In training, I was able to notice a few particular oddities after trying at things (read: shurikenjutsu) for a while. Mostly due to the ever-encroaching threat of boredom- which, out of all things, was not somehing I expected I would ever feel while being a ninja.
Chief among them was that I was pretty sure there was a RNG component to this, albeit it seemeed far more complex than a regular percentage game.
So far, I'd incurred in just two critical failures over the years. And no "critical hits" or "critical successes" yet. Though I don't know the reason for the latter, from the two that did happen we can incur something:
0 – It is luck based. Obviously. It's not something that's easily repeatable, or that I know how to produce, even attempting to make the same condition. Granted the fact that it's called a Critical Failure, I can understand why. So obviously when attempting a task repeatedly, it will be way more likely to happen.
1 - It will produce an effect that is directly harmful to my goals. Especially the first one, where it just ended up killing me. I don't know what kind of stupid bad luck was needed to do that, but it happened nonetheless.
2 – It required some sort of "outside influence", such as fatigue or injury. Though I've trained while [Fatigued] on occasion, on both occasions that it did happen, the status was there, and out of all the times that it did not happen… well, two times is not much to base scientific inquiry, but these aren't meant to be hard rules so much so as guidelines for myself.
3 – Their effects can be mitigated. Now I don't know if my reaction time was slow because I was fatigued or because I can't prevent them myself, but Itachi parried the kunai and prevented me from receiving any bad effects, so.
And to be honest... all of these things pointed towards something that I was both relieved and confused by.
No intensive grinding. Not only does it grant diminishing returns in the form of debuffs that... well, probably don't affect exp gain *itself*, but definitely affect my performance in gaining said exp.
The game really wanted me to advance through quests. Problem was, I wasn't being given any! Was it because I was so small, or what? Wasn't Kakashi like 4 when he graduated?
And so, despite my best efforts as to the contrary, not many things of note happened in the time that soon followed. That wasn't to say that nothing of note happened, and I frankly welcomed the sense of quasi-normalcy that returned to my life (if you could call this world normal), but still...
Well, there were only some highlights, rather than there being a straight continuation of events. Days turned to weeks turned to months. But a few experiences stuck with me more than others.
January 3rd.
'Tiger, Bird, Heaven.' I mentally ran through the hand-seals as I performed them. "Hiden: Chiisai Mandala." (Hidden Technique: Miniature Mandala) I'd finally decided to take a crack at the techniques that I could perform- now that I had some free time.
-4CP!
Apparently the Fuma clan just decided "let's make more hand seals than the regular ones, for fun!", which explained why my hands were currently stuck in a triangle shape. At least the Heaven seal was a rather easy one to learn- especially after having gotten down the regular twelve, though I still kind of needed to think whenever I actually wanted to remember what kind of seal I wanted or needed to perform, let alone their names. If it wasn't for the fact that the scroll was right in front of me, I would've probably forgotten.
This was not the first time I used my chakra, the energy being rather familiar to me ever since Kurama decided to barbecue me. But up until this point, whatever I had tried to do had never required hand seals, just willing the phantom limb inside me to do a certain thing, like press itself against and come out of my forehead or my hands.
Performing hand seals while actually shaping chakra (which was a thing that took me an embarrassing thirty minutes to figure out that I was not supposed to just flex my hands in weird ways) was... weird. Just like my hands, I could feel the energy within me take on unfamiliar and slightly unpleasant shapes, like trying to play contortionist on a sore body- I imagined that the sensation would mitigate with time, hopefully.
A small, pyramid shaped *thing* resided in the middle of my outstretched hands. The chakra construct, we'll call it, is this... not quite transparent, but definitely see-through pyramid, about the size of my palm. It shone with bright colors in the way you'd expect a lava lamp to. If there was a pattern to it, my brain was not picking up on it beyond going "oooo pretty".
As I held it, I tried to move it and get it to rotate or something, but it just seemed to follow my hands. Is it still there if I stop making the hand sign?
...yeah, okay, it's- nope, nevermind. I can stop doing the hand sign itself, but as soon as my hands stopped being symmetrical relative to it, the thing vanished.
Your Skill Level has increased!
Fuma Art: Miniature Mandala, Lv.1
-An F rank Chakra Control exercise performed by members of the Fuma Clan as an introduction to the Mandala Barrier techniques. Has no practical applications, but is a great introduction for children to Shape Transformation.
Chakra Cost: 5 (4) CP
Hand Signs: 3
...is that it?
I guess the scroll did mention that this was less of an actual jutsu and more of a Chakra Control exercise, but still... fuck. That was one fifth of my Chakra reserves for basically no outcome. And that is withmy current Chakra Control level, which is presumably why the Chakra cost is 4 instead of 5...
But still, one fifth of my chakra! For an unstable shitty pyramid! The leaf sticking exercise didn't drain me anywhere near as much!
I'm starting to sense a problem, on that front. Even with my current 23% Control - probably a pitiful number for regular shinobi, to be fair, if Itachi's 28% without the perk (I assume, since unlike me he's probably been training his ass off at Chakra Control rather than having it gifted to him by a game system) but still.
Did I fall into a pitfall by assuming that I could level up INT more than CHA?
I... don't think so, no. Most of the badass characters I can remember are still very good at it. But disregarding my reserves might have been a genuine mistake. Sure, I'll never be able to trump people like an Uzumaki who have it as an inbuilt trait from the time of birth, or someone who is the container of a Tailed Beast (and especially someone that is both, Naruto), but I don't think that people like Itachi or Izumi are supposed to be outstanding in the reserves factor, especially Izumi who is so close to my level, and yet her reserves dwarf mine. I can't even say that it's due to her being from a clan, because technically, so am I.
A clan with a very weird and specific set of skills that seemed to have no rhyme or reason with one another, but a clan nonetheless.
I guess I could put all my points in chakra next level, and that would put me…. Still below Izumi. Ugh. I might just be forced to do that, if only so I can keep training this type of skill without bringing myself to the brink of Chakra Exhaustion.
It also means that my Meditation skill will see a lot more use, since I need to recharge said CP faster. Maybe I should try actual meditation, rather than the thing I've been doing by sitting in the menu?
Still, the CP cost isn't so prohibitive that I can't perform this at least twice a day.
Also, enable the [Fuma Clan Kid] title. I'm either going to have to find a better title, a less annoying way to switch between titles when I need to get what I want, or just get weighted weapons that actually make the title not mess up my aim with the very light Uchiha weapons.
Tiger, Bird, Heaven.
-4CP!
I parted my hands immediately this time, still keeping them in the same formation, and was rewarded with the pyramid construct widening. Likewise, as I brought them back together, the pyramid became smaller- and as I interlaced my fingers together, the pyramid grew smaller.
As I parted my hands again, still holding them in position, I rotated one hand, humming in satisfaction as the pyramid began rotating. I parted my fingers slightly-
And the pyramid disappeared again, as I distantly noted that I'd gained another two levels of the Jutsu as soon as it popped.
Hmmmm.
Well, at least it was a pretty way to train my control and drain my chakra reserves. Could have been worse.
Interesting.
February 9th.
I immediately regret comparing hand signs to contortionism. Now that I have learned what actually contorting your body for extended periods of time while sore off of exercise I can safely say that hand signs are easy mode.
Hazuki had taken one look at the scroll containing the Fuma Clan Taijutsu and, in true Uchiha fashion, had deemed it inferior scum and unworthy of being learned.
…okay, so maybe those weren't the exact words used, but that was basically what she meant. She said that first she would teach me the basics of Taijutsu properly before moving on to the various different styles. I had actually believed her, for a moment, until this notification made itself known in my vision.
New Skill Acquired due to external actions!
Uchiha Clan Beginner Taijutsu, Lv. 0
Heh. It was fun to learn that even Hazuki had her digs, and apparently despite marrying a commoner (RIP Izumi's dead, I never even knew you), she did retain some of her clan's famous pride apparently.
Apparently Taijutsu was very much like in the martial arts, with a philosophy behind it and a "purpose". Less surprisingly, the purpose of the Uchiha clan's style of Taijutsu was strengthening the body, the flexibility, the reflexes and the speed, leaving the technique part of it as strictly mediocre. As I came to understand a few days in, the movements performed in the katas were less about learning movements and having your body learn them to the point of automatism so much so as it was about prepping the body for when an inevitably traumatized Uchiha would unlock their cheat code ability, upon which they would then just overpower their opponents by being superhuman twits.
Essentially, they decided "well our superior Uchiha brain will just come up with the best move to perform under duress since our eyes catch every detail and make time go real slow hurr durr". The worst part is, they probably weren't wrong.
So while this was worthless to me in the long run because… well, I did not have a body that gave me cheat eyes (but I could maybe dig one up, given time), I still wasn't going to complain because, well… I began seeing benefits in other ways.
Primly, the fifth level in Uchiha Clan Beginner Taijutsu, which took me a little under a week of everyday practice to get, gave me a glorious +1 in STR and DEX. No quest, no popup- it took me a while to even notice it, but there it was and there it stayed. And since no popup had appeared to congratulate me a belated birthday and gifting me free stats, it also wasn't from hitting some growing up landmark.
Did that mean that by obtaining more Taijutsu styles, my stats would grow more? And actually- why was it specifically Taijutsu that raised my stats? Would other physical activities yield stat ups as well?
I pondered this, and was honestly considering burning a question on it. Why, you will wonder, was I considering burning a question that I did not yet have?
"Alright, Tomo-chan, that's it. Ease back into the position. And remember what I said, no slumping, slouching or causing yourself any unnecessary cramps." Hazuki finally led my leg down, after I'd mentioned that I'd gotten stuck. Izumi had already scampered off to go meet with some friends because unlike me, she seemed to retain an actual child's boundless energy. As I tried to work some feeling back into my leg, I felt Hazuki kiss my forehead after a moment, and my heart melted.
But also-
[Quest Complete!]
Morning Salutations
Most Shinobi use the morning as a period of reprieve from the doom and gloom of the nightly darkness, training, and social interaction with one another. Perform training in one of your skills with another person for five mornings in a row.
Rewards: 20Exp
[Your level has increased to Level 6!]
I'd just gotten to level 6 bay-bee! FUCK YEAH! I can finally expand my chakra reserves to the point of a normal person so that I don't faint when actually attempting to train my control!
Cortana, dump all 5 of my points into CHA!
I heard a sharp intake of breath above me, and as I turned to look at Hazuki, I was left staring into the three-tomoed Sharingan her eyes had turned into. "What…?" she murmured to herself. Uh-oh. "That's not-" she paused. "Tomo-chan, do you feel any different?" she gently asked, Sharingan still not turning back off.
I'm an idiot.
"Y-yeah. Like a surge of chakra?" she nodded, and blinked, as her eye color coalesced back into its former onyx color. Think, Tomo! "It kind of got back to what it was before the incident that hospitalized me." Only sort of a lie…?
"You mean the- I see." She trailed off, face becoming carefully blank. "I am glad to see you recovering."
I just drew a blank face and smiled back at her, in a very conspirational manner. Except that she wasn't in on it at all, despite believing otherwise.
Wow, Tomo. You really know how to repay those who offer you love.
Ugh.
Checking for a moment in my menu, I noticed that yes, my Chakra points came in already filled to the total of 70/70, just like my health points. Would points be automatically expended there to prevent my death too?
"Is this your daughter, Hazuki-san?" A sharp, male voice asked from next to us, making me jump in the air-
sonnuvabitch where did you come from
Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Clan Head, Lv.?
…Itachi's dad?
"Yes, sir. She is my adoptive daughter, Fugaku-sama. Tomo of the Fuma Clan."
I stared at the man. He was a strong-looking man, with raven hair and the same onyx eyes that nearly all Uchiha seemed to share. He looked like an older Itachi with a more squared face. "…why are you in our house?" I, admittedly, spoke the first thing that came to my mind. Sure, that was probably not the correct thing to ask the person that most likely owned the entire compound, but you know. Privacy?
I guess I now know why Hazuki did not allow me to train in my pajamas.
Speaking of Hazuki, she apparently makes the same expression that Izumi makes when she's aghast that I'm not speaking "properly" to Itachi. Oops?
Fugaku, for his part, regarded me like a particularly uninteresting bug for a moment before resuming his talk with Hazuki. "I see. She does not look particularly impressive. I hope your other daughter is at least performing better than this one." I carefully had blank my expression to that, but it was easier than I imagined. To be honest, he could insult me all he wanted- I probably knew more things than all his clan put together.
"I apologize for her behavior, Fugaku-sama." Hazuki bowed. "There has little time to instruct her in proper etiquette; especially since all of the clan's efforts have been directed towards rebuilding and the village's recent hostility…" she trailed off. "I will see to her being better educated."
"See that you do." He scowled- he was already scowling, but it was a scowlier scowl. "The clan elders have been dissatisfied with your conduct over the years. While they may have forgiven your brief stint of renunciation of the clan's ways and the pollution of our blood with a complete outsider, since you have come back, they have expressed discontent at the fact that you have been training an outsider in our clan's techniques." Hazuki stiffened up at that, and as I processed what he said, I did as well.
Polluted blood? Is that referring to-
Oh no you didn't.
Though we'd both frozen up for a moment, Hazuki had the misfortune of actually having to think about what she was going to say. Me, on the other hand…
"What, afraid that I'll wipe the son with your-" I paused for just the slightest moment. Oh, Fugaku was so lucky that I did not know the Konohan word for inbred. I continued, slightly awkwardly. "son, so you've come to scout out the opposition?" At this point, Hazuki didn't even try to cover up for me. I was probably deemed a lost cause.
He scoffed. "And what should I fear from an abandonedorphan girl? By your age, Itachi was better than you in all the ways I've been able to observe, and the gap has only widened since."
"He's had a year of advantage on me. Just you wait- a year from now, and I'm going to be better than he was at my age." I declared.
He simply raised an eyebrow. "Prove it, then. I'll be impressed if you're better at a single thing compared to Itachi."
[New Quest Alert!]
Impress Fugaku Uchiha
The Gamer has issued a challenge to the Uchiha's clan head! Will you put your money where your mouth is, and become better than Uchiha Itachi was in at least a single thing, a year from now?
Time Limit: 1 year
Reward: [Yearling] title, 500 exp, increased reputation with Uchiha Fugaku
Penalty: Decreased reputation with members of the Uchiha Clan
Additional Objective: Reach Lv.15!
Reward: 1000Exp, Increased reputation with members of the Uchiha Clan, ?
ACCEPT/DECLINE
"You're on, old man." I grunted, accepting the quest. Certainly wasn't going to wuss out of this one.
He nodded, looking uncharacteristically serious for someone that was challenged by a four year old, before turning to Hazuki. "Very well then. I believe that will be all." He nodded to her still bowed form, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"…the dick, he's making me clean up after him!" I growled right after.
"Tomo-chan…" Hazuki hissed, sounding downright frosty. I gulped.
"So, I guess, uh… those etiquette lessons, haha?"
"Yes. Why don't we get to those. Immediately."
Hoo boy. I've been bad again, making myself scarce for a while. At least this time I've been making myself productive in trying to get a job (emphasis on trying), aaaand starting a new fic soon as soon as I have an acceptable cache for myself. I hope y'all like Persona 5 as much as I do :) There's one small part left of this chapter that I decided to leave out for next time. Sorry~
If you want to support me and read more of what happens ahead, please support The Nick Of Name on the place of patrons!
Drink Water, Stay Awesome, Nick out :)