It was tough to decide which of the three goals he wanted to tackle first. Each of them had its own merits, though some would be harder to achieve than others. In the end, however, his mind kept drifting back to one in particular: Karin.
He could practically taste the perks that'd come from disrupting canon this much, this early on. It might have made him a bit of a gremlin, but if they were being honest, he needed those power-ups. Anything less would run the risk of leaving him ill-equipped for the real threats running around the preliminaries.
Neji, Lee, and Gaara.
The first of the bunch, he could potentially eke out a win against, if he cut loose and showed off a few of his tricks. Lee and Gaara, however, were a totally different story. When it came to the caliber of examinees this year, those two were at the very top of the hierarchy, and for very good reason.
He wasn't ashamed to admit that while his taijutsu was good, it wasn't beat Rock Lee good. Hell, his kenjutsu alone might not have cut it even if he stopped holding back from lethal cuts. When it came to raw skill alone, Rock Lee was just built different. And Gaara was a totally different beast entirely, considering what he was holding in his stomach.
No, if he was going to stand a chance against those two, he wanted to stack the deck as much as possible. That meant doing the reasonable thing and aiming to get her to defect to Konohagakure from Kusagakure. And besides, giving Karin a happier life in Konoha was, at the very least, pretty much the smallest amount of active good he could do for a character that was woefully squandered in the original material. When the alternative was allowing her to suffer in Kusagakure as a living blood bag or working for Orochimaru, it wasn't hard to argue for a moral good of whisking her away from either of those futures. Maybe even letting her know that she still had active kin, in the form of Naruto.
That said, it did mean he had to make some explanations to his teammates.
"You guys trust me, right?" He called back, as they leapt through the massive overgrowth of trees at the periphery of the forest, keeping a cautious pace. Tobio's relevant danger senses would likely alert him well in advance of any genuine threats, but it didn't hurt to stay on his guard.
"…Yeah?" Hibachi nodded, sounding confused.
"Of course!" Ami enthusiastically confirmed. "Unless you tried to turn us into missing-nin or something, but you're too lazy for that."
"Gee, thanks," Tobio snarked. "But…you're not far from what I'm about to bring up. I wanna help someone defect from their village, because they're technically from an allied clan of Konoha."
There was silence, as everyone came to a slowed stop on one of the massive branches of the gargantuan trees in the forest. He could feel both of their stares on him when he said that. Though Hibachi was the first to break the silence, as his jaw had been working back and forth.
"…Are you going to explain how you know that?"
The sole kunoichi among them nodded in agreement. "It's a big claim," Ami added.
This was where Tobio had to grimace. "I promise I'll give a deeper explanation, but for now, are you guys willing to follow my lead on this?"
"What clan is this mystery shinobi even from?" Hibachi pushed.
"The Uzumaki. They were, before Uzushiogakure was destroyed, our greatest allies, and the clan got scattered all over the place. Notable signs of the bloodline are bright red hair, and when in conjunction with that name…"
"…It means that's a member of the clan, or at least strongly hinting at that," Hibachi sighed. "I still want to know how you know this, though…"
Tobio opened his mouth, before Hibachi raised a hand to stop him. "I'm willing to follow your lead here. You've never led us wrong yet, and if you say they're willing to defect, I'll take your word for it. But when we're somewhere secure, you're getting grilled."
He could only grimace at that. "Fair.
"So what team is he on?" Ami asked.
"She's on one of the Kusa teams," Tobio confirmed. "Bright red hair, glasses, red eyes too."
Ami grew a little quiet, hands twitching. "…She?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No, no," she smiled, even if Tobio didn't see the light reach her eyes when she said that. "No problem at all."
"…Okay," he nodded, not entirely believing Ami, but he didn't have the time to get into it with her. "Let's try to track those idiots down."
For now, they had a mission, and a target. Finding Karin, and convincing her that it was in her best interest to allow herself to be kidnapped.
How hard could it be?
KarinEver since her mother had passed away, Karin had taken up the duties that she'd left behind. And, if she was going to be entirely blunt, Karin despised them. A girl could only take being referred to as a strategic resource so many times, bottling down her antagonism and anger. All around her in Kusagakure, there was nothing but the chakra of men and women who ever grasped for more.
Less like people, and more like cold flames moving through the edge of her senses. Perfidious, hungry, and in many respects, disgusting. They didn't see Karin for who she was, or what aspirations she might have had for her life, but for what she could do for them. A resource to be used and exploited over the course of her existence. Nothing more, and nothing less. For all that a Hidden Village was supposed to shelter and protect its members in theory, that was hardly the case when it came to Karin's treatment.
It was a twilight existence that would see her dead. She knew it, deep in her bones, when a bit more of her was bitten away by people who didn't quite see her. Just like her mother before her, it was death by a thousand cuts, slow and outside of her control.
She couldn't see an escape, though, not any that'd see her avoiding being thrown in another hell like the one she was trying to escape. Much to her anger, and frustration, no matter what move she made, her fate was sealed. Even this excursion to the Chūnin Selection Exams was another way to dig her in ever deeper.
Once she was properly promoted, after all, she knew that none of the Kusagakure village leadership intended for her to ever leave those grounds again. Whether that was due to her use as a medic, or…whatever other aims, they might have had for her. The noose was slipping around her, inch by inch, and Karin could see it coming.
Yet could do nothing but rage silently against her fate. If there was a way to slip her leash, she hadn't found it yet.
She winced as her teammate's teeth sunk into the flesh of her arm, a familiar pain by this point, but the ache of having her chakra taken never got easier. Pulling back, Hideo wiped his mouth off, while Koda approached with their heaven scroll in tow.
"Here," he ordered. "Take this and hide."
"Shouldn't I…help?" She asked, her voice plaintive.
"The only reason you're here is because we needed a third member," Koda sneered. "That, and you're good for a top-up. Just stay out of trouble and don't get in our way."
"…Okay." Karin hated the way her voice felt weak, and resigned, as her own teammates bounded away from her.
Once upon a time, she'd been filled with nothing but a vivacious excitement for life. And then the realities of her situation had painfully closed in around her. That same excitement had failed to outlast the crushing inhumanity of her treatment.
As they bounded out of sight, she did her best to try and bury herself in the roots of one of the massive trees. Stories were told about Hashirama's experiments with forestry, and that it was why many batches of forests in the Land of Fire could be so…bombastic, compared to plenty outside of the nation. Whether that was true or not, Karin didn't know, but she'd admit that the forests were really quite beautiful.
Nestled in between those roots, she had nothing to do but sit and wait, as the minutes went by. Hopefully, her team wouldn't take too long to regroup. In the distance, though, she heard something else. A sizable figure moving through the underbrush, that got her alarm and attention.
Whipping her head toward the direction of the noise, it didn't take long before the figure in question ambled out from the darkness of the forest.
Karin had seen bears before, but there were bears, and there was whatever this monstrosity was. It's head was larger than her entire body, with slavering, drooling jaws, and deep-set eyes that belied a cruel intelligence. This wasn't some foraging omnivore, looking for easy food.
It was a predator, and it smelled much easier fare ripe for the taking.
Her breath stilled in her throat as her entire body trembled tight in fear, praying for the ambling creature to merely move past her. To no avail as it lifted that massive head up into the air and sniffed. Once, twice, and three times, before turning ponderously her way.
For a few pregnant moments, beast and kunoichi stared at each other, right up until that silence was broken. And then it was rushing forward toward her spot nestled in the roots. And Karin was running too, overtaken by fear, eyes wide with the kind of primal terror mankind was supposed to have left behind.
When, once upon a time, they were far lower on the food chain.
But her movements were sluggish, two back-to-back donations of her chakra messing with her mobility, as she tripped over a tree root. The sheer stupidity of it had her gasping, even as she slammed against the forest floor, and looked over her shoulder at the approaching bear.
Was this how she died? As pathetic as she lived, unsurprisingly.
Her hands tried to move into hand seals, trembling as they were, to do anything. Any jutsu she could try and use to escape from this precarious situation, terrible as it was. To rewrite her fate.
But it wasn't going to be fast enough to stop those incoming jaws that plummeted down toward her.
BOOM~!
She didn't see where the sound of the explosion came from, but it was impossible to miss the blur of fiery steel that soared through the air. That, and the blazing, impossibly warm chakra that appeared out of nowhere.
A boy was coming from above, the bear's head tilted upward in alert. Not fast enough, though, to keep a blade wreathed in flame from outright decapitating the creature, cauterizing as it cleaved, in a single stroke. Powerful beyond belief, as the figure slammed into the dirt, sending dust flying.
Karin couldn't help but scramble for her glasses, trying to make sense of the figure in front of her, slowly coming up from a crouch, massive blade in his powerful arms. Slowly but surely coming into focus, as she took in the sight of her savior.
"Hey," the boy spoke, looking down at her, his serious expression melting into a smile, while the still twitching body of the bear behind him slowly stilled. "You good?"
And when she reached and saw him, saw the entirety of his chakra…it felt like staring into a hearth. Hot, to be sure, but comforting all the same. It was the promise that yes, he was dangerous, yet hardly a danger to be around. Like coming home after a long day, on a cold winter's night, and being safe, secure, and protected.
"…Y-Yes," she responded, a small, nervous smile on her face, staring up at the foreign, handsome Konoha shinobi who'd saved her life. "I think I'm going to be alright."
TobioIf he was being honest, the explosive entrance was kind of an accident.
Their search for Karin had gone surprisingly well, in fact, given that it'd only taken a few hours to find her in kilometers of forest. Compared to the actual area they'd had to search, as opposed to how quickly they'd discovered her, the Kusagakure team she was on must have started somewhat close to their own entrance.
Most of the search was split between them breaking off, but not too far as to be unable to deliver aid to each other. Not that any of them needed it in the first place, though.
Tobio managed to stumble upon Karin right in the nick of time. He'd seen a truly massive bear lumbering up to devour her, presumably, and didn't have time to think. Instead, he moved, and as Tobio exploded down toward the massive creature, he did feel something click in the back of his mind the moment his blade hit its flesh.
There was a world of difference between sparring, and active combat. He hadn't internalized that fully, not really, not until he was pushed into a life or death situation once again. And his body moved in a way that he hadn't expected…
…His heart pounded in his chest as everything came together in a crescendo. Blood roared through Tobio's ears as his face was curled into a snarl, and something primal felt like it was being engraved inside of him. An understanding of the oldest law known to man, that every beast instinctively understood.
Kill or be killed.
The heat blossomed across his back as he slammed into the earth beneath the bear. Flesh, bone, cartilage, all of it cleaved through with one chakra-flow enhanced strike. Blessedly, he managed to cauterize whatever he'd cut, ensuring that there wasn't a mess made either, even if the gigantic corpse next to him would remain fresh.
In the back of his mind, though, as he breathed and regained his proper footing, the world did feel a little different. Something about his rage that he couldn't quite quantify on the spot, not with ease. Though resting in the back of his mind was also something new, and unusual.
A spell.
Not a jutsu, not a new form of chakra enhancement or manipulation, but an outright spell. He could, if he so chose…speak with animals in their own language. Not the most useful spell all the time, but in terms of raw utility and espionage capabilities, it did have some potential.
And it gave him a very solid hint as to how his Barbarian perk was developing. That said, he didn't have much in the way of time to mess around with it. In front of him, a redhead was staring incredibly intently at him, and he was feeling a little daunted by her regard.
[QUEST COMPLETED: CHANGE THE TIMELINE IN A MAJOR WAY]
[REWARD: 1x MODERATE ARTIFICE PERK ROLL.]
Tobio would tuck away dealing with that delicious, sweet reward until later. Truthfully, he was surprised that just getting on Karin's good side to this extent was enough to change the timeline, but he wasn't going to be too angry about it. It just meant he had more rewards coming his way in due time.
"…Are you sure you're alright?"
"What happened to your chakra?" She questioned, looking more confused now, than flushed and adoring. Though, that emotion was still there, just superseded by other feelings at the moment. "It was…warm, and cuddly, and now it's…WHOOSH!" Karin through her hands up, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
He didn't have the faintest clue as to what she was talking about. Was this Mind's Eye of Kagura chicanery he was running into here? Tobio assumed it was.
"Buy a guy dinner first if you're gonna look at his chakra," he smirked.
"That's not-" she flustered out, before her smile turned into a pout. "You're an ass!"
"I've been told that before, yes." Putting his blade away, he offered her a hand to get up.
Cautiously, she looked at it, before her crimson eyes saw something that he couldn't see in himself. With a careful grasp on his hand, he pulled her up and off the ground. "Thanks."
"No thanks needed, actually," he admitted, shooting her another smile. "I'm Nakamura Tobio."
"U-Uzumaki Karin," she introduced herself in turn, her smile returning ever so slightly. "I imagine you only saved me because you wanted my scroll?"
There was the briefest sense that someone else was watching, like there were eyes on Tobio. It made him casually glance around, though he didn't see anyone around them. Maybe it was another animal thinking of trying its luck at them?
Whatever.
"Actually, I make it a policy to protect people weaker than me when I can," he admitted. "There's a lot of cruelty in this world, and there's no point in perpetuating it when it costs me nothing to save you."
Not nothing, as his chakra reserves had dipped a little. Provided they didn't run into any more serious fights, though, his usage of chakra flow back there wouldn't be a problem.
"O-Oh."
"That said, I do want to have your scroll, but I'm pretty sure my team could pick up what we need elsewhere," he admitted. "But…I had a much different proposition in mind."
Her guard was up with those words. "Y-Yeah?"
"I know you're an Uzumaki, as in, Clan Uzumaki," Tobio carefully stated, trying to project as much gentility and confidence in his voice as he could manage. "And I also know that you don't like where you are now."
"How? How are you supposed to know that?" She was guarded, defensive, taking a step back, clutching her team's scroll carefully. "How is anyone supposed to know what that's like!"
His eyes were drawn to the series of old bite marks across her arms. Everything he'd been terrified of happening because of his own 'bloodline', Karin had been living. The things she'd gone through, and her own resiliency to survive it…
If it was Tobio, he would have turned traitor ages ago, and not have rested until he took apart Kusagakure brick by brick.
"I can't," he admitted. "But I want to help anyway."
"Because of my bloodline?" Karin questioned. "Because I'm a strategic asset?"
While her words weren't as cutting as they were before, she wasn't entirely trusting of him. Understandable, given what she'd been through. If he had to say why, though, that was a more complicated question to answer.
Because no one deserves to be treated like this.
Because you're the only biological family Naruto's got in this entire world, and he deserves to have a cousin.
Because I'm tired of letting bad things happen to decent people, and using my weakness as an excuse.
"Because real evil is treating people like things," Tobio stated, resolution filling him. The sword on his back hummed with the feeling, a distant sensation as a little bit of his worldview clicked into place. "And, for all of Konoha's faults, it's a damn sight better than anywhere else in the Elemental Nations for you."
Karin's stare bored into him, but Tobio didn't falter underneath her crimson gaze. Instead, he had the pleasure of seeing something like incredulousness enter her vision. "…Oh my god. You're actually serious. You believe in Konoha that much?"
Oh wait, can't she read dishonesty through chakra? Thank the Kami I didn't lie…
Tobio shook his head. "Not in the slightest. Konoha to me isn't the village. It's my teammates, my sensei, and my friends." He paused, before adding something more. "And I have several things they'd want, so honestly, I'm willing to bet against those things to secure your defection and smooth entry into the village. If you want it."
His bloodline was one of those things they wanted. Especially by the show he was planning to give during the preliminaries. Though if he really needed the extra political will to make the entire affair move smoothly, he'd been keeping the Elixir in reserve for a reason.
For a few pregnant seconds, Karin just watched him. Searched the lines of his face, or something beyond his flesh, before she gave a slow, stuttering nod. "F-Fine. I'll…I'll trust you. But if you end up getting me deeper into trouble…"
"That won't happen," Tobio assured her. "And if I do, I'll get you out of it." If Konoha wasn't the kind of place that could protect Karin, then it wasn't the kind of Hidden Village he wanted to be a part of. He wanted to believe, though, and trust that the authorities wouldn't leave the legacy of the Uzumaki in the lurch.
Which meant extending that first bit of trust first. And praying that he wouldn't come to regret it.
"If you fuck me over, I'm gonna stab you with my kunai."
He nodded in agreement. "That's fair."
"So what now? The members of my team are going to be back eventually."
"Now? I'm going to tell my own teammates to stop being such VOYEURS!" He reared around, yelling out into the forest.
"What are you talking abo-" Karin started, before Ami and Hibachi melted out of the darkness of the trees above.
They weren't the set of eyes he'd felt on him before. Tobio could tell that much, but they'd also converged on his position quietly, trusting their own preternatural instincts to approach. Though, they also trusted him to handle the situation on his own, watching patiently.
Ami and Hibachi descended down the trees in their own ways, the former relying on just running down the surface, while Hibachi took the method of using a ninja wire to rappel down.
"Did you get your honeypot mission over with?" Hibachi asked, earning an indignant squawk of outrage from Ami, and a nuclear red blush from Karin.
"It was not a honeypot! There wasn't even any seduction involved!"
"I mean…" Hibachi shrugged. "Did you or did you not save her life, and then spit out a bunch of charismatic platitudes to make her all pliant?"
All of that was technically true. Tobio hated that he couldn't even refute it. "You make it sound so sordid."
"I'm still here," Karin reminded them. "I can still change my mind!"
The beanie-headed genin shook his head, tutting softly. "Sorry, Uzumaki. It's too late for you. Tobio's gone and done something sweet, so you're stuck to him like a burr."
Ami stared deeply at Hibachi, before turning to squint at Tobio and Karin. "Are we sure we can't say a bear ate him? Technically if we enter the forest with three genin, and leave with three genin…"
"I'm considering it," Tobio grunted out.
"Sounds good to me," Karin added.
"Oi, oi, oi, what's this betrayal? Traitors!" Hibachi piped up.
"You're the one spouting all that…that…slander!" Ami chipped in.
"Yeah!" Karin exclaimed.
"You're not allowed to be on my side, Kusa!" Ami yelled back. "You're just as guilty!
"O-Oh, sorry," Karin shrinked back, before her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Wait, what did I do?"
"EXIST."
Tobio clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. It was a move he'd copied from sensei, whenever the older man wanted to get his rambunctious group of idiots back on track from their diversions. "Alright, fun time's over! Is everyone ready to get moving?"
"Yeah," Hibachi confirmed.
"Mhmm," Karin added.
Though it seemed like Ami had a much more important question. "Are you going to cook any of this bear?"
…That was a very good question. "I'll cut out a piece for later." As much as he'd like to take the entire pelt, it was just too fucking huge for Tobio to use. Disappointing, but that was par for the course. "Give me a second to carve something out, and we'll be good to go."
It didn't take him long to pull out a few of the bear's teeth, a nice hunk of rib meat for him to throw into a storage seal. Ideally, they'd be able to make a nice, long stew out of it. That usually worked the best for bear meat, from what Beniemiya was informing him. Mostly so you could be sure that any parasites or diseases that bears usually held were cooked out of the process, by the heat. However, Tobio doubted he could set up a full kitchen in the Forest of Death, so he'd have to settle for saving it for later. With that done, the four of them were off, eager to avoid Karin's teammates from returning and stopping them from absconding with their prize.
Not that the two genin could stop Tobio, but he'd try to murder as few children as possible. It was the kind of thing that seemed like a really slippery slope. No one cared if you killed the first few, not in this world, but once you started you'd just keep continuing with it.
If nothing else, the rest of the team had the professionalism to get moving. Ami might have been shooting Karin some scrutinizing looks as they leapt through the trees, and Hibachi might have been snickering softly, but things went okay. None of them were looking to target another team that day to begin with, and Tobio had enough skill to navigate them away from ambushes or other genin.
Truthfully, now that they had Karin's scroll, they technically had everything they needed to pass the exam. But there was no point in rushing to the tower, when it didn't gain them extra points. He wouldn't have been surprised if some teams were outright camping around the tower, to try and ambush people attempting to turn in their scrolls.
Which meant that the biggest priority for the group was finding someplace dry, secure, and defensible to hunker down for the night. Easier said than done, though with a bit of effort and a can-do attitude, they found a good spot to hunker down in.
Within many of the massive trees, there were sizable hollows, carved whether by time or wildlife. For their purposes, however, one of them was roughly the size of a small hut. It wasn't a great deal of room, but for four twelve-year-olds, it was more than enough.
The wood itself was too living to get caught ablaze, either, which meant that they were eating a warm meal that night, from the supplies Tobio had brought into the test. While he got started on dinner, Hibachi and Ami threw up a net at the entrance of their little hidey-hole.
And Karin just looked a little lost. "Are…your camps always like this?"
"What, Tobio cooking something that smells delicious, and the rest of us doing the grunt work?" Hibachi asked.
"I mean, I didn't want to phrase it like that, but…"
"No, no, Hibachi's right," Ami nodded. "I'd be angry with Tobio about not helping to set up camp, but his meals are…just that good."
Speaking of dinner, it was a nice, grill of bear meat skewers along with root vegetables, sprinkled with salt and other seasonings. Each piece was infused with magic, and at a certain point, every stomach in the hollow was greedily rumbling.
"Dinner…is served," Tobio grunted, as he ladled out servings to everyone easily enough.
Whatever conversation or grilling that anyone might have wanted to do of Karin, or vice versa, died on the spot. Not when the food was right in their faces, and they were all hungry children going through puberty. This time around, he'd made sure to go heavy on the regenerative properties of his magical cuisine, if only to help them restore their energy for the trials ahead.
Judging by the looks on some of their faces, too, none of them would stand for first watch either.
"You guys should get some sleep," Tobio stated. "I'll try to cover first watch."
It wasn't admittedly out of the goodness of his own heart. He wanted the free time where he wasn't being watched to try and mess around with his awaiting perk. The thing was practically burning a hole in his metaphysical pocket.
"Sounds good," Hibachi yawned, not seeing even the slightest problem with it. "Wake me up if you're being killed."
"Thanks for the concern."
"No problem."
Ami rolled her eyes at the antics, before glancing back at Karin. "Are you all good? Or do need to…" She shared a look that was inscrutable to Tobio, but whatever it was translated fine to Karin.
"Oh! Um, yeah, we should probably do that before bed."
"What are you two talking about?" Tobio asked.
"Bathroom stuff."
"Ah. I was just gonna pee off the ledge."
"Well, that's not an option for us, numbnuts!" Ami huffed, grabbing Karin's arm. "We'll be back in a bit."
True to their word, they were back in no time at all, before getting settled in for bed. The day's exertions certainly took a toll on everyone, however, and it wasn't long before the lot of them were all falling to sleep. Which left Tobio alone, at long last, with his thoughts.
At this point in the evening, there wasn't any point in fretting over the possibilities that would come from Orochimaru hunting him. Either the snake-pedo was shooting to make him a part of his collection and give him a hickey, or he wouldn't. Whichever way the wind was blowing, the amount of fight that Tobio could give up in the first place was…minimal, at best.
Here and now, he was washing his hands of fretting about it. If it impacted his life in the coming days, well, his opinion was bound to change to some degree. No, most of Tobio's attention was on the perk that'd been resting in his soul.
Taking first watch had a lot of upsides, and getting some proper privacy was one of them. He'd waited till everyone else was asleep, though, before he reached out and allowed his soul's hollow to fill with unmitigated potential once again.
And just like every other time before, the three rolls listed were some doozies.
Sacred Sakura SaplingGenshin ImpactBorn from the body of a close friend of the Electro Archon, the Sacred Sakura tree is a holy site for those of Inazuma. The trunk of the tree stretches high into the sky and assumes the shape of a fox, and the leaves that drop from the canopy have a certain electrical energy, but it is the roots that are the real prize. The roots of this tree purges evil and corruption from the land by absorbing it into themselves. Unfortunately they cannot purify this taint themselves, and so this must be done by others in a purification ritual. While you do not have the original tree, you do have an offshoot sapling that could soon grow to similar heights.Sparking InnovationLegend of Zelda: Breath of the WildThe fruits of hard work and study. By studying the arts of the ancient Sheikah, You can now create basic "Ancient" technology. The chief use of this is that you have the knowledge of creating the "blue flame" that acts as the energy source for much Sheikah Tech. This Blue Flame can be used to fuel various "magitech" as Sheikah devices are known to be, and in turn you are capable of creating simple tools such as cameras and recording devices with this level of knowledge. Nothing ground shaking on its own, but it's the base of even greater innovation…World ArtsHighSchool DxDSure, the Sacred Gears are pretty broken by themselves, being quite difficult to take out unless one has some soul powers, granting a pretty ability. Though the biggest advantages are the Balance Breakers and Sub-species the users might unlock, those can be pretty broken. To even out things, you have found a way to imitate such a power, now you're able to push other weapons and artifacts into a 'Balance Breaker'-like state, as well as letting them develop sub-species eventually. You can affect items at will, which means that you could easily give this to the weapons of all your army, although it's not ensured they would all end up with the same Balance Breaker, nor with the same skill at using them.He had to go down the list, and consider each one fairly.
Sacred Sakura Sapling wasn't too impressive on the outset, but it did give access to a resource that would benefit Konoha as a whole. Honestly, part of him was keen to take it just to spite Taki's own giant tree, and show that Konohagakure could do it so much better.
And there was probably something to be said about introducing a nice tree to the setting, that would genuinely make the world a better place. Hell, he'd probably be able to figure out something to do with the roots and blossoms, whether that be food or otherwise.
Sparking Innovation was fundamentally a paradigm shift when it came to Naruto's technological level. It was taking what was normally 90's schizotech, and putting it up against something more fantastical. Genuine magitech, by a certain degree. Even the least of Breath of the Wild's ancient Sheikah technology was still far beyond anything a lot of people could hope to replicate.
Hell, he'd be able to engineer what were effectively smartphones early, if given enough time and resources. Could it be trained out on other people, too, so that Konoha had an insurmountable expertise and advantage moving forward? Or combining it with conventional sealing techniques, to create…
Tobio didn't know what, yet surely it'd be wondrous or horrific. Probably both, knowing the shinobi propensity to weaponize whatever they got their hands on. He wasn't knocking it, mind you. The Mixed Blood wasn't much better in that regard.
World Arts was weird, though, and coming from Tobio that was saying something.
It wasn't the power to create Sacred Gears, otherwise he would have jumped onto that shit immediately. Instead, it was the ability to graft similar powers onto other items and artifacts. Right now the only example he'd be able to point to would be something like his own blade, though other items out in the world would probably qualify.
What that would look like in practice for a zanpakutō, Tobio didn't remotely know. Was it more like a false release sort of situation, rather than a conventional shikai or bankai? Or was it something completely new, and more akin to the unique mutations that Sacred Gears could take on for individual users?
He felt like every option here was good, to be clear. They were just good in different, substantive ways. But as always, he had to make a decision.
Out of the bunch of them, Tobio did genuinely like all of the options…but he'd be lying if he said that they really took his imagination the way World Arts did. Not only would he be able to empower his blade even more, with a bootleg Balance Breaker, but he'd be able to spread the effect to the weapons of his friends and allies.
That sort of thing was no small feat in a world like their own. Technically, he could sell the privilege to the highest bidder. He could probably think of other weapons out in the world that likely qualified, but for now, he wasn't really trying to spread it around.
Hmm. Tobio was already making plans with it…if that wasn't a sign of what to pick, he didn't know what was. With that resolution made, Tobio allowed the hollow in his soul to fill up once again, swelling with the power of his new ability. More than anything else, though, was the knowledge.
The Biblical God in DxD was on some other shit, creating a system so robust it outlasted well beyond his death. In fact, he created subsystems and built-in evolutionary mechanics, customized to enable a person's journey through life. In taking this perk, he was gaining the merest fraction of the processes involved, and they made his big, powerful mind strain at the seams…
…But he understood the raw, metaphysical mechanics of tuning an artifact to someone's soul. And enabling them to grow far in excess of their function. As far as his sword was concerned, it wouldn't push it into shikai, or bankai…but as far as power went in its Balance Breaker, whatever it might be, it was bound to be good.
That said, he did have to temper his excitement with the actual job of sitting watch. His shift passed without incident, beyond some questionable animal calls in the night. When he passed off to Ami and Hibachi, they reported much the same when he woke up in the morning.
Breakfast was still delicious, but merely a meal of riceballs he'd premade. Munching happily, once he finished Tobio brought up the elephant in the room.
"Do we want to go straight to the tower, or go hunting for some of the other non-Konoha teams?"
Hibachi's eyebrows were hidden, but Tobio suspected they'd have been raised. "Is there any reason to?"
"Thinning the herd, knocking out competition, and a generalized fuck you to anyone who isn't a Konoha-nin," Ami stated, before glancing at Karin. "No offense."
"Some taken," the redhead admitted. "Do you guys want me to come with you, or…?"
It would be for the best, even if Karin wasn't a member of his bullshit psychic network. Nor could she be, since Tobio didn't feel the slight mystical pull that usually meant someone could be ushered in. There was a level of trust and friendship that just wasn't there…yet.
"You should likely stick with us," Tobio huffed. "It should be fine. The only people in this forest I'm afraid of should already be out of it."
"You were afraid of someone?" Ami asked, looking surprised.
"Raccoon eyes, from Suna."
"…That guy? I mean, he seemed like a bit of a spazz, but…"
"That guy, Gaara of the Sand, is the most dangerous kid in the entire exam. If we have to ever end up fighting him, the plan is to leave him entirely to me, and the rest of you run," Tobio stated, voice uncharacteristically firm. "Even going all out…I'm not sure if I could beat him."
Silence took over for a few moments, as the other three genin shifted uncomfortably under the weight of his words.
"We should, uh, get going, yeah?" Hibachi asked, trying to change the mood.
"Yeah," Tobio sighed. "Let's get moving."
With that said, the four of them were prepared to head out. Into the forest they went, on alert, but with a few different options available to them.
If they so chose, they could beeline straight to the tower. Provided the stations of canon moved as normal, the Sound Team would likely be assaulting Team Seven, though they'd manage with the help of some other genin to survive. The entire affair wasn't really their problem, and he doubted they needed his help…that much.
However, he'd be lying if he said that he didn't want to cut down the Oto team while he had the opportunity. Getting rid of them now would just solve problems down the line, make some progress on one of his quests, and give him an opportunity to test out his Balance Breaker. It was a nice route to take, but not one he had to.
That said, they had a whole day ahead of them. Where was he going to direct his motley band of murderous children?