Turns out that upgrades aren't even a certainty. You can fail and drop down a level.
If it were just a level drop, that would have been alright, but I almost wanted to punch myself after I tried to upgrade a +8 paper shuriken.
[Paper Shuriken]+8
Attack: 1
Additional Attack: 8
Upgrade Requirement: 9 Chakra Points.
It was a pretty solid paper shuriken. Almost as sharp as a real shuriken while still looking shitty and being lightweight.
'If this gets out, Danzo will definitely give me a nice tattoo on my tongue.'
But as soon as I upgraded the damn thing, it completely broke down and turned into paper dust.
That's when I realised that I had the sucky cheat from the Upgrade Specialist in Another World, the novel I'd almost forgotten about.
It means my dreams of upgrading E rank jutsu scrolls all the way to SSS rank are just that, dreams.
'I should have figured it out earlier.'
From what I remembered, equipment could gain a special ability at +10. Elemental effects. Critical hits. Stuns. Stuff like that, depending on the item.
The problem was actually getting there. Every upgrade after +8 was essentially a gamble.
Reaching +10 already took ridiculous luck.
+12 or +13? Those odds were worse than winning the lottery.
There were supposed to be upgrade stones that improved success rates, but I had no idea if they even existed in this world.
The primary purpose of this cheat was pretty clear.
It was meant to give you a gambling addiction.
'…Yeah. No thanks.'
Using it for training and recovery was more than enough for me.
And honestly?
That was exactly what I needed right now.
Cause my arm was starting to hurt from throwing shuriken for so long.
thunk
"Hell yeah, bullseye", Naruto celebrated as his shuriken hit the centre of the target.
"Uh, that's my target, yours is on the left," I said, sighing.
We'd been here the whole morning.
"Huh? Yeah, well, I didn't know that." Naruto said indignantly.
"We've been doing this for hours now, how could you not know?" I shouted.
"I didn't know, alright. Tch. You're just jealous I'm getting better at it." He said, making a smug face.
I picked up a paper shuriken and flicked it forward. It flew straight and embedded itself shallowly into the wood.
Naruto stared. "That's cheating. It's paper."
"Exactly. It's much more difficult." I explained. It really was because of how light paper shuriken were.
"I don't believe that for a second. Give me one of those," He said as he snatched one out of my hand and flicked it hard towards the target.
A strong gust of wind suddenly blew, making the shuriken boomerang back towards us.
I ducked as the shuriken flew over my head and embedded itself in a tree behind me.
"Naruto!" I said.
"Ah—hehe, sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Give me another one. I'm getting the hang of it."
Sigh.
"Here," I said, handing him another. "Be careful."
These were just +4s, barely good enough to get stuck on the target, but it would still hurt to get hit.
"Careful, got it."
It was a weird day.
Naruto was unusually clingy. We'd never trained shuriken throwing this long before, but every time I tried to stop, he'd say just a bit more.
I tried asking what was going on, but he dodged the question every time.
October… wait.
Before I could ask him directly, Naruto suddenly doubled over.
"Oof—wait—hold on—"
He bolted past me at full speed.
"Bathroom emergency!" he yelled as he disappeared into the trees.
Expired milk, I guessed.
The clearing went quiet.
I went to retrieve the paper shuriken embedded in the tree behind me and noticed dark blue hair sticking out from the other side.
I already knew who it was.
"Hey there, Hinata," I said, leaning around the trunk.
Hinata froze.
She made a small sound.
Then promptly fainted.
"…Oh crap."
She slid down against the tree, steam practically rising from her head.
"Hey—hey, wake up," I said. "I didn't mean to scare you."
There was no response.
I crouched beside her and pulled out a folded paper fan, gently waving it near her face.
Please don't ask why I had a fan in October.
I had upgraded it, alright.
It was sharp enough to cut one's throat now.
Yeah, it probably wasn't a good idea to wave it so close to her face.
"Come on," I muttered. "This is awkward."
After a moment, Hinata stirred.
"H-huh…?"
She opened her eyes and immediately tried to sit up too fast.
"S-sorry!" I said quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
Hinata's face turned red instantly. "I—I was just—"
I scratched my cheek. "You were watching Naruto, right?"
Hinata froze.
"I mean," I continued casually, "If you wanted to train with us, you could've just said so."
Hinata nodded rapidly. "Y-yes! Naruto-kun… I mean—training!"
I smiled, satisfied.
'Good. Birthday gift secured.'
"Well," I said, "he'll be back once his stomach forgives him. You can train with us then."
Hinata blinked. "R-really?"
"Yeah. No reason not to."
She nodded again, hands clasped together.
Naruto suddenly stumbled back into the clearing, pale and sweaty.
"…Why is Hinata here?"
"She wants to train with us," I said.
"Really—" Naruto groaned and immediately turned around, sprinting back toward the bushes.
"…Looks like it'll be a while," I said, sighing.
Hinata stood there for a moment, still clutching her hands together.
The silence stretched.
"…Um," she said quietly, "Takumi-kun?"
"Yeah?" I replied.
"You seem… different lately."
I paused.
'Different?'
"…Yeah. I guess I've been working harder," I said. "I was pretty pathetic before, wasn't I?"
Hinata's eyes widened immediately.
"No! That's not what I meant!" she said, shaking her head a little too fast.
"You've always been hardworking. It's just that… you seem more confident now."
'Confident? Me? I hope so. I have a cheat for Kaguya's sake.'
But a strange feeling crept up my spine. Like I'd stepped onto unstable ground.
"…Confident?" I asked carefully. "Have you… been keeping an eye on me, Hinata?"
Hinata froze.
Her face went red. Then redder.
"I—I mean—"
'Oh no.'
'Oh no no no no.'
"I just… wanted to thank you."
My mind started running at full speed.
"...Thank me for what?"
Hinata took a breath. "That day...when we were little… you helped me."
I blinked.
"When those kids were bothering me," she said softly. "About my eyes."
'…What?'
"You were pretty Brave," she continued.
My brain short-circuited.
That was supposed to be Naruto.
I stared straight ahead, refusing to let it show.
That was literally his job.
She looked down, fingers tightening. "So, I've been trying to gather the courage... to...to thank you."
Silence.
My internal world was collapsing.
'Even without my memories, I had still deemed it necessary to prevent Buruto, huh.'
Memories of that day came flooding back now.
'I got pretty beat up that day, didn't I?'
Then another thought hit.
'Wait. Isn't today Naruto's birthday?'
I screamed internally.
'Am I stealing Naruto's future wife as a birthday present?!'
'No.'
'Nope.'
'Absolutely not.'
'That's too stupid to even entertain.'
I shoved the thought into the deepest mental drawer I had and slammed it shut.
"…You don't need to thank me," I said calmly. "Anyone would've done the same."
Hinata shook her head slightly. "I don't think so."
'Stop. Abort. Emergency course correction.'
"Anyway," I said quickly, clapping my hands together once, "we should stretch before Naruto gets back."
Hinata blinked, then nodded. "O-okay."
I turned away and exhaled slowly.
'I'm overthinking. There is no disturbance in the Force. Everything is fine.'
'…But I should probably prepare a different birthday present.'
'Just in case.'
-To be Continued...
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