Entering, he immediately saw Natsumi on the bed and Hitomi beside her. He couldn't help smiling at how responsible his fourth wife was. As a top-class iryonin, Hitomi always approached her duties seriously and was highly professional.
Kenshin silently approached Natsumi from the other side and sat down. Smiling brightly, he stroked her head, creating a calming atmosphere in the room.
"Thanks, I needed that..." Natsumi whispered, fully relaxing. Though she'd given birth many times, Kenshin's absence kept her tense.
"I should be thanking you for giving me such wonderful babies," he said with a smile, stroking her head again.
Natsumi tried to smile, but her face twisted in pain, and she couldn't hold back a groan: "Aaaah! God, it's starting..."
Half an hour later, Kenshin held a tiny green-eyed, bald bundle. The Thirty Sixth gazed at his father curiously, feeling an unbreakable bond, and happily cooed.
"Go to Mommy," Kenshin said with a smile, handing the baby over, tenderly kissing his wife's forehead, and leaving to let them rest.
He headed straight to his room and asked not to disturb him unless urgent. He couldn't wait to check the new ability from hitting level twenty.
Closing the door, Kenshin sat in the armchair and focused on the notifications. Besides the birth and level-up alerts, there was another.
[Congratulations! You've unlocked the ability "Patriarch's Aura"]
"And what does that mean?!" Kenshin thought irritably. The System's brevity annoyed him, but undeterred, he focused on the description.
Patriarch's Aura: - Being near the Patriarch boosts all descendants' power.
"Again! What does such a sparse description even mean?!" he thought discontentedly, digging into the System's ever-changing "tooltips."
First, he learned the ability's radius, which pleased him a bit: 20 meters per level, so at twenty, it covered 400 meters around Kenshin.
He couldn't figure out exactly what the "aura" affected, needing deep research, but at first glance, it seemed incredibly useful, especially now.
"If we secure the base, strengthening our position is just a matter of time..." Kenshin mused, worried that by Murphy's law, problems always hit at crucial moments.
He put the skill point from the level into "Shelter Creation," raising it to level five, then checked his "status."
Name: Nakayama Kenshin
Age: 21
Level: 20
Class: Patriarch
Available: 0 skill points
Skills:
Harem Master (MAX)
Will of Patriarch (MAX)
Patriarch Mind (MAX)
Patriarch's Aura (MAX)
Talented Offspring [Level 11]
Shelter Creation [Level 5]
Formation Creation [Level 7]
Psi – 2540/2680
???
???
???
"Ichiro, meet me in the gym," Kenshin ordered mentally. Testing the new ability was far more important than Ichiro's possible sleep.
A minute later, Ichiro stood before Kenshin, who deactivated "Patriarch's Aura" and checked his "status."
Name: Nakayama Ichiro
Age: 20 years
Talent Level: 24
Chakra Quality: 5
Chakra Amount: 5100
Chakra Control: 66%
Space Authority Lvl 3
Sharingan Lvl 2
Then he activated Patriarch's Aura and checked again for changes.
Name: Nakayama Ichiro
Age: 20 years
Talent Level: 24
Chakra Quality: 6
Chakra Amount: 6500
Chakra Control: 73%
Space Authority Lvl 3
Sharingan Lvl 2
As soon as Kenshin activated Patriarch's Aura, Ichiro flinched and said: "There it is again! Father, something strange happens to me and the brothers—we suddenly feel a surge of power, and all our senses sharpen even more."
"That's good, very good. I awakened a new ability, time to test it. To the training ground," Kenshin said, flying in that direction.
For the next few hours, Kenshin meticulously studied the changes from Patriarch's Aura. He got so absorbed he called in more sons, especially the Fifteenth and Twenty Second, thoroughly checking its effect on suiton and fuuton.
The results thrilled him. Sons' physical stats boosted ~30%; chakra was trickier, but roughly the same 30%, nearly doubling shinobi power.
Ichiro easily suppressed max-effort Kenshin without spatial abilities, which had become so dangerous Kenshin banned them in brotherly sparring.
With rough Jonin power estimates, Kenshin figured Ichiro under "Patriarch's Aura" could handle a not-weak Jonin, maybe even kill a weak one.
"If Zabuza met us now, we could take him down, worst case losing half the squad!" Ichiro declared, and the Twenty Second nodded.
"And what would you gain from killing Zabuza besides your brothers' corpses, huh, big brother?" the Fifteenth asked discontentedly. He disliked Ichiro's aggressive, warlike temperament.
"Isn't the head of the strongest enemy at our father's feet argument enough?" Ichiro replied proudly. The recently arrogant Fifteenth, once a meek fledgling hanging on his every word, irritated him a bit.
"Stop. You're both right in your way. Nothing wrong with valor, nor with cunning. A good leader balances valor and cunning wisely," Kenshin stated authoritatively, ending the argument.
"Yes, Father," Ichiro said respectfully.
"I understand, Father," the Fifteenth said no less respectfully.
"Good, you're dismissed. Heavy day tomorrow," Kenshin declared, flying out without waiting for replies.