Outside the main gate of the research institute, on the massive rock blocking the entrance—
Kei sat cross-legged, opening his personal panel, which he hadn't examined in detail for a long time.
[Active Traits: Transmigrator (Red), Yin Release Mastery (Purple), Spatial Insight (Purple), Shout and It Comes (Purple), Handsome (Blue), Memory Master of the Shinobi World (Blue), Water Release Mastery (Blue)]
[Inactive Traits: Stealthy Crawler (White), Fragile Yet Tenacious (White), Why Are You Gae? (White), Always Smiling (White)]
[Trait Extraction: 0]
[Trait Duplication: 1]
[Trait Upgrade: 1 (Blue)]
"I actually accumulated four gifting chances?"
Kei glanced at the long personal panel, scrolling through the system log messages.
One mission completed with the three little ones.
One disruption—Pakura.
One more disruption—Minato.
"I should clear out these white traits later, there are too many of them." Muttering to himself, he then shifted his focus to the remaining rewards.
Trait Duplication—no need for further explanation.
To perfect the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had been eyeing Minato's [Ultra-Fast Reactions] trait for a while now.
As for Trait Removal, it didn't seem necessary at the moment. However, he couldn't deny that its value was even higher than Trait Duplication.
Just imagine, Nagato controled the Six Paths of Pain, just about to make a move. Kei activated Trait Removal and instantly striped away his Rinnegan trait.
With the Six Paths bodies losing their control source, they instantly GG.
Now, a blinded Nagato, left with only Uzumaki clan chakra reserves and basic ninjutsu passed down by Jiraiya?
"Kekekeke~" Kei grinned, letting out a sinister laugh.
After enjoying his amusement for a moment, he turned to his next reward—the Trait Upgrade. Upgrading a blue trait directly to purple—there was no need to elaborate on how precious that was.
But… was it worth using?
Looking at his three blue traits on the system panel, his indecision reached new heights.
If his blue traits were things like: Minato's [Chakra Storage] or [Fortune], Guy's [Extreme Recovery], Genma's [Influenced by Greatness], he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
But his current three blue traits were: [Water Release Mastery], [Memory Master of the Shinobi World], [Handsome].
Upgrade? Felt like a waste of such a great reward.
Not upgrade? If he didn't use the reward to strengthen himself, was he planning to wait until he died and chat with the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land?
This damn system, couldn't it at least show a preview of the upgraded trait?
Kei grumbled in his heart.
After a brief hesitation, he decided to use the upgrade on Water Release Mastery.
Neither [Handsome] nor [Memory Master of the Shinobi World] directly boosted his combat strength. And in this brutal ninja world, strength was the ultimate foundation!
A vast amount of Water Release training experience surged into his mind as the trait upgraded.
Hydrification Technique, Water Gun Technique, Water Mirror Technique, Sensing Water Sphere, Mighty Water Arm, Medical Water Release: Water Mosquito, Medical Water Release: Jellyfish…
Even techniques like the Hydrification Technique now felt second nature. Techniques he had only briefly seen an hour ago from the Second Mizukage's legacy now felt as if he had practiced them for years. Water Release techniques he had extracted from other people's memories during his time in the analysis division resurfaced in his mind.
Fierce water, surging water, razor-sharp water, corrosive water, gentle water... Water was both destruction and rebirth. It was the hardest and the softest.
Kei opened his eyes and raised his right hand. A stream of water slithered and danced across his palm, almost as if it had a life of its own.
In the next moment, his entire right arm liquefied, becoming a semi-transparent, fluid-like state.
"Partial Hydrification Technique… feels kinda weird."
He observed his transformed arm, then used his left hand to poke at his right hand.
His left index finger passed straight through the palm of his right hand, causing small splashes of water. After deactivating the Hydrification Technique, his right hand remained completely unharmed.
"Does it work by slightly reducing the body's water content, like sweating?"
Kei glanced at the water droplets that had splashed onto the ground.
Forming a hand seal with one hand, he absorbed a large amount of moisture from the air. His body visibly grew bulkier and stronger, his power surging in an instant.
"The Mighty Water Arm Technique… It allows me to draw water from the air, but if there's not enough, it'll start consuming the body's own water supply."
He proceeded to test out all the Water Release techniques that affected the body.
While marveling at the genius of the Hōzuki clan's ancestors, he also finally understood why Suigetsu from Shippuden was constantly drinking water.
For members of the Hōzuki clan, who had inherited their bloodline, learning these secret techniques wasn't that difficult. The real challenge was figuring out how to absorb enough moisture from the air while using them.
That wasn't a problem at all.
Estimating his current abilities, he figured the only thing separating him from Tobirama's Water Release mastery was chakra reserves.
"So the threshold for bloodline limits… is a purple-tier mastery trait?"
As he repeatedly experienced the Hydrification Technique's effects on his body, a new anticipation began to grow. When he eventually obtained purple-tier traits for other elemental releases…
What kind of bloodline limits could he create?
After fully testing and adapting to the abilities granted by the system, he looked around and saw that Minato still hadn't returned.
With his right hand still partially liquefied, he began shaping a Rasengan in his palm—gradually infusing it with Water Release nature transformation.
His arm exploded into a splash of water.
Stunned for a moment, Kei refused to accept defeat and tried again.
Buzz buzz buzz—BOOM!!
Over and over, his arm burst into water, only to reform again. For over an hour, he repeatedly failed, nearly exhausting his chakra reserves.
Only thanks to [Shout and It Comes], granting him insanely precise chakra control, did he finally start grasping the first hints of a solution.
But how much longer would it take to actually master it?
He had learned countless jutsu since childhood, including S-rank forbidden techniques. But never had he encountered a jutsu that felt this impossible to pull off.
It was insanely difficult.
The high-speed rotation of the Rasengan made Water Release incredibly unstable.
It was like trying to compress dozens of high-pressure water blades, sharp enough to cut through steel, into a single sphere. If any of those blades even slightly brushed against each other, the whole thing detonated instantly.
As the Rasengan spun faster, those water blades stretched and distorted unpredictably.
"How the hell is anyone supposed to make this work?!"
"There's NO WAY Naruto managed to create the Rasenshuriken without Kishimoto giving him a cheat!"