'Normal Speech'
'Thoughts'
'Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'
'Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.
(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)
Chapter 4
Day 90
Ping!
Daily Quest Alert!
Training Arc II
Your beautiful but sadistic teacher is training you in combat and wants to see you improve in your skills. Show her how fast you can improve and try to land something on her.
Objective 1: Manage to land at least one hit on Kotoe
Objective 2: Make Kotoe Use Substitution at least once
Objective 1 reward: 500 EXP, +1 Stat point
Objective 2 reward: 1000 EXP
Failure: You may die on the field.
Do You Accept?
Y/N
I grimaced under my mask before turning to face my adversary. Kotoe was dressed in some of her Anbu clothing; She had the sleeveless black shirt, gloves, dark pants, and shinobi sandals down, but she lacked the typical grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and ninja pouches that an Anbu would typically wear on the field. Ever since Day 31, Kotoe had begun training me on hand-to-hand combat. She didn't teach me a style or anything, but just how to fight and handle herself and every day since then, I had received this quest.
I believe it goes without saying that I fumbled a lot and did not manage to hit her even after 40 days. More irritating was the fact that I knew she was significantly holding back to try and match my speed and strength, but that did nothing to change the vast difference in skill and experience. It wasn't until recently that I had managed to actually land a hit on her.
It did pretty much no damage.
And I got beat soon after.
But I had completed part one of the quest so I supposed it was alright, more so since she hadn't been upset about my lack of skill. I hadn't had any before anyway, so she simply encouraged me to do better.
"You're distracted again." A voice said behind me causing me to instantly take a leap forward to distance myself and turned to see Kotoe looking at me unamused.
"She's fast..."
"Try not to let your thoughts wander." she stated before getting into a loose stance, "Come."
I shook my head from any distractions and carefully looked at her poise. It looked like she had openings...and she did, but she was purposefully opening up her guard for me. I knew that it would be hard to exploit that opening, but I had to try.
I focused my gaze.
The rustling of the leaves signaled our fight.
I quickly threw a kunai from my pouch and watched as she merely tilted her head to dodge the projectile. It impacted the tree behind her so I rushed up to her another kunai in hand. She watched as I got closer and it wasn't until I had jumped up to her face level and swung the weapon that she decided to slightly move.
She leaned back at the blow causing my attack to hit air and leaving my still airborne body wide open. She instantly capitalized with a sharp upper kick aimed at my abdomen, but with great flexibility, I tucked my knees into my chest and the kick instead impacted the soles of my feet. I used the upward momentum of the attack to propel myself upwards allowing me to see her impassive gaze below. I strapped the kunai to my side and got out 10 Shuriken from my pouch and crossed my arms against my chest, 5 throwing stars in each hand. In a fluid motion, I released them from my possession and watched as they flew towards the ground.
They were thrown in a way that Kotoe would have little room to maneuver or dodge. Without so much as a pause, she jumped and gracefully grabbed 2 of the throwing stars in midair then quickly threw them. They impacted the other projectiles causing them to ricochet away from her and some even flew back towards me. I stood on a tree, parallel to the ground, and used the kunai strapped to my waist to deflect the 3 stars that had come my way.
Suddenly, my Danger Sense screamed at me to dodge to which I quickly reacted and jumped off the tree just in time for an attack shatter the trunk of the plant.
Kotoe landed on the ground after kicking the tree in half and looked at me appreciatively, "At least your instincts are satisfactory." No more words were said as she rushed towards me and used her longer reach to twist her body and throw a sharp right kick aimed at my ribs. I quickly ducked and used the opening of her missed attack to thrust the kunai in my hands upward towards her outstretched attacking leg.
In an impossibly smooth motion her feet, which had been pointed parallel to the ground, turned upwards at a 90-degree angle and became perpendicular to the ground. With this position the dropped her heel downwards aimed at my left shoulder while my right knife holding hand was poised to strike.
I could hit her.
But I would lose my shoulder in the process.
I quickly abandoned my attack by jumping forward hearing the crack of the earth behind me as Kotoe's heel impacted the ground. I rolled and stood up on one knee while glancing at my teacher. I needed to find a way to distract her for just a single second, so I thought for a moment before deciding a course of action.
This entire time.
I had been restricted.
It was to obviously aid in my strength growth while training, however, I could use this to my advantage. All the tricks I had used in the past would most likely not work on her the same way they had before. With that, I looked behind my teacher, towards the tree where the first kunai I had thrown was lodged.
Unknown to my teacher (hopefully) I had attached an extrememly thin, piece of ninja wire to my first kunai. With all the movements I had made around her, the wire was also now on the ground around her, so I lightly twitched my fingers and pulled.
Hard
Immediately, the wire on the ground made itself known and began to quickly wrap itself around Kotoe. My teacher looked marginally surprised, so I used this brief moment of distraction to run towards her as quickly as I could. With a kunai in my other hand, I swung it as fast as I could towards my immobile teacher, however, with her superior strength, Kotoe grunted before tearing the wire apart. She then quickly reacted to my attack by reaching her hand outwards and grabbing my wrist locking me in position. I quickly attacked and swung my right leg upwards towards her chin to which she opted to try to grab with her other hand.
At this moment, I focused on the restriction seal and released part of the restrictions on my movements and my kick suddenly accelerated catching her off guard. She was able to tilt her head to the side fast enough for my kick to miss, but not enough for a graze to appear on her cheek. I took the moment when she was touching her barely noticeable injury to slip out of her grip and backflip away.
Ping!
Congratulations! 'Perfect Movement' has leveled up by 1!
Congratulations! 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' has leveled up by 1!
Perfect Movement Lvl 25 [4.20%]
Perfect Movement is a skill given to those who have mastery of their own bodies granting the user amazing agility and accuracy. This skill allows the user to decrease the amount of wasted movement they make as the skill level increases.
50% Increase to Movement Speed.
25% Increase to Attack Speed.
25% Increase to Evasion.
25% Decrease in wasted movement
Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery Lvl 15 [1.40%]
Hand-to-Hand combat encompasses all forms of such combat. Increased mastery of any type of hand to hand combat will increase the level of this skill and the effectiveness of your hand to hand fighting techniques.
15% Increase to Physical Damage
15% Increase to Attack Speed
15% Increase in Reaction Time
"...You suddenly got faster." She stated while feeling the scratch on her cheek, "You released your restrictions to catch me off guard with a sudden burst of speed. Not bad Yoru, but don't try something like that out in the field." She placed her hands to her sides before continuing, "In the field, you will never have the chance to hold back which means that you won't have restrictions to suddenly remove to get the drop on your enemy. Always go for the kill on an assignment unless stated otherwise in the mission parameters. The only reason we are using restrictions to fight is so that we can get your stronger. Understood?"
I nodded at her statement. I had no plans of being stupid enough to hold back during a mission, but that also meant I wouldn't be able to surprise my enemies with a sudden increase in strength and speed. Too bad my life came first over anything and if I died because I held back, well my regrets would go with me to the grave.
Seeing me understand her lesson, she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Then we will call it a day."
Daily Quest Complete!
Training Arc II
Objective 1 reward: 500 EXP, +1 Stat point
Objective 2 reward: Failed.
With that, we left in a Body Flicker.
It was still Day 90 of my tort- training and we had finished taking a shower together.
Afterwards, I was all dried up and clothed, but it was pretty late at night. I sat on the dining room table wondering what Kotoe was going to cook up for tonight. Apparently, she had liked my omelet that day even though I hadn't done anything particularly special when making it. As a result, however, we alternated the days we cooked for each other which was fine by me since it helped me level my cooking skill.
I was broken out of my musings when I noticed Kotoe come out of our room dressed quite nicely. It looked like she was going out someplace. "...You look good. Who's the lucky guy?"
I was promptly flicked in the head.
Hard.
"...Ow." I said, rubbing my forehead
She retracted her finger then grabbed my wrist while stating with a slight smile, "Part of being a ninja is knowing how to blend in with your surroundings, especially in a foreign environment. I've never bothered to get you civilian clothing, but I think it is time for a change of pace."
Without waiting for my reply, she used shunshin and appeared in front of a clothing store. I was pretty used to the gut-wrenching sensation of being carried by that technique by now, so I was impassive if anything. "...I don't think shinobi use shunshin when they are trying to blend in."
For that, I got another flick to my head.
"Not with that attitude they don't. Now come on let's get you something to wear."
"...No, I'm pretty sure attitude has nothing to do with it." But I wisely decided to keep myself quiet. Afterward, we looked around the store and decided that I would look good in a simple red T-shirt, and some black sweatpants to contrast my white hair. At least the shirt was my favorite color. To be honest I knew about as much about fashion as the unfortunate size of my 4-year-old mini-me.
I.E. Very little.
That being said Kotoe seemed to know what she was doing so I let her play dress up with me all the while I was thinking about what we were going to eat. You know now that I think about it, I'm not actually hung-
"Maybe we should get your ears pierced." She said while rubbing her chin in thought
I raised a brow at the woman who said that to me and replied emotionlessly "...no."
She shrugged, "Alright then. But you look good in these clothes. I'll pick out a few more of these and then we'll go out to eat." I nodded at her and allowed her to do her things. I wonder what place she had in mind…
With those kinds of thoughts running through my head, Kotoe came back with a bag in her hand and in a 'puff' it disappeared. I looked at the paper tag in her hand and noticed that it had a seal on it. "A storage seal huh?"
She nodded while putting the seal in her cleavage, "it's very convenient for shinobi to have and it is one of the most important equipment a shinobi should acquire. It makes equipment storage for long missions a lot more bearable."
I nodded at her words then asked, "So where are we going for food?"
The woman lightly smiled, "I hear that there was a new ramen store opening up today. I wanted to try something new."
I was curious so I nodded. Kotoe decided to walk me there instead of using shunshin and so I enjoyed the Konoha night scenery while walking by. I could really appreciate the beauty of this place at a time like this; when I wasn't training eating or sleeping. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we eventually came upon a small shop that read 'Ramen Ichiraku'.
I was able to hide the surprise on my face as I was dragged in by my glorified babysitter, "Mmm. It has that new shop smell."
"Is that even a thi-"
"MINATO! LOOK IT'S THE NEW RAMEN STORE! WE HAVE TO TRY IT!"
"Yes yes, Kushina, but is there a need to yell I'm right-"
"Hah?! Are you telling me not to get excited about Ramen?!"
"'sigh' let's just go inside."
My eyes widened in surprise at the sounds and names the voices spoke and I watched as the flap to the store was lifted up and two people came into view. One of them was a familiar face of 3 months ago with the same spiky blond hair and blue eyes.
The other individual was a woman who had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, and red hair. It reached her ankles with shoulder-length strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parted her hair to the left.
I noted that my teacher had frozen up for a moment as if she had felt something dangerous while looking at the red-haired woman. I looked at her in concern before I remembered, this red-haired woman not only had monstrous chakra from her bloodline, but she carried something which made her even more monstrous. To someone like my teacher who was an adept sensor, it must have been like a shock.
"Kushina…" I thought.
Well, what were the odds?
I tugged at my teacher's sleeve to bring her out of her temporary daze, however true to her skills as a ninja, she had already composed herself. She looked at me with a small smile donning her lips, "I'm alright Yoru, thanks for worrying."
I looked at her for a second longer, making sure she was really ok, before nodding.
"Well at least it is emp-" The blond haired man stopped speaking as he noticed the two other occupants in the room; me and Kotoe.
He looked at me with squinted eyes as if trying to remember something, before his eyes widened, "Ah! It's you!" He looked me up and down then before smiling, "And you look to be in good health as well. Not bad kid."
"Thank you for your praise Lord Namikaze." I said with a bow. Something about etiquette that Kotoe told me was necessary.
The man in question suddenly looked sheepish, "haha no need to call me that especially in this setting." He looked at me and smiled, "Mr. Namikaze or just Minato is Fine."
"...Alright, Mr. Namikaze."
"Hey Minato, who's the Kakashi rip-off?" The red-headed woman suddenly asked, most likely annoyed about how she was being ignored.
Minato, understanding that, held her hand reassuringly and stated, "He's someone I met a few months back at the place where I was going to test my Genin team. He's a very talented individual so I took note of him." The blue-eyed man then looked to Kotoe who lightly smiled in kind, "And I wasn't the only one to do so either."
Kotoe nodded her head before she replied, "Lord Danzo was impressed with his maturity and Yoru has only grown a lot more since then. His rate of improvement is astonishing and in a few years he may surpass me." She said that last part while patting my head, which I gladly accepted because it felt pretty good.
I noticed that Kushina was looking just slightly annoyed either about the fact that she was ignored again or the fact that she hasn't had Ramen yet. It was hard to tell with her, but seeing that, I decided to intervene, "Mr. Namikaze, would I be correct in assuming that the woman with the beautiful red hair beside you is your wife?" I had to make sure to compliment the red hair. Not only because I knew Kushina would like it,
But because red was my favorite color.
I saw her eyes suddenly widen before she disappeared. My danger sense kicked into overdrive and I moved to dodge.
But it was too late.
"Urgk!"
I found myself in a crushing embrace with my face in between 2 soft mounds, but I could hear Kushina squeal happily, "Hey Minato..." She started, crushing me deeper into her bosom. You know now that my mind had somewhat calmed down, I realized that I wasn't actually suffo- "I want one."
I could feel the pin drop silence at the utterance of that statement and my brain lost track of its ability to think as it processed those words. It took me a moment to realize what she had meant and it seemed like I wasn't the only one.
I could hear Kotoe laugh with a 'pfft' and Minato cough awkwardly with what I imagined were his cheeks furiously red. I wouldn't know because I was being crushed. "W-We can work on that dear, all I wanted was to have some dinner..." He muttered that last statement, but everyone pretended not to hear it.
The red-haired woman smiled then looked at me with a warm gaze, "Thank you Yoru and you're right, that man over there is my husband, someone I cherish."
I noticed Minato flush happily at the statement while Kotoe looked on with a slight smile. I nodded at her words, "Then he is lucky to have you." Throughout all this, however, I felt like we had forgotten something…
Kushina smiled at my statement, "Yes he is, after all-" the red-haired woman looked at Minato in irritation, "-if it wasn't for me he would still be stuck in that cave he calls his 'workshop'" she shook her head in exasperation, "Honestly sometimes I regret teaching you seals. It's like you love them more than me…"
The man in question hastily shook his hands in denial, "N-No Kushina it's not like that! I'm just getting really good at seals and I've been having some breakthr-"
"There you go again! Can't you go a day without talking about them?!"
"But if I can figure out how to reverse engineer the 2nd Hokage's technique-"
"Goodness you should just marry those things already!"
"K-Kushina…"
All the while Kotoe and I were watching impassively. "Is this what a married couple is like?" I asked.
The woman in question nodded. "Pretty much. Why? Having second thoughts about finding someone to protect?" She asked with a smirk.
"...I might be reconsidering."
"U-Umm excuse me?"
4 pairs of eyes stared at the new voice to which the owner flinched for a moment before coughing and recomposing himself. He was a man who looked to be in his late 20's with lightly tanned skin and light brown hair. "Since you all are here, would you like to order something?"
Ahh, now I remember what I had forgotten.
We were in a restaurant.
Minato looked on apologetically while Kushina had stars in her eyes. Kotoe and I looked at each other, shrugged, then sat down.
"Ahh! I'll have 5 Bowls of Miso Ramen please!" Kushina said while plopping down next to me.
Minato sighed and sat down next to his wife, "1 bowl for me."
"I'll get a pork ramen please." Kotoe asked.
"...Likewise." Was my reply. The man nodded after writing our orders, happy that he had gotten some business, before going to the back of the kitchen to prepare our meals.
After a little bit, the man came out with our food and placed the bowls in front of us. "Enjoy your meals." He stated with a smile before walking back into his work area.
Kushina dug in as soon as the food was placed down while Minato sighed and started eating much more liberally than his wife.
"AHH! Ramen never fails to satisfy me." The Uzumaki started after somehow finishing her first bowl. I looked down at my ¾ filled bowl and looked at her empty one. I touched my chin in thought at the mystery.
"So Yoru." Kushina started, swallowing strands of ramen from her second bowl, "Minato says you're pretty talented, like another Kakashi." She smirked as she continued, "You've even got the whole face mask down. Is that a thing that geniuses use nowadays?"
I idly twirled the noodles in my soup as I replied, "...I think I wear the mask better than him though." It was barely a whisper but I was sure they heard it. "I don't consider myself a 'genius' so to speak. I like to think that while I might have an advantage over others, I still work as arduously as possible in order to improve. I prefer the term 'diligent' if anything." Well, as diligent as one needed to be when they had an entire otherwordly system at their disposal.
"So you prefer to work hard huh?" She asked slurping up more noodles, "Then what do you do when you aren't training?"
I ate some ramen from my bowl, idly noting that I still had ½ left while Kushina was almost done with her second bowl, "...Eat."
I noticed that Kushina was looking at me intently, "And?"
"...Study."
Her eyes narrowed, "And?"
My bowl suddenly looked interesting. I wondered if it was made of clay? "...Sleep."
"And?"
"..."
Kushina didn't look too pleased with my reply and I wondered if the table I was on was made of clay as well. What if I was made of clay? Wait didn't the Titan Prometheus make the first human from clay? I wondered if we were all part clay…
"A shinobi should be able to easily interact with other individuals whether it be for infiltration purposes, talking to clients, or leading a team." Kushina moved her gaze towards Kotoe "I'm surprised you haven't moved to yeah him this skill."
The hazel eyes woman lightly smiled, "Actually, this night was the start of that training for him." She patted my head and continued, "I wanted him to get out and watch me interact with others and hopefully he would pick up on something." I always thought her sudden decision to bring me out for dinner was fishy.
Kushina looked thoughtful at that, "That's not a bad idea especially for a visual learner, but I believe interacting with people his age would help him build up his skills more." She rubbed her chin in thought before seemingly thinking of something, "Ahh I know!" The woman looked at me with a smile, "Why don't you come over my place whenever you aren't too busy training?"
Kotoe and I looked at each other before the former spoke, "I suppose I would work something out with his schedule, but how would this help him?" I could tell Minato was confused as well until he suddenly smiled in realization.
The Uzumaki smirked, "Minato usually brings his kids over after training. Yoru can be around and talk with them when they're there. I know that he and Kakashi are close to the same age and I feel like they would be good friends."
Kotoe thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile while looking at Minato, "If we can get a schedule on when you train your team, I could find a way to work around it, if you don't mind."
The future 4th Hokage grinned and nodded, "I don't mind at all. I think it would be a great experience. Especially for my youngest team member." With that, the mood in the dining table significantly improved and the adults talked about a bunch of things while I just sat there enjoying my noodles.
Where they made out of clay too?
Food for thought.
Day 180
Ever since that day 3 months ago, my teacher had changed up my training schedule slightly. It was enough for me to go visit Minato and Kushina's place for about a couple hours and hang out with Minato's genin team. Needless to say, the expression on Obito's face was priceless, though I think Rin was fine having me around and Kakashi didn't seem to care either way.
My training was more or less still the same with exercise and body conditioning in the morning then combat training. The quest to hit my teacher had been changed to a new one after she had decided to work on my stealth and infiltration skills.
Basically, we played hide and seek.
With a twist of course.
We usually played in a more forested training ground in which there were two parts to our game. The first part was the basic hide and seek where I had to hide and my teacher had to find me.
She usually did.
The second part was where I had to steal something from under her nose while in the woods. This was significantly harder and more often than not she caught me which would mean I had to cook for the evening. I fear that my increasing cooking skill was the cause of that punishment, but I didn't complain.
Now, however, I had managed to avoid my teacher's detection long enough for it to be counted my win and I had somehow managed to steal the metal token from under her nose. Afterwards, I made it back to my 'base' thereby completing the mission.
Daily Quest Complete!
Training Arc III
Objective 1 reward: 250 EXP
Objective 2 reward: 500 EXP
Ping!
'Stealth' has leveled up by 1!
Stealth (Active: ON) lvl 55 [2.45%]
Stealth is the fundamental skill that all ninjas learn to become, well better ninjas. Having good enough stealth allows you to more easily infiltrate enemy lines, assassinate priority targets, and spy. This skill is subconsciously activated when you need to go into stealth mode. It grants you increase stealth where your every movement is subconsciously inconspicuous, making it more difficult to notice your presence and find you.
Stealth infiltration, avoidance, and concealment ability are at 55%.
For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you by
With a sigh of relief, I sat down on the ground and no sooner did I see my teacher walking out of the foliage with a smile on her face. "You did good Yoru. You managed to hide from me even after I had discovered you. You then steadily made your way back here." She then sighed, "..as per rules I'll make dinner, but your cooking will always be the best." She finished with a grin.
I smiled despite myself, "You know that too much of a good thing isn't good right?" To which Kotoe shrugged then smirked before transferring us back home with a shunshin.
Day 364
"I can't believe it's almost been a year…" I thought while walking my way out of the forest grounds. My training had been more or less progressing at the same schedule with me occasionally going over to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound. Had I ever mentioned how beautiful that place?
Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, my teacher had decided that it would be a great idea for me to have some survival training. Needless to say, I was not expecting what she had planned.
For starters, every other week she would drop me off in the middle of Training Ground 44, aka, The Forest of Death. I was expected to stay there for at least 3 days during which I would be surviving off the land and aiming to collect pelts from certain creatures that inhabited that place. She was apparently of the idea that I had been progressing so quickly that I was seemingly ready for this kind of training.
She was right...mostly.
I had little problem keeping myself alive in the face of the ferocious beasts that dwelled in that place, but it was mainly the intricacies of 'survival' that I had issues with. Kotoe didn't allow me any equipment because 'There will be times when you are alone in a foreign environment with nothing more than your two legs and feet to keep you company. You have to learn to survive without having a lot of materials.'
The only saving grace of this whole thing was that she allowed me to have some water and that I got repeat quests for surviving in this place. That, however, didn't change the fact that I had to learn how to hunt for my food, find clean sources of water, and learn which plants were poisonous or not. That last one, especially, was a painfully learned lesson as I managed to increase my poison resistance quite a bit.
At least they now had less effect on me.
I made sure the storage seals where I kept the pelts were all safe before I made my way out of the gates to the forest.
Daily Quest Complete!
Training Arc IV
Objective 1: Survive for 3 or more days in the forest of death while completing your Teacher's objectives.
Objective 1 reward: 1000 EXP, +1 Stat Points
I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion before I noticed that a colorful looking scroll on the ground in front of me. It was hard to miss, but the most notable thing was that t had my name.
"A message from Kotoe." I thought before I moved towards it. I suddenly stopped when I thought of something. With narrowed eyes, I jumped backward while throwing a handful of kunai near the scroll.
Instantly, the place around where I had been was barraged with throwing needles and out of nowhere a net trap appeared from the ground and snapped up the empty area that I had been in.
My eye twitched before I looked around some more and decided it was safe. I picked up the scroll and quickly read through its contents.
Hey Yoru, if you have managed to get to this scroll without falling into the traps, then I'm happy to say that my training paid off.
Anyway, I kinda knew when you were coming out, so if you are reading this then make sure to shower up and meet me at the Namikaze-Uzumaki house.
I wondered if it was one of those days where I could hang out there? But I wasn't surprised that she had been watching over me during my training in this place. Regardless I shrugged and made my way back home. With a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes, I made my way to Minato and Kushina's place.
I knocked on the door a couple times and scratched my chin in thought when I got no answer. "Well if they are expecting me…" I placed my right palm on a seal tag that was on the door and flared my chakra. The seal glowed for a second then the door opened for me.
If I hadn't been expected, then the seal would simply not function and if I tried to force my way in...well it's a good thing I never did. I walked into the house and noticed that it was pretty dark inside and it had me wondering if they had really been expecting me. I switched on the light switch right next to me and covered my eyes for a moment as I adjusted to the brightness-
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
My eyes widened as I gazed upon the forms of Team Minato, the Namikaze himself, Kushina, and my own teacher Kotoe. Everyone was smiling save for Kakashi who really never smiled.
"...You guys." I said softly.
My teacher grinned then dragged me to the cake that was prepared. It had 5 thin candles on top that burned with a small flame, "I know that you usually didn't celebrate your birthday, but I thought it would be a good change of pace if we were to celebrate it today." She paused as she put her hands on my shoulders and made me face the cake, "Now then birthday boy make a wish."
I looked at the smiling faces of the people that were here before me, then at the burning candles on the cake as an unknown feeling welled up inside me. I couldn't quite comprehend why I felt this way and I didn't know what to do.
"Eh? Yoru are you okay?" I heard Kushina ask as she looked at me worriedly. I didn't know why she was worried and I could see my caretaker looking at me with a slight frown before she smiled warmly.
"It's alright Yoru. I got your back." She stated before she wiped something from beneath my eyes and it was then that I noticed.
My eyes were wet.
"...Something got into them." I muttered, though, from everyone's smiling faces, I got the impression they didn't believe me.
"Of course it did Yoru." Kotoe said with a knowing smirk, "Now blow out the candles and make your wish already, we need to move unto the presents." I nodded and closed my eyes for a moment beforer opening them and blowing out the candles. Kotoe cut up the cake and distributed it to the people around. I had the pleasure of seeing Kakashi eat the cake without removing his mask.
I wondered how he did that?
"Alright time for the main event." Kotoe stated, snapping me out of my thoughts. She turned towards me with a couple scrolls in her possession before she handed them to me, "Happy birthday Yoru."
I took the scrolls in her hands and my eyes widened, "These are…!"
Would you like to learn the skill 'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu'?
Yes/No
Would you like to learn the skill 'Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu'?
Yes/No
I dismissed the prompts while watching my mentor, "I have had you build on your foundations for about a year now, so I think you are ready." She paused as she pointed at the scrolls, "I believe it is best for you to focus on these two for now since these elements are the ones I'm most proficient in. I wouldn't want you to focus on too much for now."
I nodded as I understood the subtle meaning of her words. Even though I had affinities for all 5 chakra natures, it would be time-consuming for me to become proficient in the techniques of all 5 nature types while simultaneously focusing on my normal training routine.
Seeing me understand, she smiled then looked towards Minato and Kushina. "Well go on, I'm not the only one who got you something you know." I tried not to act surprised as I walked up to the couple.
I noticed the lightly smiling faces of Minato and Kushina and it was the former who spoke, "Yoru, it's been great having you around. Kushina and I really didn't know what to get you for today, but then we remembered…" He took out a scroll and a bunch of paint brushes and presented them to me alongside a fuuinjutsu seal tag. "We remembered that you showed interest in fuuinjutsu, but I couldn't really give you instructions since I had my own team to work on-"
"-and I hadn't known you well enough at the time to allow you to learn my clan secrets." Kushina finished, but she continued with a smile, "but I believe in your character and I won't mind giving you some tips and advice on them." She then handed me a book and pointed to it and the scrolls in my hand, "We decided it would be fine for you to have some tools to practice with so the scroll and brushes are to help you practice your calligraphy while this book is some basic information on fuinjutsu such as the basic storage tags and exploding tags."
She picked up seal tag that Minato gave me alongside the scroll and brushes before pressing her finger in the center of the seal on the tag. I raised my brow when her finger was painted black and she looked at me with a smile, "This is a specially made storage seal that has a lot of ink. All you have to do is press your brush in the center of the seal and it will give you some ink to work with. This should last you a few months."
Before even giving me a moment to be surprised, Kushina took the scroll Minato gave me, opened it, and drew a line through the white paper with her inked finger. She explained to me, "This scroll is also specially made so that you can 'erase' all the ink marks you made on it while practicing your calligraphy. It will save you the trouble of having to buy new pieces of blank paper to practice with." She rolled up the scroll and pointed to a seal on the back of it "Channel chakra through here and it will erase the marks you made on the scroll."
I took the scroll and did just that. The seal lines lit up with a dull light before I opened the scroll and noticed that the streak Kushina had made was gone.
"Happy birthday Yoru." They stated with a smile.
I gripped the scroll tightly, placed my hands to my sides, and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for your gift. I promise you that I will never betray the trust and expectations you have for me. If there is any way that I can ever repay you-"
"Oi! Stop being so uptight and just accept it!" I heard Obito say as he came up to me a displeased expression on his face, "We didn't come here because of some expectations or whatever. We came here to celebrate the day you were born, eat some cake, and have some fun!" I could tell everyone agreed from their smiling faces and the slightly less impassive expression on Kakashi's face, though I couldn't really tell with that mask on.
"...Thank you, everyone." I said softly
"Alright enough of this!" Obito grabbed my wrist while I looked on impassively. Though the grin on his face was mildly unsettling.
"Let's play!"
Day 710
Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as almost 2 years had passed since I had 'regained consciousness' in this world, so to speak, or whatever had happened to me. Ever since my birthday almost a year ago, my visits to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound had been slightly more frequent, but my training schedule hadn't changed too much. My teacher had added some ninjutsu training after that day, mainly focusing on the scrolls that she gave me, and the basics of ninjutsu that all ninja were supposed to learn.
Kawarimi (Active) Lvl 35 [23.65%]
Kawarimi is a technique that allows the user to replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood or a log, the moment an attack lands. With an increase in level, the distance that you can replace your body with objects increases.
Current Range: 350 meters.
Costs: 50 CP
Henge (Active) Lvl 65
The henge technique is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives the technique a wide range of versatility. There is a caveat, however, as a transformation performed by an inexperienced person will have obvious discrepancies and it will be impossible to deceive anyone with it. Leveling up this skill will allow the realism of your transformation to increase and at a certain level, your 'transformations' become more than mere illusions and actually become true transformations that will be nearly impossible to tell apart from the real thing.
65% Henge Realism
Costs: 50 CP
Shunshin (Active) Lvl 90 [23.42%]
The Shunshin, also known as the Body Flicker technique, is a skill that ninja can use to move long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalize the body and move at extreme speeds
Current range: 900 meters
Costs: 100 CP
Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu (Active) Lvl 45 [12.34%]
Water Bullet Jutsu allows the user to shoot compressed balls of water from their mouth. The technique's range, the number of bullets and power increases proportionally to its level.
Current Range: 45 meters
Damage: 450% ENGY
Current # of Bullets: 4
Cost: 350 CP
Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu (Active) Lvl 48 [43.23%]
The Lightning Strike Jutsu allows the user to create an electric current that can hit multiple individuals at the same time. Furthermore, it can extend incredible distances and can avoid obstacles.
Current range: 96 meters
Damage: 528% ENGY
Cost: 500 CP
I smiled as I looked at the increase in my skill set and levels. There was honestly a lot of skills that I had improved upon and a few more I had gained along the way such as,
Basic Calligraphy (Passive) Lvl 20 [34.58%]
A basic and non-combative technique that improves one's penmanship and their artistic side. Allows for better-drawn pictures, written kanji, and designs.
Penmanship improved by 20%
Writing speed increased by 20%
20% chance of having no faults in characters drawn
More importantly, I had gained a few skills after my base stats had reached 50. The bonuses I got from my skills did not count towards receiving perk skills for my stats, but in the end, I couldn't complain especially since they were pretty useful.
Energy Conductor (Passive) Lvl [Max]
Energy Conductor is the ability is given to those with high amounts of any form of Energy. The user becomes more in tune with their own energy's nature allowing them greater energy control.
20% Increase to your energy regeneration
20% Increase to your energy capacity
10% Damage increase to energy based attacks
High Energy Capacity (Passive) Lvl Max
High Energy Capacity is an elite ability given to the few users that are born with a very exceptional ability to handle any form of Energy.
30% Damage Increase to Energy-Based attacks
20% Less Energy Usage for all abilities.
Eidetic Memory (Passive) Lvl Max
Eidetic Memory is an ability given to extremely Intelligent individuals. This allows for the one given the ability to recall everything they perceive with an accuracy of 100% percent.
Perception (Passive) Lvl Max
Perception is a skill granted to those with great Wisdom. With great brain capability comes the increase in efficiency of all human senses. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch and Smell increase by your percentage WIS value. (If you have 200 WIS, then your senses will increase by 200%)
Iron Body (Passive) Lvl Max
Iron Body is an ability given to those rare few born with surpassing Vitality. The user possesses a body with great resistance to harm and unending strength to endure.
50% Increase to Chakra recovery rate.
25% Increase to Durability
10% Increase to total HP amount.
10% Increase to total Chakra amount.
Dense muscle (Passive) Lvl Max
Dense muscle is a skill given to those with overwhelming Strength. The denseness of your muscled increases greatly, allowing you to suffer less damage from physical attacks.
Your STR value counts as damage reduction to physical attacks
Cat's Grace (Passive) Lvl Max
Cat's Grace is a skill given to those with a high level of dexterity and allows you to have the elegance of movement as a feline. You acquire 'Cat Like' reflexes and you take less damage from falling from extraordinary heights that would usually damage you.
50% increase to reflexes and movement speed
Decrease fall damage by 50%
My base ENGY stat had already reached 100 and so I had gained another Passive perk for it. I had almost broken my impassive facade at the face my teacher made when she had checked my chakra some time back. Apparently, I had as much chakra as a Jonin level shinobi with even more control than the average ninja. I got the feeling that she was a tad envious at me from how she tortu- trained me afterward.
There were a lot of other skills that I had improved upon such as my Chakra Sonar and a variety of others, but I stopped myself from checking them as I saw my destination. It was the mouth of a dark cave where Kotoe stated she had kept my graduation gift.
I gripped my fists as I thought about how Michigan I knew I would miss being with her. The thought that I would eventually join the ranks of ROOT and go off on my own had barely registered to me in the close to 2 years I spent with my teacher. It wasn't until she had told me that my training with her would be over soon, did I realize how much I cared for that woman. She was the closest thing to a mother I had, but she was also my teacher and friend.
I shook my head from those thoughts as the mouth of the cave stared me back. Even though I would go my own way, that didn't mean that I would not see Kotoe or that she wouldn't be my teacher anymore, it was just that I would be unable to see her as often. I imagine that I would be in a lot of missions especially due to the currently escalating tensions between the villages.
War was annoying.
Regardless of my feelings, I needed to pass her test and get that gift. I looked at my stats and prepared for the challenge ahead
Name: Yorudan
Race: Human?
Level: Lvl 40 Next Level: 1,250/82,100
HP: 12922/12922 Regen: (226.15 per min)
CP: 32857/32857 Regen: (640.72 per min)
CC: 95%
STR: 129.2
VIT: 138.7
DEX: 136.8
INT: 200.1
WIS: 190.9
ENGY: 336
Points: 287
Ryo: 1000
My Observe has risen to such a level that I was able to see my teacher's complete stats. I wasn't surprised when I noticed that she still outclassed me in most of my stats, but it made me realize that I still had a long way to go. My teacher had told me that simply judging from my physical prowess, I would be classified as a Mid-Chunin level shinobi.
In conjunction with the fact that my training had become more diversified over time, my physical training had been giving me stat points at a slower rate thereby limiting the number of times I could grow stronger. Regardless, I was confident enough that I would be fine for this test.
With that, I used my Chakra Sonar skill in order to detect any chakra signatures that may have been hidden.
Chakra Sonar (Passive/Active) LV 65 [5.45%]
DEFAULT SETTING: (1 pulse every 5 seconds)
MAXIMUM RANGE: (650 meters)
Cost: 5 CP per pulse
I got some feedback soon after, and my brows furrowed as I felt a large life signature in the cave. I knew she would not have made this easy, but a boy could still dream. With caution in my steps, I made my way into the cave, my Sonar skill set on autopilot effectively making me a sensor. I paid attention as the life signature I had locked onto moved and tightly gripped my kunai as it headed towards me.
I wish I could have just snuck in and taken the item, but of course, my sensei wanted proof of my victory over the guardian of this cavern, so sneaking wasn't an option. My eyes narrowed as the beast was suddenly 400 meters away and seemed to be charging straight at me. In less than a second, it was suddenly 250 meters away, but I gripped my weapon and waited for it to arrive.
The ground around me seemed to quake as a gargantuan 5 meters tall figure appeared in front of me. It had armored scales creating a rugged hide; Slitted eyes, and a forked tongue. Through its gaping maw, I noticed it's saliva dripping with tinges of blood.
"A gigantic Komodo Dragon," I thought.
Neat.
Ping!
Daily Quest Alert!
Training Arc Finale
Your beautiful but sadistic teacher has trained you in the skills expected of a shinobi, but now it is time for you to graduate. Of course, considering what type of individual she is, your teacher is not going to make this easy. Show her how much you have grown.
Objective 1: Defeat the Gigantic Komodo Dragon and take proof of your kill
Objective 2: Secure your Graduation present
Objective 1 reward: +5 Stat points
Objective 2 reward: A Cool Graduation Present
Failure: Kotoe will be disappointed in you. You don't want that
Do You Accept?
Y/N
I selected Y just in time to hear the beast release a deafening roar. I had to close my eyes at the wind generated from the giant lizard and my nose wrinkled in disgust at the thing's rancid breath.
"Observe"
Giant Komodo Dragon LVL 38
HP: 50,000
CP: 20,000
STR: 230
VIT: 300
DEX: 100
INT: 50
WIS: 30
ENGY: 150
LUK: 5
Perks:
Dense Scales: Reduces physical damage by 30%.
Description:
A giant beast that dwells inside a cave located in the depths of the forest of death. This beast is very territorial and will attack anyone who trespasses in its domain, granted that it realizes that they have trespassed. It's tough scales create a natural defense that reduces the effectiveness of attacks and its venom is as deadly as its size. Tread carefully.
EXP Gain: 25,000
Drops: ?, ?, ?
"She never fails to make things Interesting…" With that, I jumped backward as the claw of the monster smashed the ground where I once stood. My hands blurred as I flipped through hand seals causing my cheeks to swell with fluid and 4 bullets of highly pressurized water to spew from my mouth.
In an amazing show of dexterity for its size, the giant lizard managed to dodge 2 of the 4 speeding water bullets with a quick tilt is its head. The impact of the two bullets that hit it, however, caused the beast to step back a step, though other than that it looked more enraged than hurt.
450% ENGY = 1512
1512 + Damage Bonuses = 2495
450% ENGY = 1512
1512 + Damage Bonuses = 2495
HP: 45,010/50,000
With a roar of fury and a show of amazing speed, the beast turned its body and swung its tail towards me at incredibly high speeds. Right before the attack made contact, I ducked and went through a few hand signs, but I was forced to jump out of the way as stones flew towards me.
The Lizard may have missed its mark, but it used its tail's momentum to impact the expansive cave's wall and send large shards of rock my way. With my vision obstructed, my danger sense suddenly screamed at me to move to which I quickly responded by jumping up in the air, just in time for a gaping jaw to snap at the area I had just been standing.
Now airborne, I had little ability to dodge and could only watch forebodingly as glowing red lines appeared on the Komodo Dragon's neck. With a roar of exertion, the immense lizard shot an intense beam of red flames that shot towards me at near sonic speeds.
"A fire-breathing Komodo Dragon...neat."
I remained calm as the chakra, that I had channeled through my earlier hand seals, flowed through me and vibrates at an intense frequency. The whole process occurred almost instantaneously and with a silent shout, I launched a powerful electric current from my hands which impacted the beam of fire that had been thrown my way.
The force of my attack was enough to rebuff me to the cave ceiling after which I stopped my attack and went through some hand seals, just before the lizard's attack impacted me.
All it saw were the ashy remains of a log from my substitution, but I didn't allow it any time to regain its bearings. I appeared right next to its large open eye and I could notice the dilation of the dragon's slitted pupils as it caught sight of me beside it. The lizard was too slow to react to the intense current of light that shot out from my outstretched arm.
"Lightning Style: Raigeki (Lightning Strike)"
Critical!
528% ENGY = 1774
1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930
2930 x 2 = 5860
HP: 39,150/50,000
The enormous reptile roared in pain at the damage my attack had done to it. It closed its now mostly destroyed eye and tried to turn its head to glare at me
But I was no longer there.
As soon as my attack connected, I snuck into the underbelly of the beast where there were no scales to protect itself. I reinforced my body with chakra increasing my body's Attack, Speed, and defensive capabilities. With a leap, I cocked my fist back and impacted the exposed belly of the reptile.
(STR + VIT + DEX) x 3 = 1214
1214 + Added Bonuses = 2915
HP: 36,235/50,000
The strength of my impact lifted it off the ground and I heard its roar of fury as pain no doubt spread through its body, but I furrowed my brows. This thing had an immense level of vitality and it would take me more than a few hits to finally kill it.
I broke myself out of my thoughts and leaped away from the now rampaging beast. Its throes of anger was causing it to thrash about and indiscriminately target anything in its immediate surroundings.
"I could work with that."
It was distracted and angry, giving me enough time to do something I had practiced before. I flipped through the hand seals for my water gun technique, filling up my mouth with fluid in the process. With that set, I flipped through the hand signs for my Lightning Strike.
My lungs filled with air and my mouth with water, I released 4 bullets of pressurized water at the rampaging beast. Before the bullets had even traveled a foot away from me, I channeled the lightning, from my Raigeki, into the bullets thereby drastically increasing their destructive and penetrative power.
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
HP: 11,255/50,000
My highly pressurized electric water attacks had pierced through the lizard's hide and shocked it from within. The compounded damage caused the monster to howl in agony, though it was still alive.
One of the reasons my teacher had given me a lightning and water technique to work with was because they complemented each other. Since water could conduct lightning, a lightning release technique could be used to increase the damage of a water release technique. The best part was that the combination attack also included both my Natural Lightning Affinity bonuses and my Natural Water Affinity bonuses into the damage calculation. This meant currently when I used the attack, I would get a 50% bonus to my jutsu effect instead of the individual 25% bonus when I used just a single element.
My combination attack, however, took a long enough time to prepare that it was not suitable to use in the midst of a battle unless the enemy was severely distracted. Shinobi battled at high speeds and battles between two enemies could last less than 15 seconds during which hundreds of moves could have been exchanged. Fortunately, I was facing a beast who wasn't quite as intelligent nor nearly as fast as a skilled shinobi.
I noticed smoke coming out of the rather large bullet holes from my attack and I capitalized on this opportunity.
Tiger → Snake → Dog
I rushed up to the rampaging beast, ducked a rage induced tail swipe to my head, and jumped up to the bloody hole on the beast's side. My hand charged with lightning, I stuck it inside the reptile's gaping wound.
"Lightning Style: Raigeki"
Fatal!
528% ENGY = 1774
1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930
2930 x 5 = 14650
HP: 0/50,000
The beast gave one last deafening cry of anguish before it slumped to the ground dead. I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion and sat down next to the downed lizard, idly using my Chakra Sonar skill to make sure that there weren't any more enemies near me.
My last attack, based on the physiology of most quadruped reptiles, had most likely pierced its heart. The wounds left by my Lightning/Water combination attack had been very deep, allowing me access to the exposed inner flesh of the Komodo Dragon. I had aimed my combination attack near the heart of the beast giving me easier access to it after the lightning water bullets had pierced its hide.
With that, my Lightning Strike was easily able to reach its heart through its soft flesh allowing for a much faster kill.
I rotated my arms around to get rid of the invisible stiffness and tilted my neck enough to hear a small 'crack'. With that, I turned to face the beast and raised my brow in surprise at a message I had received.
Would you like to loot the enemy and allow only the necessary drops to remain?
Y/N
"This is making it more like a game." I thought as I shrugged and clicked Y. The monster suddenly turned into motes of light, that sunk into the cavern floor, before a few items dropped to the ground: Some large fangs, The monster's hide, and a glowing red orb that seemed to pulse with energy.
I picked them up and read through their descriptions.
Komodo Dragon Fang (20):
A large fang from the mouth of a large Komodo dragon. It has venomous properties from the beast it was once a part of that can be extracted and used for a variety of things from making antidotes
Komodo Dragon Scales:
The scales of Giant Komodo dragons boast superb defensive abilities and are furthermore conductive to chakra. They can be sown into a material to promote their defensive capabilities and longevity.
Chakra Beast Core (Komodo Dragon):
Powerful chakra beasts sometimes generate a core, made up of crystalized chakra, that is based on one of their attributes. These cores can be absorbed by humans with chakra or other chakra beasts to improve their physical capabilities and, based on the attribute of the Chakra Beast the core came from, they can also be used to improve one's chakra affinity.
Gain 10% of the Komodo Dragon's STR, VIT, And ENGY stat
Greatly increase your Natural Fire Affinity
I raised my brow while looking at the description of the last one.
"Well...that's new."
I loved and hated writing this chapter. I felt like it was an info dump, but I liked writing the interaction Yoru had with the people in his life. I wanted to make it faster without seeming like I was rushing, but I have no idea how I did. I at least hope the battle was satisfying.
Also yes, the ninja's in Naruto have VERY high reaction speeds. Some may not agree or like the fact that I make them sonic level to High hypersonic speeds in some cases, but that's how I have interpreted their physical abilities based on the show and other pieces of evidence. I don't feel like ranting about evidence to support my decision and it is also my fanfiction so meh.
(P.S. I use for my power and level scaling a good amount of the time, though I, of course, adjust it to my needs.)