-Three months till Chunin exams-
Pov: Kenzo
...
I stretch my body as I leave from Ryū's tub and dry myself... I let the blood drain with water and wipe it clean, I just spent a few hours increasing my strength and just like always its a uncomforting pain that I am sadly used to.
Now, to dive into another uncomfortable pain- I grab my scroll and open it into the orange box after having sat down.
My eternal walk is going to be upgraded again- the box forms around me and I wait for it.
After minutes pass I get up and untie my blindfold, looking around I seem to be on a tall ptform, a bridge connects me to the next ptform.
These ptforms and bridges that span further across seem stone made and the area around me is like a dense fog, I take a heavy breath before walking forward.
*BANG!*
I look down as a cannonball hits my chest and flings me backwards- *CRACK!* My chin sms against the ptform and I descend into the fog.
My lungs colpse and I blink, breathing heavily on the first pilr again.
..?
What do I even do there? I couldn't walk better if I tried for a hundred years...? A cannon ball? Am I meant to dodge it while I walk? But how? The bridge is not nearly wide enough and I can't tank these blows.
...
Enduring walk was one of the possible evolutions of this skill, so it means I am not meant to endure the cannonball and feather walk sounds like water walking.
Eternal walk... what about this test screams 'Eternal'.
Eternal... my walk is the same no matter what, but isn't that the same as enduring? What seperates the two? I take a moment to think about it.
Enduring means I take the hits and move through them- but Eternal would transte to sting after the hits... the difference is not so clear...
What's the difference? Ah- Damnit, I have to brute force this until I get it.
I get up and walk.
*BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!*
...
I sit down again.
Nope- not even a single clue after all that, no matter how much I monitor my Yang energy I cannot see any changes, nor have I figured out the difference between eternal and enduring.
Eternal...
Haaa-
*BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!*
FUCK- FUCK- FUCK YOU!!
I stomp the ground and nearly tear out my hair, its never this hard to figure something out- WHAT AM I MISSING!?
*BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!**BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!* ... *BANG!*
IM MISSINS SOMETHING!!
*BANG!*
WHAT COULD IT BE!!
*BANG!*
I JUST NEED ANSWERS!!
*BANG!*
IF ITS NOT YANG ENERGY!
*BANG!*
OR CHAKRA!
*BANG!*
OR NATURE ENERGY!
*BANG!*
THEN WHAT ELSE!?!?!?
...
Then what else...?
I slump down on the ground and tap my forehead against the stone... how long have I been here? Is the future me who blocks out the emotional impact of these memories going to care? Care that I had to go through all this...? I feel sick.
I need to stop walking forward.
I need to stop being me and using this brute forcing system- what helper? He says a few kind words and I suddenly trust him? His first interaction with me was based on fear... he threw a table across the room when I did not comply and keeps putting me through all of this pain.
What happens if I just quit? What happens if I just give up and don't move? What happens if I refuse to walk forward? To have my chest caved in from a cannonball? To hit my head on the stone as I fling past it?
...
*Shuffle* *Stand*
This is messed up, I feel sick.
*Step* *Step*
Why am I like this? Why do I keep going?
*Step* *Step* *Step *Step*
Why, why oh why am I going to keep moving forward?
*BANG!*
...
Because I am mad... not cool crazy or insane crazy, I am stupidly crazy, the kind of crazy that doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it.
The kind of insanity driven by nothing.
Without goal.
Without end.
...
Kill the masked man.
Kill Danzo.
Kill Oorochimaru and his assistant.
Protect Konoha.
Protect Naruto.
Those are my goals, I shouldn't ever forget them, I shouldn't let momentary pain blind me from anything.
*BANG!*
...
*BANG!*
I need to keep going- I cant give up! Not after all that time I spent- *BANG!* putting in so much effort that always was too much, I need to protect my brother- I need to put that snake in his pce and I need to avenge the life that Naruto could have had... I need to kill Danzo for his actions and I need to feel like me again.
Kenzo is a horrid mindset to pce myself in.
Ryū is so much more fun.
If only I knew who Oswald was anymore, the man I used to be? If only I could stop being Kenzo again.
Those stares... they transferred so easily from Naruto to me, the people hate a monster and I fit right into that category- I-
...
I am on the next ptform...?
How?
I walk forward again and- *BANG!* I look down to see my chest bleed as a bullet rips through it.
...
I fall and slip into the fog.
I awake again on the first ptform.
I don't understand at all- what exactly helped me out there? My yang energy was normal and my nature energy was as before...
The only difference was my ranting- my focus- my thoughts.
What if... but how?
...
...
...
How could Yin energy improve my walking?
I sit down and stare above me, I don't actively watch my Yin energy like I have to contain my Yang energy so I, Ironically- never thought about my Yin energy.
But how does it work? Why does it allow me to walk over things... and what happened to the cannonball? I didn't feel anything... did I walk through it or something?
No that's insane, Yin energy cannot do that alone and if it did I am not nearly good enough at using it.
...
Unstoppable force- like my stare I am slowly learning the fundamentals of what will come ter... wait- my stare through things ability... is that using Yin energy as well? Why haven't I been focusing on that?
This is what happens when I spread myself thin, I do too much and can't think about my basics.
Intent which I can see through another's stare on me... Intent in which I can hear- intent in which chakra gains its form and becomes a jutsu, intent is so much more important than I thought... can I control my staring with intent? Turn off the passive or at least tone it down a little?
... that's for ter, right now I need to focus on my walking- which is much more than just walking right now.
Yin... I obviously don't know much so all I can do is focus and dive right into the cannon fire again.
I get up once more and walk forward, fully focused and intent on getting to the next pilr... my thoughts watching... my thoughts.
Sounds as sane as usual.
*BANG!*
..?
Yin moves not block the projectile... but rather to to shift and move my Yang energy... Yin and Yang move together in such swift detail that if I wasn't looking for it I wouldn't of found it...
My walk is moving my yang and yin energy in such a way that I don't need to do anything other than focusing on the walk...? How should I put it... my energies are naturally moving in tandem not because I order them to, but rather because I am moving and focusing in just the right way that it falls into this natural mix of chakra.
Oh.
I am making chakra- what happens if I bring back my chakra system...?
I awake on the ptform as the cannonball tears through me, my focus had completely shifted during that and I didn't get to see what I did.
Haaa-
*BANG!*
*Floowp*
My flesh warps and the cannonball flies through it, I don't take the hit and continue forward, my chakra using my shifting flesh to let something through as I walk.
On the next ptform I frown.
My Yang energy and Yin energy have a heavy consumption rate from that- this is going to be another statistic scroll draining move...
I don't want to improve my Yang energy at the moment and Yin energy is another thing entirely... Damnit this is another dragons breath.
Overpowered but it needs a lot of charge to use.
...
No- I cannot let this skill develop like this, I will find another way no matter how long it takes.
I walk to the edge and jump.
*Gasp!*
I awake on the first pilr and mess with my renewed energies to find another solution- I walk forward.
*BANG!*
*CRASH!*
*BANG!*
*SCATTER*
*BANG!*
*CRUNCH!*
-Weeks Later-
*BANG!*
*DING!*
*WOOSH!*
Steam rolls off my torso as chakra deflects the cannonball... that one worked- lets summarize my idea.
Firstly I need a chakra system which is easy to get, I just need to focus on another form instead of keeping myself in shape which doesn't take any more yang energy than normal everyday life...
I then use the chakra points to set up a Deflect skill inspired idea- a thin yer of chakra hovers above each chakra point roughly 1cm above the skin and as soon as something comes in contact- *Woosh!* the chakra spins around the point violently and sends the projectile somewhere else...
It hurts a little but if it isn't a cannonball but rather a shuriken then it feels fine.
I used my deflect skill to realise that using the projectiles momentum to fling it away rather than pass it all through me is much more efficient and cost effective.
The best thing about this method? I don't have to walk in order to use it.
...
I take a breath and walk forward- Cannonball is deflected, the bullet is much harder to deflect but with intense focus I can do it... then all the ninja tools that attack multiple parts of my body, the rapid and random projectiles and finally the rotating rolling saw bde taller than my body.
I sm it on the side and continue to the final ptform... I take heavy and boured breaths as all my chakra is depleted and I smile.
The mist disappears and the Orange box reappears.
*SCRATCH* *SCRAWL*
'Denied skill evolution- merging Deflection and Eternal Walk to create a greater skill...'
...
*SCRATCH* *SCRAWL*
'NEW SKILL CREATED! Kenzo Deflection Jutsu'
Oh? That's weird... my first Jutsu is of my own creation.
Though I guess my lightning techniques are jutsu but I refuse to name them correctly- I get up as I return to Ryū's apartment and shift back into him, I put his clothes on and think about my status screen.
------
Skills:
Unyielding Stare: E×D×C×B×A×S×K×
Burst Breathing: E×D×C×B×A?S?K?
Word- Truth: E×D×C×B?A?S?K?
Kenzo Deflection Jutsu: E×D×C×B×A×S×K?
Lockpicking: E×D?C?B?A?S?K?
Juggling: E×D?C?B?A?S?K?
Ancient Hearing: E×D×C×B?A?S?K?
Dragons breath: E×D×C×B×A×S?K?
Lightning Wire: E×D×C×B?A?S?K?
Lightning Dart: E×D×C×B?A?S?K?
Bio-Runes: E×D×C×B×A?S?K?
Dragon style Taijutsu: E×D?C?B?A?S?K?
Jump: E×D×C×B?A?S?K?
_______
S-rank? I suppose merging two skills would make a better one... it did make a better one.
I double check that having a chakra system again doesn't mess with my Genjutsu Resonance...
No- the genjutsu affinity needed an empty body but because I accidentally made a lesser blessing it became something else, it now only relies on my Yin energy instead of using my body as a signal booster to cast genjutsu effectively.
So now I have a chakra pool once more- and it is only going to be used for my deflection ability due to the fact that all other abilities that chakra gave me have been substituted... I just 'levelled up', just my Kenzo skills would put me in the Jonin area... lower special Jonin at least.
Together with my Lightning skills? Oh boy I am getting prepared for this dangerous world.
It would be useful to learn this stuff though... having knowledge on normal jutsu would cover Ryū much better than it is.
Okay- I have a few goals for the next three months.
Introduce Kanata to the better deflection jutsu as learning it will be easier when he has my guidance... he won't have to create the technique using two other ones that he spent months or even years learning about so much faster... he could learn this jutsu in half a year.
Improve upon my understanding of 'Stare' so I can see again.
Figure out the logistics of Ryū's backstory with the Hokage, I have an idea that expins it all... I just need his permission.
Which means more details and more thought put into it, and once I do all that it should be the chunin exams which would hopefully exclude me from working for a few days.
...
I think I should start using up the Chunin challenge exam scrolls, C-rank skill scroll... possible B-rank both being instant and the chance to win the entire thing and gain five statistic scrolls.
All while I gain experience in doing the exams- and understand how well my teammates would be doing, we as a team are capable of beating a Jonin even on their terms... but nothing above that and we obviously would do much worse when facing numbers.
Kanata can keep himself safe against numbers with his various escape jutsu and deflecting to keep fighting so he is fine... I have a lot of options to pick from- the unfortunate problem in our group is Katsuko, I hate to say it but she only has kenjutsu skills and basics in everything else.
Great Kenjutsu- but being good in one thing is not Chunin material... haaa- she just needs to get out of her own head and stop thinking she has reached her peak, she would dedicate more time to training and understanding techniques if she did.
Enough about that- the things I need to upgrade mostly are juggling and lockpicking, I would have ignored them till I had a surplus of scrolls to use but mu recent scroll let me understand something.
Merging.
If I merge juggling with something else by directing it from the start- I will have a better skill without consuming the scroll.
I am thinking of having Juggling improve in areas of focus and multitasking to help me train my shapeshifting, as having multiple arms would be great if it wasn't so hard to remind myself of having those limbs.
And hopefully Juggling will be consumed by the Shapeshifting blessing to improve it, if not I get a cool multi tasking skill to keep upgrading anyway.
With lockpicking I have a few ideas... one of them being to direct it in such a way that it can 'unlock' something less physical.
Get past genjutsu defences unlock the truth easier... or even just unlocking seals with ease? A lot of things I can do with that.
Lightning wire and my dragon style taijutsu could combine into one 'Lightning Style Techniques' skill, I got what I needed from my wire's skill and I feel like merging them into one will allow me to mix the two offensive techniques more effectively.
Truth...? An experiment on skill stuff that kind of backfired, helps people be more susceptible to telling the truth but recently I have not been able to use it as effectively.
It has a lot of power to upgrade an ability if I chose to direct that skill in such a way- maybe I can upgrade it via a new skill down the line but currently that's at the bottom of my list.
My stats are fine but if I am to do everything on my list before the chunin exams... my strength will either max out at ten- if that is the limit of stats or I will stop at five and pump another stat upwards.
Lightning mana is fine especially when I have the organ... Nature chakra I want to avoid due to enhancing the difficulty of my shapeshifting.
So a new statistic? I would love to improve my Jumping ability, while it kind of doesn't do much currently- Jumping is potentially one of my most deadly skills now that the mortal limit will be reached.
Strength would increase distance...
But Strength all in feels like a waste when I am in the chunin exams, so many people from all over with so many different techniques... my advantages are defence and support- with some surprising offensive monster abilities to save me in tough spots.
Genjutsu has already been maxed out... hearing is not needed as I can see plenty well when not in a civilian crowded street.
Plus I already have a skill to improve my hearing.
Reactive speeds? If I hone in on it specifically maybe I can get Uchiha levels of reaction time... even if it is only one tomoe of reactive speed.
Speed in general is great but I should break it down into many different statistics unlike strength so I can effectively 'raise' the max level speeds can go.
Acceleration? Getting to a top speed in moments would be insane- I can imagine my shapeshifting being much more instant and terrifying when the nightmare creature bursts out in a second and unches at you, would increase my jumping ability as well if I don't have to wind up and can leap in an instant.
Maybe I should do both?
Acceleration and Reaction speed would increase my power by a huge chunk if levelled up together and allow me to explore both stats fully.
...
Then it is settled on what I will be doing.
