Playing Blind
Chapter 1, Re:Birth
I do not own anything pertaining to either Naruto or The Gamer series.
《PB》
[YOU DIED]
I don't know how long I've been staring at the words floating in mid air before me, but it's probably been a mind numbingly long time. Well, I have no way of really knowing how long it's been, but it's been long enough for me to slowly start to forget things about myself that I feel I shouldn't be forgetting.
The words are familiar to me, of course, as I've seen them hundreds of times before in my life, I think, but never quite like this.
[YOU DIED]
Apparently, I died. Not really sure how, considering the last thing I can actually remember was sitting down on my buddies couch after we finished moving his more valuable cars under his metal carport before those two storms building up in the gulf hit. One minute he is passing me a cold drink, the next there is a loud crash, then… this.
I died, and I'm probably never going to know how, or why, or if there is even a why to be asked.
So, I resigned myself to this black void, with only the crimson letters constantly reminding me of my deceased status to keep me company.
And then, after what feels like forever and a day, the words finally faded.
The world around me shifts slightly, the pitch black lightening up a few shades until I could make out what appeared to be… a main menu? I've played enough video games to recognize a main menu when I see one, and wouldn't you know it, there one was.
Floating in front of me, menacingly.
Why am I seeing the main menu for… The Game?
Did I just lose?
[THE GAME]
[NEW GAME]
[CONTINUE]
[OPTIONS]
The only screen that wasn't greyed out completely was the continue option, which I couldn't even select due to being what I assume is a completely disembodied spirit.
Eventually, the option to continue seemed to be chosen for me, as the words on the screen before me lit up and then the world shifted around me once more.
Save file after save file flashed before my eyes, the numbers increasing by single digits, then by the dozens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands until the game eventually settled on a file that wasn't completely greyed out.
[File # 999,999]
Nemui
lvl:16
Hidden Bamboo Grove, Grass Country
Play Time: 16 years, 286 days, 21 hours and 2 minutes
Last Played: 28 years, 301 days, 23 hours and 14 minutes ago
[Continue?]
[Y/N]
What the hell?
No, seriously, what the hell is this?
Nemui? Like, the word sleepy in Japanese?
Why do I have a terrible feeling about this?
Studying the screen closely, I notice that the save file looks almost identical to one you would see from a Bethesda game, showing not only a screenshot of the environment around who I assume is this Nemui guy, but how long the file was active and even when the last time it was accessed.
Whoever this Nemui dude is, he sure looks like a try hard weeaboo. A quick glance shows that he has long, spiky red hair being held in a high ponytail, some kind of bandages wrapped around his eyes and a set of plain black kimono robes covering his modesty.
I'm not really able to gather any more information, however, as I feel a sudden harsh tug behind my navel, and my mind begins to grow foggy.
Then, once more the world shifted to pitch black, and suddenly I felt more exhausted than ever before.
I slept, until I slept no more.
《PB》
[You have slept on the ground, HP and CP have been restored by half! Warning, (3) status ailments remaining!]
I awoke to the absolute strangest sensations in my head and body that I've ever felt. Beyond the fact that I could see a blue screen floating in my… 'vision', said 'vision' seemed to extend all around me in a circumference that I couldn't possibly measure accurately at the moment.
I could 'see' glowing blue birds flying overhead transposed over a backdrop of black and small insects highlighted in shades of azure and emerald that I didn't know existed.
That strange feeling in my head was quickly turning into a migraine.
I bring a hand up, or I assume I do, and see a glowing silhouette outlined perfectly in white appear in my vision, colored in shades of blues and greens.
It was fascinating, but so disorienting that if I wasn't already laying down I probably would have collapsed.
The screen telling me that I'd slept on the ground remains in my vision, despite my attempts to swipe it away physically, until it fades when I start screaming 'dismiss' in my mind like a maniac.
Now that the screen is gone, let's see if the horrible feeling in my gut is correct.
'[Stats]'
Upon receiving the mental command, 'The Game' provides further evidence that my fears were well founded.
[Stats]
Name: Nemui
Level: 16
Race: Human
Clan: [?]
Class: [Ronin],[?],[?]
HP: 5201/10,400 [+4/s]
CP: 108/216 [+2/s]/[-10/5s]
CC: 6%
VIT: [-?]= 25
END: [-?]= 21
STR: [-?]= 6
DEX: [-?]= 6
INT: [-?]= 8
WIS: [-?]= 8
LUK: 20
Ryo: 100
SP Available: 0
It took me a while to figure out which direction was supposed to be directly in front of me, considering my vision has decided to do whatever the hell it's currently doing, but I was finally able to make heads or tails of whatever sort of nonsense was going on.
I've not only been shoved into an unfamiliar body without any input of my own, but someone, possibly myself, had already been well into their, uh, play through, before I arrived.
Beyond suddenly finding myself in a new body, of course, I see that I'm now a Gamer, however the hell that works? I can't say that's a good thing, despite the butterflies in my stomach telling me that it is.
For one, it's obvious to me that this Nemui fellow got absolutely shwacked, if his stats are anything to go by. If 'The Gamer' levels up, usually those levels come with a bonus five stat points per level to be distributed how 'The Gamer' sees fit. I'm not seeing seventy five points available for distribution, nor do I see said points spread out across the board, so to speak.
I know that Han Jihan, most likely the Original Gamer, was able to spend his acquired stat points as a currency in select situations, but what the hell kind of situation would burn through seventy five points across the board at once?
Secondly, I'm somewhere in the Elemental Nations, most likely, considering my location said 'Hidden Bamboo Grove, Grass Country' on the save file.
You know that sinking feeling in your gut when you know something terrible is about to happen and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it?
That super potent bowling ball in the gut feeling?
Yeah, that killed the butterflies.
Don't 'Gamer's' usually start out with some kind of tutorial?
…
I have a feeling that someone has already played through the tutorial, and it wasn't me, obviously.
Okay, let's try something else…
'[Status]'
Another screen appeared before me, this time showing me what appeared to be debuffs.
[Status]
[Juinjutsu: Vision(Forehead)] - [?]
[Juinjutsu: Limited Speech(Tongue)] - [?]
[Chakra Network - Crippled] - [65:22:15:05]
…
…
You've got to be kidding me!
Okay, so I was right, I'm somehow not only in the Elemental Nations, meaning some kind of Naruto related dimension, but I've been hit with two forbidden seals and have had my chakra network absolutely shredded.
The Juinjutsu on my tongue tells me that at some point, Nemui must have encountered Danzo, which is another reason for the paranoid feeling quickly blossoming in my chest.
Thinking back to my stats, it might also partially explain what I assume are the debuffs on my stats, but what about the constant drain on said remaining chakra?
The only way to figure that out would be checking out my skill menu, I guess.
'[Skills]'
[Skills]
[Passive] - [Gamer's Body] : [Grants a body that allows for the user to live their life like a game. After sleeping in a bed, fully restore HP/CP and cure all status ailments.] [lvl:MAX]
[Passive] - [Gamer's Mind] : [Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. The user is immune to all psychological ailments.] [lvl:MAX]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
That's not good. No skills other than the Gamer set, then? What the hell is going on, here?
Hmm, how about perks?
'[Perks]'
[Perks]
[? Lineage: Due to the nature of your Bloodline and Chakra, you have been blessed with a deep well of longevity. +20 base VIT, +20 base END, +3 VIT/+1 END per level, +20% exp towards all [Fuinjutsu] skills.]
[?]
[?]
[?]
I don't understand, just what the heck happened to this guy and why are his perks mostly missing? Is it because of the Juinjutsu? Or maybe the shredded Chakra Network? The only thing I can tell for sure is that based on the flavor text of the first perk, I am most likely an Uzumaki or am related to them closely enough to still have their increased longevity, at least.
[PLAYER INFO UPDATED!]
Uh, hello?
Game?
Anyone there?
...
'[Stats]'
[Stats]
Name: Nemui
Level: 16
Race: Human
Clan: [Uzumaki]
Class: [Ronin],[?],[?]
HP: 5441/10,400 [+4/s]
CP: 108/216 [+2/s]/[-10/5s]
CC: 6%
VIT: [-?]= 25
END: [-?]= 21
STR: [-?]= 6
DEX: [-?]= 6
INT: [-?]= 8
WIS: [-?]= 8
LUK: 20
Ryo: 100
SP Available: 0
That confirms it, I suppose.
That's perfectly okay with me, of course, but holy jeez this is bizarre.
Speaking of bizarre, how the hell am I seeing the world right now if my eyes are closed and bandaged up? Am I some kind of Kenshi ripoff?
After a few moments of watching the outline of bushes swaying in the wind behind me without being forced to turn my head, I determine that yes, I'm actually seeing the world with what I assume is my Minds Eye or something equally as supernatural.
Hmm… wait, isn't Karin a Uzumaki? Didn't she have some sort of super sensor technique she used, the Eye of the Kaguya, Kagura or something?
[SKILL LIST UPDATED!]
…
…
This might take a while.
《PB》
So, I discovered that beyond [stats], [status] and [perks], [inventory] and [reputation] seem to call up my inventory and a menu of my reputation with the world around me, which should be pretty obvious. [Create party] and [options] worked as well, but these two functions are sort of useless to me right now, all things considered.
My [inventory] was absolutely empty save for a pouch filled with exactly one hundred coins, which I assume are Ryo.
My [Reputation], however, is what has brought me the most trepidation.
[Reputation]
[?] - [+200]
[?/?] - [+120]
[?/?] - [+50]
[?] - [+12]
[?/?] - [-1000]
[?/?] - [-1000]
I don't even know where to begin guessing who really liked me, sort of liked me and hated my guts, but I have a pretty strong feeling that I pissed in Danzo' cornflakes somehow considering the two juinjutsu currently debuffing me.
So, no Land of Fire until I can figure out if the other Nemui was a Ne agent or just enemies with the Third Hokage's Shadow. That's a bummer, because being in Konoha would make me feel a lot safer than not right now, if only due to partial familiarity of the people there.
Beyond figuring out the inventory and reputation systems that seemed to be attached to my newfound 'Gamer' abilities, I discovered that I was going to have to start from absolute scratch when it comes to my skills, which was just fine with me. While I may not have a choice about my initial distribution of stat points, that means I'll have greater control of my 'build', so to speak, in the near future.
That brings me to my next dilemma, which is figuring out what sort of skills I can create and which ones I will absolutely need to survive.
Most 'Gamers' I've read about, whether Han or not, seemed to really focus on INT and WIS for the first few dozen levels and then start bringing their physical stats up later through exercise and passive skills. The problem is that I have absolutely garbage stats and can barely lift a tree branch large enough to act as a club, let alone spare any Chakra unless I want to go fully blind.
'[Skills]'
[Skills]
[Passive] - [Gamer's Body] : [Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a Game. After sleeping in a bed, fully restore HP/CP and cure all status ailments.] [lvl:MAX]
[Passive] - [Gamer's Mind] : [Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. The user is immune to all psychological ailments.] [lvl:MAX]
[Passive] - [(Lesser)Minds Eye of the Kagura] : [An Uzumaki Hijutsu which allows the user to sense the Chakra Signature of those around them utilizing their third eye. +5% CC, (-10CP/5s), 850m] [lvl:MAX]
[Active] - [Meditation] : [Attain Tranquility. Increases HP/CP regen by 101% while the user is absolutely still.] [lvl:1] [12/100]
[Active] - [Kuji-Kiri] : [Meditate on the nine spiritual hand signs. Increases CP regen by 203% while the user is meditating.] [lvl:3] [130/400]
The first [skill] I created was [Meditation], followed quickly by the more specialized type of meditation, [Kuji-Kiri], which was just perfect for bringing my miniscule pool of Chakra back to full quickly.
[(Lesser)Minds Eye of the Kagura], which I just call my third eye, uses just as much Chakra as I recover over a period of ten seconds. As long as I use the [Kuji-Kiri] technique often, I should be able to at least try to use my Chakra for more than my new form of 'sight'.
I'm having a hard time getting over the sheer nature of my new life, or old life, or whatever my current existence is supposed to be, but [Gamer's Mind] seems to actively prevent me from feeling anything other than absolute calm at any point, no matter how much I try to force myself to feel any other emotion.
I absolutely hate it, but it seems that even strong feelings of hatred get nerfed back into nothingness when I try to actively make myself feel such a thing. I'm left with nothing but calm acceptance, with only minor positive emotions such as happiness and enjoyment to slip through the gaps in [Gamer's Mind].
Ignoring the terrible not-dread that's been eating away at my gut since I sat down in the middle of the grove of bamboo I woke up in, I stand and stretch my back, even if my body did not require it.
Placing one hand out before me, I begin to walk slowly around the grove, using my strange new form of vision to familiarize myself with what will likely remain my temporary home for a while until I'm able to raise my stats or get a better grasp on the world around me.
Obviously I trip and stumble quite a bit at first, but eventually I'm able to sort of stop focusing on one area in particular and instead widen my inner gaze until I can see where I'm walking just as easily as I focus on my destination.
I eventually reach what I know is the edge of the grove of incredibly thick bamboo and place my right hand on a shoot, watching as carefully as my extremely wide sense of perception would allow as the green-blue energy of the plant tries and successfully blends with the oceanic blue Chakra that struggles to circulate in my hand.
Wait, what?
[PERK LIST UPDATED!]
Was Nemui a Sage already or something? I mean, whoever Nemui was before I took over had been around for sixteen something years, so if he was as familiar with the lore of the Naruto series as I was, then he would obviously know what Sage Mode was and thus pursue it relentlessly, yeah?
Assuming the person in control of Nemui was simply me in a previous life, then maybe not, as I have no way of knowing what the original knew and what he didn't know. I probably wouldn't have known as much about the Elemental Nations as I do now should Nemui have been a prior incarnation, since I learned what I know now in the life that came after this one.
Maybe?
Son of a bitch, I hate pondering Unknowable questions like this. Did I control Nemui previously and somehow rage-quit [The Game] midway through, somehow?
Hmm. Oh well, it's obvious I am not going to be receiving answers to my questions, so it's probably best to just… roll with it, I guess.
That is all I can do at this point, just roll with it.
Alright, let's see here.
'[Perks]'
[Perks]
[Uzumaki Lineage] : [Due to the nature of your Bloodline and Chakra, you have been granted a strong source of Vitality. +20 base VIT, +20 base END, +2 VIT/+1 END per level, +20% exp towards all [Fuinjutsu] skills.]
[One With Nature] : [Due to the tranquil nature of your Chakra, you are able to learn all [Sage] class skills at an accelerated rate. +20% exp towards all [Sage] skills, +15 base WIS, +5CP/s when in a dense natural environment, unlocks [Natural Sense].]
[?]
[?]
[STATS UPDATED!]
I think I'm starting to see a pattern here. Am I going to receive the [perks] and [skills] the previous Nemui had picked upon rediscovering them?
Only one way to check, I guess.
'[Stats]'
[Stats]
Name: Nemui
Level: 16 [0/4,595]
Race: Human
Clan: [Uzumaki]
Class: [Ronin],[Sage],[?]
HP: 5645/10,400 [+4/s]
CP: 216/216 [+7/s]/[-10/5s]
CC: 6%
VIT: [-?]= 25
END: [-?]= 21
STR: [-?]= 6
DEX: [-?]= 6
INT: [-?]= 8
WIS: [-?]= 23
LUK: 20
Ryo: 100
SP Available: 0
Ah, so I was right.
My initial class seems to have been [Ronin], followed by [Sage], and then blank. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume my third class is [Shinobi], then, but until I figure out a proper [Shinobi] skill, I have no way of proving it.
Wait, I think I faintly recall the hand signs for a fire style technique, grand fireball, but I also really don't want to push my luck at the moment and accidently kill myself again due to severe Chakra exhaustion, since I don't know the actual cost of the skill. Should I risk trying to recreate it?
You know what, I think I'll wait, I'm pretty sure I can think of a million things that could go wrong if I screw it up.
[Due to your wise decision, you have gained +1 WIS!]
Oh snap, that's… actually terrifying, but oddly satisfying.
Instant positive reinforcement and gratification is going to be the death of me, should Orochimaru or Danzo take too long to do it themselves.
Dismissing the thought of recreating the Uchiha's favorite fire technique, I instead focus on trying to understand the process of absorbing natural energy from the environment around me. The entire process is fascinating, and I think I'm actually able to 'feel' my Chakra, yet it still refuses to respond to my will in any meaningful way.
Gritting my teeth slightly in concentration, I continue to try to exercise my will over the energy source circulating in my body, yet it continues to elude me.
Huffing in not-irritation, since I technically didn't feel the emotion I was more or less forced to emulate at this point, I give up on trying to actually use my Chakra for now and instead begin to wander the area I find myself secluded in to try and get a better grasp on the massive amount of sensory data being dumped into my head by my seemingly permanently activated third eye.
Like, seriously, wasn't that more of an active technique? Why the hell is mine passive, to compensate for the Juinjutsu on my eyes? Why was it even active when I woke up, since it wasn't on my [skill] list yet?
I have this really odd feeling that the previous Numei really screwed the pooch somehow, and now I'm being forced to figure out the how and why.
The how of the matter is beyond my understanding. I don't know how 'Gamer's' usually come to be beyond the Will of the Planet, nor how they operate on a finer level. I've always enjoyed the concept, but in practice, how does 'Gaia' or whoever my administrator is actually turn someone into a 'Gamer'?
I have no way of knowing the how, now that I actually ponder it, thus I must focus on the why. Why did he break [The Game]? Why would anyone break a game?
Anger, frustration, unbearable sadness, I can think of a few reasons.
Or boredom.
If… if Numei really was on his millionth life, I have no doubt in my mind that he was bored, or as bored as a 'Gamer' can get. How did he even lose to Orochimaru if he was really on his millionth life? Shouldn't he have had some sort of combat experience by that point?
Or does my mind get wiped after every playthrough?
If that was the case, how do I have access to my memories from my last life?
Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong, and I'm just the millionth Gamer, but then… why would I go back to a previous play through, if I could apply such a term to my apparent many lives?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt that dread from earlier return, so I forced myself to sit down and take a deep breath before distracting myself with my exploration.
I mean seriously, who has time for existential dread when I get to explore this super cool forest that… I honestly had no interest in, whatsoever.
In fact, my interest in being Numei was null.
I don't really have a choice in the matter, though, this is my life now.
I've been given everything I had possibly wanted in my teenage years, a decade too late to enjoy it. My old life is gone completely and now I'm some long haired, blind and selectively mute nobody with big enemies, in the middle of a forest that I can't possibly pretend to know previously existed.
Dandy.
All there is for me to do now is survive, I guess, because hot damn there's thousands of ways for me to die a horrible death here if I'm not on my toes. So, first things first, discovering a water source for bathing, drinking and fishing.
And there one is, about four hundred-ish feet south of my grove. This [(Lesser)Minds Eye of the Kagura] is already proving to be a decidedly handy way to 'see' the world, since all living things have some form of innate Chakra in this world, thus allowing me to not only see the living animals around me, but the environment as well.
I would much rather actually be able to, you know, see the world the normal way, but Nemui went and screwed that up for me, so here we are, using a ripoff inner Byakugan that I can't turn off to navigate to the river I 'saw' while tripping over my feet thanks to my extremely profound sense of depth perception.
Everything about this experience is getting on my nerves, but I will prevail.
I pause mid-step to the river as an epiphany crosses my mind, bringing promethean rays of enlightenment to my previously dark mindset.
This is a chance to not only eventually do all the really cool stuff with Chakra that I've always speculated would be possible within the known Elemental Nations or whatever this world is called, but to actually better myself.
It's obvious that I'm no longer allowed to experience extreme bouts of emotion of any sort, possibly even what would be considered 'positive', so now I'll be forced to learn how to conduct myself in a rational and calm fashion, which isn't exactly a bad thing for a hot head like me.
Beyond bettering myself mentally and thus spiritually, the mere fact that I can quantify everything I would need to know about myself to show where my strengths and weaknesses lay is groundbreaking alone, as I can see a clear path to solving said issues.
I don't have to be limited to normal means of strengthening myself any longer. Hell, I can probably just ditch this dimension once I get strong enough if I play my cards right, maybe even go back home and be with my family again! How cool would that be?
Then again, with how the year twenty twenty is playing out, why the hell would I want to go back beyond seeing my brother, mother and aunt again?
Damn, I already miss them.
I'm completely alone for the first time in twenty something years, with no one but myself to depend on or share this newfound lease on life with, and only myself and Numei to blame for my perceived misfortune. I can't just call my little brother up to see if he has any ideas on what I should do, or warn my aunt that I won't be home to take care of her for the foreseeable future.
I never knew I could feel the pain of emotions without actually feeling the emotions themselves. I know for a fact that if [Gamer's Mind] wasn't muting my otherwise tumultuous spirit, I would likely have curled into a ball and started bawling my eyes out by now.
This is going to take some time to come to grips with.
By the time I've rationalized my current situation in a way that wasn't completely negative while shoving my doubts and fears into my mental closet with the rest of my skeletons, I finally made it to the stream that was rather close to my grove.
[-4HP!]
[-10HP!]
I tripped over a stone that I did not see in my path, causing me to lose HP twice when I smashed my face into the large tree I was leaning against for balance, four and then ten. Negligible to say the least, as I regained said HP by the time I reached down to pluck the stone from the ground.
I couldn't tell you what type of stone it was or its colouration, since, you guessed it, I'm blind, but it seemed sharp enough in one spot to help me cut a piece of old bamboo into a spear to use for acquiring some lunch.
[SKILL CREATED!]
[(Amatuer) - Crafting] : [Utilizing tools and raw materials, the user can create new items and learn new recipes! Increases quality by rank, +1% crafting speed.] [lvl:1] [15/100]
[NEW ITEM CREATED!]
[Bamboo Spear]
[Common]
[-56-]
[-EE-]
[AR: +15]
Studying the bamboo spear and the screen that hovered over it, it was easy to come to the conclusion that not only did it have a stat requirement to wield, but it scaled with said stats as well.
Since my stats start from VIT down, I'm going to assume that this means the spear requires five strength and six dexterity to wield, and it scales poorly with said stats.
[AR: +15] must be attack rating, which means that it either adds fifteen to my existing five points in strength and six from dexterity, which I doubt, or the initial fifteen attack points will scale further upwards based on my strength and dexterity in the future, and that my current stats allow me to deal fifteen base damage before any further damage calculations are added. Critical damage better be a thing here is all I'm saying, because I'm aiming for the heads of my enemies unlike most [Shinobi] I can name.
Math is my absolute worst subject, so the chances of me grasping the formulas that make up my stats and my weapons stats quickly isn't very likely, but I guess I don't really need to understand it completely right off the bat.
What I do need to understand, is if I can create quests for myself, or if the system administrator will sense my intent and do it for me based on whatever tasks are assigned to me or I take for myself.
Concentrating on the task before me, which is to snab one of these fish and cook it for a quick lunch, I am finally rewarded with what I knew would eventually show itself.
[NEW QUEST CREATED!]
[Flippity Floppity, This Fish Is My Property!]
[Daily]
[Catch a fish to eat! The bigger the better, but don't be greedy! Remember, Nature and Nurture.]
[+250 exp, (?) fish]
[Accept Quest?]
[Y/N]
I easily accept the quest with a mental command of [Yes], which is to say that I just started screaming 'YES' in my head over and over until [The Game] finally heard me.
Readying my chosen weapon, I tracked one of the larger fish in the river not far from me and stabbed forward with far more grace than I should have based on my current dexterity rating, causing me to ponder if my body somehow had the muscle memories left over from the previous Nemui.
[SKILL CREATED!]
[Passive] - [Sōjutsu] : ['This is the spear that will pierce the heavens!', increases damage dealt by all [Spear] type weapons by 1%] [lvl:1] [20/100]
Well, I guess that answers that, maybe it's just my imagination.
The large fish slipped from my spear when I pulled it out of the water, but I was quick enough to snag it with my right hand before it could fall back into the river.
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[Flippity Floppity, This Fish Is My Property!]
[23:59:52]
[+250 exp, +1 (m) River Fish]
The [Quest] seemed to innately know that I would only take one fish and was completed accordingly, so I dismissed the screen and instead remained focused on the quickly dying fish in my hands, watching in morbid fascination as the natural energy and Chakra alike bled from its body until I could only see it through the faint white outlines surrounding it and detailing it in my vision.
Opening my inventory once more, which seems to have what I hope is an infinite amount of storage space, I placed the fish and my spear into two different storage spaces and dismissed the window into my hammer-space pocket dimension as quickly as it came.
I return to where I crafted my spear and once more grabbed the sharpened stone before storing it in my inventory as well, since I can always come back and hopefully craft an arsenal of bamboo spears and grind some levels in [crafting].
Before I start on that, however, first I should try to secure some shelter, make a bed roll and see if [Gamer's Body] will get rid of those Juinjutsu since I'll technically be sleeping in a bed and they're technically status ailments, so to speak, and look into unlocking some kind of skill related to Chakra Control.
[Due to coming up with a logical plan, you have gained +1 INT!]
Heck yeah, Game, glad we agree.
Honestly, I've got a lot to do and I have no idea how much time I can safely spend here without a way to defend myself, especially since I faintly remember something about Grass Country being notorious for their ANBU. Some kind of Hanya styled unit or something?
It's been forever and a day since I watched anything related to Naruto, especially since the series ended some eight or nine years prior to my death and my patience for the spoiled brat that was Boruto was nil. My knowledge of the series has basically rusted away until all I can remember are the important bits.
Like not pissing off Might Guy, Madara, Orochimaru, any of the Akatsuki members, stuff like that. Guy is absolutely number one on my list to not piss off, and I pity anyone who doesn't instinctively feel the same.
If Nemui already has a bad reputation in these parts, and one of my no-no's is on the list of people that that currently hate me, it would be a good idea to have some sort of game plan to either protect this area from outsiders, or perhaps have an underground escape route secured using Earth Style techniques.
Ugh, where to start, where to start…
First things first, I need to at least try to make some kind of shelter, even if I can't really see what I'm doing all that well with this crazy third eye skill.
Stumbling my way through the thickets of monstrous sized bamboo, I make it back to my clearing and begin construction on a small a-frame hut tied in place with roughed up leaves from the larger bamboo shoots that I'd been forced to chop down and process the caveman way.
After a few hours of diligent work and two extra points in strength gained through smacking bamboo with my rock, I was able to step back and appreciate my work, which was only barely visible to me in the backdrop of glowing blues and greens.
What's odd is that I almost expected a skill from this, but do I really need one? I could always hardcore focus on unlocking Wood Release and just grow a house in the middle of nowhere, maybe… hopefully.
Wood Release has got to be the most versatile Chakra nature you can learn or have, in my opinion, especially since I could survive basically until I die with it alone without being forced to ever venture far from my territory.
Food? I'd grow a fruit tree. Water? Water Release is needed for Wood Release, so I'm sure that would be one of the first bridges I burn in the near future. Shelter? I can grow a freaking house and design it however the heck I want, no money or permits needed.
I could also just force-create new quests revolving around feeding the hungry and providing shelter for the hopeless, thus hopefully solving my experience issue without me being forced to resort to genociding innocent animals or less innocent bandits like other 'Gamer's' tend to do in this environment!
[Due to your logical and peaceful reasoning, you have gained +1 INT, +1 WIS!]
Oh man, just thinking about this is making me almost excited again. I've seriously got to figure out just what I can and can't do with my Chakra!
Wait… damn, that's right, my Chakra Network is screwed six ways to Sunday for the next sixty something days. Thanks, whoever jumped Nemui, I'm going to have to get revenge for delaying my new goals like this. Unless you're on the list, then I'll just ignore you until I can't.
Okay, fine. I can be patient, let's see what I can do rather than focus on what I can't.
Which means… hmm… I'll have to be creative here, let's see.
Since Chakra is composed of both physical and mental energies, and mixing natural energy with base Chakra makes Sage Chakra, can I just use the three energies by themselves without mixing them?
Since my life is apparently ruled by a 'Gamer' system now, surely that should be possible, right?
What sort of skills would even rely on singular types of energy, anyway? There's Youjutsu, I think, which is supposed to rely on spiritual energy alone. Then there's Ki, like they use in the Dragon Ball universe, which is purely physical energy. I could try spiritual techniques from Bleach as well, maybe, since Reitsu is supposed to be purely based on the soul, yeah?
Wait, how are mental and spiritual energies the same thing? That doesn't make a lot of sense, since the Soul is obviously independent of the Mind and Body based on what has happened to the other Nemui.
So, is Chakra actually just mental and physical energy being mixed? How does one access their spiritual energy, then?
Oh.
OH.
What about Touki? Isn't that supposed to be something people can use that is basically purely physical energy related? Or… no, wait, that doesn't sound right.
It's based on tapping into your life force, or vitality, and bringing it to the surface, usually applicable to Sage's alone.
Damn, I really don't want to start trying to mess around with Senjutsu stuff on day one of my bizarre new adventure, that just doesn't seem safe to play around with by my lonesome or at least without some kind of instruction.
Well… damn, fine, I think I'm just going to try to recreate Mana or something, since that's pretty safe to work with and doesn't rely on something like my Chakra Network, hopefully.
Since Mana is based on my intelligence and wisdom stats, hopefully I'll be able to start practicing with it right away.
So, how do I unlock Mana, if at all possible? It's based on mental energy, so meditation might do the trick?
Sitting down into the lotus position, I focus inward and proceed to ignore the world around me, trying to feel the energies within me as best I can with what limited knowledge I've accumulated. It is not nearly as easy as I thought it would be, but eventually I had a pretty good idea on at least how to manipulate what little Chakra I had.
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[Passive] - [Chakra Manipulation] : [Allows the user to mold and manipulate their Chakra for either internal or external abilities. +1% CC, +1CP/s.] [lvl:1] [1/100]
The moment the new skill popped up, my mind was bombarded with phantom knowledge that seemed to fill in the gaps of my actual understanding of Chakra, if only slightly.
I know for a fact I had no way of knowing that I could, for instance, individually manipulate my Yin and Yang energy and force them to blend at a quicker rate to increase my Chakra production at the cost of what I assume will be my HP, but now I do somehow.
Sweet.
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[Passive] - [Yin Energy Manipulation] : ['To reach Nirvana, first you must understand the heavens.', +1% strength of [Inton] skills, -1% CP cost of [Inton] Skills.] [lvl:1] [1/100]
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[Passive] - [Yang Energy Manipulation] : ['To reach Nirvana, first you must understand the Earth.', +1% strength of [Yoton] skills, -1% CP cost of [Yoton] skills.] [lvl:1] [5/100]
There we go, that's just what I was looking for!
Concentrating on the Yin portion of my Chakra, I begin to focus on funneling it to my hand, which is a monumental task in and of itself. Once I'm confident that I have enough energy in my hand, I try to shape it into a rough ball, which slowly becomes easier as I get used to the whisky feeling of Yin energy flowing through my hand.
Once that step is done, I begin funneling raw Yang energy around the sphere, to give it a bit more oomph, should my running theory be correct.
Finally, I take aim at the distant thicket of bamboo across from my little ramshack hut, pray to any God capable of hearing my plea, and ignite the 'fuse' of Yang energy that would send the sphere downstream from me before destabilizing.
And…
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[Active] - [Inton: Kyuu] : [Creating a dense sphere of Yin energy and a thin shell of Yang energy, the user is able to prime it and send it downstream in an explosive fashion. (52) N.E. damage, 2x2x2, -50CP.] [lvl:1] [25/100]
It exploded, sending the shrapnel of the bamboo that was misfortunate enough to be in my… well, dome of sight every which way in an oh so satisfying fashion.
I take a deep breath and feel the drain on my Chakra instantly, being actually far more than the said fifty points.
'[Stats]'
[Stats]
Name: Nemui
Level: 16 [270/4,595]
Race: Human
Clan: [Uzumaki]
Class: [Ronin],[Sage],[?]
HP: 6245/10,400 [+4/s]
CP: 160/266 [+8/s]/[-10/5s]
CC: 7%
VIT: [-?]= 25
END: [-?]= 21
STR: [-?]= 8
DEX: [-?]= 6
INT: [-?]= 10
WIS: [-?]= 24
LUK: 20
Ryo: 100
SP Available: 0
So, all of my active skills that have a CP cost are going to be nearly twice as expensive until I can get my Chakra control up to snuff.
That's a bummer, but since my Chakra regeneration rate is so high compared to my reserves, maybe I could make another passive skill that boosts my physical stats and try to keep it active indefinitely?
I'm not here to play fair, so any bit of extra survivability would be nice, even if it makes the ninjas and other Chakra users around me call bullshit.
So, back to that Touki idea now that my understanding of Yang energy is significantly better than it was ten minutes ago, I'm thinking that I don't need to use Senjutsu to pull the innate vital power of my body to the surface.
No, I just need to focus my strange new form of vision downwards at my own body and adjust what I'm doing with my Chakra until something sticks.
Remaining in the same lotus position I'd been holding for a few minutes now, I bring my hands together in the Kuji-Kiri hand sign for power, Rin, which seems to help me focus on the Yang energy present in my body easier than I could without it.
Seriously, where did the twelve zodiac hand signs come from, and why are they so different from the sacred nine and the elemental five from the esoteric schools of Japanese mysticism?
Food for thought later, I suppose, as I am instead forced to focus on minimizing my internal spiritual energy in favor of trying to maximize the physical energy flowing through my supposedly crippled Chakra Network.
Once I am confident that I'm not going to kill myself by throwing my recovering Chakra pool so out of balance, I begin to suffuse every organ, muscle and bone in my body with the thick, nearly white energy that barely qualified as Chakra. The process is actually painful, and I see that I start to lose HP quite rapidly at first, but that slows suddenly and stops as my body seems to adapt to the strain before the pressure stops all together.
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[Active] - [Yoton: Rin] : [By charging their body with heavily concentrated vital energy mixed minimally with mental energy, the user increases their strength and endurance by orders of magnitude. STR/END/DEX*{2}, -(200)CP/s.] [lvl:1] [1/100]
[PERK LIST UPDATED!]
[PERK LIST UPDATED!]
[NEW SKILL CREATED!]
[DANGER! YOU HAVE GAINED THE (SEVERE CHAKRA EXHAUSTION) DEBUFF!]
[-6294HP!]
Just as quickly as my grasp on the new skill came, so did severe exhaustion the likes of which I hadn't felt in years and a sharp pain in my chest and head unlike any other I've ever experienced. I instantly cut the flow of Chakra that was feeding the new skill, allowing my pools of internal energies to rebalance out as I activated the [Kuji-Kiri] skill to hopefully quickly recover from my severe Chakra exhaustion.
I ignored the new pop-ups in my periphery, if my strange, all engulfing sight provided by my inner eye could be described as peripheral vision in the first place, instead allowing the specialized meditation skill to guide my hands and return my Chakra reserves to acceptable levels before I attempted to experiment any further.
Finally, the sickening feeling that had engulfed my body eased up until I was lucid enough to bring my stat page up to check my health.
'[Stats]'
[Stats]
Name: Nemui
Level: 16 [270/4,595]
Race: Human
Clan: [Uzumaki]
Class: [Ronin],[Sage],[?]
HP: 166/19,840 [+9/s]
CP: 211/416 [+10/s]/[-10/5s]
CC: 7%
VIT: 40
END: 31
STR: 18
DEX: 11
INT: 10
WIS: 24
LUK: 20
Ryo: 100
SP Available: 0
I seriously almost died from that? Holy jeez… maybe I should be a bit more cautious, but damn if I wasn't right though.
But is being right worth being almost dead?
… For 'Gamer's, yes, but the fact that my life isn't a game and shouldn't be treated like one, despite the circumstances, remains the same. Sometimes risks are acceptable, so long as they are minimal and not quite life threatening.
This last bout of insanity was not an acceptable risk.
From now on, I'll think twice about playing around with my actual, tangible life force.
Now, why the hell are all of my stats besides intelligence, wisdom and luck suddenly higher? Does it have something to do with my perks?
'[Perks]'
[Perks]
[Uzumaki Lineage] : [Due to the nature of your Bloodline and Chakra, you have been granted a strong source of Vitality. +20 base VIT, +20 base END, +2 VIT/+1 END per level, +20% exp towards all [Fuinjutsu] skills.]
[One With Nature] : [Due to the peaceful nature of your Chakra, you are able to learn all [Sage] class skills at an accelerated rate. +20% exp towards all [Sage] skills, +15 base WIS, +5CP/s when in a dense natural environment, unlocks [Natural Sense].]
[Well of Life] : [Due to your deep connection with the Vital Source that dwells within all physical objects and beings, you now passively draw in and release ambient life energies as easily as your heart beats in your chest. +5HP/s, +2CP/s, +10 base VIT, +5 base END, unlocks [Vital Sense].]
[Fighting Spirit] : [By reaching deep within yourself and dragging your Vital Source to the surface, your body has broken past normal mortal limitations. +20% exp earned in combat, +20% chance of random enemy encounters, +5 base VIT, +5 base END, +10 base STR, +5 base DEX.
Oh, come on!
Are you telling me that I could have created my own Perks or something? Did I have two free perk slots to fill, and that's why it looked like my stats were debuffed?
Not that I don't think the two newest perks aren't good or anything, but they definitely aren't what I would have picked if I knew I had a choice in the matter.
And why did gaining a fourth perk remove the debuffs from my stats? Did I start with one perk, and gain the ability to gain another every five levels? That would certainly seem to fit, considering that four perks at level sixteen doesn't quite add up.
Or do they require specific feats beyond the first, which is hereditary and something he would have picked during character creation?
That actually sounds plausible, so that's the theory I'll operate with until I can prove otherwise.
[Due to coming to a logical conclusion based on previous experiences, you have gained +1 INT, +1 WIS!]
Whatever, I guess it could be worse, considering that now my stats don't look like they belong to a blueberry. I wasn't actually going for a full melee build but I think I can work with this.
Hmm, based on my health and Chakra regeneration rates, I should be back to full health close to an hour from now, while my Chakra should only take a minute or two.
Yeah, that's not bad at all, this actually gives me just what I need to grind out my less costly skills without risking dying from Chakra exhaustion.
Damn, man, I could have sworn my thoughts were clearer than this. Is this a product of only having ten intelligence? Probably, but I have no way of knowing without having points to dump into my stats, so that's yet another issue I'll have to figure out later.
For now, I'm off to the grind.