Chapter 80: A Bug?
"Fate Burn needs to be understood from two different angles."
"The first is its basic function. It lets you restore your powers and Talents to the state they're supposed to have at full strength."
Yukinoshita pulled a pair of glasses from her Storage Space and put them on, deliberately adopting the air of a teacher giving a lecture.
"For example, you must have heard about Bindings while you were in the Jujutsu Kaisen world, right?"
"But after leaving that world, theoretically nobody should be able to use Bindings anymore."
"Once you activate Fate Burn, however, you can use Bindings again to strengthen yourself. Do you understand now?"
Makoto nodded with a serious expression.
He had personally used a Life-Forfeit Binding and fought Ryomen Sukuna, the king of taking everything on credit. Makoto understood better than most just how absurd Bindings could become.
The thought of someone activating Fate Burn, then using a Life-Forfeit Binding to drag him into mutual destruction, made even Makoto's scalp tingle.
"You don't need to worry too much, though."
"Each point of Fate Value only maintains Fate Burn for one minute. Under normal circumstances, Players won't burn Fate Value lightly, even if it means losing mission rewards."
Yukinoshita continued, "Its enhancement also has limits. Adaptability affects how much power you can recover, and every effect ends forcibly the moment Fate Burn stops."
"Most importantly, if your Fate Value reaches zero, the Main God Space will erase you regardless of how powerful you are. Never forget that."
Makoto relaxed slightly.
If Adaptability limited the effect, then even a Life-Forfeit Binding would lose more than half of its original effectiveness.
At least he wouldn't suddenly encounter something ridiculous like a crow killing a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
"And what's the second angle?"
This time, Yukinoshita put a hand on Makoto's shoulder and looked directly into his eyes.
"Kitano-kun, I need to warn you. Avoid the second use of Fate Burn unless you truly have no other choice."
Makoto nodded.
Only then did Yukinoshita continue.
"The second use temporarily lets you break the Main God Space's restrictions."
"For example, if you're somewhere your Talents and abilities normally cannot function, Fate Burn can force them to work anyway."
"But the price is severe."
Yukinoshita's expression became solemn.
"If you use Fate Burn somewhere those powers aren't supposed to function, you lose 10,000 Mission Points every minute."
"If your balance isn't enough, the Main God Space will start deducting your Talents, abilities, and items."
"It will continue until you no longer possess anything it considers valuable. Then you'll be erased."
Makoto blinked.
His reaction wasn't fear.
It was closer to:
'That's it?'
Ten thousand Mission Points sounded expensive, but he earned tens of thousands from each Mission World.
He could also sell items he obtained.
That would give him even more Mission Points to burn.
Yukinoshita frowned slightly.
"And that's only the beginning."
"Everything you do while Fate Burn is active will be examined extremely closely by the Main God Space."
"For example, if you kill allies or ordinary humans during that period, or cause widespread panic and deaths, the Main God Space may impose an enormous penalty."
"Being fined a million Mission Points at once wouldn't be impossible."
Makoto still didn't look frightened.
Instead, he asked curiously, "You mean activating Fate Burn and any violations committed afterward are calculated separately?"
Yukinoshita hadn't expected him to focus on that distinction.
She instinctively nodded.
What she didn't know was that Makoto was wondering about something entirely different.
'What kind of penalty would I trigger if I activated Fate Burn and then used the SSS-rank Making Fake Become Real?'
Makoto had always known that the relationship between his SSS-rank Talent and the Main God Space was somewhat unusual.
That had gradually made his own attitude toward the Main God Space equally complicated.
Still, his current level was nowhere near high enough to investigate its deeper secrets.
'If I get the chance, maybe I should save up some Mission Points and test whether Making Fake Become Real works in Academy City under Fate Burn.'
"But," Yukinoshita suddenly added, "if someone activates Fate Burn and ambushes you, don't hesitate at all."
"Fight back immediately."
"Punishment is something you can worry about after surviving."
Her eyelashes trembled slightly behind the lenses.
"So make sure you survive, Kitano-kun."
Yukinoshita's eyes seemed slightly wet.
She had probably remembered what happened to her former team.
Seeing her sink into those memories, Makoto reached out and removed her glasses.
Caught off guard, Yukinoshita instinctively stepped back.
Makoto's next words immediately pulled her attention back.
"I seem to remember someone saying not long ago that she was going to call me Makoto-kun."
"So why did we come home and suddenly go back to Kitano-kun?"
Yukinoshita's toes curled against the floor.
Back then, she'd just completed her Bankai and become overwhelmed by emotion.
That was why she'd managed to say it.
But now, staring at Makoto's face from this close...
She couldn't bring herself to say it.
Makoto had no intention of letting her escape so easily.
He still thought being called Makoto-kun sounded strangely dangerous, but that wasn't a reason for Yukinoshita to abandon the name she'd chosen herself.
"If you really think we should keep our distance, then I suppose I'll go back to calling you Yukinoshita too."
"No!"
Yukinoshita rejected that immediately.
She bit her lip before finally gathering enough courage to speak in a low voice.
"Makoto-kun... Is that good enough?"
Makoto smiled.
He placed the glasses back on her face.
"That's more like my partner."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure I survive until the very end."
Makoto withdrew his hand and prepared to examine his rewards.
Then Yukinoshita suddenly stepped closer and gave him a brief, warm hug.
Her voice came softly beside his ear.
"Thank you, Makoto-kun."
She immediately released him and hurried toward the bathroom as if escaping.
Soon, the sound of running water came from inside.
At this moment, Makoto felt an impulse to go and check if she'd locked the door.
But in the end, he forced himself to calm down and focused on his reward.
He dismantled his newly obtained C-rank Main Mission Token, converted it into C-rank Side Mission Tokens, then further converted those into D-rank Side Mission Tokens.
Makoto used them to raise Adaptability to 8.
Now that he understood just how important Adaptability was, there was no reason to neglect it.
Whether he used Sage Mode or Bindings through Fate Burn, Adaptability would directly affect their effectiveness.
Makoto still had slightly over 30,000 Mission Points remaining.
Since every normal attribute had already reached the cap of 20, he left Yukinoshita's room and headed for the marketplace to see whether anyone was selling Mission Tokens.
Unsurprisingly, he found nothing.
Mission Tokens were clearly far more valuable than ordinary Mission Points.
Makoto was about to leave when he remembered that he still possessed three C-rank Emergency Escape Cards.
He took one out and offered it for sale.
This time, interest appeared almost immediately.
Most Players offered Mission Points, but Makoto rejected them all.
Eventually, one Player offered two D-rank Side Mission Tokens plus 1,000 Mission Points.
Makoto accepted.
After the buyer left, a nearby stall owner who specialized in cold weapons spoke up.
"Newbie, you really shouldn't sell life-saving items."
"If you're desperately short on Mission Tokens or supplies, you can always borrow some temporarily from a Guild."
Makoto didn't answer.
He simply smiled and walked away.
His plan was to return and push Adaptability straight to 10.
Afterward, he'd still possess more than 30,000 Mission Points and two C-rank Emergency Escape Cards.
That should be enough to handle most situations.
What Makoto didn't know was that selling a C-rank Emergency Escape Card had already made him a topic of conversation across today's small marketplace.
Quite a few Players had begun asking about his strength and what kind of backing he had.
When Makoto returned to Yukinoshita's room, she'd already finished showering and changed into comfortable clothes.
She was curled lazily on the sofa, wearing panda-head slippers.
The moment she saw Makoto, Yukinoshita Yukino almost stood up to restore her usual elegant posture.
In the end, she surrendered to exhaustion and stayed where she was.
Even so, she secretly watched Makoto, seemingly worried he'd criticize how unrefined she looked.
Her family certainly would never have tolerated her lounging around like this.
Makoto simply sat beside her and copied her posture, closing his eyes as he leaned against the sofa.
As they sat shoulder to shoulder, he tilted his head slightly, gently sniffing the fresh, damp fragrance clinging to her.
Yukinoshita Yukino naturally noticed his gesture. Her throat bobbed slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she ultimately turned her explanation into a smile that curved her lips, then slowly closed her eyes.
When Yukino opened them again, more than an hour had passed.
Makoto hadn't fallen asleep.
He was reading the Six Powers Training Manual and the Scroll of Seals.
The Six Powers manual had little value to him now.
With his current physical abilities, Makoto could already perform all six techniques without much difficulty.
Developing their advanced applications would require time, but Makoto wasn't especially interested.
Most of the forbidden techniques inside the Scroll of Seals weren't particularly worth learning either.
In Naruto, a technique could be classified as forbidden simply because it was extremely dangerous or difficult to learn.
That didn't necessarily mean it was overwhelmingly powerful.
Other techniques only functioned inside the Naruto world.
Edo Tensei, for example, relied upon the Pure Land system of that world.
The Reaper Death Seal borrowed power from the Shinigami, a supernatural entity unique to the same setting.
In the end, only three techniques truly caught Makoto's attention.
Flying Raijin Technique.
Eight Gates.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Seeing that Yukino was awake, Makoto moved into the center of the training area and immediately used Multiple Shadow Clone Technique successfully.
With his current chakra reserves, creating 150 Shadow Clones for simultaneous training wouldn't be a problem.
Yukino's apartment obviously wasn't large enough for that many.
So Makoto restrained himself and created only twenty.
Even that startled Yukino.
"Can you really afford that many Shadow Clones?"
Makoto rubbed his stomach and smiled.
"There's a Tailed Beast inside me now with more chakra than the One-Tail."
Yukino was clearly curious, but she didn't question him.
Instead, she picked up the Scroll of Seals and Six Powers Training Manual and began reading them carefully, hoping something inside might inspire her own development.
She was confident she'd soon become a Professional.
Above Professionals were Elite-rank Players, and every Elite-rank fighter possessed at least two Professional-level combat systems.
It wouldn't be long before Yukinoshita Yukino had to choose her own second combat specialization.
Makoto didn't know that rule yet.
If he did, he would have realized he'd already built an exceptionally strong foundation for his future.
For the rest of their time together, Makoto had his Shadow Clones train Flying Raijin, Six Powers, and even Sage Mode.
His original body focused on understanding the Eight Gates.
His Spatial Manipulation had already integrated Sky Manipulation and intangibility.
Even so, Flying Raijin still contained concepts worth studying.
Its greatest feature was that it didn't require entering and leaving an alternate space.
Instead, the user placed a Spatial Mark and performed direct point-to-point spatial movement.
That made Flying Raijin faster to activate and capable of operating over much greater distances.
It could even teleport another person or object without transporting the user.
Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder was one such application.
That technique was precisely why the Second and Fourth Hokage could serve as exceptional support fighters even in battles involving Six Paths-level enemies.
As for the Eight Gates, after some basic testing and adaptation, Makoto could already open up to the Fifth Gate in one go.
The Eight Gates primarily required a powerful body and durable chakra pathways.
Their chakra-control requirements weren't particularly demanding.
Makoto estimated that after becoming a Veteran and increasing his attributes further, opening the Seventh Gate directly shouldn't be difficult.
Of course, opening the Gates was one thing.
Using the techniques associated with them was another.
Those moves were high-level taijutsu techniques in their own right, and Makoto hadn't learned them yet.
By the time Makoto finished his adaptation training, the moment for the two of them to part had arrived.
Yukinoshita Yukino said goodbye first.
Reluctance was obvious in her eyes.
The Main God Space was filled with danger, yet it was also the one place where she had found someone before whom she could freely show her true self.
For Yukino, that meant far more than all the restrictions waiting for her in the real world.
Makoto also remembered what had happened before he'd entered the Naruto world.
He'd found information about Togawa Sakiko inside the A Certain Magical Index world.
He had even contacted several people who might have been band members beneath the Haruhikage video.
'I wonder if anyone replied while I was gone.'
Makoto closed his eyes.
His figure flickered.
He returned to Academy City.
Before he even opened his eyes, he felt something strange inside his body.
Previously, whenever Makoto returned to Academy City, every trace of cursed energy disappeared.
The only strength he retained came from the raw attributes he'd increased through the Main God Space.
But now...
The chakra lifeform inside his body was unmistakably still there.
It hadn't disappeared when he returned to the real world.
Makoto froze.
'What the hell is going on?'
'Did the Main God Space bug out?'
…