A quiet intensity settled in the gym as Jin stared at his interface. The screen glowed with a simple, digital display.
---
**Name: Jin Kazama**
**Templates**
[TAE-SIK-CHA] - 100%
[Eijiro Kirishima] - 100%
[Wolverine] - 100%
[Itachi Uchiha] - 50%
---
Frustration built in his chest. The **Itachi Uchiha** template was stalled at 50%. It should have been at least 70 or 80 percent by now, but for days it had stubbornly refused to budge. He cursed under his breath, his anger directed at a very specific entity.
"Fucker," Jin snarled, his eyes fixed on the display. "First the interface, and now this buggy-ass system."
As he glared at the screen, the static-like image of a figure he remembered from their first meeting appeared. **A**.
And suddenly jin surrounding changed , he sitting in front of A .
"Hello, friend," A's voice hummed , laced with an cheer. "How are you doing? I heard you cursing me."
Jin, no longer holding back his frustration, spoke freely. "Look at your system, man. It's buggy. The interface is shit, and it doesn't even give an accurate measurement of how much strength I have gained from the characters during progress. The progress spikes and then stalls for no reason."
"Well, you're right," A replied, a flicker of admission in his tone. "It's a prototype of a prototype. I just threw it together at our first meeting."
Hearing A admit a mistake and actually listen for the first time, Jin felt a surge of validation. He pressed on. "And look at Itachi's progress! Why can't I get past 50%? I'm stuck at three-tomoe. Do I have to go through some traumatic experience to go forward? I thought you said the progress wouldn't depend on feelings or emotion."
A's figure shimmered. He pulled out a notebook and started scribbling, then a ball of shimmering code floated from Jin and into A hand.
"Well, you're right again," A said, examining the code. "Your emotions are being affected, but not entirely. It looks like you've been in similar situations as the characters, and your emotions aligned with the template, which is why there was 100% integration. Amazing. Let me take out the redundant code from it. This will make the system run smoother."
With a few precise movements, he pulled out the Tae-Sik-Cha, Eijiro Kirishima, and Wolverine templates from the system code. They were no longer needed.
Jin watched A treat the entire situation like a fun little experiment, a casual distraction. A cold wave of anger swept over him. "You know, you lack professional ethics," Jin said, his voice low and tight. "You're doing this half-heartedly, and it's putting me in danger. What if those templates started to overwrite my emotions? I would never have known. You—you need to do better."
A looked at Jin's frustration, and a flash of empathy crossed his face, remembering what Jin had been through. He backed down a little.
A " Yes it my bad , man . "
"Yes, you better be," Jin muttered, his voice still edged with accusation.
A, who was just being polite, stopped. He had been about to return to his notebook, but now he looked up, his face hardening. Ego hurt . "What did you just say? 'I better be'?"
He gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Look at you, getting arrogant. You know what? Fuck this." His image glitched for a moment, and his voice went cold. "No more system for you."
Jin stared at him, a mix of disbelief and defiance on his face. "What, did your ego get hurt, huh? First, you make mistakes and break your word, and then when I call you on it, you threaten me?"
"Oh, shut up," A sneered. " I have decided and what can you do now?"
Jin's gaze turned sharp as he spoke the thought that had been at the back of his mind for a while now. "You think you can do whatever you want?"
"I can."
Jin felt a momentary advantage. "What about the V's? Those who select the templates? I'm sure they wouldn't be happy about this."
A froze for a moment, stunned. "How do you know about them?" he asked.
"You sometimes speak aloud, dipshit," Jin shot back. "Now, we don't have to escalate this. You just work better on the system and give it back to me."
A's wide eyes narrowed, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "You know what? Eat shit. I'm not going to."
"What do you mean you're not going to?" Jin demanded. "You have to."
"Not going to means not going to," A repeated, his voice dripping with condescension. "Whatever they and i have is at the beginner stage, man. I can just flunk it at any time. Now what are you going to do?"
Jin's bravado shattered. His eyes went wide with shock as he realized his threat was empty.
"Look at you," A's image loomed closer, a patronizing look on his face. "Thinking you had it all figured out. You arrogant ass, thinking you could strong-arm me like you have been others . Huh? What are you going to do now? You forgot we were never friends. If you want friends to listen to your feelings, go make some." A's voice turned deadly serious. "Now you've lost your source of power. You're dead meat. Some powerful supernatural is going to come and make you their lab rat. What are you going to do?"
The cold reality of his situation hit Jin like a physical blow. He looked at A, his defiance gone, replaced by a desperate humility. Taking the best couse of action . "I'm sorry."
A was momentarily stunned, not expecting the apology. "It's too late, you know. I have no need to give you power, and I've been giving it to you for free, and you abuse me in return. Fuck you, man."
"I'm sorry, man," Jin said again, his voice sincere as he faced his mistake. "I was frustrated, and I let it out on you."
A remained silent for a long moment, simply looking at Jin. He let out a long, slow breath. "Fuck you, man. Okay, I forgive you."
"So, can I get my system back?" Jin asked, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"No, you won't. You have to suffer."
"At least there must be an alternative," Jin said, not giving up.
A seemed to let go of his own anger, too. "Well, I also fucked up. So let's see. I originally wanted to give you 13 templates. I was going to give you one summon and one item. But you can forget about those now."
"Hey, man, you don't have to be that harsh," Jin protested.
"Okay," A conceded, "you're on four templates now. I'll give you two more templates and one power , item, whatever i decide on and I will decide when you get them."
"Man, you can do better than that," Jin tried to negotiate.
"No negotiation now," A said firmly. "I'll let you choose one template now. You better give me three choices."
Jin fell silent, his mind racing. He had to make this count. He couldn't afford to screw this up again. He rattled off three names he'd been thinking about. "Man, how about Broly, Invincible, or Garou?"
"Look at you, trying to get the good stuff," A sneered. "But no."
"You told me I'd have more freedom in my choices, and now you're restricting me," Jin said, feeling a new wave of frustration.
"Well, that's because of you. And now I will restrict you really now. You can only choose from one piece."
Jin, not wanting to push his luck again, changed his mind. "Man, how about Luffy, Roger, or Rocks D. Xebec?"
A smiled evilly. "No."
Jin's jaw dropped. "Man, you can't do this! This is cheating!"
"I am doing it."
"Okay, how about Kaido, Whitebeard, and Garp?" Jin asked, his voice strained.
"Okay," A said, a strange light in his eyes. "Let's see what the V's decide."
Kaido
Whitebeard
Garp