Tobio gave in to his rage and let his mind clear of the distractions. There weren't the eyes of the various shinobi around him, or the outside concerns for holding back. Here and now, there was himself and Lee. His opponent, his sword, and the will to cut. Them. Down. Everything else, every clever plan he had, or ingenious strategy, was suborned in favor of that bleeding edge where instinct met skill.
He didn't think.
What use was a brain, consciousness, revolving around itself in a spiral, when faced with such a foe? Useless!
And so he roared, eyes bright, blade swiping through the air with a keening whistle as he twisted all of his might into it. It would have been enough to bisect most people, or at the very least cause them grievous injury. Most people were not Rock Lee, however. Where Tobio had talent, skill, and innate gifts…the bushy-eyebrowed boy opposite to him had none of those things.
Nothing but a stubborn will, and his own library of painfully engraved lessons that made him move like a phantom. Lee slid underneath the strike, dodging by a hair's breadth, and slipped past Tobio's guard, burying his fist in Tobio's ribs before darting back out of range. It was a good hit, and on any other Genin would have resulted in some bruised or broken ribs.
Most Genin didn't have unbreakable skeletons. What should have been a debilitating strike only forced Tobio back a few paces, eyes alight with a feverish delight. It hurt, and there would almost certainly be a bruise after the fight was over…but he was hardly taken off the board just from one hit.
The more important part of it, though, was that it hurt. Just off raw strength, Lee possessed the might to well and truly put Tobio on the back foot if he didn't take this seriously.
"That's good," Tobio breathed, heart racing, as his excitement began to build. "That's really good, Lee. Allow me to retort."
Something had come to Tobio's attention over the last day or so. He'd been slacking when it came to properly using and abusing his Origin. Oh sure, he came up with plenty of novel tricks with it, but there was more to be explored with it. His soul harbored a fragment of the Root, of Akasha, but what had Tobio done with it so far? Nothing worth mentioning in his eyes, even if he'd come exceptionally far for a new Genin in a matter of months. Yet there were some obvious ways to combine his favorite tricks with more well-known principles of chakra manipulation, wasn't there?
The Human Bullet Technique was one of his favorite jutsu. Scratch that, it was objectively his favorite jutsu, but the biggest problem with it was the requirement for hand seals. He could do it with one hand at this point, but even that wasn't fast enough. Not for the speeds he craved, nor was it entirely using his Origin of Ignition to the fullest potential. There were real monsters out there in the Nasuverse, like Shirou, who were doing things that with weaponized mental illness that he couldn't even fathom. If he wanted to catch out with those exemplars, or even remotely gain the possibility of developing his own Reality Marble, he needed to dig deeper than he had been.
So Tobio started to get creative in figuring out how to fix that. Naturally, nobody was going to thank him for the solution that he'd discovered after putting his prodigious brain, metaphysical leanings, and good amount of luck toward the problem. Mostly because the solution had come from the most unlikely of places.
When someone put too much chakra into the Tree Walking exercise, they created an explosion. Said explosion was seen as a direct failure of the technique, as you were meant to use it for adhesion rather than repulsion, but who said you had to use a technique exactly how it was meant to be used? Sometimes, doing the wrong thing in the right way could lead to something deliciously new.
Something dangerous.
In his soul, the portion of the Root that served as the metaphysical structure for which his life revolved was fundamentally an explosion. A short, quick burst that served as the genesis for something new. So he focused on that concept, knowing full well that what he was about to do was going to fuck up his sandals. But if it worked like how he'd suspect it would, it'd be worth the destruction. And…
Tobio just didn't care. Clothing could be replaced, but he thrill of a good fight was eternal, and he'd be doing himself and Rock Lee a disservice if he didn't put the enormity of his instincts toward defeating him. To pushing every single limit in his body to their utmost, as he threw everything on the line here and now. Chakra gathered under his feet, and then was expelled in a haphazard rush, as he erupted forward with a bang. Debris from the arena's floor was set flying as he was propelled toward his opponent, gaze shining with anticipation, as wind ripples against his face.
All while Tobio's teeth were bared in a feral grin, as he reared back for another slash.
He could imagine that the only thing that saved Lee from having his arm severely lacerated was the boy's own preternatural combat instincts. Even with the deft slide out of the way, he didn't escape suffering from a cut along the limb, though. It wasn't a deep one, the blade having missed anything particularly vital, only the tip of the blade running across his bicep with a narrow slice.
But it was first blood, and from a technique Tobio had developed on the spot. He could see the moment the glint in Rock Lee's eyes turned, as an internal calculus and determination was forming there. All while Tobio regained his proper footing and reviewed the technique's chakra usage and variables in a flash of insight.
Explosive movement from the tenketsu in his feet, directional, but theoretically capable from any tenketsu on his body if he was willing to ruin his clothing. Usage cases, shunshin-tier speed dodges or blitzes. A dangerous tool in his arsenal, to be sure, though just another among many.
"You're a dangerous foe, Tobio-san, coming at me with a strike like that," Lee spoke, pacing carefully to the side. The cut bled easily, but not enough to be a truly mortal or fraught wound.
Tobio gave him a scoff, rolling his eyes at those words. "Funny, coming from someone who punched me hard enough to break my ribs."
"And yet I didn't feel any break." The two of them stalked in slow circles, not getting any closer as they spoke, an unspoken lull in the match.
"Strange how that works, isn't it? Guess I drank my milk growing up, but you should be taking this more seriously."
His eyes lit up with self-righteous anger as he puffed up briefly. "What?"
"You're still too slow, but it ain't natural. You've got…what, weights?"
For a few brief seconds, Lee looked at Might Guy, as the man sighed out of the corner of Tobio's eyes. Then his neutral expression melted into a big, gleaming grin. "You heard him, Lee! He thinks he can take you on without your weights."
If Rock Lee was a bonfire in Tobio's preternatural senses, Might Guy was a conflagration. The kleshas were perhaps no less potent in him, but they were tightly controlled, and in their wake the five antitodes reigned supreme. To reach the heights of martial mastery, such as Might Guy had, one needed to not only hone their body into something more than a weapon.
They'd needed to push their spiritual enlightenment as well. How else could you ever hope to know and control your body if you did not know yourself at the same time? That was the only explanation Tobio could muster for why the taijutsu master was more self-controlled than even the Hokage.
What a frightening man.
"But you said it was only for emergencies!" Rock Lee protested, eyebrows narrowing together in confusion.
"I know. Just this once, though…you've got permission to cut loose."
A shiver ran up Tobio's spine at those words, as he tried not to vibrate with unbridled, anxious hope. Judging by the expression of shock, into mounting glee that began to spread across Lee's face, he seemed to have felt the same way.
While his memories of his original life and any personal information were null and void, certain things remained crisp in Tobio's mind. A lot of the information on various franchises that his perks came from, for example, was bright and burning beacons of knowledge. And, when it came to Naruto, a few select scenes stood out to him for their given impact.
He just never thought he'd get to see one firsthand.
Lee shot him a brief look of concern, but Tobio could only shake his head, grinning widely. "No, no. Take off your weights. I insist. I won't stop you. I'd be doing you a disservice to interrupt."
In a real fight, he would have taken the opportunity to attack any opponent who left themselves so open. This was hardly one for the same stakes, and frankly, his blood was too riled to ever attack Lee before he was fighting at full strength. To be on the other side of the Eight Gates and experience them firsthand was combat training that rarely ever came along.
With that motivation, Rock Lee didn't hesitate to reach down and unhook his leg weights. It seemingly was heavy, but the tiny weights were deceptively innocuous. To the point where it even had Tobio doubting if the reality of the situation would match what he remembered from the anime. After all, how much had things been different, as opposed to his lived experience?
It wasn't until Lee dropped them, and they made impact with the ground, that his thrill grew once more. The crash of crushed stone tiles as they cratered on either side of Lee was absurdly loud, to an almost comical degree. Tobio's eyes bugged out, as he couldn't even begin to imagine the conditioning that had to have gone into Lee's physique.
He'd been going fast before, but how much had those weights held back the boy…?
"Ah," Lee breathed. "Now I'll be able to go at my full speed."
"How fast are we talking, becau-"
Only months of training with Tekuno-sensei saved Tobio from Rock Lee's haymaker. Even then, it was a close thing, as the Mixed Blood tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, shock coloring his features at the sheer acceleration put on display from the Genin in front of him. All of it from no bloodlines, no hidden power system, just…straight, plain fitness brought to new terrifying heights.
Shinobi could be such bullshit.
And yet, Tobio was grinning from ear to ear as that shock disappeared, as he focused chakra into his feet and exploded away. His visual acuity was, at best, keeping up with Lee's movements. That was the best he could say about it, as their dance of dodging and attempted punches, kicks, or sword swings turned nigh incomprehensible to outside observers.
If it could be said that someone had the edge, though, it was Tobio. The long, sweeping swings of his blade monopolized so much space that it enabled the Mixed Blood to dictate the pace of the engagement. Tobio knew full well that giving Lee even the slightest amount of leeway in terms of getting up close and personal would spell his end.
The inability of his body to be broken was one thing, but internal trauma and concentrated damage to his joints, muscles, and ligaments were still a concern. So he did his best not to even allow himself to be put into that sort of opportunity, keeping the long, bladed edge turned toward the taijutsu-focused Genin. For a time, that was enough, until Lee disengaged, making some distance with a toss of several shuriken to force Tobio to dodge or parry them.
Not that he'd seemingly expected them to actually land, but it was a stalling measure. Something to give him the precious breaths he needed to unwrap his bindings just enough. Tobio just barely had enough time for himself to recognize the move that Lee was about to attempt. And then, even less time to realize something as Lee blinked out of sight.
…He'd been going slightly slower than his top speed, to lull Tobio into the wrong rhythm. "Well played-" Tobio started, before trying to twitch out of the way of the blow. But this time, he wasn't fast enough as he felt his brain knock against his skull as Lee axe-kicked him in the chin. It was enough to bring him aloft from the sheer force of it, registering through his rage as a distant pain.
And then, through what could only be described as a true amount of ninja bullshit, he found himself being kicked upward into the air. Blow after blow that ought to have knocked out a lesser combatant, or someone less durable, before the bandages wrapped around Tobio's body. All the while, his frantic grin never abated.
Because this was the fight he'd wanted. The battle to push him to new limits, through the haze of pain and a dozen different strikes that promised to bruise later. None of them were enough to take him out…but the Forward Lotus was a different story altogether. Both of them spun toward the arena floor, faster and faster, until Lee disengaged at the last possible moment.
Tobio impacted, stone and pebbles, dust and debris, flying free from the moment he cratered into the ground. It was enough to draw gasps and cries of surprise from the peanut gallery, as he lay there, feeling every new pain in his form. Yet even so, it was blunted, not just through the haze of his body's fundamental toughness, but through his rage, and then further filtered through the magical hardening of his Bestial Heart.
For the Bear Totem, more than any other, lived up to the old shinobi adage. They were the people who endured. Scant few besides Tobio could say they could survive trauma quite like him.
Huffing, puffing, and panting, Lee stood hunched over, as the dust cleared and a prone figure lay there. Only for Tobio's body to twitch, as he groaned, and began to pick himself back up. All while that pleased, pleasured expression was writ large across his features. Bleeding from innumerable small scratches, he might have seemed in something of a state…
…If it wasn't for the fact that before their eyes, those wounds began to close at a terrifying rate. Primal magic, Barbarian magic, suffused his form in that moment, as broken blood vessels and worn joints righted themselves under the weight of his innate, supernatural durability. Joined by Tobio's profound, excited laughter.
"Ha. Haha. Hahaha! HAHAHA! YES!"
"You know, I love my sensei and my teammates to bits, but it's not quite the same. Tekuno-sensei is too high a mountain to climb, and my teammates aren't quite enough to really push me to my limits…" Lee's eyes widened as Tobio pulled himself out of the crater, stepping lightly, as his body rewound itself through the primordial magics ingrained in it.
"But you? I knew you were good, Lee, but I must apologize. I didn't know you were splendid. Exceptional, even."
"You're…far tougher than I expected, either," Lee admitted, freely taking the opportunity to catch his breath. Sweat shone on his brow, showing the wear that the fight so far was taking on him. Tobio wouldn't begrudge him that, though, seeing as he still held such an overwhelming advantage in terms of how much damage he could take.
The boy would need it for what came next, and Tobio didn't want the fight to be over too quickly.
"Thank you," he nodded, even as he cracked his neck, resting his massive blade on his shoulder. "But that's not all there is, is it?"
Lee's expression tightened, hands curling into even tighter fists.
A smirk drifted over Tobio's face. "Don't die. It'll be really awkward if I thought so highly of you, and ended up cutting your arm off or something." For a brief moment, he saw Lee's pride flare in his Five Poisons sense, before being squashed down under discipline.
Whatever his opponent might have said was drowned out by the way Tobio's gleaming sword glowed. It was a fiendish, blue light that shone forth from the edge, as cold fire was cast out from the steel. In some respects, the sight of it was almost enrapturing, like stars twinkling on a quiet winter night.
Which merely presaged the danger to come, as Tobio began to swing. It was a blistering fast series of swipes that saw his chakra reserves drain incrementally, as cleaves of glintstone-derived light sallied forth through the air at rapid speeds. Each one a cutting edge that could easily bring this fight to a close, if they managed to land on Rock Lee.
Tobio admittedly wasn't too worried, though. Even as he tried to cut Rock Lee from afar, he didn't think his new rival would fall for the strikes. A belief that was validated as the green-clad Genin began to dodge. It was tight for him though, tighter than the boy would have expected, as Tobio swung and kept up the pressure from afar. Each crescent of light came a hair's breadth from sliding into Lee, as he dodged and ran along the perimeter of the arena, Tobio's body turning to track him as he did so.
It wasn't until Tobio stopped the assault from afar that Lee found himself cut by the last of them, a solid but shallow strike against his left side. He was tired, but hardly out of the fight, even with that narrow blow. Tobio's own chakra levels were barely touched either, considering the first real concentrated jutsu he'd done had been the moonveil slashes.
They were a little too intensive to continue for long, though, especially when Tobio didn't know if he'd need his chakra for other jutsu later. His assault ceased, as the Oni blasted toward him, blade sweeping out for his wounded opponent. Closing the distance again and taking the initiative was more important than glazing Lee further.
Of course, this was right when Lee did something he'd never done in the anime.
Reaching into his pack, the bowl-cut boy pulled forth two steel knuckles, slipping them on and meeting Tobio's advance. Where most might have struggled to handle the blow, Lee's fist met his blade, as a resounding clang rang forth through the arena. Mysterious, inhuman strength, against nothing but the indomitable human spirit.
It was outstanding, incredible, amazing, as Tobio found his blows blocked for the first time in memory. Tekuno-sensei had always dodged, as had all of his teammates. In the case of anyone else he'd fought, well, they'd tried to dodge. And had paid the price for it very shortly after.
Blocking was new, as his muscles flexed and Lee met the strike with more might of his own. He wasn't yielding, not here, not now, and that only made Tobio's heart race all the more.
Pulling back his blade for another swipe, Lee met the next one, grunting with exertion. Not enough to knock him back, as their pace of trying to brutally match each other's strength began. Slow…until it was a cacophony of metal that filled the air in an infernal din.
Clang.
Clang-Clang-Clang!
Clang-Clang-Clang-Clang-Clang-Clang-CLANG!
His limbs were a blur as he swung, and Rock Lee's arms were no slower as they matched him, blow for blow. It was a flurry of strikes as he sought any opening, anything, to cut down his foe. The world was falling to a bleeding edge, the cutting point of his sword, and nothing else. Until-
He'd gotten too into things, Tobio distantly recognized, as he'd focused on the battle and nothing else. It was enough to allow Lee just the slightest opening he'd needed to step to the side, narrowly dodging a strike and slamming his first into Tobio's jaw. For as much as the boy had progressed…his raw techniques were still inferior to Rock Lee's.
Reeling back from the blow, he staggered back as his mind raced. For a few fleeting seconds, he almost thought that his opponent would begin chaining blows on his body, for as much good blunt force damage would have done him. Which was why he was surprised when Rock Lee backed off instead, making distance between the two of them.
The mystery of why it didn't last very long.
He felt it before he saw it. That prickling on the back of his neck as the chakra in Lee began to shift, ever so slightly, before it became visible to the naked eye. A pressure unlike anything he'd ever seen before in this new life, bearing down around Rock Lee. Hair floating, veins constricted and bulging, skin darkening…
Tobio still knew what to expect and found himself excited beyond words, as his Mystic Eyes alighted subconsciously. If only so he could take in the beauty of the Eight Gates for himself, how they were truly meant to be.
"The third gate, seimon, OPEN!" Then, as he moved into a crouch, Tobio could see the boy's entire chakra network, swirling with energy. It was beyond anyone's control, let alone Lee's, but pride and willpower won out over the in-process degradation of the Genin's body that Tobio could witness in realtime. "HYAAAAH!"
Everything had been a prelude to this moment. Lee taking off the weights, putting his opponent through his paces, throwing every technique and blow Tobio's way. All of it leading up to this stage, where he opened the Gates to unleash the terrifying effects onto Tobio.
The real fight had just begun.
Rock Lee was magnificent. Stupendous. Incredible. The pinnacle of what a shinobi could be, in this world, when all of the superfluous techniques were stripped away and reduced to the first weapon humanity ever possessed.
Their bodies.
Like before, back in the forest against Sasuke, he felt himself slipping into a trance. A state beyond cognition and the self, as instinct began to override everything else. A technique to deal with Lee's upcoming assault was being born, and if Tobio wasn't prepared, he had every opportunity to be…quite hurt in the upcoming clash.
But no sword was ever tempered without some heat and pressure applied. Whether he won or lost, this entire experience had been one that had pushed him even further past the boy he'd been.
"Technique number two…" He spoke, as his mind began to drift surprisingly from the fight in front of him. To something seemingly innocuous, and totally at odds with the preteen violence going on.
Many throughout the Elemental Nations worshipped different Kami.
It was surprising when Tobio discovered that fact, but yes, people did not only revere the Sage of Six Paths. He was an important figure in the mythology of the world, to be sure, but in the same way that a Bodhisattva is. Someone who had achieved enlightenment from this earthly realm and sought to spread it far and wide, in the Sage's case, being his spreading of chakra by traditional means.
Your average peasant who worked the rice paddies did not care about chakra or enlightenment, however. They had more temporal concerns, which colored the types of deities and tutelary spirits they prayed to. On the coast of the Elemental Nations, offerings were feted to Susanoo-no-Mikoto, so that his storms may spare their villages and fishing vessels. Daikokuten was lauded by itinerant merchants, hoping for safe, profitable journeys along the still bandit infested or chakra-beast prone wilderness.
And for many others, cooks, housewives, and many others besides, they had small shrines to Kōjin, Sambō-Kōjin or Sanbō-Kōjin, lord of fire, the hearth, and the kitchen. Also known as Kamado-gami, quite literally the god of the stove. He was the representation of the violent forces of nature being turned toward the betterment of mankind.
When Tobio had learned that, something within him felt like it resonated with that concept. He'd had to think on why, perhaps, yet the answer was profoundly simple whenever he thought about it. Because for all that Tobio didn't like to think about it…he was different now, than the man or boy he'd been when all of this started so many months ago.
Taking Mixed Blood had changed him in ways that he couldn't possibly foresee, and would continue to alter him. It changed the trajectory of his life, of the lives his future children would have, and every descendant that came after him. It was a choice that had saved his life more times than he could count, to be sure, but had also set his lineage and life on the path of violence.
But if they had to be violent monsters, to enjoy blood, fire, and the thrill of battle, let it be for purposes that would help the world. He didn't want them to be the scourge that needed to be ripped out root and stem, but those who would defend the hearth against any who would gutter out that flame.
That idea felt right. Like he was coming home, in some respect, as he mantled that responsibility, if only for a time.
"…Dance of Kōjin!"
For most, fire was something to fear, the dangerous foe that would burn and sear. To destroy until nothing but ashes remained. And for Tobio, it felt different, as blue fire began to pour out of his every tenketsu, cool and ethereal. It did not burn him, but began to coat his skin and clothing in a strange mix of chakra, Mystery, and a force even his Energy Sense was struggling to make sense of.
Even so, he knew that there was a new strength in his limbs, a new alacrity in all of his movements. While his chakra reserves were dropping at a sharp rate, he suspected they'd last at least until this fight was over. After…
Well, Tobio wouldn't be surprised if he was struggling to stay on his feet.
When he spoke, his voice was different.
"You've pushed me to my limits Lee!" Tobio half-yelled, half-laughed, eyes nothing but specks of red in an ocean of blue. There was a warbling in his words, as if they were behind some kind of barrier or obstruction. Covered in flame, pouring it out of his body, there was an instinctive part of him that understood his body could support more efficient and bigger fire release effects like this, let alone other explosions. Those were things to test out later, when he wasn't in the heat of battle. "From the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU!"
There were no words left to say. Not as both of them blurred into motion.
This wasn't how two Genin were meant to fight.
In a distant part of his mind, Tobio understood that. Yet somewhere along the line, logic and reason had been thrown out of the window. Left in its wake was a confluence of burning power and might. Terrifying, horrifying, prowess, and life-threatening recklessness. On the part of Rock Lee, physical ruin, and on Tobio's the risk of chakra exhaustion.
…Yet still they fought.
His Five Poisons sense was blaring out warnings, and Tobio saw no reason not to listen to them. They might have been the only reason why he was still standing, as he twisted out of the way of blows that would have seen him ruined. Ligaments and joints torn or pulped from Rock Lee's titanic blows.
And Rock Lee was on another level of sensory perception, as his subconscious mind overwrote the conscious with each passing second. Diving out of the way of fiery swipes of Tobio's sword that would have seen him crippled. The exam was forgotten by this point between the two of them.
There was something more primal at stake here. For Rock Lee, it was showing the heights that could be accomplished by a shinobi without an ounce of talent in genjutsu or ninjutsu. It was the statement that his sensei had not wasted his time and effort teaching him.
Admittedly, Tobio's reasons for fighting were simpler.
Deep down inside of the boy there was a fear that had never quite been extinguished. That no matter what he did, or where he went, he'd never be able to make a difference in this world. For better or worse, Tobio refused to be another mob character in the crowd. Which meant that he had to beat Lee here.
If he couldn't defeat this one hurdle, what did that say for his own prospects? How could he defeat the real threats of this setting, without relying on ninja jesus and his boyfriend with magic pink-eye?
And so the world refused to change.
Streaks of blue fire blitzed to and fro, while Lee's reddened body blurred after him. Yet even so, there was a time limit to this dance. Tobio's chakra supply, and Lee's own durability. Something had to budge if there was going to be a proper ending to this fight.
"HYAAAAH!"
The Fifth Gate. Tobio didn't see it so much as he felt it, a pressure unlike any of the others, oppressive in a way that made his teeth itch. It was chakra, radiating out from Rock Lee in a toxic anima that seemed to saturate everything around him. Skin darkening and hair sprawling up, Tobio knew that this was it.
The apex of the match. After this…neither of them would have anything left.
It was, in many respects, a coin toss.
Lifting up his sword, Tobio poured chakra into it. And his gluttonous sliver of his soul accepted it, filling with might and power, flame wreathing it to an almost blinding extent. It was, plain and simple, obviously dangerous in a way even a blockhead could tell.
It was also a feint.
Lee moved forward in a blistering charge, and Tobio hadn't even known people could move that fast. It seemed inhuman, the way the world slowed down to nothing but a crawl as the two of them moved toward each other in one last clash. Tobio swept out his blade, in a telegraphed, 'desperate' swing that Lee was moving to slide under to get to Tobio.
Which was exactly the mistake that Tobio had been counting on, as his left fist came and smashed into Lee's face. The momentum that both boys had built up was colliding in one location, as Lee went flying back. Not cleaved in two like he might have been expecting, but something no less dangerous.
His newest technique was a physical amplification ability as well, ramping up Tobio's attributes at a precipitous chakra cost. Well worth it, though, when his already prodigious might was brought to new, terrifying heights. He held back from pulping his opponent's head, however, mostly because he hadn't been trying to kill Lee.
Just to hit him hard enough to knock him out.
Spiraling through the air, the boy was patently knocked out from the first strike. Tobio knew that, logically, as he felt the fight go out of Lee, and dropped all of his chakra-intensive techniques at the same time. Frankly, it was a relief, because he was barely on his feet from the costs, breathing hard, and streaming sweat from the heat and exertion.
Lee landed, bounced once, and then went still. For a few pregnant moments, it seemed like that was it, that his opponent was finished. Before a trembling Lee stirred, and began to get up.
His body was broken, cut, burned, and damaged from half a dozen different spots. He was in no shape to continue the fight, not even from the nasty bruise beginning to form on his face. Yet even so, he stood, shaky, trying to get into a proper posture.
It was the most inspiring thing Tobio had seen in his entire life.
"Stand proud, Lee," Tobio huffed, hefting up his blade onto his shoulder. "You are strong. And for as long as I live, I'll never forget this moment. This fight. But…"
Tobio let out a hot, ragged breath, feeling the ache in every muscle, and the deep emptiness of his lost chakra. It didn't stop him from fixing Lee with amber, unyielding eyes. "It is over."
Lee didn't say anything to that, still holding that pose, stiff as a board. Until Tobio realized what had happened.
"…Oh."
The boy was unconscious, standing proud, but the fight was out of his eyes and body. This was just…pride? Determination? Something else, maybe, that had gotten him up and off the ground.
What a splendid foe.
"Proctor!" Tobio called out to their proctor. "Lee's unconscious."
To his credit, Hayate came down and checked, approaching Lee carefully and inspecting the dull-eyed boy. Before giving a sigh, and then gesturing to Tobio. "By knock-out…Nakamura Tobio wins."
He heard Team Eleven rise into cheers, as Tobio finally, at least, rested on his blade as he took stock of himself and his surroundings. The arena was…a bit of a wreck, from the crater where he'd been Front Lotus'd, or the other burned, broken parts of the terrain. Blood was splattered all over the place, and…was that a tooth he saw?
Huh. Lee had knocked out one of his molars at one point. Maybe it'd grow back.
His body was a wreck, too. Even if it didn't show it as much on his Death Resistive Body, he could feel the internal damage from the various blows he'd taken, wearing him down. That was before anyone got into the fact that his chakra reserves were, at best, guttered. The fact that he was still conscious was more of a miracle than anything else.
This might have been the worst shape he was in without literally being on the brink of death, like when he'd killed Suien. Enough so that he barely could react to his sensei approaching, with a look of mixed awe and concern on his face. "Let's get you to the medic, kiddo."
"…Yeah," Tobio agreed, breathing raggedly. "Did I do good?"
A sharp bark of a laugh was his answer, as his sensei hoisted one arm over his shoulders. "Good? Tobio, I don't think anyone has words for what you pulled off back there."
If nothing else, the System recognized his actions.
[QUEST COMPLETED: REACH THE FINALS OF THE EXAMS.]
[REWARD: CHOICE OF 1x MODERATE ARTIFICE, ERUDITION, MIGHT, OR DOMINION PERK.]
Oh yeah. It was worth it.
"That's good," Tobio huffed. "I'll try not to die before we get to the medic-nin."
"Hit you that hard, did he?"
"The hardest I've ever been hit." Was it weird Tobio said that with a grin? "I wanna fight him again."
His sensei hummed at that, a flicker of worry in his eyes. "Perhaps in the future, when he's…better."
It didn't take long for Tobio and Lee to both be shuffled off to the medics after their matches. Though not before Ami and Hibachi gave him big, bright grins his way. When it came to everyone else, though, there was something new in their eyes. For the other teams and their sensei, he'd singlehandedly transformed Team Eleven from regular Genin to…something else.
People to watch, maybe. Tobio didn't know if that would be a problem, but it was a future-Tobio issue. Fuck that guy.
Then he was being carried off, and brought to a nice, quiet room, where medics fussed over him and his lack of concern for his injuries.
More important was the perk he wanted to select, the moment that the medics were out of the room and Tekuno-sensei was off to watch with Hibachi and Ami the last match.
It was burning a real hole in his metaphysical pocket, and honestly, what else was he going to do just lying there like a loaf?
All of the options were tempting, though admittedly, Tobio went with Might. Having his ass beat by an Eight Gates user certainly colored that reasoning. There was only so much a guy could take before he knew he had to get tougher.
With all of that said, he reached out and spun the cosmic gamble. While his body ached, that familiar metaphysical ache was of a different kind. It echoed out into the blind eternities, or wherever these perks came from. Though, as usual, the System seemed designed to make him die from the fact that he couldn't take all of them.
Embers of the Heroic AgeMarvel 2099The original Heroic Age ended, but even 100 years later its embers still burn. While the most powerful beings seem to be relics and remnants of the heroic age - Doom, the Fantastic Four, the invading Phalanx - the new heroes starting a second Heroic Age aren't wholly without the power once shown in the original one.
Like some of the mutants, or the heroes of the original heroic age, you show the greatest power that made the original heroic age. Not the Power Cosmic, or any specific super power, but the ability to grow from your experiences, to break the limits of your powers and go beyond them in times of dire need.
When the odds are truly against you and those things dear to you at risk you may see your powers and special abilities momentarily swell to far greater heights than ever before, lifting ten times what is your normal maximum, or otherwise seeming to break the limits of your powers. Repeat this enough times and while this won't be your new maximum you will find the limits of your powers and special abilities growing looser, and restrictions becoming less restricting or eventually falling away.
Even less extreme situations can cause this growth, though it will be slower. Conflict and danger will allow your powers and special abilities to grow seemingly without an upper limit other than when you run out of things that are truly a risk to you and your goals.ClarentFate/Legends - Garden of AvalonThe corrupted sword that Mordred stole to use against her father, now finds a copy of itself in your hands. It appears that it acknowledges you as a rightful owner however, a touch different to poor Mordred the thief. Clarent is a powerful magical blade, one that makes the wielder stronger, faster and tougher when holding it as well as significantly increasing their charisma and presence. The most notable ability of the sword, at least now that it is here, is that you are able to channel your emotions into the blade alongside mana to unleash potent attacks. The deeper the emotions and more mana you put in, the more powerful and large the outgoing blast will become.
(Can be imported into asauchi, or made its own weapon.)Super CellsDragon Ball SuperThrough a concentration of S-Cells or a similar substance in the body of your species, they have a similar line of transformations to the Super Saiyan forms of the Saiyan race. This line has a great deal of potential, as each form offers a large multiplier in power, but they become more and more difficult to obtain and more energy-intensive as well. However, with the introduction of new kinds of Ki or energy, it may be possible to find new lines of transformations to build off of the ordinary kinds your race has access to. You may customise to an extent the requirements to become a Super Saiyan, or similar state, but they must remain around as difficult to attain and rare as the Super Saiyan state is.Starting from the top, Embers of the Heroic Age wasn't a perk that did anything by itself. It was a supplementary perk that pushed his boundaries and limits, made it so that no matter what, Tobio could keep growing. Granted, it'd require death-defying, exceptionally dangerous situations for that to happen…
…But he didn't think that they were going to run out of dangerous situations anytime soon.
Clarent was simple, if he was being honest. It made everything he already did better, objectively, whether that was being faster, stronger, tougher, and with fuck-off beams of energy from the sword. Unlike Mordred, too, he'd be the 'rightful' wielder, so his capability with the weapon wouldn't be dwarfed.
Whether he fused it with his sword or handed it off to someone he loved, it was objectively a solid choice.
Whereas the last one was a little tricky to speak about authoritatively. Super Cells did what it said on the can, it would allow him and his descendants the capability to reach a Super Saiyan-like state. They were tied to the different energy sources he had at his disposal, but between Chakra and Mystery, the end result would no doubt be something exceedingly potent and terrifying.
The big thing would be that he had access to two different lines of transformation, and they'd need to be trained in their own right. Perhaps with the possibility of some sort of fused state at the end of the progression.
Three perks that each had their own benefits and restrictions, whether that be simplicity, or the right triggers for progression. Yet as always, only one could be carried forward into the future.