Pov: Shuzo
*Taught!*
Haaaa-
I let out one single breath as I hold the iron bar above me with only the tip of my pinkie finger.
This wouldn't normally work as all my weight would weigh that point down and make me slip off... but with it gripped tightly in my pinkie finger my entire weight is on top of the bar.
This allows my weightless body to hang without causing any interferences to the act of clinging on with only a pinkie finger.
...
After ten seconds I drop and take my final breath in this box.
*Scratch!* *Scrawl!*
'All tests complete- A-rank scroll completed'
I turn around and watch as the floor mat vanishes, followed by the monkey bars and giant swing... the rope and hoop thing that I never learnt the name of... that one rock climbing surface and the giant swinging log... also that other trampoline with the string above it...
I should read a book on training equipment when I get out of here because I cannot tell what the helper made up for training purposes and what is actually real.
The rest of the equipment and training pces vanish along with gymnasium and I am back in the same pce as before... its just daytime? Mid-day?
How long did I spend in that box?
...
Not as long as my massages at least so that is fine.
I stretch my body and yawn as I get up and look at the scrolls scatter to the floor... right- cannot use my arms right now.
I will just use those three right now then.
I have thought about it and decided on 'Density and Weight' as my primary stats because they will go well together.
...
I also have thought about my arms situation and realised that the helper will not endanger me... I had forgotten probably from the box- but some of my memories outside the box seem to suggest that the helper is always out to... help.
But then I thought about a year from now when I get my arms again... I will have four soul arms that will be useless for anyone but Kenzo and with how he is content with his current abilities I wouldn't want to give him another dump stat when we merge again.
...
I am fully capable of thinking things through- in fact that's why I gave my arms to Oorochimaru in the first pce, because it will fuck him over in the end.
And if I waited he wouldn't be so desperate for a solution to his problem like that again.
I can wait.
And I can weight.
...
Maybe there was a reason Kenzo and Ryū stopped trying to be funny and as social as before...
...
I touch two of the scrolls on the floor and focus on 'weight' as my skill.
And I tap the third thinking about density.
---
-Two hours ter-
Pov: Tsunade
"I see, so you will track him then?" I ask Jiraiya.
"I have to, if what Shuzo said is true... this could be our chance to get Oorochimaru Tsunade" Jiraiya tells me and I nod.
It has been good catching up with Jiraiya... makes the emotionless feeling in my stomach go away for a little while- is this the consequences of that massage? Is this what he was trying to warn me about?
This emptiness that...
Apathy.
That's the word I would use to describe it, cking any energy to travel... drink... gamble- I keep feeling apathetic and not wanting to move from the spot I have sat in.
Its why I sit on that roof... it is why I haven't gotten sick of Jiraiya and his comments and stormed off.
I feel... zy.
"Hello, mind if I have a seat?" I look up and see Shuzo arrive at the table, Naruto who was sitting next to Jiraiya now shuffles over to make room.
"Thanks Naruto" Shuzo smiles warmly and then looks at me.
"So- I know I said I could fix my arms... but not really, Boss's messenger bird got back and told me it would be quicker to just handle Oorochimaru- would it be fine if you healed them physically at least?" Shuzo asks me and I frown.
"Fine. But I want details on when you are pnning to attack Oorochimaru- specifically I want Jiraiya to join you and your attack" I respond with a command.
...
"I can certainly do that- would be a great benefit to our team if we could get that done" Shuzo smiles at Jiraiya and he smiles back.
"I have another question- a personal one" I ask and stare at the rest of the table.
...
"Alright, alright- I get the message" Jiraiya sighs and picks up Naruto taking him with him.
Shizune bows before leaving and I turn back to stare at the completely calm masseuse.
"A question?" He asks me.
"... this feeling of Apathy started with your massages, getting stronger after each one and making me feel empty without the joy of getting yet another massage... tell me. Did you mess with my brain? Is this the side effect of that palm technique?" I grip my knee tightly as I ask through gritted teeth.
...?
He tilts his head in confusion.
"Apathy is not apart of my technique- describe to me the exact conditions of this feeling" He asks in concern.
Its not a side effect?
"I... lost some people a long time ago, I used to feel... a lot... about their deaths but ever since that first massage I have felt different... apathetic, unable to move... tired" I tell him.
"I see... these memories, expin the exact feelings they where" He says.
"Greif... sadness... along those lines" I sigh and silently stare into the cup of alcohol I have yet to drink.
"And these massages make you feel better? Happier?" He asks as if understanding something.
"Yes...?" I probe further.
"Crity" He states and sits straight.
...? I tilt my head and raise my lip in confusion at his statement.
"Imagine your emotions are on a ptter, the negative ones weigh down on the positive ones underneath and sit atop them forever... clouding judgement and stewing into something no one likes" He states.
"Greif..." I mutter.
"Wrong. Crity palm sps the ptter and shakes up all the emotions, it shows every single one and you sort through them- it helps you think clearer and you haven't been thinking correctly about your 'grief'" He states with a serious gaze.
"...? Expin" I ask.
"You are currently sorting through the spped ptter and trying to think on what emotions sit below and what ones bubble to the top- you are trying to shove all the emotions in there proper pce" He says.
"Right? Negative away and Positive bubbling up?" I agree.
"But you have been grieving for quite some time and have been using it as your main reason for your actions... roaming, drinking, gambling- all of these are due to your grief currently correct? Trying to escape the memories" I grasp the corners of my haori tightly under the table as he talks to me.
"Yes" I reply.
"Greif is being pushed to the bottom with your other negative emotions... but grief isn't a negative emotion" He says and my eyes twitch.
"What? Sadness and an endless well of trauma and- how is it not?" I ask calming myself down with a breath.
"Love... memories of those you love, you feel sad because you can never see them again, grieving someone is loving the memory of them- love is not a negative emotion... you are trying to burry every emotion in an attempt to be as happy as you once where when you really just need to stop hating those memories and start loving them like your loved ones would want... were you not happy once?" He asks and I sit still.
My eyes widen and I look down at my cup again.
"Would those loved ones want you to sit and stew as you attach negative emotions to your grief? Or would they want you to drink with a smile as you remember their smile? Wouldn't everyone including yourself want to be happy?" He asks me and my eyes go blurry from the tears that's start to flow.
I need to stop feeling apathetic.
"You need to stop feeling apathetic and use the crity I gave you to be better. Take their memories, their smiles, their dreams, their hobbies and their love... and give those things a warmer set of emotions rather than remembering them for their final moments, remember them for who they where not how they went" He leans forward and offers a genuine smile as his eyebrows adopt a sad tone.
Their dreams...
"Do you honestly think that..." I mutter out in defence.
"Yes. Everyone would be happy if you just got up and became your best self- you most of all would stop being apathetic and regain that sense of self again" Shuzo nods.
"If that doesn't help you I don't know what will, if you are unsatisfied with my expnation to your apathy I don't do refunds... just a joke- I kind of need your healing and if a refund will help me get some goodwill that would be very much appreciated-" I sm the table and cut him off.
"Just- just wait a minute-" I gasp and ruffle my hair.
I feel my body rise as I breath in and I let go of my hair as I watch Jiraiya pick on Naruto outside... I watch Shizune giggle at their antics and I look back to see Shuzo smile awkwardly as he panics.
He doesn't even- this was just an expnation for his medical treatment-
This wasn't even about my-
He doesn't know any of the details of my past and he still...
He really believes that?
...
I stare one more time outside and sigh.
"Come to me tomorrow- JIRAIYA! STOP MESSING WITH THE BRAT AND GET IN HERE!" I yell out and he jolts in surprise before entering back in through the door.
I grip my sake cup and down it in one gulp before smming it on the table and taking one of the longest breaths I have ever taken to think on this defining moment.
"I will do it" I say.
"What..?" Shizune gasps as she enters in behind everyone and bumps into Jiraiya.
"I will be Hokage!" I announce and the room goes silent.
...
"Oh- congratutions Tsunade, you are also over your fear of blood! Good news all around, be back tomorrow" Shuzo gets up and scooches past the trio who stare at me in silence, completely unaware of how his words made up my mind.
....
...
..
.
"YES!" Naruto cheers and I twitch my eye.
---
Pov: Shuzo
I scratch the inside of my cheeks with my teeth and groan as the pain slowly rises.
------
Quest notification!
Defeat Oorochimaru in one year alongside Jiraiya the toad sage!
Reward: Dependant on completion.
------
I take a seat within an alley way and wipe my brow with my knee as I try to soothe the sudden headache.
------
Quest Notification!
Collect more bounties than Kakuzu of the Akatsuki within one year!
Reward: 10 statistic scrolls!
------
I take deep breaths and swallow my spit down the dry throat that I have.
------
Quest complete!
Tsunade will no longer fear blood when she next encounters her phobia!
Reward: Two statistic scrolls! Instant C-rank scroll!
------
I blink away the pain and focus.
------
Tsunade Senju became Hokage due to your minor help and involvement!
Reward: 5 statistic scrolls!
------
I calmly grasp my situation and close my eyes.
------
Quest notification!
Impress the false leader of the Akatsuki!
Reward: K-rank Scroll!
------
I sm my head back against the wall and shudder as the pain increases yet again.
------
Quest Notification!
Train Kanata and Katsuko to be capable of aiding the Oorochimaru ambush in one year!
------
I slide into a slump on the floor as the st notification enters my head.
...
I haven't been hit by that many notifications all at once ever, that was a heavy hit to the brain.
At least I got out of there before the group noticed my pained expression- Tsunade is finally free from her fears due to my crity and luckily she became Hokage as well, I pray for the vilges economy when she runs it but she will be quite fine in all other aspects.
I get up and pat my robes dry of dust- never mind, tomorrow when I have hands I will do that, for now I will just wait till I can get home.
7 statistic scrolls and an instant C-rank scroll? I can see why the system didn't reward me much for staying in Konoha- doing interesting stuff definitely pays more.
I walk quickly to the pce I am staying at and flicker through the window I left open before arriving back in my pce.
...
Lets use these scrolls and then after tomorrow I will travel around the borders of the nd of fire until a year passes... perhaps go to the nd of stone since I am practicing this weight technique.
Try out mud baths?
Might as well.
I accept the C-rank scroll and think for a moment... should I just get something simple out of the way? I want to save higher ranked skills for the stuff that requires the high ranks... getting another massage skill but at C-rank would do me no good.
So simpler than ever for some benefit at C-rank, which will make the technique simple and easy to use like Kenzo's eyes? This system really messes with my head in how it works...
Poke?
Sm!
Weight control?
...
Too complex, I will save weight control for a higher ranked instant scroll.
Tongue click?
Whistle?
Spin?
Shuffle?
Shake?
Knock?
Stand?
Sit?
Voice?
...
You know what? Poke was my best idea and it was my first one- I touch the scroll and focus on 'Poke' slowly sitting on the floor and rising once more when the world goes orange.
*Scratch!* *SCRAWL!*
'Poke... massage skill has taught you up to your mortal limits- SKILL LEVEL SKIPPED TO C-RANK! STARTING TEST!'
I blink and look around my new environment- I see in front of me is a tunnel, I look around and notice that I am in a mineshaft.
Dark, grimy and filled with dirt- no natural light in my line of sight and nothing but a ntern to keep me safe.
Dirt.
Nothing but stone and dirt is in front of me... I look down the tunnel and it is a stone dead end.
I don't even need the message to know what I must do- poke my way to the surface right?
*Scratch!*
'Yes'
The floor etches a word and I sigh deeply.
I walk over to the dirt wall that the mineshaft points to and I slowly poke into it, soft and easy to dispce my finger goes right through.
I use my hand to scrape away the dirt without poking and- *RUMBLE* the cave shakes and rumbles... I don't even want to know what that punishment is.
*Scratch* *Scrawl*
'One extra tunnel'
...
An entire tunnel? Did that just double the time I spend in here?
...
Damnit.
*Poke*
-One Month-
*Poke!*
The stone cracks and I poke again- *Poke!* my finger point cracks the stone wider and I poke once more.
*Poke!* *Crack *Shatter*
A small sliver of the stone shakes off and shatters to the floor... I look at my bloody hands and behind me at the bloody dirt, cy and stone...
Not broken yet... I can keep going...
Once they break it will heal.
The faster I break the faster I heal.
-Two Months-
*POKE!* *SNAP!*
"ARRRHHHH!" I roll onto the ground as my hand snaps against the dark stone and I bite my lip in pain.
...
*VvvvvvVvvvv*
My hand heals under a soft glow and I crawl back up- *Slip!* I tumble as I stand out of energy and headbutt the tunnel accidentally.
*RUMBLE*
...
*Sniff*
I wipe my nose as I push myself to a stand again and poke again.
-Three Months-
*POKE!* *SLAM!*
The second tunnel has started... dirt again.
I wrap my finger in chakra... I tried lightning but it dispersed a lot in the dirt, I tried fire and it didn't help much, earth, wind or water... the elements aren't helping me the way I want them too.
I'm just doing it the cssic taijutsu way.
Unlike my old world people here can overcome their limits with just hard work- work that I can perfectly replicate in these boxes.
Through chakra they can passively break themselves down and build themselves up to overcome mortal standards... people like Gai and my friend Lee do this.
I am just doing that but focusing all that power on my finger.
Now- stats and this are different.
Stats are percentage bonuses and training is more of a points system I cannot see.
If I have 5 str and the 100% bonus to it I will have 10 str... while a normal ninja who trained like me would still have 5 without the scrolls.
Which is why even if I chose chakra as a stat I will never reach Naruto's levels as his 1000 points are hard to reach with the standard 10 + 10 (100%).
And because going over 100 percent would start pulling in other stats to increase just one I am sure it stops and shifts into a lesser blessing as a small gift for my hard work.
Some stuff is better to use statistic scrolls on than others- efficiency over more at all times is a good example.
100% Efficient Genjutsu? Yeah you don't need chakra... but if I just increased my chakra I wouldn't be able to use genjutsu like I did... or Kenzo did.
If I wanted to match Naruto's chakra usage I would use efficiency over adding more to myself... but stats actively change my body in a more perfect way.
The box doesn't snap its fingers and suddenly I can cast jutsu or be stronger and faster... it rebuilds me.
Pushing me through training and breaking my body to upgrade it with better parts.
So efficiency removes my chakra entirely as that is the upgrade- no chakra needed.
The box hates adding and loves perfecting.
Which is why Kenzo needed shapeshifting to use jutsu again and allow us our chakra- he is actively degrading our body to a 'lesser' version that the box had already upgraded.
I could learn to snap my fingers and cast genjutsu at 90% efficiency, but my body has too much chakra for that, I need less chakra to mimic Kenzo's training as that's how he was taught.
And so I train my own ability.
Poke.
*CRASH!*
A small crater is left in the dirt wall ahead of me, I lift my arm and drift chakra down my arm... mimicking the orange box and many taijutsu manuals I purposefully stress my entire body to strengthen my poke.
*POKE!* *CRASH!*
-Seven Months-
The final stone corridor...
I know I shouldn't.
But I want to test this.
I wrap the weight in my body with chakra and lean into a single poke stance, I suddenly slingshot the poke into ny arm and through to the tip of my finger as I sm it into the stone.
*SLAM!* *SHATTER!* *CRACK!*
A huge crack splits the stone wall and the first yer of stone shatters, as I remove my finger which is embedded in stone I see the 30 ish centimetre's that my finger pushed through.
My finger pushed so much pressure and weight that the power went forward and dispersed along the wall... shooting deeper into stone and cracking the first yer.
*RUMBLE!*
Another tunnel... never mind.
If I combined my weight, poke, strength of Kenzo and his shapeshifting... wrap that in lightning and slide forward with intensity...
Hahahahaa!
And with my massage techniques! They will be more efficient and powerful due to constantly training my fingers!
Only the basic stuff... but still!
...
A shame that it will take a year to get this skill... but it is worth the wait.
I missed this feeling of learning- not being forced, just being shoved into a situation and learning how to improve on my own terms... I remember feeling terrible after every new skill but this time I think I won't feel as bad.
...
That is if I don't make another tunnel.
-9 Months-
*Shine* *Tweet!* *Wooosh!*
Cold wind... hot sun and tweeting birds... its beautiful...
All it took was blood sweat and tears.
I blink and my room returns, all that effort for a momentary reward of exiting that tunnel... the true reward is my trained chakra and fingers.
I clench... never mind- that gets healed tomorrow and then in one year I can use that jutsu again.
A small pain in my head reminds me of my three stat scrolls, I look around and sigh- from tunnel diving to body breaking.
Lets just improve my other skills, I also need a statistic to turn my massage skill into a lesser blessing... I can focus on that after I have enough weight and density.
I accept the statistic scrolls, I will put... 3 into weight in order to make it five and 4 into density to even them out, soon I will be needing my bance in order to not break anything I apply my weight to.
*CRACK!*
my body snaps like a twig and I sigh again as the process starts up.
Thanks for reading! :)
If you haven't seen yet I changed the title and image to Naruto: No pain/No gain as I clearly have shifted in what I was writing compared to the beginning... apologies for that but hopefully for new readers I wont be setting them up for disappointment.
