+2

"Don't joke." Naruto shook his head again and said with a wry smile, "I don't know who my parents are. Do you?"

"I do," Sasuke nodded slightly.

+2

"You really do?" Naruto looked at Sasuke suspiciously, his breathing gradually becoming rapid, and his heart couldn't help but feel nervous. His identity was always a heavy weight on his mind.

"Naruto, I can tell you about your identity, but I have a condition." Sasuke leaned close to Naruto's ear and whispered.

"What condition?" Naruto was completely tense now. He clenched his hands tightly into fists, his palms unconsciously sweating.

(End of Chapter)