Yamanaka Shinno was feeling pretty pleased with himself after the strength boost from the purple trait [Water Release Mastery].
Then his failed attempt at the Water Release smacked him back to reality like a bucket of cold water.
But Shinno had never been the type to give up easily.
Sitting cross-legged on a rock, his gaze drifted blankly toward the horizon. As he slowly recovered his chakra, he kept running through the mechanics of the Water Release: Rasengan in his mind.
He had been in the Naruto world for over a decade now. In the early years, the pressure to survive meant he never slacked off in training. But ever since the system had activated, it had been a long time since he had trained this seriously.
The idea of creating the Water Release: Rasengan reignited that old motivation within him!
Time passed, second by second.
The setting sun painted the vast ocean in hues of gold and crimson.
The eight surviving research staff had been working nonstop from noon until evening. Finally, they had managed to move all the dismantlable lab equipment outside. Years of research data had also been carefully packed and categorized.
The three-masted ship that had been temporarily anchored ten nautical miles away had since moved into the bay beside the Summoning Island.
By the time Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Honoka returned to the research station, the sun had already dipped below the horizon. They carried a measly stack of 'research materials' barely three fingers thick.
"Three seconds?"
Shinno shot Minato a disdainful look.
"I… uh… got held up."
Minato looked so embarrassed he might as well have been digging a house with his toes. His entire face, from his neck to his ears, was flushed red like a boiled shrimp.
It wasn't intentional! He really hadn't been able to leave at the time!
"Sure, sure, I get it."
Shinno smirked knowingly. One glance at Honoka, who was hiding behind Minato, too embarrassed to show her face, and it was obvious.
Even if they hadn't gotten that far, things had clearly progressed quickly.
"Well, anyway, it's getting late. I'll finish dealing with this equipment, and then we should set sail soon."
Minato, still looking flustered, quickly seized the chance to change the subject. Seeing Shinno wave him off dismissively, he wasted no time grabbing Honoka and calling upon the toads of Mount Myoboku to transport the research equipment and materials back to Konoha.
"Ah, young love…" Shinno sighed dramatically, shaking his head.
He was just about to use his trait copy ability to snatch Minato's purple trait [Ultra-Fast Reflexes] when his eyes flicked over to Honoka's traits—and suddenly froze.
...
Name: Uzumaki Honoka
Occupation: Researcher
Traits: Vast Chakra Reserves (Purple), Kagura Mind's Eye (Blue), Sealing Mastery (Green), Beauty (Green), Mutual Devotion (Green)
...
Wait a second. Wasn't that new?
Shinno had already checked Honoka's traits earlier, back when Minato had rescued her in the research facility.
If he remembered correctly, she had only had four traits at the time: Vast Chakra Reserves, Kagura Mind's Eye, Sealing Mastery, and Beauty.
Vast Chakra Reserves was the same trait Kushina had, significantly increasing the amount of chakra in her body. It was likely an innate talent from her pure Uzumaki lineage.
Kagura Mind's Eye was also an Uzumaki clan ability. It explained how Honoka had been able to project her voice into both Shinno and Minato's minds earlier.
Sealing Mastery and Beauty weren't anything particularly surprising.
But this sudden addition of Mutual Devotion…
Mutual Devotion (Green): When in a sincere romantic relationship and receiving wholehearted care from a beloved partner, the individual's abilities will gradually improve, slowly catching up to their partner if their abilities are higher.
"First the world gives its golden boy plot armor, and now even his girlfriend gets a cheat code?"
Shinno stared up at the sky in exasperation.
He really couldn't understand it.
If it was just a simple case of Honoka developing a crush on Minato due to the suspension bridge effect after being rescued, that would make sense.
But Mutual Devotion? What the hell?
How did these two manage to reach a state of mutual understanding and unwavering love in less than a day?!
"Damn it! What exactly did they do all afternoon?!"
Shinno, who was still reeling from his failure with the Water Release: Rasengan, suffered yet another mental blow.
Even though Mutual Devotion was only a green-tier trait, its effect was ridiculously strong!
Right now, Honoka—aside from her impressive chakra reserves—wasn't even on par with a veteran Chunin.
And Minato? He was one of the strongest young ninja in the entire world!
Sure, he might not be on the same level as monsters like the Third Raikage yet, but he was undeniably Kage-tier!
With Mutual Devotion in play, Honoka's power was going to skyrocket in no time.
"Good thing… good thing my cheats are even stronger!"
Shinno glanced at the system's still-unused rewards.
After reassuring himself for a while, he finally turned his attention back to Minato, who was summoning more toads to transport the research materials to Konoha.
"System, I want to copy Minato's 'Ultra-Fast Reflexes'."
[Trait copied successfully. Congratulations, host, you have acquired the purple trait 'Ultra-Fast Reflexes.']
Ultra-Fast Reflexes (Purple): Innate ultra-fast neural reflexes, making the world appear in slow motion. Greatly enhances reaction speed, hand seal speed, chakra flow speed, and jutsu casting speed.
As soon as the system notification appeared, Shinno activated the trait—and immediately felt a tingling sensation in his scalp.
The world around him started to slow down.
Minato's repeated use of the Summoning Jutsu…
The researchers moving equipment…
Everything looked like it was playing in slow motion.
"Bullet time…?"
Shinno's eyes widened in surprise.
He hadn't expected Ultra-Fast Reflexes to be this overpowered.
Lifting his arm, he tried forming hand seals.
His previous speed of five seals per second had now jumped to seven! He could even feel that his nerves weren't the limit—the bottleneck was now the speed of his fingers and wrists!
Glancing at Minato, who was still busy, Shinno was about to return to the ship to test his new abilities.
Then the system pinged again.
[Detected compatibility between purple traits 'Call It Out!' and 'Ultra-Fast Reflexes.' Would you like to fuse them?]
"Fuse them!"
Shinno didn't hesitate.
The last time it had resulted in the incredibly useful [King of Knowledge – Ninja World Edition].
With two purple traits merging, there was no way the result would be worse!
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