Ren did not wait long before testing the Transformation Technique's new trait.
The description of Lifelike sounded absurdly powerful, but system explanations were rarely complete. If he wanted to understand the ability's true value, he needed to discover its limits through controlled experiments.
He chose an isolated training ground surrounded by trees, carefully checked that no one else was nearby, and began with something simple.
Ren closed his eyes and pictured a sparrow he had observed near his house. He recalled its shape, the structure of its wings, the movement of its tiny chest, and the way its feet curled around a branch.
Chakra spread throughout his body.
A cloud of smoke burst around him.
When it cleared, a small brown bird stood in the grass.
The world immediately changed.
Ren's field of vision widened, individual sounds became far sharper, and his body felt impossibly light. Two wings now rested against his sides, each feather responding to muscles he had never possessed before.
He attempted to move them.
His first effort sent him tumbling face-first into the grass.
Ren shook himself, climbed onto a low stone, and tried again. This time, he spread both wings before jumping.
For one terrifying moment, he dropped straight toward the ground.
Then instinct and physical structure took over. His wings caught the air, his body rose, and the training ground fell away beneath him.
Lifelike had given him the genuine ability to fly.
Ren circled the clearing twice before landing awkwardly on a branch. His technique had reproduced the bird's body perfectly, but it had not granted him years of flying experience. Every movement still required concentration.
After returning to human form, he moved to the stream for his second test.
This time, he transformed into a fish.
The moment he entered the water, his gills began functioning naturally. He no longer needed to hold his breath, and the cold current felt less like an obstacle than an extension of his surroundings.
He could detect subtle vibrations in the water and move with a flexibility impossible for a human body.
Ren remained submerged for several minutes before swimming back to the riverbank and releasing the technique.
He lay on the wet grass and stared at the sky.
"So it really does reproduce biological functions."
Wings were not decorative. Gills were not an illusion. Lifelike genuinely rewrote his body to match the target.
That discovery alone transformed an Academy technique into an invaluable survival ability. If Ren fell from a cliff, he could become a bird. If he needed to cross a guarded river, he could become a fish. With the right animal form, he could infiltrate locations no ordinary shinobi could approach unnoticed.
His next experiment involved human targets.
Ren pictured Kakashi Hatake.
Smoke rolled across the clearing, and his body changed. His hair became silver, his height shifted, and a dark mask covered the lower half of his face. Even the chakra circulating through his network adopted a signature close to Kakashi's.
Ren lifted one hand and examined it.
The transformation felt far more stable than his attempt to become a bird. He had spent years around Kakashi at the Academy, observed his movements, and fought beside him during training exercises. That familiarity gave the technique considerably more information to reproduce.
Kakashi possessed affinities for all five basic chakra natures. If Lifelike truly replicated those natural advantages, Earth Release should become easier to use in this form.
Ren planted his feet and raised his hands.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Nothing happened.
The ground remained completely still.
Ren tried again, this time pouring more chakra into the earth beneath him. A small patch of soil trembled before producing a pathetic mound barely tall enough to cover his sandals.
He stared at it in silence.
The problem quickly became obvious.
Lifelike could reproduce Kakashi's body, chakra nature affinities, and physical qualities, but it could not create knowledge from nothing. Ren did not know the proper hand-seal sequence, chakra circulation pattern, or shaping method for the Earth-Style Wall.
Possessing the correct body was not the same as knowing how to use it.
If Ren acquired the complete instructions for the technique, transforming into Kakashi might allow him to learn it more quickly. Until then, the Earth-Style Wall remained beyond his reach.
Ninjutsu he already knew was a different matter. The same applied to conventional taijutsu and kenjutsu movements that relied primarily on the user's physical capabilities.
Ren released the Kakashi transformation and pictured Might Guy.
He had trained with Guy several times and observed his body movements at close range. The resulting transformation was nearly flawless.
His muscles tightened, his posture changed, and strength filled his limbs. Even without activating chakra, Ren could feel the durability contained within Guy's heavily conditioned body.
A thick wooden training post stood near the edge of the clearing.
Ren lowered his stance and pushed off the ground.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
He spun through the air, extending one leg in a ferocious sweeping kick.
His heel struck the wooden post with a deafening crack.
The upper half of the post exploded into splinters. Fragments scattered across the clearing as Ren completed the rotation, performed a backward flip, and landed steadily several metres away.
He immediately examined his leg.
There was no sharp pain. His muscles had absorbed the impact with ease, and the bones in his foot remained completely unharmed.
Ren's eyes widened.
The conditioned physiques of Duy and Guy were no joke. Their daily training might appear ridiculous, but it had forged their bodies into weapons strong enough to withstand punishment that would cripple an ordinary shinobi.
Lifelike allowed Ren to borrow that foundation.
At least temporarily.
Still maintaining Guy's form, Ren attempted several additional kicks and punches. The movements felt faster and more powerful than when performed in his original body, but his technique remained his own. He possessed Guy's physical capabilities, not Guy's years of combat experience.
When Ren released the transformation, exhaustion immediately struck him. His chakra consumption had been noticeably higher than it was during an ordinary transformation.
The more the target differed from his natural body, the more difficult the form became to sustain.
After resting, Ren considered another possibility.
"Madara Uchiha would be the ideal test for Fire Release," he muttered. "But I've never actually met him."
His memories from his previous life provided an image of Madara, but that was not the same as personally observing the man's body and chakra. Attempting such a transformation would likely fail—or produce nothing more than an inaccurate shell.
Ren chose Itachi Uchiha instead.
Itachi should still be an infant during the current era, but Ren remembered the older version from the original story. He knew Itachi's appearance, his exceptional Fire Release talent, and his general fighting style.
Whether secondhand memories were sufficient remained uncertain.
Ren closed his eyes and concentrated.
The transformation required far longer than usual. Chakra struggled to settle into a stable pattern, repeatedly shifting as the technique attempted to construct a body from incomplete information.
Smoke finally burst around him.
A young Itachi appeared in the clearing.
The face looked correct, but the transformation felt fragile. Ren had created it from memories and assumptions rather than genuine familiarity.
Still, the Uchiha body possessed an unmistakable affinity for Fire Release.
Ren formed a familiar sequence of hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Flames erupted from his mouth.
They expanded with astonishing speed, forming a blazing sphere four to five metres in diameter. Heat washed through the clearing, distorting the air and illuminating the surrounding trees in orange light.
The fireball was vastly more powerful than Ren's usual version.
Before it could reach its target, however, the unstable transformation shattered.
Smoke burst around Ren as he returned to his original body. His control over the amplified flames vanished with it, causing the fireball to collapse into scattered embers before striking the ground.
Ren staggered and caught himself against a tree.
His chakra had fallen sharply.
The experiment confirmed another limitation. A transformation based on incomplete knowledge could reproduce some of the target's qualities, but maintaining it under pressure consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
Using powerful ninjutsu through an unstable form was even more dangerous.
Ren rested until his breathing settled, then attempted one final human transformation.
He pictured Nonō Yakushi, recalling her appearance, voice, posture, and the precise movements she used while teaching medical ninjutsu. Since he had interacted with her repeatedly at the hospital, the transformation formed quickly.
The result was almost disturbingly accurate.
Ren's hands became narrower, his balance changed, and his chakra gained the steady, controlled quality he associated with an experienced medical-nin. Even his voice matched Nonō's when he quietly tested it.
He had intended to examine whether her physical characteristics improved his Healing Technique, but another thought abruptly surfaced.
If Lifelike could reproduce any ordinary human form so completely…
"Could it perform the Sexy Jutsu too?"
The answer was obviously yes.
The Sexy Jutsu was merely a particular application of the Transformation Technique. With Lifelike, Ren could theoretically create a far more convincing version than the one Naruto would someday use.
Ren looked around the empty training ground.
Then he shook his head.
There were countless valuable experiments he could conduct with a maxed-out Transformation Technique. Embarrassing himself with a useless prank was nowhere near the top of that list.
He immediately returned to his original form.
After completing the experiments, Ren sat beneath a tree and organized his conclusions.
Lifelike could reproduce almost every external ability belonging to the transformation target. A bird's wings allowed him to fly. A fish's gills allowed him to breathe underwater. Guy's conditioned physique greatly increased his striking power and durability, while an Uchiha body amplified his Fire Release.
However, three major restrictions remained.
The first was familiarity. Ren needed accurate knowledge of the target's appearance, physical structure, chakra, and habits. Targets he knew personally produced stable transformations, while forms constructed from distant memories were unreliable.
The second was knowledge. Transforming into Kakashi did not automatically teach him Earth Release, and becoming Guy did not grant him mastery of advanced taijutsu. Lifelike provided the correct hardware, but Ren still needed the techniques and experience required to operate it.
The third restriction was chakra.
No matter what form Ren assumed, his total chakra reserves remained his own. Transforming into a more powerful body did not fill him with that person's chakra.
The easiest comparison was a vehicle.
Ren's original body was a small car with a limited fuel tank. Lifelike could rebuild that vehicle into a racing machine, an armored transport, or even a massive truck. It could reproduce the frame and engine, but the fuel available still came from Ren's original tank.
A form that exceeded his natural limits too drastically might possess extraordinary potential, yet he would only be able to operate it briefly before exhausting himself.
These limitations prevented Lifelike from making him invincible.
Even so, the trait remained extraordinarily powerful.
Ren intended to develop several reliable transformation templates. One would prioritize explosive close-range combat, another would focus on escape and mobility, and a third would improve the efficiency of routine physical training.
With enough preparation, those forms could drastically increase his chances of surviving the war that might soon engulf the shinobi world.
"I'll study each template carefully," Ren decided. "Transformation Technique should help design them."
The avatar appeared with a pleased smile.
[Transformation Technique: Of course. Since our hearts are now connected, I will make certain every form suits you perfectly.]
Compared with the Transformation Technique's evolution, the improvements to Clone Technique and Substitution Technique appeared modest.
Clone Technique's visual connection had developed into audio-visual sharing, possibly because of the Water Clone outfit. Ren suspected that another evolution might eventually allow him to share all five senses with his clones.
Substitution Technique had increased its effective range and shortened the activation time, but its fundamental ability remained unchanged.
The other techniques had also made steady progress.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]
[Favorability: 53/100—Intimate]
[Stage rewards obtained: Two]
[Physique +2]
[Trait: Spirit of Fire]
[Your affinity for fire-natured chakra has moderately increased. The power of all Fire Release ninjutsu is increased by sixty percent beyond its normal level.]
Ren's earlier transformation into Itachi had demonstrated how frightening that enhancement could become when combined with the correct physical affinity.
The next entry belonged to the Healing Technique.
[Healing Technique]
[Favorability: 42/100—Friendly]
[Stage rewards obtained: One]
[Physique +1]
[Trait: Healing Brand]
[Any wound treated by your Healing Technique will retain a subtle Healing Brand. For one month after treatment, the brand will continuously repair the tissue surrounding the injury until it returns to its pre-injury condition.]
The effect was not immediately dramatic, but its long-term value was considerable. A patient treated by Ren would continue recovering even after leaving his care, reducing the risk of complications or incomplete healing.
Finally, there was Wild Water Wave.
[Water Release: Wild Water Wave]
[Favorability: 34/100—Friendly]
[Stage rewards obtained: One]
[Physique +1]
[Trait: Water Dancer]
[Your Water Release possesses greater artistic potential. If the released water is shaped into a form that satisfies Wild Water Wave's sense of beauty, chakra consumption will be reduced by thirty percent.]
The condition was peculiar, but a thirty-percent reduction in chakra consumption was significant. Once Ren improved his water-shaping ability, he could turn an artistic preference into a genuine combat advantage.
Compared with Lifelike, these traits seemed relatively restrained. Each one strengthened the original purpose of its technique rather than completely rewriting its limits.
The enhancement ratios remained noteworthy.
Great Fireball's first-stage trait had increased its power by thirty percent. The second stage raised the total increase to sixty percent. If the pattern continued, the third stage might provide ninety percent—or even one hundred and twenty percent if the bonus doubled.
Combined with Lifelike and the Fire Release affinity of an Uchiha body, the eventual result could be terrifying.
Ren remembered the enormous sea of flames Madara Uchiha had unleashed during the war in the original story. An entire division of shinobi had been forced to combine their Water Release just to stop it.
The image no longer felt completely unreachable.
The stage rewards had also raised Ren's Physique by a total of fourteen points.
That improvement transformed his morning runs.
Ten laps around Konoha remained exhausting, but they no longer left him feeling close to death. His muscles still ached, and sweat drenched his clothes by the time he finished, yet half an hour of rest was usually enough for him to stand and continue training.
He was finally ready to begin Duy's ten-day challenge.
However, the increased training load introduced another concern.
Ren's body was growing stronger through system rewards, but his muscles, tendons, and joints still endured the repeated strain of running, taijutsu, and ninjutsu practice. If he ignored that accumulated damage, a hidden injury could destroy months of progress.
After his next medical-ninjutsu class, Ren approached Nonō as she organized the teaching materials.
"Instructor Nonō, may I ask you something?"
She looked up from a stack of notes. "Of course. What is it?"
"I've increased the intensity of my physical training recently. How can I reduce muscle strain and recover more quickly without slowing my progress?"
Nonō studied him for a moment before setting the notes aside.
"Extend your arm."
Ren obeyed.
Her fingers pressed against the muscles of his forearm, then moved toward his wrist and elbow. The examination began casually, but her expression gradually became more serious.
She checked his other arm, then placed two fingers against the pulse in his neck.
Ren remained silent.
Nonō's eyes narrowed behind her glasses.
"This isn't ordinary fatigue," she said at last. "Your body is adapting unusually quickly, but the strain accumulating beneath that growth is just as abnormal."
She pulled out a chair and pointed toward it.
"Sit down, Ren."
Her gentle tone had disappeared.
"Now tell me exactly what kind of training you've been doing."