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Chapter 1: Modifying Stats—Straight to Max!
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"Aaah!!!"
Above a city lashed by relentless rain, drops hammered the streets. Suddenly, one enormous 'raindrop' plummeted from the sky, landing squarely on a man wearing a dark robe adorned with red clouds. The man didn't even have time to cry out before he was splattered into paste.
The massive 'raindrop' swallowed hard and opened its eyes—it was a person!
"Holy shit..." He stared at the pulpy mess beneath his ass, a curse escaping his lips instinctively. He scrambled to his feet. Good thing he'd been a mercenary, used to this sort of gore—otherwise, he might have just fainted.
"Black robe, dark red clouds… was this guy cosplaying?" He examined the clothes on the paste below.
Wasn't that the Akatsuki robe from Naruto, the anime he always watched? "Whatever the case, sorry about that, buddy. Guess it was your life or mine. If it wasn't for you, I'd be toast. If I ever find out who you were, I'll take good care of your wife for you! Don't worry!"
"Swish… swish…" Just then, a series of soft sounds reached the man's ears. He looked up and froze, more stunned than he'd been by the bloody mess.
"Pain!?"
Weren't the five figures before him the puppets of Nagato, the Akatsuki leader from Naruto—the Pains?
"You know of us?" The short-haired Deva Path Pain at the forefront eyed him, speaking with clear suspicion. Their identities were currently top secret; it was impossible for anyone to know. How did this person find out?
"Wha—what how? I-I didn't say Pain! I said… uh… Pah!" He knew instantly he had to play dumb. In that single moment, he understood—he'd transmigrated!
Although his own combat skills were pretty decent, fighting actual ninjas, especially one with the Rinnegan? Wasn't that just pure suicide?
"You need to die here." The Deva Path's brow furrowed. Black rods slid from the sleeves of all five Pains as they charged towards him.
Just then, a voice sounded in his ear:
[Beep beep beep… Transmigrator detected… Modifier activating… Danger detected at transmigrator's arrival point… Initiating mandatory teleport x1… Beep beep beep…]
His vision went black, and he vanished from the spot.
The five Pains' black rods struck empty air. "Space ninjutsu?" the Deva Path murmured, staring doubtfully at the place where he had disappeared.
"Why the hell am I flying again?!" The man—Sōma Shō—was falling through the air once more. This time, however, the drop was much shorter, maybe from the height of a tree. No sooner had the words left his mouth than he hit the ground with a heavy thump…
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"Ow ow ow…" Sōma Shō climbed to his feet, clutching his lower back as he sat down hard. "What the hell is going on…"
"Who are you!" A voice barked from behind him just as he sat up. He whipped his head around, his pupils dilating instantly.
Before him stood a middle-aged man with white hair and a boy with bright yellow hair. "Jiraiya and Naruto! This day just keeps getting wilder…" Sōma Shō muttered under his breath.
"Judging by your clothes, you're not from Konoha. What are you doing in the Konoha forest?" Jiraiya questioned, his gaze sharp as he positioned Naruto protectively behind him, clearly ready for a fight.
"Good guy! I'm a really, really good guy!" Sōma Shō stammered, quickly standing up and backing away a few steps. He felt dampness beneath his feet and looked down to see a river, its water exceptionally clear. In its reflection, he saw that his own appearance had changed—he now looked like a young man, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old.
"He fell out of that tree. Maybe he was picking fruit?" Naruto glanced up at the tree, noticing some unfamiliar fruits growing on its branches.
"What's your name? Where are you from? What's your purpose in Konoha? When did you arrive? What are you doing here? Speak!" Jiraiya fired off a barrage of questions.
"Uh… well… My name's Sōma Shō. I'm from the Land of Fire—an orphan, family all gone. I've just been wandering around. I got hungry passing through here, so I climbed up to pick some fruit… lost my footing and fell." Sōma Shō rapidly fabricated a story.
"You're stammering… I think you'd better come back to Konoha with me for questioning." Jiraiya's expression remained suspicious. He flicked his white hair, formed a hand seal with two fingers, and strands of his hair shot out, instantly binding Sōma Shō. "No chakra signature?"
Jiraiya sensed no chakra fluctuations from Sōma Shō, and his vigilance immediately dropped by half. Maybe the kid's story was true. Still, he had to bring him in; they were simply too close to Konoha Village, and he couldn't rule out the possibility of him being a spy.
"Naruto, tie him up," Jiraiya instructed.
"Got it!" Naruto nodded, pulling a rope from his pouch and quickly securing Sōma Shō's hands. Only then did Jiraiya retract his hair. "Catching a spy right after coming back from training—Granny Tsunade is gonna praise you for this one, Pervy Sage!" Naruto grinned.
"I told you not to call me that name in front of outsiders!" Jiraiya yelled at Naruto. "Let's hurry back." He then led the way, with Naruto following behind, holding the rope attached to Sōma Shō.
[Beep beep beep… Modifier activating… Activation successful… Granting initial Novice Gift Pack. Any one stat can be directly raised to Max! Please select…\]
As Sōma Shō trudged helplessly behind Jiraiya and Naruto, a panel materialized in his mind, accompanied by a woman's voice. Sōma Shō's interest was immediately piqued. He didn't even need to close his eyes; he could operate this so-called modifier just by thinking.
The modifier presented a host of options: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Body Strength, and so on—it was dazzling. It wasn't limited to personal stats either; it could even modify external things, like Money… but he didn't have a single coin on him right now, so there was nothing to modify there.
Sōma Shō mentally scrolled through the modifier's options, finally settling his gaze on Learning Ability. If he maxed out this talent, surely his ability to learn would surpass even the Sharingan!
Sōma Shō decisively selected Learning Ability.
On the modifier panel, his Learning Ability stat, initially at 60, began to skyrocket—whizz, whizz, whizz—climbing incredibly fast. Five seconds later, it displayed Sōma Shō's Learning Ability as: 9999!
"Sweet!" Sōma Shō couldn't help but yell out loud. Jiraiya and Naruto stopped walking and turned back, seeing Sōma Shō looking so thrilled he seemed about to jump for joy…
"Pervy Sage… you don't think this guy's an idiot, do you? Getting captured and still this happy," Naruto whispered, glancing sideways at Sōma Shō.
"Looks like it," Jiraiya replied, also casting a sideways glance and nodding in agreement.
Sōma Shō, however, was completely oblivious to their scrutiny, even starting to walk forward automatically, lost in his own world…