Outside the research facility, atop the massive boulder blocking the entrance, Yamanaka Shinno sat cross-legged. He opened his personal system panel, which he hadn't checked in detail for quite some time.
...
Host: Yamanaka Shinno
Profession: Shinobi
Activated Traits: Transmigrator (Red), Yin Release Master (Purple), Call It Out! (Purple), Spatial Awareness (Purple), King of Knowledge (Blue), Water Release Mastery (Blue), Handsome (Blue)
Unactivated Traits: Hardened Survivor (White), Fragile but Tenacious (White), Bro, You Smell So Good (White), Always Smiling (White)
Trait Gifts: 4
Trait Duplication: 1
Trait Removal: 1
Trait Upgrade: 1 (Blue)
Trait Downgrade: 1
...
"I've accumulated four Trait Gift chances?"
Shinno skimmed through the system logs, scrolling through the various notifications:
Completed a mission with the three little ones – one reward.
Killed Suikazan Fuguki – another reward.
Stirred up trouble with Pakura – yet another.
And now, messing with Minato earned him one more.
"I should probably clear out those white traits later. They're starting to pile up."
Muttering to himself, he shifted his focus to the remaining rewards.
Trait Copy was self-explanatory.
Ever since he learned about Minato's Ultra-Fast Reflexes, he had been eyeing it to perfect the Flying Thunder God technique.
Trait Removal, on the other hand, wasn't immediately useful.
But its potential was undeniable—it could be even more valuable than Trait Copy.
Imagine this:
Nagato controls the Six Paths of Pain and comes charging in.
Shinno activates Trait Removal, instantly stripping the Rinnegan from his system.
The six bodies drop like flies.
Nagato, now blind, would have to rely solely on his Uzumaki chakra reserves and the basic jutsu Jiraiya had taught him.
At that point...
If he didn't beat Nagato into the dirt, he might as well quit being a shinobi!
"Keh keh keh~"
A sinister grin spread across Shinno's face as he let out a villainous chuckle straight out of an evil sect elder's playbook.
Once he'd finished basking in his own deviousness, he turned his attention to the Blue Trait Upgrade.
The ability to upgrade a blue trait directly to purple—there was no questioning the value of such a reward.
The only problem was... should he use it now?
Shinno glanced at his three blue traits, thoroughly conflicted.
If they were something like Minato's Strategic Mind or Lucky Star, Might Guy's Extreme Recovery, or Genma Shiranui's Influenced by Peers, he wouldn't hesitate to upgrade immediately.
But his three blue traits were Water Release Mastery, King of Knowledge, and Handsome.
Upgrade?
It felt like a waste of such a precious reward.
Don't upgrade?
What was the point of hoarding power-ups if not to strengthen himself? Was he supposed to save them for the afterlife to chat with the Sage of Six Paths?
"Damn system. Couldn't you at least provide a preview of the upgrade effects?"
Cursing under his breath, Shinno hesitated for only a moment before finally deciding to upgrade Water Release Mastery.
Neither Handsome nor King of Knowledge directly improved his combat abilities. In this cruel shinobi world, strength was the foundation of everything!
...
A surge of knowledge flooded his mind as the trait evolved.
The experience of mastering countless Water Release jutsu took root in his consciousness at an alarming rate:
Hydrification Technique
Water Iron Cannon
Water Mirror Technique
Water Sphere
Oil Transformation
Mirage
Steaming Danger Tyranny
Great Water Arm
Hydration Healing Technique
Medical Water Release: Water Mosquito
Medical Water Release: Water Jellyfish
Techniques that had once been locked away due to requiring a special kekkei genkai suddenly became second nature to him.
Jutsu he had only skimmed through in the Second Mizukage's legacy now felt as if he had practiced them for decades.
Memories from his time in the Analysis Division surfaced, bringing forth countless Water Release techniques he had gleaned from reading others' experiences.
Powerful water.
Surging water.
Piercing water.
Corrosive water.
Gentle water.
Destruction and rebirth.
The hardest and the softest element combined.
Shinno opened his eyes and raised his right hand. A stream of water, moving as if it had a will of its own, slithered across his palm.
In the next moment, his entire right arm liquefied, turning into a translucent, fluid-like state.
"Partial Hydrification Technique... feels weird."
Poking at his liquid arm with his left index finger, his finger passed through effortlessly, sending tiny ripples through his limb.
As the technique deactivated, his arm reformed, completely unharmed.
"Like sweating... but instead of salt, I lose water?"
Glancing at the droplets on the ground, he made a one-handed seal, absorbing moisture from the air. His body swelled slightly, and his strength visibly increased.
"The Great Water Arm jutsu lets me draw water from the air... but if there's not enough, it still drains my body's supply."
Testing various techniques one by one, Shinno gained a newfound appreciation for the genius of the Hozuki Clan's ancestors.
It also helped explain why Suigetsu was constantly drinking water in Shippuden.
For those who inherited the clan's bloodline, learning these secret techniques wasn't the hard part.
The real challenge was absorbing enough water while using them.
But for Shinno?
That wasn't a problem at all.
At this point, the only thing separating him from Tobirama Senju's fabled Sea Release was chakra reserves.
"So the threshold for a kekkei genkai is mastering an elemental trait at the purple level?"
As he repeatedly tested his Hydrification Technique, Shinno started to wonder what kind of kekkei genkai he could develop once he obtained similar purple-level traits in other elements.
After thoroughly experimenting with his newfound abilities, he glanced around and saw that Minato had yet to return.
His right hand still partially liquefied, he conjured a Rasengan and slowly infused it with Water Release properties.
Boom!
His arm exploded into a splash of water.
Frowning, he tried again.
Buzz~ Boom!
Buzz buzz~ Boom!
Buzz buzz buzz~ Boom!!
Time and time again, his arm disintegrated into water before reforming.
After over an hour of repeated attempts, with his chakra nearly depleted, he finally managed to grasp the basics—thanks to Call It Out!, which granted him exceptional chakra control.
But truly mastering this technique?
Who knew how long it would take?
"Damn it! If Naruto could develop the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Kishimoto must've given him some insane plot armor!"
Shinno cursed internally.
He had learned countless jutsu, even S-rank forbidden techniques, but none had ever made him feel so utterly clueless.
This was hard.
Too damn hard!
Rasengan's high-speed rotation turned Water Release into a berserk force.
It was like compressing countless high-pressure water cutters into a single sphere. A slight misalignment, and it would self-destruct.
And to make things worse, those water cutters elongated and deformed as the Rasengan spun faster.
Who in their right mind could handle this?!
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