cry 8 (Growth)

Laboured breaths came out at a rapid pace as he tried to control the rhythm. His feet constantly met the ground as the world passed by around him. The feeling of the sun glaring down over him as the cloudless sky pushed its full weight on him.

He never thought he would think like this but he really missed the clouds by this point. He would blame that on Shikamaru’s habits but this thought felt like one of his own. He was always one to hate the heat after all.

Growing up in a place where the temperature fell well below freezing during winter would do that to you. He would say that Kohona had a more mild weather pattern but they were in the peak of summer right now. So even with its mild nature he was sweating like a pig.

That was discounting the fact that he was also running his ass off. Which still felt like a nail being pushed into his heart but he was able to get over this body’s reaction of avoiding any and all effort.

He had a couple of weeks to acclimate to this new found world after all. It was not as productive as he wanted as that pattern was really built up strongly in him but he did gain some very nice upgrades. Which really shows you how broken the Gamer could be when even middling efforts could provide you something fantastic.

Sadly there was not a lot of experience gained here but he was not running around killing things so it was to be expected. His Stats were gradually filling out as the Clan made sure he followed at least a basic training schedule. While the gains from that were okay stat wise it was not the major pull here.

No, the thing that really made all this effort worth it was the Skills.

He managed to pick up the Meditation skill and while it required full concentration and some start up time it doubled his Mana Recovery. Which was a fantastic gain that led to more grinding on skills to level them up but that was not the only thing being boosted.

He should have expected this but a part of his training was not just the physical aspect. Shogi was something that took up a truly massive amount of time in his schedule. He would sit down and run through strategies and tactics over and over till he gained another level in the skill.

Not just because Shikamaru’s body had a burning desire to wipe that smug smile off of his Father’s face but because of the gains from doing so. Shogi obviously made him a better player as he leveled up but it also gave him a percentile upgrade to his WIS stat. Starting at 2% at level one and gaining another 2% every level.

Coupled with the flat WIS gains he was gaining from engaging in strategic warfare with his father constantly and his Mana recovery was truly something special.

Thanks to Shogi being such a big part of his life now he managed to push his base WIS stat past the first threshold of fifty. Meaning he gained a perk for that one stat despite his base class still being level fucking 2.

[Moment LV.MAX]

Was the perk he gained and while he was a bit disappointed that it did not help with Mana recovery what it did do was amazing. Once per day he could pause time. During that paused state he could not move but he could think and plot during it. The time he could ‘pause’ time was measured in seconds with the final result being based off of his WIS stat divided by 2. Meaning at his current value he could pause and think for 28 seconds.

It was not the most game breaking effect as all it allowed him to do was stop and think but when things require split second action that could make or break a plot, it pulled its weight. He would rather not be placed in a scenario in which he had to use the thing but he was not naive enough to think he could avoid it.

He truly hoped that the rest of his stats breaking that threshold will give him great perks. Sadly he was only in the twenties in his physical stats and Int was not receiving much improvement. His CHA and LUK stats were equally empty but he did not expect much from those unless he really pushed himself to do things in relation to that.

At least the skills he has been practicing have been really helpful. Running was gained and it added a percentile gain in speed with a double effect when spending Mana. Not that impressive when you consider the fact that the Raikage could move as fast as lightning but every little bit counts.

He could combine this skill with the one that boosted the Raikage speed after all. Another showcase of why synergy is such an important factor in games.

He was making sure to level Observe as he knew information was vital if he wanted to live a nice healthy life. The information was still dog shit even if he spent a lot of time trying to level it but he could at least get the name of what he was looking at now. So instead of seeing book when he used it he would see Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

Not game breaking as he could just read the cover of the book to get that information but every little upgrade on that was important.

Sadly leveling his Shadow Manipulation was a pain. The Mana consumption on the skill was crazy and all he could do right now was kind of stretch his shadow awkwardly with his current level of control.

His father seemed absolutely stunned when he caught him moving it without any hand signs but he noticed that he collapsed rather quickly. His father reprimanded him for pushing himself too hard that day but he could not help but notice that his father kept a more steady eye on him since then.

Which was mildly concerning since he was not technically his son and he always worried about tipping off that little fact but he appeared to be in the clear for now. His father was mainly doubling down on the Shogi games they played and he would impart his insights into their technique with a far more serious eye.

It was clear that his father thought he was a prodigy at least in manipulating shadows even if he thought nothing about the lackluster efforts his current manipulation could do. It was not like he could control the movement of anyone he connected his shadow to, all he could do was move his shadow right now and he could not even move it well.

Then again jutsu without hand signs was always the realm of geniuses. Minato with his Rasengan and Hashirama with his absurd feat of clapping his hands and doing whatever he pleased. Minato at least made sense with his Rasengan as the move was just manipulation of the shape of Chakra while Hashirama was converting base chakra into wood Chakra, then manipulating the shape with a single clap.

Honestly that feat with regular Jutsu would be absolutely frightening to most Ninja in this world. Hell, Haku being able to do one handed signs shocked Kakashi so goddamn much. Most Ninja could cast their Jutsu with incredible speeds as they practiced hang signs to perfection but there will always be a difference between instant use and sped up ones.

Sadly he could not grind as much as he wanted to. His minor amounts of effort was already pushing the envelope as his mother was used to him sleeping till noon on most days and for him  to use very excuse he could think about to get out of physical effort.

Now he did the training plan that his Clan provided to him without making a fuss. That one fact drew proud but confused glances from his mother and a different glint to flash in his father’s eyes. So he was not willing to push the envelope too much as he was worried that his father might do something drastic to find the truth.

So he had to be very slow with any physical growth but training WIS seemed to be almost expected. Excelling in the field of Strategy and developing the wisdom to advice the top brass was something every Nara went through. The only difference between him and them was he had more eyes on him from the choices he made.

Why did he think taking over Shikamaru’s body was a good idea? Right, it was because his skills were freaking broken.

He was also pushed to hang out with Ino and Choji on a near daily basis. Choji was fine as the guy was pretty chill even as a child, as long as he had his chips to munch on the boy could relax like the world's best slacker. He should know as he became that guy.

Ino on the other hand was annoying. She was too young to be interested in Sasuke so she was not a Vapid Fangirl yet but she showed the signs. Still, he would not put her down for caring for someone even if her methods were rather childish. 

That part of her was not why he found her irritating. The girl was a non stop chatter box and if he did not put his foot down it was likely that she would talk to him till the day he died. If she just talked it would be somewhat tolerable but she also tried to take charge of what they were going to do.

Which made sense even if he found it irritating. It was more than clear that her bossey nature was supported by the three clans as he hit the mark on how a Nara was supposed to be. Meaning he was destined to be hen pecked by a woman and listen to her commands with very little prodding.

So far the clan did not see interested in marrying him to Ino but the both of them were rather young. He just figured that for Clans of their size figuring out what the future was dire. No one wanted their roots to be cut off and it was not like they would consider him a traitor.

Unless he encountered Orichimaru. That pervert seemed to have his eyes on Sasuke and the moment he showed up was a still a long time from now. Hell, the Uchiha clan was still alive and while not thriving there was no doubt they had a significant martial prowess. 

He could see why they thought they could pull of a Coup and why the higher ups considered that clan to be a thorn in their sides. Whatever he did not have to care too much about that. All he was here for was growth after all.

It was not like he had a major attachment to anyone in that clan. Even if he felt a little sad about Izumi and her fate. Freaking perverted bro-con who was willing to kill the girl he loved for the will of the village.

That guy really had a screw loose. Which made sense as he was an Uchiha. God, he was sounding like Tobirama when he said things like that but the racist guy was certainly right. The Uchiha were a clan filled with mad men but the Senju was not perfect either as they were filled with reckless idiots for the most part.

Wearing your heart on your sleeve is a sin in a world like this and that clan had been doing that for far too long.