NARUTO: GOD LEVEL FORGING SYSTEM

It was already noon.

Every day, Tenten left him a few rice balls filled with pickled plums—just like the ones Kushina Uzumaki loved—before heading to Tenten's family weapon shop to help organize their vast collection of kunai, shuriken, and fuma shuriken. Meanwhile, Kazuki was left alone at home.

Kazuki quickly finished the rice balls, savoring the familiar taste of the Hidden Leaf's traditional recipe, then rushed to the forging shed, eager to resume his training. The rhythmic clang of metal striking metal echoed as he practiced forging, much like the blacksmiths who supplied ninja tools to the village.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

For Kazuki, the process of forging was not just about creating standard kunai like those issued to Leaf Village shinobi. Each strike of the hammer tempered not only the metal but also his own physical endurance, much like how Rock Lee and Might Guy honed their bodies through relentless taijutsu training.

Now, he could feel his muscles strengthening.

What surprised him even more was that his control over chakra had improved. He could extract and refine chakra from his tenketsu points with increasing efficiency, much like the advanced chakra control exercises Tsunade used for medical ninjutsu. His reserves, though still developing, had noticeably expanded.

This method of forging, as a form of training, seemed even more effective than some of the lesser-known secret techniques used by the village's ninja clans.

After these days of forging, Kazuki felt his starting point on the path of the shinobi was no lower than that of an Academy student preparing for the Genin Exams.

[Ding! Task Issued: Gather Clay (1000g)

System Reward: Beginner Forging Blueprint – Substitution Kunai]

On the fourth day of Kazuki's forging practice, while shaping a kunai, a sudden notification echoed in his mind.

Substitution Kunai?

Kazuki speculated that this new type of kunai must function similarly to a shadow clone kunai, potentially allowing a user to perform a jutsu akin to the Substitution Technique.

This task was simple.

Clay was abundant, much like the earth chakra-infused terrain used by the Akimichi Clan for their clay-based expansion techniques. Kazuki quickly dug up a small pile of dark brown clay from the backyard, near the garden where he had previously trained his chakra control.

[Ding! Mission Complete!

System Reward: Beginner Forging Blueprint – Substitution Kunai has been issued!]

A surge of knowledge about forging the Substitution Kunai flooded Kazuki's mind.

[Substitution Kunai:

Forging Difficulty: *

Ability: Instant Substitution Technique]

The creation process bore similarities to crafting shadow clone kunai. With his improved understanding, he felt the process would be smoother than before.

However, luck was not on his side this time.

The first Substitution Kunai—failure.

The second one—failure again.

The third attempt—success!

As soon as he succeeded, a new wave of information surfaced in his consciousness.

[Substitution Kunai: By injecting chakra into the kunai, the user can instantly switch places with it, evading attacks without hand seals.]

Kazuki nodded in understanding.

Just as he had predicted, the Substitution Kunai functioned exactly like the standard Substitution Jutsu—one of the three core Academy techniques, alongside the Transformation Jutsu and Clone Jutsu.

In battle, the Substitution Jutsu was widely used among Genin and Chunin, often allowing shinobi to escape near-fatal attacks.

However, this kunai required no hand seals—only chakra.

A weaponized version of the technique was rare, making this kunai an invaluable asset. Realizing its potential, Kazuki felt a surge of determination. He needed to forge more!

With renewed energy, he resumed his work.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of his hammer striking metal echoed throughout the forging shed.

Five more days passed in the blink of an eye.

Kazuki surveyed his work—fifteen Clone Kunai and ten Substitution Kunai.

He was satisfied.

His forging proficiency for Clone Kunai had risen to 77%, while his skill with Substitution Kunai reached 45%.

[Ding! New Mission: Gather Fine Sand (1000g)

System Reward: Beginner Forging Blueprint – Transformation Kunai]

The sound of the system echoed in Kazuki's ears once again.

This time, the tasks assigned by the system were relatively simple.

Without hesitation, Kazuki quickly submitted the completed task and received his reward—a blueprint detailing the forging process of a kunai, the essential weapon of a shinobi.

With this, he had finally gathered the three core ninja tools required to replicate the effects of the Three Basic Jutsu—Clone Jutsu (Bunshin no Jutsu), Transformation Jutsu (Henge no Jutsu), and Substitution Jutsu (Kawarimi no Jutsu).

Ten days passed in quiet diligence.

Aside from eating and sleeping,

Kazuki spent every waking moment inside the forging shed, tirelessly crafting kunai with unwavering focus, much like Tenten's father at the weapon shop in Konoha.

Although forging was repetitive and mentally taxing,

Kazuki never uttered a single complaint.

Instead, he treated it as rigorous training, a means to temper his body like the shinobi who endure grueling physical conditioning at the Konohagakure Academy.

The results of this training were evident.

His body adapted to the constant cycle of chakra depletion and recovery,

allowing him to endure longer periods of strain.

In just half a month,

Kazuki could feel a distinct improvement in his muscle strength.

His chakra recovery rate had also increased,

similar to how shinobi hone their reserves through constant usage in battle or training, like Rock Lee developing endurance through endless Taijutsu drills.

Kazuki made a mental calculation—

in real combat, the raw force behind his strikes,

combined with strategic use of three specialized kunai,

would likely place him at the level of an average Genin.

Of course, in the past half-month,

his efforts had yielded considerable results in terms of craftsmanship.

He had successfully forged 30 standard kunai, 20 double-edged kunai, and 15 modified kunai designed for tactical versatility.

At the same time, his proficiency with creating Clone Kunai, Substitution Kunai, and Transformation Kunai had reached 100%, 85%, and 55%, respectively.

Now, his success rate for forging the Substitution Kunai had hit 100%,

ensuring that no defective pieces would be produced moving forward.

Moreover, he noticed that as his mastery improved, so did his crafting speed.

At first, forging a single kunai required three hours.

Now, he could complete one in just half an hour,

a rate reminiscent of the precision and efficiency displayed by master weapon forgers in the Hidden Leaf Village's armory.

At this moment, his system panel had updated as follows:

[Host: Kazuki]

[Age: 6 years old]

[Forging Level: Beginner]

[Unlocked Weapons: Clone Kunai (100%), Substitution Kunai (85%), Transformation Kunai (55%)]

[Self-Created Weapons: None]

On this particular evening,

after finishing his training, Kazuki sat down for dinner with Tenten.

After their meal,

he didn't rush to leave.

Instead, he turned to her and asked,

"Sister, I taught you how to extract chakra before. How's your progress?"

Tenten stuck out her tongue in frustration and sighed.

"Brother, it's so difficult! I've been practicing for more than ten days, and I can only extract a tiny bit of chakra occasionally. And even then, it's unstable."

Kazuki nodded, unsurprised.

He patted her shoulder reassuringly and said,

"Don't worry. The fact that you can sense chakra means you've already taken the first step. Just keep practicing, and it'll come naturally."

Tenten's talent in ninjutsu wasn't exceptional,

but as her older brother, he was determined to help her grow stronger.

After all, chakra refinement was no easy task for a six-year-old.

At the Ninja Academy, students spent their first two years focusing primarily on developing chakra control before even attempting advanced jutsu.

By that standard, Tenten's progress was quite promising in Kazuki's eyes.

With a small smile, he pulled out three Clone Kunai and handed them to her.

"Here. Something for you to practice with."