"He can bleed, now?" Hiruzen asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Gundan was rapidly turning out to be both the cause as well as the balm to most of his headaches.
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Inu nodded, frowning behind his mask. "After he walked upon Naka Lake, he has been exhibiting… strange behavior."
"The brat is already too strange." Shikaku groaned. "What troublesome behavior could he be displaying?"
"For one, he continued working on chakra manipulation past his limits. You must recall how I previously reported that Taka had observed his chakra was stagnant? It is now… roiling, for a lack of better word. I believe Taka would be a better choice for explaining."
At Hiruzen's nod and a swift whistle from Inu, another ANBU landed next to his squad captain. Besides the animal depicted on his mask and the smooth black hair tied into a bun at the back of his head, there was no noticeable difference. "Report, Taka." The Sandaime ordered.
"Hai." The agent stood, and approached the man's desk, drawing to himself a sheaf of unused paper and a pen. After a minute of tense etching, he withdrew from the table and spoke. "While normal chakra-users have the uniform system drawn on the left, the target has a system more similar to the one on his right. Where before his chakra lay stiff and unmoving unless he used it, it is now continuously moving throughout his body, not unlike a normal ninja. Only…"
"His chakra system is evenly split between both physical and mental energies." Hiruzen remarked, gazing at the paper critically. Beside him, Tsunade did the same, eyes narrowed.
"The balance is perfect. There's not even a tiny bit of chakra imbalance. This… is impossible." Tsunade murmured, eyes scrutinizing the picture-perfect drawing on the table. "There must be at least a unit's worth of difference…? No ninja has ever perfectly balanced their energies, not the strongest not the weakest."
"It is, indeed, well-known that physical energy is gleaned from exercising the body, and mental energy is extracted from a well-practiced mind." Hiruzen spoke, taking a drag from his pipe. "Even disregarding the imbalances children are born with, it is next to impossible to have perfectly balanced energy amounts." He turned to his other student with a smirk. "It seems, Orochimaru, that you have more to work on."
Said man remained silent, eyes glittering as he examined Taka's drawing.
"When his chakra grows, both of them also grow in sync, limiting the capability for discrepancies. This has happened only once, however, so I can't be sure. But that's not all." The ANBU said, then reached forward to tap a particular place in the drawing.
"His mental energies are circulating his body, but only in wisps. Most of it congregates and then disperses around this point." He explained. "The target has a tattoo there that did not exist prior to him walking the Naka Lake."
"Our platoon has searched the area thoroughly, but nothing exists that should have exhibited this symptom." Inu interceded. "We even walked the same path, but no one developed the mark. It would have been beneficial, too, because since then…" he sighed, "since then, the target has exhibited teleportation capabilities."
The office descended into silence.
"Pardon me, but I don't think I heard you correctly." Hiruzen uttered, his pipe dangling loosely from his lips. "Did you say… teleportation?"
Inu nodded tiredly. "The target can vanish and appear instantly in another place, regardless of distance. To the Sharingan eye, it appears as if he swirls into nonexistence, the center-point being his navel, and appear in a reversed manner."
"Close observation reports that it consumes only his spiritual energy." Taka added. "However, the amount required seems to be decreasing rapidly with use. Of this phenomenon, there are two noticeable facts – one, the cost of performing this technique decreases after he performs them in a multiple of five; it took him teleporting five times to reduce the cost the first time, then ten, and so on. Second, his spiritual energy does not seem to grow in amount or density as he works it."
Silence.
"I'm… still trying to wrap my head around the teleporting part." Shikaku admitted. "The only ninja who I know of that can do so were…"
"Minato-kun and Tobirama-sama." Hiruzen completed, looking grim. "This boy seems to be a positive treasure trove." He turned to Tsunade. "Have we made any progress in finding out who his parents are?"
The only female in the room grunted angrily. "We've only gotten a match for his mother thanks to the yearly blood-bank campaigns – it was Fiyohi, a whore from Konoha Bara. We're still getting a blank on his father."
"Track her lineage down as best you can. I want a detailed family tree on my desk by tomorrow evening." Hiruzen ordered. "It is imperative that we track down any family members like him and offer them citizenry to Konoha. Given what this boy is capable of, I don't want a similar force contesting against us in any war."
"Hai, sensei." Tsunade nodded. She wholeheartedly agreed.
"Orochimaru-kun, you have not spoken during the entire meeting." Hiruzen noted, eyeing his student. "What are your thoughts?"
"His growth." The man answered, eyes still not leaving the drawing, as if trying his best to etch it into his memory. "It seems to come in bursts. And, following this quarter's observation, we know that the more he uses a particular technique, the better he gets at it. His chakra no mesu are now practiced enough to cover his entire hand and cut through wood. I was wondering that if we isolate the external event or internal agent that triggers his growth, would we be able to harness it for our own ninja?"
"Given that he can now bleed, we submitted his blood the moment we had a sample." Inu answered, gesturing to Tsunade.
"It's normal." Said woman answered, looking uncomfortable. "There's no kekkei-genkai gene, no unusual chemical compound, and no extra chromosome. The markers for albinism and heterochromia are present, but nothing else makes him different from, say, the common ninja, besides his appearance."
"Perhaps then, the difference is not in his physical body…?" Orochimaru ventured, not contesting his teammate. Learned in the medical arts he may be, but Tsunade far surpassed him in that regard.
"His chakra is no different from a civilian's, save for the potency, and no elemental inclination." She affirmed again. "I had wondered if the emergence of that tattoo on his hand was an answer, but…"
"It is not a seal, whether natural or man-made." Taka spoke.
Inu nodded from his side. "I even examined it with my Sharingan. It appears simply as… darkness. There is no chakra in it, and any mental energy it may use goes off to god knows where until the boy can replenish his reserves… far more rapidly than a normal ninja, as we've previously reported."
"If it is not a seal, then where is the energy going?" Shikaku asked, looking mildly annoyed. "Better: how is it going?"
"We have not managed to find out." Inu shrugged. "Perhaps Jiraiya-sama might have better luck…?"
"He's still only due in three months." the Sandaime shook his head. "And even then, I'm not sure I should subject the poor boy to his antics. Young children are impressionable, after all. Gundan-kun is a paradox, yes, but it is one that is in no urgency to be unraveled, nor is it pitted against us. The boy is popular all about the village as a helpful individual, and he had recently tutored a group of children in the Academy who all crossed the highest marks ever scored, even during the second advanced placement exam." He chuckled. "Tenken-kun was over the moon."
"Impressive." Orochimaru murmured. "Perhaps even Anko might benefit from his tutelage when he joins the force under me."
"I assumed you would be giving up your apprentice?" Hiruzen trailed, taking a drag from his pipe. "You were more enamored with Gundan-kun's potential than I have ever seen you be excited about Anko."
"At this point, she is the one with the second-most potential in her generation. I would be an idiot to give that up." Orochimaru dryly replied. "The snake contract always demands only the best of their summoners."
"Hmm." The man's teacher hummed. "I have faith in your abilities to be able to balance an apprentice and a Genin team without problems, so I will not push it." He cleared his throat. "Very well, this meeting is adjourned. We will reconvene in three months when Jiraiya arrives to discuss Gundan-kun's progress, as we have been doing. Dismissed."
PING!
[A skill has leveled up! MAX level reached!
Chakra Cost Mastery (Passive) Lv 99 (9.62%)
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.
-99% CP cost for chakra-imbued skills.
Exercises Discovered – Leaf Balancing (0.1 CP/min), Tree Climbing (0.2 CP/min), Water Walking (0.3 CP/min), Chakra String (0.4 CP/min/string), Cloth Stiffening (0.5 CP/min/m2), Senbon Balancing (0.6 CP/min/needle).
The skill has evolved due to reaching the highest possible rank!
Chakra Medium (Passive) Lv MAX (100%)
By mastering strict control over internal chakra flow, only a bare minimum of chakra is required to initialize a jutsu. Finely tuning chakra movement throughout the body is now second nature. Due to unshakable control, you now regenerate chakra at a much higher rate.
-50% delay in regeneration of physical and spiritual energies.
-99% chakra cost for chakra-imbued skills.
Exercises Discovered – Leaf Balancing (0.1 CP/min), Tree Climbing (0.2 CP/min), Water Walking (0.3 CP/min), Chakra String (0.4 CP/min/string), Cloth Stiffening (0.5 CP/min/m2), Senbon Balancing (0.6 CP/min/needle).]
Good.
I sighed as the senbon and leaves dropped to the ground, wringing my fingers out to get the satisfying crack sounds. After three months of hard work, I was finally here. I had wondered what would happen when I reached the maximum possible threshold. I guess hoping for a hundred percent reduction rate was far too hopeful, but eh.
I surreptitiously swiped the screen away and stood. When the Outsider made me flesh and blood again (involuntarily, I imagine; maybe something about the Mark itself…?), he granted back to me simple pleasures such as the relaxation aspect of laying down, as well as a greater sensation of physical stimulus. I am grateful for that if nothing else.
"I see that you lot have got the hang of it." I said simply, turning to look at my friends.
Hideki was stoically perched on the surface of the lake we were all standing on with ease. In fact, he looked content. It could be because of the natural inclination all the Hyuuga reportedly have for the water affinity. Well, today we'll find out.
Itachi was in a similar state of mind. I expected nothing less, even though that sounds harsh. He already had done the tree-walking on his own time, so when the others did it, I asked him to teach me about genjutsu. To say the art was simple would be saying that the sky is blue – it was a gross understatement. However, its usage required great amounts of imagination, visualization, and chakra control, so it wasn't that hard. I guess it helped that I had [Gamer's Body], and had a nifty little skill for it, but eh.
[Genjutsu Mastery (Passive) Lv 7 (68.2%)
The mastery of casting of illusions.
+7% chance to inflict damage on the nervous system.
-7% chance for target to escape illusion.]
So yeah. I guess that hanging around someone with the capability to wipe out their entire clan had its perks. I couldn't cast it from my eyes, I had found, but I could use the Mark for that. Speaking of which, apparently getting a tattoo as a big deal around here, because I was positively swarmed with questions. Hideki seemed most flustered, probably because of the seal on his head. I made a mental note to do something about that.
Mai, Kitsuna, and Ryosuke had the least amount of trouble with the exercises. They just didn't have the amount of chakra it would take to have any problems at all. They were the first to actually finish it, followed closely by Hideki.
Biko, however apparently had a lot, if her ninjutsu capacity was anything to go by, and was found complaining about it even more than normal. All our encouragement and tips, however, saw her master t faster than Sasuke did in the manga – a day and a half. However, that could be because of the fact that she was younger and had lesser reserves.
Water walking was no different. After getting them started on the shallow side of the lake, we eventually proceeded closer and closer to the center. And here we are.
Biko was shin-deep in water, though. "I don't know how you troublesome people got it down so easily."
"Just keep up the good work. Mom said that perfecting the exercises as fast as we did is a job well done." Mai encouraged, before shooting me a dirty look. "We shouldn't be learning this until we're Genin, anyway."
"We need to get stronger." I shrugged. "After practicing throwing weapons, control is the next skill that has greater benefits the sooner it's learned for normal people. Even taijutsu must be changed and refined while we grow, so that's less of a priority right now."
"C'mon, Mai!" Ryosuke cheered from where he was running around us in circles. "If we can master it, so can you!"
"Control conserves our chakra, allowing a ninja to last longer in the field." Kitsuna added his two cents. It was a rare enough occasion where he spoke without being prompted that everyone listened. "It also opens up a wider variety of techniques to perform, such as medical jutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu, and so on."
"Yeah, yeah." Mai sighed. "It's just that… well…"
I felt for the girl, I really did. She was being pushed to perform well because her clan had all but ordered her to end up on my team, which meant graduating with me. Some people just aren't meant to be super-talented. "Sorry, Mai. Let's end the day, guys. I think we've worked enough for today."
Biko rushed to the shore before collapsing on the ground. "You- are- monsters!" she panted.
"Cute monsters." Mai grumbled, walking normally like the rest of us onto solid ground.
"Very well." I said sagely, then dramatically waved my hands towards the rest of my peers. "Congratulations on completing an exercise that takes most Genin a long time to do! Remember to practice your control regularly, or else it will deteriorate and fail. Those who want harder control exercises to refine it further, please let me know tomorrow – as Kitsuna said, it opens a lot of doors for us, so please take the day to think about it. Otherwise, we're going to start skipping the Academy to get our taijutsu up to standards."
"Won't that count as truancy in our Academy Record, commoner?" Hideki sneered while blushing at the same time. What an odd fellow.
"Nope. I checked, and the minimum required attendance for the Academy in order to be considered for Advanced Placement tests is eighty percent. We can skip up to ten weeks of classes without fear, and we won't be doing that much." I smiled. "Most of us have our own clan styles, so let's get scrolls on those tomorrow. Ryosuke and I, however, will need to learn the Academy style until we get our Jonin sensei who will, hopefully, know better-suited ones."
"Sounds like a plan." Ryosuke grinned, shooting Hideki a strange look that caused the latter to get all riled up. Seriously, those two were super strange.
"We will need at least a basic command of taijutsu to pass." Itachi spoke, face scrunched up in adorable concentration. I internally squealed. "So, it is best that we learn quickly. We can then focus on the E-rank ninjutsu, which I'm told is the easiest part of the Academy. After that, we only have to ace the two tests we have left to become Genin."
"We only took the second test a week ago! Please don't remind me about it." Mai protested, huffing. "Having to pass four years' worth of school in one is hard."
"Hence, why, those who do are considered prodigies." Kitsuna droned, not unkindly. "We are the best in our generation, currently."
And it was true. After seeing us pass onto the next year with the best grades ever, many students had tried to join us. Unfortunately, they left along the line, finding our studies too 'intense'. I did not hold it against them.
"Alright, I'm done for the day." Ryosuke sighed, suddenly appearing weary. "Let's meet up tomorrow at… say… seven?"
"I expected no earlier from a commoner." Hideki snarked. "Would you like a royal massage to relax your muscles, our highness?"
"If it's you? Fuck no! God knows where those hands have been." Ryosuke gave as good as he got, let it not be said otherwise.
"You two really have some issues." Biko sighed, standing tiredly from her place on the ground. "I'll be here at six, even though I'm dead on my feet. So none of you get to be late."
"Isn't training too 'troublesome'?" Mai asked, elbowing the only other girl present with a sly grin.
Biko sighed. "As much as it pains me to admit, hanging out at the Academy with a teacher breathing down my neck is not very relaxing. I now see clearly that I can only relax when I'm firmly behind a desk. Preferably at the gates."
Fat chance of that happening. When I said the Nara was talented with ninjutsu, I meant it in the most extreme sense possible. Her considerable intellect was put to good use breaking down and analyzing ninjutsu, so much so that it was terrifying what she could do with a Doryuuheki alone. I had no doubts she would, one day, be proficient with her element enough to rival most Tsuchigakure shinobi, and that's if she doesn't do the training exercises.
We all said our goodbyes and I turned to observe the lake as they made their way away. Once I was sure they were far enough away, I opened my perk menu.
I had been saving this for a momentous occasion, and mastering chakra control ought to be a good enough reason to. Currently, I had two-hundred and twenty-five perk points available, far beyond what I needed to purchase the last perk of this tier.
So I did.
PING!
[Perk Purchased!
Due to purchasing a perk, a new function has been unlocked!
Function: Permanent: Familiar
You are now able to choose a sentient companion to accompany you on your adventures.]
That done, a new set of perks cleared up.
[Perks
Bloodline 1 – Unlock a bloodline.Cost: 150 PP.
Mutant Gene 1 – Unlock a mutant gene.Cost: 150 PP.
Magic Specialty 1 – Unlock a specialty field of magic.Cost: 150 PP.]
…
BLOODY SHIITTY GAME FORCING ME TO BE OVERPOWERED AND SHIT! WHAT THE FRIGGITY FRACK SNIGGITY SNACK! FUCK YOU!
The anger drained away with the onset of [Gamer's Mind] and I took a deep breath and exhaled. Okay, so clearly I had to purchase these if I want to move on. It's just a fact. No need to get worked up. I was curious, though, could I give someone else these abilities? I'm pretty sure no one can see my interface, right?
"Create a party!"
Nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. Dammit!
Hmm…. Food for thought. I'll try it out with Naruto first, and see how things go from there. If not? No harm, no foul. If I can…
I'm going to give certain people a far greater boost than otherwise possible.
For now, though, I closed the screen and prepared myself. I had leveled up the Mark to level nine, bringing the cost to [Apparate] down to 20RR. Every level removed ten points from the cost, so I think that when I master this ability, I'll unlock the next one – it would make sense since the Outsider had no worshippers here and, thus, no runes or bone-charms. The Outsider wouldn't want me to have the mark and leave it useless.
I still had thirteen more times to teleport before I leveled it up if my calculations were correct. With my title, the costs are cut in half, which means 10RR. Every time I leveled it up, I needed to use the skill five more times than before to continue my progress. I had stopped to help my friends with their training, so I hadn't practiced it much. That reminds me, even though I helped them with their throwable practice, I didn't actually try myself. I should get to that sometime.
Anyway, I closed my eyes and rotated my left wrist in preparation, then I vanished, sans crack this time. At level 5, the skill had upgraded itself without any prompt to be silent.
I apparated around the lake for the required number of times and stopped only when I heard the familiar PING of a notification.
[A skill has leveled up! MAX level reached!
Mark of the Outsider (Active) Lv MAX (100%)
Granted to those who pique his interest regardless of moral alignment or sanity, the Mark allows you to bend the rules of reality. Can cast spells.
Skills Discovered: Silent Apparate (10RR)
Choose a new skill to learn:
Dark VisionImbuing your eyes with the power of the void allows you to see more than most.
Animal WhispererUsing the power of the void, there is no creature that you cannot communicate with.]
The choice was obvious. I have practically no reason to choose the latter, and seeing vision cones and enemies through walls was dang useful.
PING!
[A skill has evolved!
Mark of the Outsider (Active) Lv 11 (0.00%)
Granted to those who pique his interest regardless of moral alignment or sanity, the Mark allows you to bend the rules of reality. Can cast spells.
Skills Discovered: Silent Apparate (10RR), Dark Vision (10RR/sec).]
Nice! I activated it at once. The colors of the world faded into monochrome, but the new color scale was far from hindering. I looked around, and saw that…
Wait… no way!
I could see the chakra pathways of the fish below the lake!
PING!
I ignored it and quickly apparated to the shore and snuck up on some unsuspecting people, and yes, indeed, I could see their pathways.
I quickly turned it off when my RR approached dangerously low levels.
[A skill has leveled up!
Mark of the Outsider (Active) Lv 12 (20.0%)
Granted to those who pique his interest regardless of moral alignment or sanity, the Mark allows you to bend the rules of reality. Can cast spells.
Skills Discovered: Silent Apparate (10RR), Dark Vision (9RR/sec).]
Okay, so I needed to keep in switched on for five seconds for the first time to level up, and since I had stopped it when I had 20RR left, I clearly had to use it for ten seconds to level it up again. So, it follows the same level-up path… I could literally level this up in one day. Nice!
Now, for something else I've been thinking about.
The world of Avatar used Chi to bend the elements. I had heard the word a couple of times while watching the series, I'm sure of it. The first time I had seen the word 'Chi' being related to me, this was what was at the forefront of my mind.
I walked to the shore of the lake and narrowed my eyes. The first exercise to water-bending was pushing and pulling the liquid with your hands.
Could I… could I do it?
I took a rough approximation of the stance I could remember having seen most water-benders take before I stopped. What if I could only choose one element to bend? Did I really want to choose water?
Well, it had the most ability out of all the elements – it could pressurize, slice, drown, and overwhelm, and it had the added benefit of being able to heal. It was the only art that I had seen do so. Plus, and I'm not sure if this will happen in this world, but it could calm spirits, too.
Mind finalized, I fell into the stance and focused. Chi was your body's energy, your physical energy. That's why to move the element, the bender had to move as well. I focused on the water, moving my hands as if it were the water, back and forth. I tried to visualize it, but then I noted that that would be using my mental energy. No, I had to move it without visualizing it, actually.
So, I did. The water is an extension of me. It will move!
PING!
Final-
[A skill has leveled up!
Idiocy (Passive) Lv 46 (36.2%)
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.
46% chance to earn positive REP with those around you.
54% chance to make those around you think you are crazy.]
… Fuck you too, Konoha ANBU!
No, no. I needed to get this right! The water will move, it will! This s going to be a valuable skill when it comes to infiltration and surprising opponents; it has to work! Move, dammit!
I stopped immediately when that statement made me realize what was wrong.
I was thinking like an earth-bender!
Okay, what were the philosophies? For earth, you had to have an iron will to face things head on. For air, you had to move with the wind and have a knack for avoiding. For fire, you had to have a strong desire to control, and just erupt. For water… you had to flow with the energy to redirect; be open to change.
So, I stopped and observed the lake. Because of the fish, there were a few rippled here and there.
I focused on one. Remembering to be open to flow with change, I reached my hand out and made the pushing and pulling motion… which the water obeyed!
PING!
[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!
Water-bending (Active) Lv 1 (43.8%)
By using your body's energy to redirect and flow with change, you are able to control the element of water.
Limit: 10l.
Cost: 20QI/sec ]
Yes! Yes, yes, yes! This was going to be my ace in the hole against Dormammu. Additionally, it will help my raid on Danzo! So far, the man hadn't made a move yet, but I was sure he will soon. It is then that I will strike.
Now, it's grinding time!
I squealed internally when Naruto laughed the little baby giggle as I made leaves dance in front of him using chakra strings.
Today was the first time I was allowed to take him outside the orphanage and was entrusted with his care by Mika. She was a bit worried about how the people would react to his presence, but I simply smiled to assuage her worries and told her everything would be alright.
I wasn't wrong.
Literally everyone in the village knew me at least by name and face, if not deeds. I was thorough in my brainwashing- ahem! I mean, I was totally sure that my persuasion skills had already brought his image up by… a lot. I wouldn't have chanced it otherwise – young children are impressionable, after all.
People wherever we passed offered Naruto speculative glances at first, that quickly dissolved into warmth when they spent more than ten seconds observing Naruto. And really, I don't know if it was the effect of Naruto's outlandish luck, a side-effect of having the chakra of the charismatic Ashura, or just plain fate, but he had this… positive energy about him that was very hard to stay negative in the face of. Women, especially matronly ones, actually approached us and cooed over him a bit. The whisker marks added up with his blond-haired-blue-eyed cute-boy image and made his hard-to-resist aura even more amplified. I was not jealous in the least; I already had enough people coo over me because of my resemblance to the Niidaime.
Do I regret choosing this appearance? Absolutely not.
The Niidaime was who I considered the most powerful, back when I was… in the other world. The man had no kekkei-genkai, no absurd chakra-reincarnation shenanigans, nothing. He worked hard on his water-affinity and sealing and became legendary for it – it was his original seal-work that inspired Minato, after all, and the lad went on to improve his seal to the point it became his signature jutsu. He got to where he was on his own merit alone and changed the village – for the better or worse, that's debatable. But hey, everyone has their flaws.
I smiled politely at everyone who did the same and offered confused glances to those who looked apprehensive, something that had them quickly changing their tune. Honestly, it was surprising what a pretty face and the right expression along could net you, and I was far from the sort of person who wouldn't take advantage of it. I internally gloated, proud of six months of hard work persuading everyone to let go of their hatred. It really went to show what damage lingering hatred and fanning said fire could do. However, hat I did was balm the wounds, so to speak, and thus, the effects were the opposite.
I wouldn't say the village loved Naruto yet (except the female half, apparently), but I could safely say they don't hate or even dislike him anymore. I hope that Kushina was smiling at me from the pure world, and that Minato could somehow see this from the belly of the Shinigami. They'd be overjoyed, I'm sure; I certainly know I was.
I crossed into the shinobi district without much fanfare, waving at the guards who smiled at me in turn. There was a bonus to being popular, I suppose; literally no-one wanted to ruin my day.
I dropped the leaves as I entered the Uchiha Clan Compound. My efforts also saw that they were being forcibly made social by the Kurama, and now, the Hyuuga Clan. Boy, wasn't the second one a surprise! But apparently, Kiko and Hitomi were best friends after being on a Genin team together, and when the former told the latter of my request, she actually squealed to high heavens about how kind I was, etcetera, etcetera. I would have loved to see the look on their faces if they ever realized I'm not doing this completely out of the purity of my heart, but that being widely-known would be counterproductive to my plans.
I approached Uchiha Senbei with a playful Naruto squirming around in my arms. I actually felt pity for him. As an Uzumaki, he was already born with a major imbalance in internal energies. His naturally higher physical energy was only shot to new ridiculous heights because of only the Yang-half of Kurama being sealed into him. His body was hard-wired for ADHD or it's elemental-nations equivalent.
I sighed as I used [Water-bending] to manipulate a small globe of water from a bottle I carried into different shapes. He immediately began to laugh again.
I waved to Jumi, who beamed and waved back at me. I had finished all of her shop quests, giving me more positive reputation with the Uchiha Clan and netting me 140xp and ryo. I had plans for getting more money, but that could wait until after I dealt with Danzo. Speaking of whom, I finally managed to spot a couple of ROOT members around me when I practiced my [Dark Vision]. Apparently, its limits were up to my discernable vision, which was much, much, better than my past life. When it upgraded to [Void Gaze], it improved by a lot. I could now see a blue shade color that perfectly outlined people's presence, even through walls, and a light cyan that followed their chakra network, even through physical objects. I could actually see all chakra – talk about being surprised when I spotted a seal that was part of a much larger network that connected to span a wide circle on the village walls; this must have been the barrier technique that lets the personnel assigned sense intrusions. Regardless, I could not see vision cones nor objects of interest highlighted in green. Well, I suppose the latter is a blessing, since everything would be green otherwise. When the [Mark of the Outsider] levelled up next, I passed over [Possession] because of my telepathy, and chose [Water-blast]. It worked by sending out a thick forceful spout of water from the Mark itself. It should prove useful should I ever be in a place without water for my bending…
Which was coming along very nicely. My limit apparently increased by ten liters every level up, which made sense when weighed against what water-bending masters could do in the anime. There was no level up bonus even when I crossed the twenty-five-level mark besides halving the still-twenty chi costs to ten, however progress was now slow as fuck. The [Chakra Medium] skill effectively brought my regeneration from per minute to per thirty seconds, so I was super happy having no to give a break while I water-bended. It was also loads of fun! After I realized that I couldn't do grander feats using Naka Lake because of the public, I scoured ninja training grounds to find one with a suitable body of water for me to use. Lo and behold, I found it at training ground 7. I took the 10 stat points from the [Location Collectible] without much complaining when I accidentaly back-flipped onto it, adding to the five I still had left over from the Outsider's quest's level up, and then had my fun.
Water was an element whose skillset was based almost entirely on versatility. Someone is trying to whip to with water? Spin on your feet and send it back! Someone is trying to throw stuff at you? Bring up a water-shield and shoot out sharp blades of…
Wait.
I just realized! Dammit, I hadn't tried phase-shifting yet! Ice and steam, I completely forgot I could change water into them and bend them effectively! Maybe that's why my skill isn't rising – I have yet to mix and match my repertoire. Sigh.
It was this sort of epiphanies that made me hesitant to try to bend another element when I had yet to master even one. For the sake of paying homage to the Avatar Cycle though, I was going to try bending earth next, whenever I would. Bending blood and metal ought to be useful in many ways, and that was discounting the infiltration and escape benefits. That was a long way away, however, I still had to master water first, currently sitting and not budging from level 33. I realized that, for being only a month since I gained it, this was incredibly good, but I really wanted to try and see if I could bend the other elements. If I could teach Naruto air-bending, something that was spiritual and touched with inner peace, maybe he would get a better handle on his internal energies. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the Avatar Cycle, and I wasn't too sure I could learn another element at all. How am I supposed to teach if I don't know it myself?
I sighed, then began to absently tap my foot as my impatience grew. Waiting for Mikoto and Hitomi was a huge pain – the two were always late!
I rolled my eyes and decided to get some work done. Shifting control of the water to the fingers of the hand holding a giggling Naruto, I used my free hand to open my system menu and navigate over to the [Perks] subsection. I had 191PP just sitting there, collecting dust. I bit my lip – without a party system, I wasn't sure how to give anyone any of these perks at all!
Well… I had an idea…
I carefully took a distracted Naruto's hand in my own, and carefully nudged my chakra into him. My eyes quickly darted up to his, noting that he was still happily giggling away at the various animals the globe of water was shifting into. Carefully I bought his hand to the menu, took a deep breath, and selected [Bloodline 1] with his fingers.
[Are you sure you would like to give Uzumaki Naruto Bloodline 1?]
I blanked out. It… it was just that easy? Holy hell! Did this mean he'd have my gamer abilities, too? Or would it just be the kekkei-genkai? Well, it clearly said I'd only be giving him it, but…
Oh well. Fuck canon. I used his hand to accept it again.
[Please select one of the following:
Fire + Wind = Steam
Fire + Water = Boil
Fire + Earth = Lava
Fire + Lightning = Plasma
Wind + Water = Ice
Wind + Earth = Sand
Wind + Lightning = Swift
Water + Earth = Wood
Water + Lightning = Gale
Earth + Lightning = Magnet]
Holy. Fucking. Hell. If I had chosen this option myself, I'd be super OP… which I don't want… right? Why was the game even forcing me to be this strong? Were things ahead going to be that rough? Sure, I want to find and rough up Dormammu someday, but I don't need to be ultra-powerful to do that… right?
I shelved that thought for now, setting it aside to focus. ANBU and ROOT were constantly watching over me, so it would make sense if they would scan Naruto out of passing curiosity too. SO they probably already know he has the wind element. I should choose something with it so that it isn't very suspicious that he spontaneously developed two other chakra natures just by hanging out with me. So, my options were Steam, Ice, Sand, or Swift. Swift was next to useless considering his speed boost with Kurama's chakra cloak, and sand… well, let's let Gaara be unique, hm? That left Steam and Ice… what a conundrum… not.
[You have selected: Wind + Water = Ice. Are you sure?]
Not really. If it wasn't for [Gamer's Mind] I'd be a nervous wreck. I really hope this didn't backfire down the line. I breathed deeply and accepted with his hand.
[You have given Uzumaki Naruto the Ice Release!]
I waited with bated breath for a reaction from the boy. Some pain, some discomfort… but nothing. I released his hand after a few moments, and he went back to trying to reach for the moving globe with both hands. I activated [Dark Vision] just to be sure, the Mark glowing as it was active. There were no abnormalities in his chakra coils either. I deactivated it and sat back in my chair, absently shifting to my [Character Page] to assign the fifteen points I had left.
I just gave Naruto the Ice Release.
I. JUST. FUCKING. GAVE. UZUMAKI. DAMNED. NARUTO. THE. FUCKING. ICE. RELEASE.
[Gamer's Mind] quickly worked to destroy my paranoia. Okay, fine. He could manipulate Ice now. Yippee. Whoop-de-fucking-do. What the hell is my problem? No idea.
I looked at the screen properly to examine how I was going to sort my points.
[Character Page
Gundan – Level 12
Title: Outsider's Chosen
Next Level: 560/800xp
HP - 220
QI - 220
RR - 220
CON - 12
STR - 12
AGL - 23
INT - 12
LCK - 23
WIS - 12 ]
Well, it seemed like my bonus from the Path of the Rogue was really applicable. I remember my [AGL] and [LCK] being 21. Cool. Does the bonus scale with leveling up too? I wonder.
I quickly assigned the available fifteen points. Two points into all of them first, then one each to both [AGL] and [LCK], then the last point into [AGL] again. Leaning back a little, I examined my screen with no little amount of happiness.
[Character Page
Gundan – Level 12
Title: Outsider's Chosen
Next Level: 560/800xp
HP - 240
QI - 240
RR - 240
CON - 14
STR - 14
AGL - 27
INT - 14
LCK - 26
WIS - 14]
My stats were actually making me happy, now. I wonder if I should focus on one stat every time from now on to bring at least one up to fifty before I move on? I wonder what perk I'll get when I reach fifty points in [AGL], for example. Hm… should I?
Okay. Let's see how far the next reward-upgrade is, yeah? The last time, stat points from [Location Collectibles] Increased when I reached level 10, that is, in five levels. I'm currently Level 12. It will take me… hm… two-thousand-two-hundred experience points to go from level 13 to fifteen, and I still need two-hundred and forty points to get to 13, so a total of two-thousand, four-hundred and forty points. The Academy Graduation quest will give me 5000 experience points, so the best time to get all the [Location Collectibles] would be then. I will be able to amp up my stats considerable with fifteen points apiece, and if there are some cool scrolls in there, I could lift those, too.
So basically, after I deal with Danzo. Maybe it'd be best to wait for a full-moon. I can easily escape the ANBU if I [Apparate], since it takes them a few minutes to find me. Once I figure out where ROOT is, I'll be safe if I appear within. If ROOT hasn't been found out by the regular ANBU yet, it's obvious they have some means of being invisible to the Byakugan and immune to being tracked… somehow. I'll be raiding the place soon enough, so that ability will be in my grasp.
Then all I need is to learn to create a solid, stable, memory-transferring clone to leave behind in Konoha so that I can explore the world beyond. So many quests… just waiting to be taken. I'll only have a couple of months at best, since half the academic year is already gone by and I'll be assigned a team when I graduate, after which I will be under the scrutinizing gaze of a sensei. Even with [Dark Vision], I couldn't manage to find Jiraiya or Orochimaru, so that part of my goals was currently on hold. All I had now, was Danzo.
A good way for me to find his hideout… what could that be?
Ah, but Mikoto and Hitomi were now visible, walking here. Time to get Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata well acquainted. After all, they were incarnations of Ashura, Indra, and Hamura, right? I internally smirked deviously.