PING!
[Quest Complete!
Side Quest: Talk Around Town
Help Ichiraku Teuchi spread word about his restaurant.
Completed Objectives :
Tell Konoha citizens about Ichiraku Ramen. (40/40)
Hand out the fliers. (20/20)
Completed Bonus Objectives
Spread the word to more people. (10/10)
Reward :
20xp, 20 Ryo, +1 REP with Ichiraku Teuchi and Ichiraku Ayame, + x1 Roughly-sewn Scarf (Black)]
"You're a great help, Gundan-kun!" Teuchi beamed, ruffling my hair. "In just the one hour since you've been gone, I've had seven new customers already, and they said they'd come back! This day just keeps getting better!"
"It was my pleasure to help you, Teuchi oji-san." I offered a short bow. Of course, it also helps that I was able to use [Wordplay] to add in a few good words about my future little brother. In just the past hour, though, I learned something very important – someone was running a smear campaign against Naruto.
It was obvious, honestly. A village that prides itself on teamwork, turning aside one of their own like that? It was a trend I noticed in canon; people quickly changed their opinion of the boy once they got to know him if they had any ill conceptions about him beforehand. Of course, they despise the Kyuubi, the thing destroyed lives and hurt and killed a lot of people, but this is a ninja village, and as such sealing knowledge should be at least a little known. Besides, why would they want to hurt Naruto if they believed he housed the Kyuubi, even if its just brushing him off as a supposed target of their hatred? Did they want another Kyuubi attack on their hands?
No, someone was stoking the fires of their hatred. In all the people I asked as I walked around on how to make someone feel better when they had a monster to hold at bay (a tad overused at this point, but hey, what works, works), I noticed a single repetition:
"He told me…"
"Really?! But this lady said…"
"I didn't think of it that way. I guess listening to strangers is bad, hm, Jo?"
Random strangers cropping up who paint Naruto in a bad light? There were, of course, cases when it wasn't so, but a majority of those I essentially surveyed mentioned someone they randomly met going on at length about how dangerous it was to have Naruto even still alive, forget living in the same village as them. Add in the fact that the attack was still fresh on everybody's minds, and it compounded into growing anger towards the poor boy in question.
Only one name fit the bill.
I know a lot of fanfics I've read do this particular tangent not plausibly but… hear me out. Naruto grows really malleable, instantly taking to someone if they show him a little kindness because he's just that attention starved. If he's quick to take to someone, he's easily molded into whatever the person in question wants. And if the man I'm thinking of is good at anything, it's manipulating.
Danzo, you clever bastard.
Obviously, canonically, it never happened. Danzo never got his Hashirama-infused hands on the boy, so Hiruzen probably noticed it and stopped it before it got really bad, like some of the fanon mob beatings that crop up in every two or so other stories I used to read. But by then, whenever it is, the damage is done, and the village loathes his existence.
Maybe it's a bit of a stretch; Jinchuuriki are generally hated (except in Kumo, I think), but something is telling me I'm not wrong where I'm going with my thoughts.
And if I'm not…
"-lo? Gundan-kun?"
I blinked, quickly drawing out from my musings. "I'm sorry, Teuchi oji-san, I guess I really should have slept well last night."
"I told you it's not good for you to sleep that little." He chastised, wagging his finger. "Why, if my Aoiki were still alive, she'd rip you a new one."
Teuchi means well, so I just bow my head a bit meekly. "I'm sorry, Teuchi oji-san, it's jus that… I really want to be strong! Strong enough to protect everyone I love! If I can protect you from the world, it would mean a lot to me; I've actually been training to join the ninja academy," I explain, "so it's biting into a bit of my sleeping time. Don't worry! As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear!" Well, of course, they survive till Naruto grows up all malnourished and attention-starved, so it's not like I'm promising a whole lot much.
Teuchi seemed almost taken aback though, his eyes almost teary. I blinked and acted the innocent kid, but internally I knew that wherever they were from, they weren't really used to such positive attention. "Thank you, Gundan-kun. Would… you be too much opposed to joining us for lunch?"
I blinked. Okay, maybe they were Naruto-level deprived of attention… but why? As far as I remember of canon, they were perfectly normal stall owners who took a shine to the local recluse. I wracked my brain for a moment, trying to think. The family was clearly from outside the village, if their unfamiliarity with things around here meant anything, so I attempted to expound on that. Where could they be from that made them such social pariahs that they'd want to leave?
The answer chilled me to the bone.
It… it couldn't be!
In canon, Ayame or Teuchi were nothing of note; they were just normal shopkeepers who… were definitely under the radar, even if one considered the fact that they were friends with the Jinchuuriki of the village, which meant that they at least have to have been investigated to be safe! And clearly they were, because the stall remained opened even through Boruto!
I swept that aside for the moment and agreed to the offer.
My mind was working overdrive even as long as I ate some delicious miso ramen with them. It all made sense! Ayame wasn't meant to go to civilian school because she already grasped all the concepts! She could test out as a graduate anytime! Why? Because the chakra circulating through her body, finding no other outlet, was enhancing her mental capacity!
The Ichiraku family… was a bloodline holder from Kiri.
A bit farfetched, but that's all I had to go on. Surreptitiously, I eyed the meek Ayame and the boisterously-talking Teuchi, trying to see if I could spot anything out of the ordinary. I scanned them to be sure.
[Ichiraku Teuchi – Level ?
HP – ?
CP – ?
Constitution - ?
Health - ?
Agility - ?
Intelligence - ?
Luck - ?
Wisdom - ?
?]
My blood almost ran cold, but I ended up just acting normal on the outside because of [Gamer's Mind]. Okay, so clearly Teuchi was as strong as that Jonin sensei that Kotetsu and Izumo had. I don't dare assume any less, in case I need to fight him at some point in the future…
Dammit! I need some sort of sensory technique to see exactly how strong he was, I'd bet. This also meant one thing – my [Scan] was not all powerful. It offered me only information I know about Naruto, and very little on Aoi. Although, Naruto was literally just born in the former case, nd I didn't really interact much with the person in question when it came to the latter. I'll have to experiment to test this out, but something tells me I won't know anything I don't already know about a target if I used [Scan] on them.
Seriously. Fucking. Nerfed.
After I finished my meal, since they were offering no more quests, I bid them an adieu and began to wander around town.
So, apparently, the Ichiraku family wasn't very well received, wherever they hailed from. It didn't have to mean they came from Kiri, though. Maybe they just fucked up really bad in the past in a normal village where they had some super secret family techniques stored?
That… was outlandish, but this was the ninja world. Anything was possible here!
It also didn't help that no quest about it popped up. If missions wrote themselves for me on the fly, I'd be able to understand at least something from the name of the quest and sate at least a tiny portion of my curiosity.
Damned afterlife. Even in my death I can't relax!
The anticipation did leave my fingers tingly, though, and if I didn't have [Gamer's Body] I'm sure adrenaline would e coursing through my veins.
This was… fun.
I still needed 70 EXP to level up, so I decided to spend a while doing quests for the store a street over from Ichiraku's, called the [Koinu Pet Store], apparently run by a combination of Inazuka and Aburame clan members. Thankfully, the latter were posted way at the back, and I interacted with a brazen Inazuka man named Hoko, a level ? Chunin.
I only managed to do one quest for him, though, which entailed helping him distribute the feed for several normal dogs and falcons, before the icon vanished, giving me only 10 EXP for the quest. I wondered why that is, until a metaphorical lightbulb went on over my head.
I did only one quest for Teuchi on one day, too much in a hurry to bother asking for more. I only did the next two, perhaps a tier higher, today – only the second of which gave me a reputation bonus. So, the system for side-quests like this must mean that I can only clear a tier in a day!
With 60 EXP left to level up, I began to explore.
I ended up doing basic introduction quests for six places, namely [Konoha Cold Storage] owned by another tsundere named Jaki Mao, [Yakiniku Q] owned by the Akimichi in general (they had a roster at the clan compound that listed who were going to be managing shop that day – apparently off-duty ninja), [Jojo's Joke Store] owned by a middle-aged Kurama Clan Chunin named Fikuru, [Sato Mechanics] owned by a civilian named Sato Hiroshi (and didn't that give me major creep vibes… he even looked the same!), [Dan-dan Dango] owned and operated solely by a middle-aged single-mother civilian named Botchan Kushi, and [Kimiko's Kimonos] owned by a matronly civilian woman named Kimiko.
I got ten ryo from each quest, bringing my wallet up to an even hundred – forty from the two quests I did for Teuchi, and ten from the other six.
The interesting part were the clan-owned stores. By talking while doing my assigned chores (which is what I dreaded D-ranks were going to be) I learned that a clan was entitled to only one store, to do with whatever they wished. So far, they were playing to their strengths, with the Akimichi going for an eatery and the only fauna-oriented clans I knew of going for a pet store (although I was reasonably sure the Inazuka also worked at the Veterinary branch of the local hospital) – business was booming in most of the stores I visited, but there were definitely damages incurred by the Kyuubi attack, and all of them involved helping picking up the slack as much as was acceptable for a random child to do so, or cleaning up. Another interesting part – the reputation gains for the missions did not apply for the person in particular, but the entire clan! I wondered if it would stack when I spoke to a clan member or if there was a different system, but without the [Hints] perk I was left in the dark.
For now, though, I waved Kimiko goodbye and turned to walk down the road, finally acknowledging the screen that popped up.
[You have levelled up! You are now Level 7!
+ 5 stat points
+ 1 perk point]
The one perk point was a disappointment, but that would probably change once I crossed a level threshold, maybe every five of them…? I quickly distributed two points into each of the rogue attributes and one into [STR] to have my page look somewhat like this.
[Character Page
Gundan – Level 7
Title: Orphan
Next Level: 0/140xp
HP - 130
CP - 210
CON - 3
STR - 4
AGL - 10
INT - 4
LCK - 10
WIS - 4]
That actually felt a little better, knowing that now I'd be a mini-second more of a nuisance to kill when facing someone like Obito. Fucking hell, getting stronger was going to take forever at this rate! Well, I do still have a month to kill unless I manage to spot Jiraiya or Orochimaru, so there's a lot I need to do.
I turned to look back where I came from.
If I keep doing these side-quests, not only do I keep getting EXP and levelling up my [Wordplay], which was sitting at a good level of 26 right now, and my [Eavesdropping] on the way to and from destinations whenever I was not talking to anyone, which was also currently at an okay level of 18. Did normal ninja get better at their skills this fast? Was this a compensation for me not being able to level up fast?
Hmm…
Besides certain checks against opponents' levels, so far, I haven't seen hard evidence that levels do mean better shinobi. I didn't think to use [Scan] on Kotetsu or Izumo, and their Jonin and Teuchi were too strong for me to get anything from, anyway.
What I needed was to see someone, preferably a ninja, only a couple of levels or so above myself and see if the difference really was that drastic. But the problem was that, because of the war that ended recently there were sure to be zero to none such Genin that I could see. Surely Hiruzen was employing the same tactic that the council did after Orochimaru's invasion a few years hence… taking a lot of missions to quell whispers of Konoha being weak. Ah. It looks like I can't really measure myself against someone so soon.
Come to think of it, why were Genin teams being used for reconstruction in that case? Did Izumo's team get a reprimand or something. Fuck it, that's not really important right now.
I need to do these side-quests... and do them fast. The extra pocket change won't be anything to scoff at, either – I'll eventually need to buy equipment, to at least graduate equipped properly, so I need at least a decent amount of cash… how much did a good ger set cost, anyway…? Ugh! Now was not the time to think about this!
Thankfully, there was a shop right around the corner that held promise. I studiously ignored the [Location Collectible] as I made my way into [Yamanaka Flowers], only slightly worried. I did have [Gamer's Mind], after all. And if being on good terms with the Yamanaka Clan eventually gave me access to their jutsu…
Damn. Not sure that's going to happen, but, welp, a boy can dream, can't he?
"Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers!" A cheery voice drew me out from my musings, and I turned to look at a Yamanaka woman. [Yamanaka Shishito – Level ?] hovered gently above her head.
"Greetings, Yamanaka-san." I chirped, bowing. Internally, though, I was grumbling. What was the point of levelling up that damned [Scan] skill if I couldn't even get a read on people? I stood up with a smile. "I was wondering if I could be of any assistance? You see, I'm collecting money to buy my friend a present, but…"
She was in front of me in an instant. "Kawaii!" she squealed, tugging at my cheeks. "Ah, you must be the lookalike of the Niidaime everyone has been talking about!"
Oh? How amusing. "Err… 'everyone has been talking about'…?"
"You're the one who was helping out at Yakiniku Q this morning, helping to carry stacks of meat, right?" she asked, although she did not need confirmation to continue pulling his cheeks. "Chomai was in here just a few minutes ago, and she was positively gushing about how cute you were!"
Chomai was the Akimichi lady who was in charge of the daily running of the restaurant that day, so that checked out. Had I really spent that long helping out around town? "Yes, that is me." I managed to speak out the best I could in spite of having my cheeks viciously pulled. "I am Gundan, pleased to meet you."
"And so polite, too!" the woman gushed, and I internally sighed. "We're all cleaned up, though, and I don't really have much that you can do…" she trailed off, looking around her shop sadly, as if depressed by the prospect. "Oh, wait! Would you be okay watering the plants out back? They don't require any set quantity of water so you'll be fine just sprinkling some over them."
[Side-Quest Alert!
Testing Grounds
Help Yamanaka Shishito water her plants behind the store.
Objectives :
Water the herb plants. (0/5)
Water the flower shrubs. (0/10)
Water the strange plant. (0/1)
Reward :
100xp, 200 Ryo, + REP with Yamanaka Clan, Random D-Rank Jutsu Scroll]
Why… was the name so ominous? It had nothing to do with simply watering the plants! And why was the experience points reward so unusually high? The monetary reward was too damn much! And why was there a fucking jutsu scroll tacked on as a reward?
I had the distinct impression someone was snickering at me, but I could hear no such sound.
I shrugged and accepted the quest mentally. Coming back to real (after)life, I nodded and smiled a small smile. "I would love to. I happen to like being around flowers."
"Excellent!" the woman beamed and handed me a squirt-bottle before she guided me to the back of the shop. "Normally I wouldn't let a stranger in here, but since Chomai vouched for you, I'm sure it will be okay!"
Bullshit.
[Detect Bloodlust (Passive) has levelled up!
Detect Bloodlust (Passive) has levelled up!
Detect Bloodlust (Passive) has levelled up!
Bloodlust detected. Source is twelve meters away.]
Case in point.
"Here. I literally just watered the herbs before I heard the bell above the shop go off, so only these five remain." She said, gesturing towards a row of small potted leafy plants. I tried to recognize any of them, but no such luck. "The last row of flowers needs some, too, and even that plant there in the corner." She finished, gesturing to the back of the greenhouse, and then towards what I definitely knew was no normal plant. For one, strange sap was dripping from it's sickly yellow flowers and into jars placed strategically around it. Second, I was pretty sure those were flytrap-like heads around it, only closed up. "Happy watering!"
Then, with nary another moment, she vanished back through the door to the shop counter. I even heard a bell jingle followed by her greeting politely, then only soft mutterings too low for me to pick up.
Or, so they thought. I practically felt my [Eavesdropping] skill come into play as their voices slowly grew louder as I focused.
"… don't know what Inoichi is thinking! That's a trustworthy boy if I've ever seen one, or I'm not a Yamanaka." Shishito muttered, but it sounded like grumbling.
"Well, that 'trustworthy boy' knows all the basic chakra control exercises. And it's been documented that even though his chakra pool grows erratically, his control levels remain the same." Another voice, male, remarked.
Crap! I knew that I was under surveillance but to such an extent? The ninja who caused my [Idiocy] skill to be created was probably a Hyuuga!
"That's nothing special." Shishito scoffed. I quickly moved to water the herbs while she spoke next, weary of being watched even now. "Mikoto has good control, too!"
"Well, he did survive a suicide attempt." Whoever the male voice was, casually threw in.
"He WHAT?!" Shishito whisper shouted. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have [Gamer's Mind] on, I'd be furiously blushing. It was a mistake, alright? I didn't know that I could only leap so far! Fuck! Where was their sense of adventure?
I quickly finished watering the last herb and moved further back towards the flowers to do the same. Thankfully, my skill range was pretty good, so I could still hear their conversation when the man spoke next. "Yeah. I don't think he meant to do so, though. The kid looked scared as hell when he got up after the fall, Ko said. Still, there were no visible wounds on his body, and he moved like he wasn't even hurt after a story-high fall, so Hokage-sama wants him under surveillance in case it's a new bloodline."
I stilled. Dammit! I hadn't thought of that when I purchased [Gamer's Body]! I would never, ever, incur physical wounds – the damage would all go straight to my HP meter! Why didn't I think that someone would find it odd?
To test it, I jammed my hand on a thorny bush on the next aisle over. While it stung, when I retracted my hand, there was no wound or even a trickle of blood.
My blood ran cold… if it even was there anymore. This… was a major issue, especially if I was ever on a team. Oh god-
"Maybe he just subconsciously reinforced his body with chakra?" The Yamanaka asked, and there was a shifting sound as fabric moved. "He's watering the flowers now. He'll be by the Erosion-sap plant soon."
Erosion-sap?! What the hell kind of test is this?!
"The boy has been under surveillance for his looks since a long time." The mand said, and there was a rustling sound that indicated he had moved as well. I didn't dare look towards the door, deciding to hum a bit under my breath to facilitate the image of a happy boy. "He looks exactly like the Niidaime, save for the eyes. That gave him a lot of attention… both good and bad. We tested his chakra for an affinity, and it turned out to be simply neutral. That doesn't happen, ever. Even a baby freshly born with underdeveloped chakra coils has some elemental inclination, but his doesn't. Ko tried to analyze his chakra while he went around town for the past days; but it was just as reported, the signature the same, down to pat. One's chakra signature changes as they mature. His is stagnant… far too much so. We feared it'd never grow, but just the other day it grew up to double than what it was. Something is up with that kid, and Hokage-sama has assigned squad Gamma to figure out what, even with all the mission rush from the Kyuubi rampage."
As I did a little twirl and watered the next plant, my mind raced. The 'other day' must have been when I started Ninpo Online, because I didn't invest much into [INT] at all since then. And because my chakra growth relied on said stat, it hadn't budged. Dammit! I think I'm gonna invest at least 1 stat point into [INT] whenever I level up… but what did whoever this was mean by saying that I had gotten both good and bad attention? Did he mean Danzo?
At least this meant one thing – I won't be getting kidnapped anytime soon. Joining the Academy just became a number one priority; being in the Ninja Corps actively ought to get them off my back a bit.
I cursed when I realized I had drifted off a bit and moved on to the next one.
"He's got a dirty mouth." Shishito drily pointed out.
The man chuckled. "Yeah. Despite that, though, the caretakers at the orphanage love him to bits. Said he's too adorable not to."
"I wonder what the Niidaime would have said if he heard that?" Shishito wondered as I moved on to the last one. "Are they…?"
"Related? No, we did a blood test when he was three." The man affirmed, then they both fell quiet when I was done with that plant.
Taking a moment to steel myself internally, I turned and confidently began to walk to the dangerous looking plant in the corner of the room.
When I was about a meter away, that is when it practically exploded.
Yellow sap almost covered my entire torso, eating through my kimono and t-shirt and sticking onto my skin in almost five seconds flat. I screamed a little, partly in surprise and partly because that is what my watchers were expecting, and began to frantically use a cloth nearly to clean myself off. I saw my HP slowly start dropping…
I heard a "Gundan-kun!" from the reception, and instantly Shishito was there by my side, dumping a bucket of water on my head. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot that this one doesn't like any non-Yamanaka coming close to it at all!"
Yeah, right! Fuck all ninja, man; y'all crazy as hell! The hell kind of test is this?!
When I was cleaned off, Shishito brought me back to the reception with a sheepish smile. "Well, at least you seem none the worse for wear."
I looked down at myself, noting that indeed, while the front of my clothes was burned away, the skin underneath remained unblemished. With a slightly uneasy feeling, I realized that was probably what they were looking for. "It's alright, ma'am. I have a change of clothes back at the orphanage." … I think? I'm not sure.
"Well, there's no way I'm letting you go out like that!" The woman remarked, scandalized. "Wait here, I'll get something for you to wear. I'm sure I have some of Jyuuni's clothes around here somewhere…"
I didn't know who that was, nor did I care. I cast my eyes around the shop as she rummaged in a drawer at the counter, but whoever had spoken to her had either left the shop or was really good at hiding.
A triumphant cry brought me back to her as she held out a blue kimono and white obi. "There you go! My daughter helps me out around here sometimes, so she usually leaves a set of clothes in case the one she's wearing gets dirty." She explained. "Since it's a kimono, it should fit you alright – she's just a couple of years older than you."
"Thank you." I whispered, dramatically taking the kimono and looking at it as if it were something precious. "I don't actually own much besides what I'm wearing… so thank you." I whispered, looking up at her with metaphorical stars in my eyes, and donned the garment and its accessory without much complaint.
PING!
I ignored the screen that popped up in favor of looking at myself. Wow, blue really suited me. I guess green would, too, but as a traditional ninja, I was doomed to wear blacks and greys forever… not that I didn't like the colors. I guess when I was off-duty…
"Well… you're helping out a lot around town for a present for your friend, right?" she hummed, pulling a purse out of nowhere and counting out some cash. "Here. You'll get any present you could possibly want in this. The rest, you should totally spend to get some new clothes. You're just too cute not to!"
I smiled super-wide as I accepted the cash. This was double of what I had been able to earn from seven quests! I did not have to fake my happiness. "Thank… thank you so much, Yamanaka nee-san!"
"Hey, none of that 'Yamanaka' crap. Our hair is practically the same shade, so you can call me Shishito nee-san, okay?" she smiled, ruffling my hair a bit. And… it was true. Yamanaka hair was platinum blond… like Malfoy levels. We almost did have the same color.
I chuckled a bit, feeling a bit of warmth I had long since forgotten. This… was this what it felt like to have someone like you?
This feeling… I will cherish it forever.
"Thank you, Shishito nee-san!" I grinned, offering her a victory sign. "When I become a shinobi, I'll definitely protect you!"
"What did you say, you dwarf!?" she huffed good-naturedly, leaning down a bit. "I'm a shinobi, too! If anyone has to do the protecting, it's me."
"Well, I'll be stronger than you, and then I'll protect you! From the shadows, I'll be the watchful guardian." I spoke sagely, reaching up on my tiptoes to pat her head. "I'll never let anyone who I like to get hurt – that's my ninja way!"
PING!
Okay, now I was venturing off from genuine into total acting, but I meant what I said. She was one of the people to show me some kindness in this violence infested world… I'll be doing my best to help her, no doubt about it.
"Cheeky dwarf." She muttered, then stood. "Well, if you're going to get strong enough to protect me, you're going to have to start training."
I nodded emphatically. "I'm already pretty good at chakra control! All I need to do is learn how to hide, and then I'll be unbeatable!"
She quirked an eyebrow. "No fancy ninjutsu?"
"Nope." I popped the 'p', hoping my [Wordplay] was currently in effect. "Ninjutsu is for thick-headed asshol- um…" I quickly bit my tongue when I saw her gaze sharpen a bit, "idiots who like to fight head on. Why should I launch a ball of super-awesome fire when a simple knife to the eye will do?"
She hummed, eyeing me critically. Clearly, Now was when she finally understood that there was more to me that met the eye and was probably reevaluating her opinion of me. "Well, I think I have something that should give you a leg up over the others." She said, and vanished without another word into another door, different from the one that went into the greenhouse. She emerged after leaving me standing awkwardly for a couple of minutes. "Here." She smiled, tossing me a scroll. "It's a special technique that allows you to blend into shadows better." She then wagged a finger at me. "And don't think I don't know you're smarter than you look, it's why I gave you that scroll."
I sheepishly ran my hand through the back of my neck. "What gave it away?"
"You did, just now." She grinned like the cat that got the canary when I groaned. "I'm a Yamanaka, little dwarf. It's practically my job to know how minds work. You don't act all that well, but because a bit of sincerity hone through, I was able to judge you well enough."
"So, what's the assessment?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. "Can I make it?"
"Your dislike for ninjutsu will bite you in the rear end someday." She shrugged. "What you're probably thinking about is textbook stealth and tactics – you think no one has thought of some way to avoid falling for such things?"
I shrugged. Sure, maybe normal ninja failed sometimes, but I had something they didn't. "I hope not. There are too damned many ninja-wizards."
I was almost certain I heard more than three sets of laughter. "'Ninja-wizards'?" she asked, smirking. "I like that one. Oh, Mikoto is so going to be blushing up a storm-"
I left shortly after that, armed with troubling knowledge. I didn't dare stop until I made it into the orphanage, and opted to go straight up to the babies' room. There was a whole room assigned as such because there were too many orphans from when Kurama was forced to attack Konoha. I'm actually pretty sure they'll be expanding soon, because both orphanages were reportedly so damn packed.
Thankfully, most of the babies were taking a nap, including the one I was looking for. My churning thoughts didn't quite quiet down until I was at his side – I swear, chibi Naruto's face was cute enough to get even the Juubi to stop in its tracks.
I gently rocked the crib he was in, allowing myself to drift into thought.
I wasn't as much under the radar as I thought. I… don't know how to feel about that. The Hyuuga who looked into me probably also saw me training my chakra control, so I can't lie about that if I'm ever summoned to the Hokage. Also, they were clearly observing my chakra because it was not growing at all. Dammit. I'm definitely investing a point in [INT] every time I level up. I'm not much bothered about [CON] because of my [Physical Resistance] skill, so I have four to do with as I wish – I'll probably invest two each into [AGL] and [LCK], to further my character progression, with some into [STR] and [WIS] every two or so levels. Since I'm going to be quest-grinding for the next month, I think that's an acceptable plan. I wonder how many stores there are around Konoha?
I'll explore that bit tomorrow. I'll need to find out precisely how many people can give me quests, figure out this tier system that seems to govern faction-related side-quests, and plan accordingly. I'm sure until the Academy starts in a month or so, though, that I'll be at least level 12 or so.
All this, while keeping my ears to the ground for Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
I sighed as I finally turned to regard the screen that had popped up.
[Wordplay (Passive) has levelled up!
Wordplay (Passive) Lv 28 (32.50%)
Allows the user to twist words effectively.
14% chance of working.
-8% chance of working for every five levels the target is beyond you.
+12% chance of working for every positive REP with target.]
I waved it away.
[Wordplay was successful!]
[Wordplay was successful!]
[Wordplay was successful!]
[Wordplay has failed!]
That point was probably when Shishito finally caught on to my acting. Eh. I waved those away too. There was no point holding all the cards to my chest when I am being constantly observed by people with eyes that can see through walls.
[Quest Complete!
Side Quest: Testing Grounds
Help Yamanaka Shishito water her plants behind the store.
Completed Objectives :
Water the herb plans. (5/5)
Water the flower shrubs. (10/10)
Water the strange plant. (1/1)
Completed Bonus Objectives
Impress Shishito.
Reward :
100xp, 200 Ryo, +1 REP with Yamanaka Clan, Ninpo: Chakra no Mesu, + Ninpo: Kage Yosuru Scroll]
Sweet! This was one good news from the incident: I got two scrolls! I quickly tapped the accept button, and a scroll appeared in place of the message box. Quickly grabbing it before it fell to the ground and woke up Naruto, I even brought out the one Shishito gave me from the folds of my kimono and set them both on the ground, then tapped the former.
PING!
[You have acquired the jutsu scroll; Ninpo: Chakra no Mesu.
Would you like to learn this jutsu?]
Um… sure. I mean, it's not like I knew anyone at the moment who could make better use of it, and this meant I didn't have to waste money on a weapon!
PING!
[You have learned a new skill!
Chakra no Mesu (Active) Lv1 (0.00%)
The user forms a sharp blade out of their chakra that covers a finger. It allows them to cut into a living body without breaking the skin, decreasing chances of infection.
Damage: (INT + DEX)/4
Cost: 40CP per blade]
Cool. This was Kabuto's signature move before he got all Orochimaru-esque, right? Damn!
I quickly learned the next one as well.
PING!
[You have learned a new skill!
Kage Yosuru (Active) Lv1 (0.00%)
The user embraces the shadows, allowing better hiding capabilities.
+ 10% to Stealth skill when active.
-5% to enemy vision cones
Cost: 35CP/sec]
Okay, this wasn't really all that nice, but maybe it will evolve into something better…?
Oh well… I have one month to do a lot. Let's get to it.
Looking back on it, cramming a whole village worth of side-quests (read: chores) into a month was probably being too generous of me.
A random Inazuka clan member whose name was too generic to forget answered my questions with patient indulgence as I worked a side-quest. There were about several clans in Konoha, both shinobi and civilian (although, in the latter case, they were known as families – differentiated by having different last names). While the former answered directly to the Village Elders, headed by the Hokage, the latter answered to the Merchant's Guild, which had a single seat on the actual Village Council. This rustled many civilian feathers, because they actually outnumbered the total headcount of shinobi, but eh, what can you do?
To keep some sort of order, each individual clan or family was allotted a single business slot. You'd expect the Hokage to take advantage of the strengths of certain clans in order to usurp business from international rivals, but politics are a serious backlog to prosperity. If he gave even one clan a higher number of businesses than another, the next council meeting would probably send the poor man into a coma.
Thus, it was relatively easy to keep track of how many quest-givers I had access to. There were fourteen registered shinobi clans, and about a hundred civilian families, all just waiting to offer random tasks in order to help me level up. In a normal world, this would have been ludicrous; Genin could be assigned my tasks as simple (if cheap) D-rank missions. However, because the manhwa was apparently true and the world itself is leaping up to support my ability, these menial tasks were ready to be conquered.
Unfortunately, not all civilian families chose to open up shops or run a separate business; about ninety percent of the civilian population chose to take up jobs in business already open, work as paper-pushers in non-sensitive shinobi departments of the government or work simple start-ups that did not have much of a structure, or need one. I had to hold myself from screaming out in frustration when I realized that I was in somewhat of a feudal-era type afterlife, so obviously, industry wasn't as advanced as it was when I was among the living.
Additionally, not all shinobi families took up the option to open up a business to make more income. While families like the Akimichi needed the extra moolah for their day-to-day expenses, clans like the Uchiha, Senju, and the Hatake were virtually destroyed, and clans like the Nara and Hyuuga opted simply not to participate for their own reasons. In reality, my experience fountains in the village were woefully limited.
Ugh. Regardless.
Konoha had a total of five shinobi shops – the [Koinu Pet Store] jointly managed by the Inazuka and the Aburame, [Yakiniku Q] managed by the Akimichi, [Jojo's Joke Store] owned by the Kurama, [Konoha Shinobi Armaments] given to the Lee Clan by the Hokage for management, and [Yamanaka Flowers] managed by their namesake. Each of these had three tiers of quests – the introduction tier that offered a single quest which rewarded 10 ryo and experience points each, the second tier that offered two quests which gave 20 ryo and experience points each, and the third that granted 30 ryo and experience points each. At the last quest of each tier, the quest also offered a positive reputation point.
There were various civilian shops that took care of the other operations that required a public interface, which numbered far too many to count since the internal competition was low-key encouraged by the government to improve the quality of products available, but they only offered the introductory tier of quests. It was very disheartening to find out that I wouldn't be bashing through the ranks on simple fetch-quests, but yeah. The only exception to this was [Ichiraku Ramen], that offered three tiers like the shinobi shops… quite telling, if you asked me.
Anyway.
Having acquired a hundred points to level up after the fuckup that was the Yamanaka quest, I required only forty experience points more. I wandered around after watching Naruto for a while and completed three civilian and one shinobi (the Lee clan shop) shop quests, getting me to level 8. Also, in order to avoid suspicion, I purchased a baby kimono (orange, of course, much to the horror of everyone in the shop at the time) for Naruto to wear when he grows a bit more, and a cute toad plushie I spotted while passing by. Surprisingly, these things were much more expensive than they had any right to be, but given the recent Kyuubi attack, it was only warranted. Mika had actually had the gall of snapping a picture when I gave an awake Naruto the toy, which captured my embarrassed expression and an almost heart-wrenching grin of joy from the baby in question. It now sat atop her desk in a photo-frame, and a copy resided in my inventory.
I decided to carefully keep track of and manage my time to both complete quests and level my skills. Since the Yamanaka Mission counted as an introductory quest, I have effectively finished the first tier for all shinobi shops. I spent a day doing the second tier for all five, and six civilian quests, getting me up to level 9. I broke it off to go train at this point, seeing that it was around evening when I was done.
The next day, I went through only two third-tier quests for [Yakiniku Q], since they were so damn time-consuming. One had me mend and repaint the entire shop façade, while the other tasked me with going around the village and searching a one-year old toddler Akimichi who was unnaturally light on her feet. Little tyke almost fell into the river, but I managed to get there in time. Since I was in the mood for moving after that, I decided that training my skills would be far more fulfilling than doing more quests, even though I got sixty points for my troubles.
The day next, I made it a point to finish the last Akimichi shop quest (which is where I realized this was the end-point at the final-sounding words) and was pleasantly surprised to receive a permanent twenty-five percent discount on all my purchases there for 'helping them out in such a troubled time'. I promised to visit often and told them that if they needed my help, I'd always be there to offer. With ninety points in my experience bar now, I made way to [Konoha Shinobi Armaments] and managed to finish only one quest that had me resort all sorts of weaponry back into their racks which had been unsettled because of a wayward jutsu just that morning. Studiously ignoring the quest icon over the shopkeeper's head, I left to train till the next morning.
It was when I finished the remaining two quests and received a permanent twenty-five percent discount at the shop that I had enough points to level up to level 10.
Grinning, I decided to spend my points before I proceeded for the rest of the day. Remembering to put a point into [INT] for every level, I distributed my points in what I thought to be an efficient manner.
[Character Page
Gundan – Level 10
Title: Orphan
Next Level: 0/400xp
HP - 150
CP - 170
CON - 5
STR - 5
AGL - 13
INT - 7
LCK - 15
WIS - 5]
All was smiles and rainbows, looking at my new stats and beaming at my undoubted progress from where I began…
Until my eyes landed on the amount of experience I'd require for the next level.
[Next Level: 0/400xp]
What…?
As I had predicted, every level up had added only twenty points to the next level's requirement. Then why was this one different? Why had it boosted up to double of what it was?
I thought hard about it until I came to the conclusion that it could be a level 10 thing. I paid it no mind, thinking it to be a one-time thing, and moved on with my routine.
However, five days later, and having exhausted all of the stores in Konoha that could give me quests, I leveled up with twenty points to spare (attending to Ichiraku's last, giving me a twenty-five percent discount there, too), and was shocked again when I viewed my screen properly after spending my points.
[Character Page
Gundan – Level 11
Title: Orphan
Next Level: 0/600xp
HP - 160
CP - 180
CON - 6
STR - 6
AGL - 14
INT - 8
LCK - 15
WIS - 6]
Again! It happened again! The pool of experience required to advance grew by two hundred points!
It was at this point that it hit me.
What the hell was I thinking? If one could be a powerful shinobi by just doing shop quests all the while, then there would be no weak ninja. When I had first seen the reward from the quests, I had thought that my previous supposition of experience being very hard to find had been wrong, and I was just too low of a level to need little to level up. Both were still right, but apparently, the difficulty to level up scaled with my level too! At every ten levels, it seems like. God, I hope it's not every five levels, because that'd be fucking me up with a cactus.
I hate my afterlife.
In a bit of a downcast spirit, the rest of the month waiting went… okay, I guess. There were no more shop-quests, and I didn't dare touch any [Location Collectibles] when I wasn't a hundred percent sure that I had levelled up the most I could, so I spent the time working on my skills. Having practically nothing else to do besides making sure Naruto recognized me as someone trustworthy and keeping up the appearance that I still need to eat and sleep for my no-doubt Hyuuga ANBU watcher (my damned [Idiocy] skill kept increasing, much to my outrage), I had a lot of time to raise them.
[Skills List
Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv MAX (100%)
Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.
Cannot be affected by negative mental debilitations.
Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv MAX (100%)
Your body behaves as if it were in a game and reacts accordingly.
Restore HP and CP and remove debilitations by sleeping in a bed.
Pain is brief and injuries only affect HP.
Sleeping and Eating optional.
Physical Resistance (Passive) Lv 21 (8.27%)
Due to being hurt in the past, your body has learned to stave off a portion of the damage.
-21% damage from all physical attacks.
Chakra Resistance (Passive) Lv12 (19.14%)
Your body recalls being exposed to tainted chakra, and its attempts in fighting against it. Against normal chakra, these defenses are more effective.
-6% damage from all chakra-imbued attacks.
-50% skill effectiveness against tainted chakra.
Chakra Cost Mastery (Passive) Lv 51 (0.00%)
Allows extremely strict control over chakra flow, allowing the user to lower the cost for jutsu by a large margin. Finely tuning chakra movement throughout the body is now second nature.
-51% CP cost for chakra-imbued skills.
Exercises Discovered – Leaf Balancing (5 CP/min), Tree Climbing (10 CP/min), Water Walking (15 CP/min)
Detect Bloodlust (Passive) Level 32 (7.00%)
Allows you to pinpoint the person who is emitting the sensation of wanting to very-much kill you, and from where.
-7% skill effectiveness for every five levels the source is beyond you.
+13% skill effectiveness for every five levels you are beyond the source.
Wordplay (Passive) Lv 42 (32.50%)
Allows the user to twist words effectively.
21% chance of working.
-6% chance of working for every five levels the target is beyond you.
+14% chance of working for every positive REP with target.
Eavesdropping (Passive) Lv28 (42.0%)
Allows the user to listen in on things happening around them.
74 meters range.
-40% effectiveness in loud areas.
Idiocy (Passive) Lv 29 (8.11%)
Sometimes, people don't understand why you are doing what you are doing. Because of this, they may think you are insane, really foolish, or just plain endearing.
29% chance to earn positive REP with those around you.
71% chance to make those around you think you are crazy.
Scan (Active) Lv 4 (87.50%)
Allows the user to understand the world around him by taking a closer look.
Stealth (Active) Lv 23 (8.92%)
Minimizing the noise you make and the amount another can see you, you have learned to remain unnoticed.
23% chance of success.
-8% chance of working for every ten levels affected NPCs are beyond you.
+12% chance of working for every ten levels you are above affected NPCs.
Chakra Leap (Active) Lv 15 (28.5%)
Using chakra directed to the lower-led muscles, one can increase the distance covered by a single bound.
24 meters distance covered
Cost: 25 CP
Chakra no Mesu (Active) Lv4 (0.00%)
The user forms a sharp blade out of their chakra that covers a finger. It allows them to cut into a living body without breaking the skin, decreasing chances of infection.
Damage: (INT + DEX)/4
Cost: 40CP per blade
Kage Yosuru (Active) Lv22 (0.00%)
The user embraces the shadows, allowing better hiding capabilities.
+ 21% to Stealth skill when active.
-15% to enemy vision cones
Cost: 35CP/sec]
And now here I was, fingers itching, staring at the [Perks] menu. I had a hundred and ninety-eight perk points burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. I got not one, but ten perk points when I hit level ten, and ten again when I got to level eleven… I hope it's the new norm.
With a deep breath, I reached out and selected the [Hints] perk.
[Perk Purchased!
Due to purchasing a perk, a new function has been unlocked!
Function: Permanent: Hints
Having gained some proficiency with using the system, you now understand how to use it even better than before.]
That done, my entire interface flashed a moment, before it settled down and navigated to the base screen. I clicked my [Character Page] with bated breath. As it opened, everything remained much the same, except now there was a question mark in the upper right corner of the screen. I clicked it without delay.
[Hints – Character Screen
In order to interact with the world of Ninpo Online, you have been furnished with a customizable avatar. This avatar, besides appearance, can be described by using six statistics, or stats.
ConstitutionThe constitution of one's character is directly responsible for how healthy they are. In NPCs, constitution affects their immune system and their health pool. For you, the [CON] stat describes your health pool, your health regeneration, and limits the selection of armor you can wear.
HP = 100 + (10 for each point in CON)
HP Regeneration = (1 for each point in CON) per minute
StrengthOne's strength describes how strong they hit. For NPCs, this only sets the bounds for their base strength, and denotes how much damage they can inflict. For you, the [STR] stat describes your inventory limit, your limit for unenhanced physical activity, and the damage you inflict.
Inventory Limit = 10kg for each point in STR
DMG = Weapon Damage + STR
AgilityThis stat affects both, one's speed and one's overall sense of balance. For NPCs, this affects their base speed, their accuracy with thrown weapons, and their dexterity while moving. For you, the [AGL] stat shows your base speed, a rough sense of your balance, and, for every ten levels, allows you to advance in [?] by one level.
IntelligenceThis stat is directly related to one's memory power. For NPCs, this affects their recollection capability, learning capability, and their chakra pool. For you, the [INT] stat shows the same, but also sets the limit for learning certain skills.
CP = 100 + (10 for each point in INT)
WisdomThis stat is directly entwined with one's mental processing power. For NPCs, this offers a rough estimate of their tactical capability, chakra regeneration, and chakra manipulation. For you, the [WIS] stat shows your chakra regeneration, allows you to understand better, and sets the limit for learning certain skills.
CP Regeneration = (10 for each point in WIS) per minute.
LuckThis stat is the one that interacts with the environment the most. For NPCs, it determines the probability of certain events happening. For you, the [LCK] stat defines the loot you will receive through combat or quests, the probability of certain events happening, and your chances in [?].]
Okay… wow. So, apparently, the system is super-duper nerfed. Dammit.
Anyway, so from what I can see, my decision to focus on a rogue style playthrough is not completely stupid. Speed increases the force of impact, so the faster I am, the harder I'll hit… although if I rely on it this way, there's no guarantee there will be no backlash from the attack.
If I want to be a viable shinobi, I'll need chakra, even if I'm going down the path of an assassin. Instead of allocating only on point into [INT] every time I level up, I'll also need to put another into [WIS] to bring up how much chakra I can viably use in a certain period of time. The rest of the three points I can assign to one stat at a time, focusing mostly on [AGL] and [LCK], staying true to my decision.
I sighed. Now that I had the perk that I sought for so long, things ought to become easier with my afterlife…. Right? Again, I had that phantom sensation that someone was laughing, but couldn't quite put a finger on how or why.
Regardless. I now had ninety-eight perk points left. To choose another perk, I'll need only two points more. Since any skills I had would take a little too long to level and I had no immediate idea for any skills… I took a deep breath and decided it was time.
It was time to infiltrate [Konoha General Hospital].