Leaf forward camp, small grove.
Taiichi had barely finished his meditation when the panel hit him with another surprise.
[Focused Advanced Meditation training. Chunin occupation experience +1]
[Congratulations, your Ninja Apprentice occupation has reached Lv10 (1/2000)]
[Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1]
[Congratulations, your occupation level has reached Lv10. Job Change conditions triggered]
[1. Chunin occupation level Lv10 — Not met]
[2. Jonin physical foundation: Constitution 20+, Strength or Agility 25+, Spirit 20+ — Met]
[3. Chakra reserves: 10,000+ — Met]
[4. Official Jonin title from the village — Not met]
First off, another level-up felt great. The extra points meant more breathing room. The job change prompt was interesting too. His body and chakra were already way past the requirements. The only things left were hitting Chunin Lv10 (which he just did) and getting the village to officially promote him to Jonin. That was just a matter of time—probably this year.
He pulled up his full panel and grinned at the numbers.
Name: Matsushita Taiichi
Occupation: Chunin Lv10 (1/2000)
Talents: Hard Work Pays Off, Top Student, Potency
Age: 10
Constitution: 28
Strength: 26
Agility: 26
Spirit: 30
Chakra: 62,000 (65,500)
Attribute Points: 26
Skill Points: 11
Fire Nature Transformation: Lv13 (23/5000)
Wind Nature Transformation: Lv12 (912/4000)
Water Nature Transformation: Lv12 (623/4000)
Earth Nature Transformation: Lv8 (703/1400)
Lightning Nature Transformation: Lv8 (558/1400)
Yang Nature Transformation: Lv11 (1601/3000)
Yin Nature Transformation: Lv9 (231/1600)
Chakra Shape Transformation: Lv11 (1411/3000)
Chakra Control: Lv12 (1443/4000)
Ice Nature Transformation: Lv8 (301/1400)
Skills: Advanced Taijutsu Lv6 (6212/7000), Advanced Meditation Lv6 (6204/7000), Advanced Kenjutsu Lv6 (5222/7000), Sealing Technique Lv12 (111/4000), Flying Thunder God Lv6 (831/1000), Spirit Transformation Technique Lv1 (1/100)
Evaluation: You've earned your place in the current ninja world. But don't get cocky—plenty of people can still kill you.
Taiichi felt a deep sense of satisfaction. The only real gaps left were raw Strength and Agility. Once those caught up, he wouldn't have to worry about much in the Third Great Ninja War. He couldn't help wondering what Hashirama Senju's prime stats had looked like. Grabbing the Nine-Tails like it was a puppy had to require insane physical power.
He stood up, brushed the dirt off his pants, and headed back toward camp. Training was done for now. Time to figure out what came next—keep grinding in camp until Chiyo realized her poisons were useless, or get back out into the field and sharpen himself through real combat.
He decided to ask Jiraiya for the latest intel first.
As he approached his tent, voices drifted out. Inside he found Yohei, Kakashi, Saori, Obito, and Rin. With the front lines quiet again, the team had been spending more time training than running missions.
"Yohei-niisan~" Obito whined in that long, dramatic tone that made everyone's skin crawl.
Taiichi's goosebumps rose instantly. Kakashi and Rin both made disgusted faces. Even Yohei shuddered and started waving his arms like he was fighting off a swarm of bees.
But Obito had clearly decided today was the day he would shamelessly cling. He latched onto Yohei's arm. "Just teach me! I've got the Sharingan now—how the hell am I still losing to Kakashi?!"
Apparently Obito had been challenging Kakashi nonstop for the last week and getting wrecked every single time. Four straight losses had finally broken him. Now he was begging for secret techniques.
Yohei looked exhausted. "Obito, have you ever considered that you're not losing because your Sharingan is weak? It's because your fundamentals are garbage."
Saori snorted and clapped a hand over her mouth. Rin bit her lip hard to keep from laughing. Even Kakashi's mask twitched.
Taiichi stepped inside right then. "What's so funny?"
"Obito's asking Yohei how to use the Sharingan properly," Saori explained, still trying not to laugh.
Taiichi turned to Obito. "One tomoe Sharingan just boosts dynamic vision and perception, right? That stuff should come naturally with training. Haven't you felt the difference?"
Obito blinked, clearly never having thought about it. He'd been too busy trying to beat Kakashi to actually pay attention to what his eyes were doing.
Taiichi crossed his arms. "Look, the Sharingan is powerful, but it only multiplies what you already have. If your base is ten, doubling it gets you twenty. If your base is a hundred, doubling it gets you two hundred. Right now your fundamentals are so bad that even a Sharingan boost isn't enough."
Yohei nodded. "And evolving the Sharingan gets harder every time. You planning to almost get Rin killed again just to push to the next stage?"
The tent went dead silent. Obito's face fell. That memory still hurt.
A long moment passed before Obito muttered, "I'm going to train." He wiped his eyes and bolted out of the tent.
Rin grabbed Kakashi's sleeve. "I'll go check on him. We should probably train too—my taijutsu is still trash."
The two of them followed Obito out.
Saori sighed. "He'll be okay, right?"
Yohei shrugged. "Give him a couple days. He needs to be knocked down every so often or he gets lazy."
Taiichi sat down. "By the way, what's this 'title' everyone keeps talking about? I heard something about 'White Death'?"
Yohei and Saori exchanged looks, both clearly fighting back grins.
"White Death," Yohei said, trying to keep a straight face. "Sand started it. They're telling everyone that if you see you on a mission, you're allowed to abandon the objective and no one will punish you."
Taiichi's expression darkened. "That's not a compliment. That's a death sentence with extra steps. They're painting a target on my back so every other village comes after me."
Saori nodded. "It spread way too fast. Someone's definitely pushing the rumor on purpose."
Taiichi stood up. "I'm going to the command tent right now. Jiraiya-sensei needs to hear this."
He left the tent at a fast walk while Yohei and Saori watched him go, both looking worried.
"White Death…" Taiichi muttered under his breath as he headed for the main command tent. "They couldn't have picked something cooler? Fire Dancer? Shadow Reaper? Anything?"
The nickname was already spreading through camp. Every shinobi he passed gave him respectful nods and whispered the new title. Taiichi felt like he was walking through a minefield wearing a neon sign.