Chapter 20: An Unexpected Turn
Masahiko thought for a long time but ultimately couldn't come up with a solution. He could only let nature take its course.
It was only then that he noticed the prompt this time was a little different. The Witness Points he received had a *2 multiplier. He opened his status panel, and sure enough, his points had increased by 20.
"In other words, changing the plot gets me more attribute points?" Masahiko muttered to himself. "In that case, maybe I can..."
"No, I still need to be selective about what I change. If I alter the plot too much, it'll become unrecognizable, and I'll have far fewer events to witness later on..."
"Besides, this was a 'slight change.' There are probably other categories, like 'major change.' Does 'slight change' mean that Hashirama learning Sage Mode early won't have a major impact on the future?"
"That's probably right. If Madara's power had surpassed Hashirama's, the Uchiha would have likely conquered the Warring States. But Hashirama's personality means he's destined to never take the path of military conquest."
A series of thoughts flashed through Masahiko's mind, but in the end, he decided to just let it be.
"I should just focus on learning Sage Mode..." he mumbled.
After a day of study, Hashirama realized Sage Mode was not easy to learn. He created a Wood Clone and sent it back to report that he was safe. He also had Senju Ten'yu inform Tobirama that he, Tobirama, would be stuck handling all clan affairs for the next few months.
Masahiko felt a sense of vindictive pleasure. His anger over missing out on the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu points finally faded. Having an older brother like that... he almost pitied Tobirama.
For the next month, Masahiko and Hashirama both trained in Sage Mode.
Hashirama had already basically mastered it. Masahiko, however, was stuck on the second step: drawing natural energy into his body.
Another two months passed. Hashirama had now perfectly mastered the use of Sage Mode. Masahiko... was still stuck on the second step.
By this point, Masahiko understood. It was almost certainly because he didn't have Yang-attribute chakra, and the system was restricting his training.
After realizing he was completely unable to learn it, he had no choice but to give up on Sage Mode and focus on his status panel.
Hashirama was about to finish his training, and Masahiko wanted to follow him into the upcoming wars with the Uchiha. He had to find a way to get more Witness Points.
However, with his current strength, he would be insta-killed by Madara's Stage 2 Susanoo, to say nothing of Hashirama, who had now mastered Sage Mode and was touching on a level of power beyond a Clan Head.
The path to strength through Sage Mode was blocked. Masahiko could only rely on adding points.
He had 34 Witness Points remaining. This trip with Hashirama had netted him another 24 points. That gave him a total of 58 points to use—an unprecedented amount.
Masahiko decided to add points to "Jutsu." His "Jutsu" was already at a +5.5 bonus, making his jutsu 55% stronger than others. This time, he wanted to get it to +10.
Based on his previous assumption (that it was +0.5 per point after +5), Masahiko added 9 points. But he found that the "Jutsu" bonus only became +9.2.
"What the hell? After +9, does it only go up by +0.1 per point?" Masahiko grumbled, but he decisively added another 8 points. However...
Jutsu: 1582 (+9.75) (+)
What was this? After +9.5, it only added +0.05?
"Is this damn thing never going to hit +10?" Masahiko had already dumped 17 points into "Jutsu." Seeing this, he simply added 5 more points just to see if it could even be maxed out.
However, at this moment, his status panel underwent an unexpected change.
Jutsu: 1582 (+10) (Convertible)
Convertible? The plus sign was gone, replaced by the word "Convertible."
"So +10 is the max? Guess I won't be breaking a Susanoo with a single Great Fireball..." Masahiko thought. "A 2x boost to ninjutsu power is good enough, but... what does 'Convertible' mean?"
Masahiko tentatively 'clicked' on "Convertible" in his mind. He was enveloped by a strange sense of power. A minute later, he came to his senses.
He immediately looked at his status panel and found it had changed dramatically.
Name: Uzumaki Masahiko
Age: 31 Years (-)
Nin: 245 (*2) (+)
Tai: 118 (*2) (+)
Sage: 1521 (+10) (Convertible)
(In Sage Chakra Mode, 1 chakra point lost per second)
Academy Basic Three: LV10 (100000) (Maxed)
Shuriken Jutsu: LV10 (100000) (Maxed)
Earth Release: LV3 (30458/100000) (+)
Wind Release: LV4 (116764/200000) (+)
Fire Release: LV3 (29985/100000) (+)
Water Release: LV2 (10000/20000) (+)
Lightning Release: LV2 (10000/20000) (+)
Yang Release: LV1 (0/10000) (+)
Fuinjutsu: LV5 (200000/400000) (+)
Special Talent: Sensory Perception
Overall Evaluation: S-
Witness Points: 36
"Sage Mode? This is an unexpected turn! I thought it was hopeless, but I managed to get it like this!" Masahiko felt the chakra draining from his body and immediately deactivated the state. "Activating Sage Mode naturally gave me Yang Release! What an unexpected bonus. And in Sage Mode, my Nin and Tai are doubled, and my evaluation became S-! This 'S-'... it must mean Clan Head-level, or the future Kage-level. Why does it make me feel like an S-Rank Rogue-nin?"
Masahiko smiled, satisfied. This was a huge upgrade. And he still had 36 Witness Points left. He thought about it and decided to try putting points into Yang Release.
After investing one point, Yang Release became LV2, and Masahiko noticed both his "Tai" and "Jutsu" stats increased.
"Just as I thought. Yang Release increases my physical energy... Will it gradually give me a 'Sage Body'?"
Masahiko felt that his other ninjutsu were sufficient for now. He had versatile Earth Release for defense and Naruto's entire Rasengan-series for offense.
"In that case... am I still just lacking in my fundamentals?"
In the end, Masahiko chose to dump his points into the new Yang Release. He invested a total of 19 points, raising it to LV5. He spent the remaining 16 points: 7 on Earth Release and 9 on Wind Release, leveling them both up by one.
He could feel his body rapidly strengthening, his power surging. Masahiko was overjoyed. But when he looked at his new stats, he became ecstatic.
Name: Uzumaki Masahiko
Age: 31 Years (-)
Nin: 296 (+)
Tai: 321 (+)
Jutsu: 3458 (+10) (Convertible)
Academy Basic Three: LV10 (100000) (Maxed)
Shuriken Jutsu: LV10 (100000) (Maxed)
Earth Release: LV4 (100458/200000) (+)
Wind Release: LV5 (206764/400000) (+)
Fire Release: LV3 (29985/100000) (+)
Water Release: LV2 (10000/20000) (+)
Lightning Release: LV2 (10000/20000) (+)
Yang Release: LV5 (200000/400000)
Fuinjutsu: LV5 (200000/400000) (+)
Special Talent: Sensory Perception
Overall Evaluation: S-
As an Uzumaki, Masahiko already had far more chakra than an average ninja. Now with Yang Release, his physical constitution and chakra reserves had both more than doubled. And now, he was S-Rank even without entering Sage Mode.
"At this level, even if I run into the current Madara, I can put up a decent fight. I haven't shamed the name 'Uzumaki Skirmish' after all!"
Or so Masahiko said to himself.