Naruto: I Have Cursed Spirits!

My abilities are synced with Rika's level. She's already at 49%, and I've only just unlocked one skill, Black Flash!

Shiratori was extremely dissatisfied.

[System Alert: Additional parameters previously omitted]

He had a bad feeling.

[Clarification: Development cost scaling]

[0%-50%: 1,000 points per 1% increase]

[50%-90%: 10,000 points per 1% increase]

[90%-100%: 100,000 points per 1% increase]

...Are you kidding me? Why didn't you just wait until I was dead to tell me?

[Data accuracy confirmed. No system errors detected.]

Then why don't you just delete yourself?

[Auto-termination protocols: Not permitted.]

Sitting on the tatami mat, he let out a cold laugh, his eye twitching, looking like he was going through a mental breakdown.

No wonder it felt so easy for the cursed spirits to level up at first.

Turns out the system was holding back some nasty surprises.

100,000 points to raise the level by 1%?

How much affection would people have to have for him to max out Rika's level?

Thinking about this, he suddenly felt like his future was bleak.

Right, there was also Copy.

Today, he had activated two cursed spirits: Choso and the Smallpox Deity. Correspondingly, some techniques should also have been activated.

He opened the "Copy" tab.

---

Copy (Current Progress: 49%): Can replicate ninjutsu below S-rank

Available Technique Templates:

- Nanami Kento: Ratio Technique (Active)

- Inumaki Toge: Cursed Speech (Activated)

- Yuji Itadori: Divergent Fist (Activated)

- Gojo Satoru: Six Eyes (Locked)

- Gojo Satoru: Limitless (Locked)

- Gojo Satoru: Hollow Purple (Locked)

- Gojo Satoru: Domain Expansion (Locked)

- Geto Suguru: Cursed Spirit Manipulation (Locked)

- Fushiguro Toji: Heavenly Restriction (Locked)

…[Expand for additional options]

---

Shiratori flipped through the list over and over, and finally arrived at a harsh truth: He had only unlocked Yuji's Divergent Fist.

[Status notification: Current unlocks include Black Flash and Divergent Fist from host abilities]

[Additional assets: Two active cursed spirits with unique capabilities]

[Choso: Blood Manipulation available]

[Smallpox Deity: Multiple abilities - "instant death" technique, cursed domain, chakra absorption with conversion to cursed energy]

What do you mean by chakra conversion?

Resting his chin on his hand, he pondered aloud: "Unless... it can convert chakra into cursed energy?"

[Confirmation: Chakra absorption converts to cursed energy, fed back to host]

[Energy redistribution system functional]

At least the Smallpox Deity's abilities were some comfort.

He glanced at his total energy reserves.

[Total Cursed Energy: Personal Energy (4,900,000) + Cursed Spirit Energy (12,700,000)]

The corners of his mouth lifted. The gloom in his chest instantly cleared.

That was a lot of cursed energy!

He wouldn't need to worry about running out anymore.

He closed the interface and went to sleep.

---

At 4:30 AM, Shiratori heard some system notifications.

[Wake-up protocol: ACTIVATED]

[Alert tone: Standard notification]

[BEEP]

[BEEP]

He was jolted awake by the alarm.

[Alert continues until acknowledged]

Stop the noise.

[Alert terminated.]

He drifted into the bathroom like a ghost. Staring at his own reflection in the mirror, filled with overwhelming resentment, he rubbed his face vigorously.

He forced a smile.

"Smile in the morning, and all your emotional points go straight into your pocket."

"Compliment yourself a bit, and your upgrade progress speeds up."

After spending five minutes giving himself psychological motivation, he took a deep breath and regained his energy.

[Host psychological state: Optimized]

After tidying himself up, he opened the iron door.

Outside, it was pitch black. Even the stars were still hanging in the sky.

Just as he closed the door, he saw a dark shadow flash across his vision. Startled, he looked closer, standing not far away in the corridor was Chiba.

"..."

Why was Chiba here?

"Chiba-nisan?"

Shiratori walked up to him and stopped.

Chiba showed no extra emotion. After nodding, he said, "Hanzō-sama has urgent matters to attend to. He sent me to guide your training."

What kind of business would happen this early?

Shiratori nodded. "Okay! Thank you, Chiba-nisan!"

Chiba's lips twitched slightly. "Come with me."

Shiratori followed behind him. As they walked, Chiba suddenly spoke, "The person who attacked you yesterday was a Suna spy. He's been dealt with, no need to worry."

"..."

He wasn't worried. Staring at Chiba's back, he grinned to himself.

Whether Chiba could see it or not, he nodded vigorously and said with heartfelt trust, "I'm not scared. I know you'll protect me, Chiba-nisan. As long as you're here, I feel safe."

Chiba's steps paused.

[Reminiscence detected: Chiba +500 points]

[Energy transferred to Choso]

[Development progress: 17.5%]

"Mm."

Chiba nodded lightly. He would protect Shiratori, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Because Shiratori was more valuable than he was. As long as the boy lived, he could save even more Ame ninjas.

No matter what, he would protect him. Besides, Shiratori saw him as an older brother. And as a brother, of course he had to protect him.

Shiratori followed Chiba to the training grounds behind the apartment complex.

It was obvious that this training area had been specially prepared for the ninjas who lived in the apartments.

Though it was only 5 AM, many ninjas were already there, training.

Everyone was focused on their own practice, no one spared them a glance.

Chiba found a quiet, undisturbed corner of the training field. He pulled out a piece of chakra paper he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Shiratori.

Shiratori took it.

"Inject your chakra into the test paper," Chiba instructed.

A minute passed.

No reaction.

Chiba repeated, "Inject your chakra into the paper."

"..."

Another minute passed.

"Did you inject it?"

Chiba frowned.

What was going on?

Shiratori nodded.

Chiba's face showed clear confusion. Why wasn't the chakra paper reacting?

"Maybe... you could just teach me a jutsu first?" Shiratori suggested.

"But we don't even know your chakra nature yet..."

Chiba stared at the chakra paper in confusion. Could it be that Shiratori's chakra had no nature?

He had never seen anything like this before. He glanced at Shiratori. Still, it was possible to determine his chakra nature through ninjutsu, it would just take more time and effort.