Naruto: The battle system

The next day, Ryu woke up and combed his shoulder length, white hair as he was thinking about his new dream… shinobi no kami… that title was only held by two shinobi before him, lord first and lord third. What did it mean to be the shinobi no kami? What had the two hokage in common? Well, for one, they were extremely strong but that couldn't be it, right? They did great things too… lord first founded Konoha and lord third trained the legendary Sannin, their legacy lived on for decades. How could Ryu claim to be the shinobi no kami if he didn't do something equally impressive… but what? What could he aim to do? Questions for another time, for now, he had to go to the academy. He had been daydreaming for way too long, brushing his hair absentmindedly, he had to be fast if he wanted to get there on time, so, Ryu put on his black parka(just as Naruto had his signature orange jumpsuit, Ryu had his signature black parka) and body flickered to the academy.

He sat down in class. Naruto was already there, doodling in his notebook, drawing spiral patterns.

The day started slow, with math. Next, they went over their calligraphy, important for sealing jutsu. Not that they were taught any sealing jutsu but still, if they wanted to learn, they needed to have good calligraphy. Ryu's writing was okay, nothing to write home about. He wouldn't be a sealing master but he could probably make his own explosive seals or sealing scrolls if given enough time. What came next though, that was what he was looking forward to all day, sparring…

Iruka-sensei gathered them all to the training yard, where he picked two kids at random, Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga. The fight was short, with Sasuke dropkicking the timid girl. She didn't even use her byakugan. As the next two were chosen, Ryu walked over to the Hyuga princess, "Hinata, why didn't you use your dojutsu? With it, you may have stood a chance against Sasuke. I heard that an experienced user can predict their opponent's movements by watching their chakra flow"

"M- my eyes are creepy", she admitted in a soft voice, "I can't do it in front of so many people… they would laugh at me for my creepy eyes. I'm not that good at fighting either… even with the byakugan, I wouldn't have stood a chance against Sasuke…"

"Don't talk yourself down like that", Ryu laid a hand on her shoulder, "you shouldn't worry about what others think. I, for one, think those eyes are awesome! The byakugan looks cool and it can do so many cool things. I know you can do it! You can win in a spar against Sasuke, if only you believe in yourself"

"I- I- I-", Hinata went beet red, "I- I think someone called for me"

She turned heel and ran towards the other side of the ring, "I hope you can learn to believe in yourself", Ryu muttered to himself, looking at the girl running away.

"Ryu Zata against Shikamaru Nara", Iruka sensei called and Ryu stood in the circle and did the seal of confrontation. They walked towards opposite ends of the ring and Ryu was about to start circling, when, Shikamaru called out, "I yield"

Ryu's face sunk in, he wanted a fight, "Sensei, can I have another match then, since my sparring partner gave up?"

Regardless, a screen appeared.

[You have beaten(?) your opponent! Choose one of the three randomly selected abilities to copy:

A) Shadow imitation technique experience; B) Basic math knowledge; C) Fire chakra nature]

He chose the shadow imitation technique and immediately, information flooded his head, about how to manipulate his shadow. It would be a good trump card to have. Not that he could use it right now, he had way too little chakra.

"Yes Ryu, you can have another match", Iruka sensei nodded, "Ino Yamanaka, you are up"

The blonde girl nodded, entering the circle and glaring at him, "this will be revenge for you beating sasuke-kun!"

Ryu ignored her, all that his mind was set on was the rewards for beating her. What would he get? Chakra? A clan technique? He had already gotten the Nara's secret technique, why not the yamanaka technique too? Though, given the choice, he would choose the chakra any day, he needed a strong foundation if he wanted to meet his goal of becoming the shinobi no kami. Having secret jutsu was good and all but what use were they if he had no chakra to use them. Clan kids had generally more chakra than their civilian counterparts, so beating them would grant him a lot more chakra than a civilian kid.

They formed the seal of confrontation and jumped back. Ryu was lucky that this was a taijutsu match. Right now, in an open brawl, the clan kids would annihilate him. Body flicker, he could deal with but if the Yamanaka's body possession technique were on the table, he would struggle. He didn't have the reaction speed to dodge that jutsu.

Ino jumped at him, fist aiming for his face. He body flickered away, behind her. Before she could react, he kicked at her leg.

"Argh-" she turned around and kicked at his mid-section. Ryu caught her leg and twisted it, throwing her off balance. When she fell, Ryu grabbed her by the arm and threw her out of the ring.

"The winner is Ryu Zata", Iruka sensei nodded knowingly. The outcome was expected. Ryu was at the top of the class, combat wise. His mediocre chakra held him back but in a taijutsu brawl, none of the kids in his year could beat him.

*Ding*

[You have beaten your opponent! Choose one of the three randomly selected abilities to copy:

A) chakra reserves; B) Basic kunai throwing experience ; C) basic math knowledge ]

Greedily, he chose the chakra reserves. The spike in chakra was astonishing. A civilians ninja's chakra was nothing in comparison. His chakra more than tripled. Previously, he couldn't have used the clone jutsu more than twice, now, he could easily use it ten times, though after that, he would be completely drained.