Kei Yamanaka's gaze shifted toward the numerous skill listings displayed on his personal interface.
The chance to convert a Red-Rank Skill wasn't easy to come by.
Using it on ordinary skills would be a waste. His focus should naturally be placed on conceptual skills, fate-related skills, or those with special effects.
[Divine Spectacle] (Purple-Tier Trait), [Fortune Player] and [Great-Grandma's Stick] (Blue-Tier Skills), as well as the White-Rank Skill [Fragile Skin, Tough Life], all fell within this category.
Judging purely from a cost-performance perspective, boosting the White-Rank Skill [Fragile Skin, Tough Life] up to Red would likely be more rewarding.
Removing the negative effect of this trait—constantly encountering powerful enemies and life-threatening crises—was undeniably beneficial in terms of increasing the chances of breaking through in battle and surviving. By that logic alone, it was the kind of fate meant for a protagonist.
But what if the enhancement went differently than expected? What if he didn't become the chosen protagonist but instead transformed into the fated antagonist?
Then, would he activate the skill or not?
Kei pondered briefly before immediately ruling out [Fragile Skin, Tough Life].
It just wasn't reliable enough.
Maybe he'd think about it again later when another opportunity arose.
As for the remaining three traits, the Blue-Tier Skill [Great-Grandma's Stick] had decent effects, but after an upgrade, it would most likely only add stronger auxiliary effects.
Since he already possessed a Golden Skill—[Limitless Weapon Domain]—for offensive capabilities, it could be postponed for now.
As for [Divine Spectacle], its current functionality was already sufficient.
Judging from its current behavior, further enhancement would likely allow him to forcibly control even stronger individuals, while also improving the adjustment range of both fighters' strength. But for him personally, that wouldn't offer much practical advantage.
"System, use the Red-Rank Conversion Card on [Fortune Player]."
Kei's eyes settled firmly on [Fortune Player], a skill whose presence hadn't always been noticeable, yet had proven consistently useful.
Ever since acquiring this trait,
he had clearly felt his luck steadily improve.
Just when he was thinking about entering Root and slowly consolidating power, Danzo practically handed him his own head, volunteering without hesitation.
And then there was Black Zetsu.
He hadn't even considered being able to find that sneaky bastard who thrived on scheming from the shadows anytime soon.
Yet, barely arriving at the front lines after defeating Rasa and experiencing a surge in power, Black Zetsu practically rushed into his arms like a long-lost friend!
To make matters even better, he even handed over full control of Kiri to Hikaku Uchiha.
If he ever walked into a casino with that kind of luck,
even Tsunade wouldn't stand a chance.
["Conversion complete. Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the Red-Rank Skill 'Fate Mechanism Sundial.'"]
Fate Mechanism Sundial (Red): Perceive the destinies and fortunes of mortals, spirits, and monsters; perceive karma, misfortune, blessings, lifespan, and prosperity. Provides probabilistic early warnings for personal disasters or good fortune; actively interfere with and alter the destinies of others, absorbing massive amounts of unclaimed destiny energy released during major shifts in their fate to enhance one's own fortune; within a hundred-meter radius, observe others' karma, virtue, fortune, lifespan, and prosperity, and use the Fate Mechanism Sundial to read detailed numerical values.
As the system notification finished playing,
Kei suddenly felt a brief blur in his vision, followed by a strange, light dizziness. Then overwhelmed as a flood of information from the system surged into his mind, his entire being went numb!
A Red-Rank fate-related skill really did have absurdly powerful effects!
After slowly processing all the newly received information, he looked up at Saaya and Saara, mother and daughter standing by the stone chamber's entrance.
Thanks to the Fate Mechanism Sundial, several distinct lines had now become visible on each of them.
Kei Yamanaka raised his right hand. Thick strands of vivid purple fortune energy gathered in his palm, rapidly condensing into a device no bigger than his palm—a compass-shaped Fate Mechanism Sundial.
Karma—effectively representing their accumulated sins—was nearly nonexistent for both.
Virtue—roughly equivalent to the good deeds they've performed—Saaya possessed an incredibly high value, whereas Saara's was considerably lower.
Fortune—their personal fortunes appeared to be roughly equal.
Longevity—lifespan—displayed 35 for Saaya and 30 for Saara. Shockingly brief for royalty.
Wealth represented their financial resources. Each displayed two figures—one extraordinarily large amount, and another far smaller one in parentheses.
From what the system had taught him, it meant they controlled considerable funds but hadn't spent any of it on themselves personally.
You're spending your money on *something*, aren't you? Just not on yourselves?
Kei eyed the mother-daughter duo standing hand-in-hand near the chamber door with an odd expression.
No wrongdoing committed, countless good deeds accumulated, average fortune, both facing premature deaths, yet living in extreme frugality...
Is that what royalty looks like?
What utter fools!
"Kei-sama?" I-Is there something wrong with us?
Queen Saaya murmured timidly beneath Kei's unsettling gaze.
"What's the average lifespan in your family?"
Kei glanced again at the various readings from the Fate Mechanism Sundial.
Soon, he would unify all military forces in the ninja world. With that, the chances of these two—the queen and princess of Louran—dying due to war or accidents would be nearly zero.
Under such circumstances, genetic illness might likely be the only possible cause behind their brief lifespans.
Perhaps because we can communicate with the Dragon Vein, since hundreds of years ago, successive queens of Louran have rarely lived past forty.
A flicker of helplessness crossed Saaya's beautiful face as she gently patted her daughter Saara's suddenly clenched hand in comfort.
"I'll give you both a physical checkup later."
Kei nodded slightly, unsurprised in the least.
The power of the Dragon Vein was immense—and came with severe drawbacks.
Without adequate strength, wielding such power would come at a steep cost.
B-Both of us?!
A faint blush appeared on Saaya's cheeks.
Though she knew Kei meant nothing inappropriate, still...
Might as well!
Cough cough, just a simple chakra scan. Nothing special needed.
In Kei's mind, an image of a landlord figure suddenly flashed through.
The "check-up" he mentioned and what Saaya was imagining were likely... worlds apart.
Such a delightful misunderstanding!
My morals are still too firm—I didn't even attempt to take advantage of this misunderstanding.
O-Okay then, we'd appreciate it very much, Kei-sama.
Saaya's cheeks turned a deep crimson, as if they might burst with color, even the nape of her neck tinged with a faint pink.
She quickly clamped both hands over Sara's eyes, inhaling deeply over and over.
This is so embarrassing...
I'm the mighty Queen of Louran—why am I thinking about such weird things again?
*I wish I could just forget everything right now...*
"It's okay, you two wait a little longer. I still have something I need to do."
Kei Yamanaka knew Saaya needed some time to calm down.
He willingly turned his back on them and sat cross-legged before the Dragon Vein control switch.
Closing his eyes, he activated the golden skill listing [Interdimensional Traveler], channeling Dragon Vein energy to detect portals leading to other worlds!
A low hum resonated—
An overwhelming surge of energy—far more intense than what they had felt during their earlier transitions—erupted without warning!
Caught in the violent surge of power, Saaya and Sara were pressed tightly against the stone door behind them, unable to move.
Below the chamber, thick, liquid Dragon Vein energy surged upward like a dragon rising from water, rushing frantically into Kei Yamanaka's body, only to be rapidly drained by the [Interdimensional Traveler] ability.
Five minutes... Ten... Twenty...
An entire hour passed.
Then, faint yet distinct within his perception, emerged two rifts—one large, one small.
*"Is this…"* Kei murmured inwardly, *"a gateway to another world?"*
Reacting swiftly, Kei immediately used the [Interdimensional Traveler] skill to send out identifying markers toward both portals.
The smaller portal was successfully recorded without issue.
As long as he had enough energy, he could use [Interdimensional Traveler] to pass through that portal and arrive at a specific node point in another world.
But with the larger portal, his first attempt barely left a trace.
"A world with higher power levels?"
Understanding dawned in Kei's mind. With a massive influx of Dragon Vein energy, he fired off one marker after another.
It took several minutes of intense effort.
Only then did he manage to imprint a stable, clear mark—permanently recording and sealing this portal.
A satisfied smile curled his lips as he disengaged from his interdimensional sensing mode.
The turbulent Dragon Vein energy within the stone chamber slowly subsided.
Noticing that the once-dense Dragon Vein energy—which had barely dipped below ten meters from the ceiling and remained nearly untouched after two space-time transitions—had now fallen below fifty meters, Kei couldn't help but whistle inwardly.
Lucky this Dragon Vein connects directly to the planet itself; otherwise, it would take quite some time to restore all that energy.
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