I had little problem keeping myself alive in the face of the ferocious beasts that dwelled in that place, but it was mainly the intricacies of 'survival' that I had issues with. Kotoe didn't allow me any equipment because 'There will be times when you are alone in a foreign environment with nothing more than your two legs and feet to keep you company. You have to learn to survive without having a lot of materials.'
The only saving grace of this whole thing was that she allowed me to have some water and that I got repeat quests for surviving in this place. That, however, didn't change the fact that I had to learn how to hunt for my food, find clean sources of water, and learn which plants were poisonous or not. That last one, especially, was a painfully learned lesson as I managed to increase my poison resistance quite a bit.
At least they now had less effect on me.
I made sure the storage seals where I kept the pelts were all safe before I made my way out of the gates to the forest.
Daily Quest Complete!
Training Arc IV
Objective 1: Survive for 3 or more days in the forest of death while completing your Teacher's objectives.
Objective 1 reward: 1000 EXP, +1 Stat Points
I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion before I noticed that a colorful looking scroll on the ground in front of me. It was hard to miss, but the most notable thing was that t had my name.
"A message from Kotoe." I thought before I moved towards it. I suddenly stopped when I thought of something. With narrowed eyes, I jumped backward while throwing a handful of kunai near the scroll.
Instantly, the place around where I had been was barraged with throwing needles and out of nowhere a net trap appeared from the ground and snapped up the empty area that I had been in.
My eye twitched before I looked around some more and decided it was safe. I picked up the scroll and quickly read through its contents.
Hey Yoru, if you have managed to get to this scroll without falling into the traps, then I'm happy to say that my training paid off.
Anyway, I kinda knew when you were coming out, so if you are reading this then make sure to shower up and meet me at the Namikaze-Uzumaki house.
I wondered if it was one of those days where I could hang out there? But I wasn't surprised that she had been watching over me during my training in this place. Regardless I shrugged and made my way back home. With a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes, I made my way to Minato and Kushina's place.
I knocked on the door a couple times and scratched my chin in thought when I got no answer. "Well if they are expecting me…" I placed my right palm on a seal tag that was on the door and flared my chakra. The seal glowed for a second then the door opened for me.
If I hadn't been expected, then the seal would simply not function and if I tried to force my way in...well it's a good thing I never did. I walked into the house and noticed that it was pretty dark inside and it had me wondering if they had really been expecting me. I switched on the light switch right next to me and covered my eyes for a moment as I adjusted to the brightness-
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
My eyes widened as I gazed upon the forms of Team Minato, the Namikaze himself, Kushina, and my own teacher Kotoe. Everyone was smiling save for Kakashi who really never smiled.
"...You guys." I said softly.
My teacher grinned then dragged me to the cake that was prepared. It had 5 thin candles on top that burned with a small flame, "I know that you usually didn't celebrate your birthday, but I thought it would be a good change of pace if we were to celebrate it today." She paused as she put her hands on my shoulders and made me face the cake, "Now then birthday boy make a wish."
I looked at the smiling faces of the people that were here before me, then at the burning candles on the cake as an unknown feeling welled up inside me. I couldn't quite comprehend why I felt this way and I didn't know what to do.
"Eh? Yoru are you okay?" I heard Kushina ask as she looked at me worriedly. I didn't know why she was worried and I could see my caretaker looking at me with a slight frown before she smiled warmly.
"It's alright Yoru. I got your back." She stated before she wiped something from beneath my eyes and it was then that I noticed.
My eyes were wet.
"...Something got into them." I muttered, though, from everyone's smiling faces, I got the impression they didn't believe me.
"Of course it did Yoru." Kotoe said with a knowing smirk, "Now blow out the candles and make your wish already, we need to move unto the presents." I nodded and closed my eyes for a moment beforer opening them and blowing out the candles. Kotoe cut up the cake and distributed it to the people around. I had the pleasure of seeing Kakashi eat the cake without removing his mask.
I wondered how he did that?
"Alright time for the main event." Kotoe stated, snapping me out of my thoughts. She turned towards me with a couple scrolls in her possession before she handed them to me, "Happy birthday Yoru."
I took the scrolls in her hands and my eyes widened, "These are…!"
Would you like to learn the skill 'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu'?
Yes/No
Would you like to learn the skill 'Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu'?
Yes/No
I dismissed the prompts while watching my mentor, "I have had you build on your foundations for about a year now, so I think you are ready." She paused as she pointed at the scrolls, "I believe it is best for you to focus on these two for now since these elements are the ones I'm most proficient in. I wouldn't want you to focus on too much for now."
I nodded as I understood the subtle meaning of her words. Even though I had affinities for all 5 chakra natures, it would be time-consuming for me to become proficient in the techniques of all 5 nature types while simultaneously focusing on my normal training routine.
Seeing me understand, she smiled then looked towards Minato and Kushina. "Well go on, I'm not the only one who got you something you know." I tried not to act surprised as I walked up to the couple.
I noticed the lightly smiling faces of Minato and Kushina and it was the former who spoke, "Yoru, it's been great having you around. Kushina and I really didn't know what to get you for today, but then we remembered…" He took out a scroll and a bunch of paint brushes and presented them to me alongside a fuuinjutsu seal tag. "We remembered that you showed interest in fuuinjutsu, but I couldn't really give you instructions since I had my own team to work on-"
"-and I hadn't known you well enough at the time to allow you to learn my clan secrets." Kushina finished, but she continued with a smile, "but I believe in your character and I won't mind giving you some tips and advice on them." She then handed me a book and pointed to it and the scrolls in my hand, "We decided it would be fine for you to have some tools to practice with so the scroll and brushes are to help you practice your calligraphy while this book is some basic information on fuinjutsu such as the basic storage tags and exploding tags."
She picked up seal tag that Minato gave me alongside the scroll and brushes before pressing her finger in the center of the seal on the tag. I raised my brow when her finger was painted black and she looked at me with a smile, "This is a specially made storage seal that has a lot of ink. All you have to do is press your brush in the center of the seal and it will give you some ink to work with. This should last you a few months."
Before even giving me a moment to be surprised, Kushina took the scroll Minato gave me, opened it, and drew a line through the white paper with her inked finger. She explained to me, "This scroll is also specially made so that you can 'erase' all the ink marks you made on it while practicing your calligraphy. It will save you the trouble of having to buy new pieces of blank paper to practice with." She rolled up the scroll and pointed to a seal on the back of it "Channel chakra through here and it will erase the marks you made on the scroll."
I took the scroll and did just that. The seal lines lit up with a dull light before I opened the scroll and noticed that the streak Kushina had made was gone.
"Happy birthday Yoru." They stated with a smile.
I gripped the scroll tightly, placed my hands to my sides, and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for your gift. I promise you that I will never betray the trust and expectations you have for me. If there is any way that I can ever repay you-"
"Oi! Stop being so uptight and just accept it!" I heard Obito say as he came up to me a displeased expression on his face, "We didn't come here because of some expectations or whatever. We came here to celebrate the day you were born, eat some cake, and have some fun!" I could tell everyone agreed from their smiling faces and the slightly less impassive expression on Kakashi's face, though I couldn't really tell with that mask on.
"...Thank you, everyone." I said softly
"Alright enough of this!" Obito grabbed my wrist while I looked on impassively. Though the grin on his face was mildly unsettling.
"Let's play!"
Day 710
Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as almost 2 years had passed since I had 'regained consciousness' in this world, so to speak, or whatever had happened to me. Ever since my birthday almost a year ago, my visits to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound had been slightly more frequent, but my training schedule hadn't changed too much. My teacher had added some ninjutsu training after that day, mainly focusing on the scrolls that she gave me, and the basics of ninjutsu that all ninja were supposed to learn.
Kawarimi (Active) Lvl 35 [23.65%]
Kawarimi is a technique that allows the user to replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood or a log, the moment an attack lands. With an increase in level, the distance that you can replace your body with objects increases.
Current Range: 350 meters.
Costs: 50 CP
Henge (Active) Lvl 65
The henge technique is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives the technique a wide range of versatility. There is a caveat, however, as a transformation performed by an inexperienced person will have obvious discrepancies and it will be impossible to deceive anyone with it. Leveling up this skill will allow the realism of your transformation to increase and at a certain level, your 'transformations' become more than mere illusions and actually become true transformations that will be nearly impossible to tell apart from the real thing.
65% Henge Realism
Costs: 50 CP
Shunshin (Active) Lvl 90 [23.42%]
The Shunshin, also known as the Body Flicker technique, is a skill that ninja can use to move long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalize the body and move at extreme speeds
Current range: 900 meters
Costs: 100 CP
Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu (Active) Lvl 45 [12.34%]
Water Bullet Jutsu allows the user to shoot compressed balls of water from their mouth. The technique's range, the number of bullets and power increases proportionally to its level.
Current Range: 45 meters
Damage: 450% ENGY
Current # of Bullets: 4
Cost: 350 CP
Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu (Active) Lvl 48 [43.23%]
The Lightning Strike Jutsu allows the user to create an electric current that can hit multiple individuals at the same time. Furthermore, it can extend incredible distances and can avoid obstacles.
Current range: 96 meters
Damage: 528% ENGY
Cost: 500 CP
I smiled as I looked at the increase in my skill set and levels. There was honestly a lot of skills that I had improved upon and a few more I had gained along the way such as,
Basic Calligraphy (Passive) Lvl 20 [34.58%]
A basic and non-combative technique that improves one's penmanship and their artistic side. Allows for better-drawn pictures, written kanji, and designs.
Penmanship improved by 20%
Writing speed increased by 20%
20% chance of having no faults in characters drawn
More importantly, I had gained a few skills after my base stats had reached 50. The bonuses I got from my skills did not count towards receiving perk skills for my stats, but in the end, I couldn't complain especially since they were pretty useful.
Energy Conductor (Passive) Lvl [Max]
Energy Conductor is the ability is given to those with high amounts of any form of Energy. The user becomes more in tune with their own energy's nature allowing them greater energy control.
20% Increase to your energy regeneration
20% Increase to your energy capacity
10% Damage increase to energy based attacks
High Energy Capacity (Passive) Lvl Max
High Energy Capacity is an elite ability given to the few users that are born with a very exceptional ability to handle any form of Energy.
30% Damage Increase to Energy-Based attacks
20% Less Energy Usage for all abilities.
Eidetic Memory (Passive) Lvl Max
Eidetic Memory is an ability given to extremely Intelligent individuals. This allows for the one given the ability to recall everything they perceive with an accuracy of 100% percent.
Perception (Passive) Lvl Max
Perception is a skill granted to those with great Wisdom. With great brain capability comes the increase in efficiency of all human senses. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch and Smell increase by your percentage WIS value. (If you have 200 WIS, then your senses will increase by 200%)
Iron Body (Passive) Lvl Max
Iron Body is an ability given to those rare few born with surpassing Vitality. The user possesses a body with great resistance to harm and unending strength to endure.
50% Increase to Chakra recovery rate.
25% Increase to Durability
10% Increase to total HP amount.
10% Increase to total Chakra amount.
Dense muscle (Passive) Lvl Max
Dense muscle is a skill given to those with overwhelming Strength. The denseness of your muscled increases greatly, allowing you to suffer less damage from physical attacks.
Your STR value counts as damage reduction to physical attacks
Cat's Grace (Passive) Lvl Max
Cat's Grace is a skill given to those with a high level of dexterity and allows you to have the elegance of movement as a feline. You acquire 'Cat Like' reflexes and you take less damage from falling from extraordinary heights that would usually damage you.
50% increase to reflexes and movement speed
Decrease fall damage by 50%
My base ENGY stat had already reached 100 and so I had gained another Passive perk for it. I had almost broken my impassive facade at the face my teacher made when she had checked my chakra some time back. Apparently, I had as much chakra as a Jonin level shinobi with even more control than the average ninja. I got the feeling that she was a tad envious at me from how she tortu- trained me afterward.
There were a lot of other skills that I had improved upon such as my Chakra Sonar and a variety of others, but I stopped myself from checking them as I saw my destination. It was the mouth of a dark cave where Kotoe stated she had kept my graduation gift.
I gripped my fists as I thought about how Michigan I knew I would miss being with her. The thought that I would eventually join the ranks of ROOT and go off on my own had barely registered to me in the close to 2 years I spent with my teacher. It wasn't until she had told me that my training with her would be over soon, did I realize how much I cared for that woman. She was the closest thing to a mother I had, but she was also my teacher and friend.
I shook my head from those thoughts as the mouth of the cave stared me back. Even though I would go my own way, that didn't mean that I would not see Kotoe or that she wouldn't be my teacher anymore, it was just that I would be unable to see her as often. I imagine that I would be in a lot of missions especially due to the currently escalating tensions between the villages.
War was annoying.
Regardless of my feelings, I needed to pass her test and get that gift. I looked at my stats and prepared for the challenge ahead
Name: Yorudan
Race: Human?
Level: Lvl 40 Next Level: 1,250/82,100
HP: 12922/12922 Regen: (226.15 per min)
CP: 32857/32857 Regen: (640.72 per min)
CC: 95%
STR: 129.2
VIT: 138.7
DEX: 136.8
INT: 200.1
WIS: 190.9
ENGY: 336
Points: 287
Ryo: 1000
My Observe has risen to such a level that I was able to see my teacher's complete stats. I wasn't surprised when I noticed that she still outclassed me in most of my stats, but it made me realize that I still had a long way to go. My teacher had told me that simply judging from my physical prowess, I would be classified as a Mid-Chunin level shinobi.
In conjunction with the fact that my training had become more diversified over time, my physical training had been giving me stat points at a slower rate thereby limiting the number of times I could grow stronger. Regardless, I was confident enough that I would be fine for this test.
With that, I used my Chakra Sonar skill in order to detect any chakra signatures that may have been hidden.
Chakra Sonar (Passive/Active) LV 65 [5.45%]
DEFAULT SETTING: (1 pulse every 5 seconds)
MAXIMUM RANGE: (650 meters)
Cost: 5 CP per pulse
I got some feedback soon after, and my brows furrowed as I felt a large life signature in the cave. I knew she would not have made this easy, but a boy could still dream. With caution in my steps, I made my way into the cave, my Sonar skill set on autopilot effectively making me a sensor. I paid attention as the life signature I had locked onto moved and tightly gripped my kunai as it headed towards me.
I wish I could have just snuck in and taken the item, but of course, my sensei wanted proof of my victory over the guardian of this cavern, so sneaking wasn't an option. My eyes narrowed as the beast was suddenly 400 meters away and seemed to be charging straight at me. In less than a second, it was suddenly 250 meters away, but I gripped my weapon and waited for it to arrive.
The ground around me seemed to quake as a gargantuan 5 meters tall figure appeared in front of me. It had armored scales creating a rugged hide; Slitted eyes, and a forked tongue. Through its gaping maw, I noticed it's saliva dripping with tinges of blood.
"A gigantic Komodo Dragon," I thought.
Neat.
Ping!
Daily Quest Alert!
Training Arc Finale
Your beautiful but sadistic teacher has trained you in the skills expected of a shinobi, but now it is time for you to graduate. Of course, considering what type of individual she is, your teacher is not going to make this easy. Show her how much you have grown.
Objective 1: Defeat the Gigantic Komodo Dragon and take proof of your kill
Objective 2: Secure your Graduation present
Objective 1 reward: +5 Stat points
Objective 2 reward: A Cool Graduation Present
Failure: Kotoe will be disappointed in you. You don't want that
Do You Accept?
Y/N
I selected Y just in time to hear the beast release a deafening roar. I had to close my eyes at the wind generated from the giant lizard and my nose wrinkled in disgust at the thing's rancid breath.
"Observe"
Giant Komodo Dragon LVL 38
HP: 50,000
CP: 20,000
STR: 230
VIT: 300
DEX: 100
INT: 50
WIS: 30
ENGY: 150
LUK: 5
Perks:
Dense Scales: Reduces physical damage by 30%.
Description:
A giant beast that dwells inside a cave located in the depths of the forest of death. This beast is very territorial and will attack anyone who trespasses in its domain, granted that it realizes that they have trespassed. It's tough scales create a natural defense that reduces the effectiveness of attacks and its venom is as deadly as its size. Tread carefully.
EXP Gain: 25,000
Drops: ?, ?, ?
"She never fails to make things Interesting…" With that, I jumped backward as the claw of the monster smashed the ground where I once stood. My hands blurred as I flipped through hand seals causing my cheeks to swell with fluid and 4 bullets of highly pressurized water to spew from my mouth.
In an amazing show of dexterity for its size, the giant lizard managed to dodge 2 of the 4 speeding water bullets with a quick tilt is its head. The impact of the two bullets that hit it, however, caused the beast to step back a step, though other than that it looked more enraged than hurt.
450% ENGY = 1512
1512 + Damage Bonuses = 2495
450% ENGY = 1512
1512 + Damage Bonuses = 2495
HP: 45,010/50,000
With a roar of fury and a show of amazing speed, the beast turned its body and swung its tail towards me at incredibly high speeds. Right before the attack made contact, I ducked and went through a few hand signs, but I was forced to jump out of the way as stones flew towards me.
The Lizard may have missed its mark, but it used its tail's momentum to impact the expansive cave's wall and send large shards of rock my way. With my vision obstructed, my danger sense suddenly screamed at me to move to which I quickly responded by jumping up in the air, just in time for a gaping jaw to snap at the area I had just been standing.
Now airborne, I had little ability to dodge and could only watch forebodingly as glowing red lines appeared on the Komodo Dragon's neck. With a roar of exertion, the immense lizard shot an intense beam of red flames that shot towards me at near sonic speeds.
"A fire-breathing Komodo Dragon...neat."
I remained calm as the chakra, that I had channeled through my earlier hand seals, flowed through me and vibrates at an intense frequency. The whole process occurred almost instantaneously and with a silent shout, I launched a powerful electric current from my hands which impacted the beam of fire that had been thrown my way.
The force of my attack was enough to rebuff me to the cave ceiling after which I stopped my attack and went through some hand seals, just before the lizard's attack impacted me.
All it saw were the ashy remains of a log from my substitution, but I didn't allow it any time to regain its bearings. I appeared right next to its large open eye and I could notice the dilation of the dragon's slitted pupils as it caught sight of me beside it. The lizard was too slow to react to the intense current of light that shot out from my outstretched arm.
"Lightning Style: Raigeki (Lightning Strike)"
Critical!
528% ENGY = 1774
1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930
2930 x 2 = 5860
HP: 39,150/50,000
The enormous reptile roared in pain at the damage my attack had done to it. It closed its now mostly destroyed eye and tried to turn its head to glare at me
But I was no longer there.
As soon as my attack connected, I snuck into the underbelly of the beast where there were no scales to protect itself. I reinforced my body with chakra increasing my body's Attack, Speed, and defensive capabilities. With a leap, I cocked my fist back and impacted the exposed belly of the reptile.
(STR + VIT + DEX) x 3 = 1214
1214 + Added Bonuses = 2915
HP: 36,235/50,000
The strength of my impact lifted it off the ground and I heard its roar of fury as pain no doubt spread through its body, but I furrowed my brows. This thing had an immense level of vitality and it would take me more than a few hits to finally kill it.
I broke myself out of my thoughts and leaped away from the now rampaging beast. Its throes of anger was causing it to thrash about and indiscriminately target anything in its immediate surroundings.
"I could work with that."
It was distracted and angry, giving me enough time to do something I had practiced before. I flipped through the hand seals for my water gun technique, filling up my mouth with fluid in the process. With that set, I flipped through the hand signs for my Lightning Strike.
My lungs filled with air and my mouth with water, I released 4 bullets of pressurized water at the rampaging beast. Before the bullets had even traveled a foot away from me, I channeled the lightning, from my Raigeki, into the bullets thereby drastically increasing their destructive and penetrative power.
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
528% + 450% ENGY = 3286
3286 + Damage Bonuses = 6245
HP: 11,255/50,000
My highly pressurized electric water attacks had pierced through the lizard's hide and shocked it from within. The compounded damage caused the monster to howl in agony, though it was still alive.
One of the reasons my teacher had given me a lightning and water technique to work with was because they complemented each other. Since water could conduct lightning, a lightning release technique could be used to increase the damage of a water release technique. The best part was that the combination attack also included both my Natural Lightning Affinity bonuses and my Natural Water Affinity bonuses into the damage calculation. This meant currently when I used the attack, I would get a 50% bonus to my jutsu effect instead of the individual 25% bonus when I used just a single element.
My combination attack, however, took a long enough time to prepare that it was not suitable to use in the midst of a battle unless the enemy was severely distracted. Shinobi battled at high speeds and battles between two enemies could last less than 15 seconds during which hundreds of moves could have been exchanged. Fortunately, I was facing a beast who wasn't quite as intelligent nor nearly as fast as a skilled shinobi.
I noticed smoke coming out of the rather large bullet holes from my attack and I capitalized on this opportunity.
Tiger → Snake → Dog
I rushed up to the rampaging beast, ducked a rage induced tail swipe to my head, and jumped up to the bloody hole on the beast's side. My hand charged with lightning, I stuck it inside the reptile's gaping wound.
"Lightning Style: Raigeki"
Fatal!
528% ENGY = 1774
1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930
2930 x 5 = 14650
HP: 0/50,000
The beast gave one last deafening cry of anguish before it slumped to the ground dead. I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion and sat down next to the downed lizard, idly using my Chakra Sonar skill to make sure that there weren't any more enemies near me.
My last attack, based on the physiology of most quadruped reptiles, had most likely pierced its heart. The wounds left by my Lightning/Water combination attack had been very deep, allowing me access to the exposed inner flesh of the Komodo Dragon. I had aimed my combination attack near the heart of the beast giving me easier access to it after the lightning water bullets had pierced its hide.
With that, my Lightning Strike was easily able to reach its heart through its soft flesh allowing for a much faster kill.
I rotated my arms around to get rid of the invisible stiffness and tilted my neck enough to hear a small 'crack'. With that, I turned to face the beast and raised my brow in surprise at a message I had received.
Would you like to loot the enemy and allow only the necessary drops to remain?
Y/N
"This is making it more like a game." I thought as I shrugged and clicked Y. The monster suddenly turned into motes of light, that sunk into the cavern floor, before a few items dropped to the ground: Some large fangs, The monster's hide, and a glowing red orb that seemed to pulse with energy.
I picked them up and read through their descriptions.
Komodo Dragon Fang (20):
A large fang from the mouth of a large Komodo dragon. It has venomous properties from the beast it was once a part of that can be extracted and used for a variety of things from making antidotes
Komodo Dragon Scales:
The scales of Giant Komodo dragons boast superb defensive abilities and are furthermore conductive to chakra. They can be sown into a material to promote their defensive capabilities and longevity.
Chakra Beast Core (Komodo Dragon):
Powerful chakra beasts sometimes generate a core, made up of crystalized chakra, that is based on one of their attributes. These cores can be absorbed by humans with chakra or other chakra beasts to improve their physical capabilities and, based on the attribute of the Chakra Beast the core came from, they can also be used to improve one's chakra affinity.
Gain 10% of the Komodo Dragon's STR, VIT, And ENGY stat
Greatly increase your Natural Fire Affinity
I raised my brow while looking at the description of the last one.
"Well...that's new."
I loved and hated writing this chapter. I felt like it was an info dump, but I liked writing the interaction Yoru had with the people in his life. I wanted to make it faster without seeming like I was rushing, but I have no idea how I did. I at least hope the battle was satisfying.
Also yes, the ninja's in Naruto have VERY high reaction speeds. Some may not agree or like the fact that I make them sonic level to High hypersonic speeds in some cases, but that's how I have interpreted their physical abilities based on the show and other pieces of evidence. I don't feel like ranting about evidence to support my decision and it is also my fanfiction so meh.
(P.S. I use for my power and level scaling a good amount of the time, though I, of course, adjust it to my needs.)