No.
If I decide to quit for a year and leave my character, I don't want to return to find I'm at Genin level when I left it at Jonin
It is only realistic.
Besides, if you stop playing the game, you yourself will get worse at it little by little. The whole point of having a leveling system that doesn't specifically show the number of your levels is for your character alone to be an accurate demonstration of your in-game skill itself. With that being said, as you the player stop playing and become worse, your in-game character should also become worse.
I could go back to WoW right now, on my level 90 and still be able to do raids the way I use to. Playing games is like riding a bike, you never forget.
If I worked years on my character and come back to it being no better than a noob, I wouldn't bother playing again. Why should I work my ass off for years,decide to take a long break and return to just redo all my work? I'd rather continue from where I left off.
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