"556… 557… 558…"
I could feel the change.
My strength had grown. My speed too. I was far stronger than I had been just a month ago, so much so that the difference felt unreal.
It seemed the template didn't merely grant skills and experience. It altered the body itself, refining it, reshaping it, perhaps so it could endure those abilities without breaking.
My movements had become more efficient, more precise. Every slash of my sword carried greater force, and more importantly, control.
I knew instinctively when a strike needed power and when it didn't.
That wasn't something I'd been capable of before receiving this template. Kenjutsu had never been my main focus. Taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, and ninjutsu had taken priority, mostly because of time constraints.
Even during my stay on the front lines, I'd only managed to improve my swordsmanship to a modest degree. Certainly not enough to be called a specialist.
And yet now—
I could tell.
It felt as if my kenjutsu had jumped from level ten to fifty overnight.
All because of him.
My single eye moved to the Assimilation slots.
[Iaian — 33%]
[Kakashi Hatake — 63%]
Every time I looked at these two templates, the same thought came to mind.
This gacha was definitely influenced by my situation.
My condition. Maybe my behaviour or my choices too.
Otherwise, how could I explain it? I lost my left arm and my left eye, and then received templates related to people who had similar losses.
I exhaled slowly, my eye drifting to my left side, where the empty sleeve fluttered gently in the wind.
…I miss you, bro.
I didn't feel this lonely when you were around.
I can't live without you.
Those were the things I wanted to say.
But I knew they weren't true.
I could live without you.
Especially when I considered that one of the reasons I might have received this GACHA system at all… was your sacrifice.
How else could it be?
I came to this world ten years ago.
A decade since that damn reincarnation.
Ten years without any special ability. No system. No cheat.
And when I realised there was a so-called White Fang in the village, a pervert spying on other villages from his office, and a one-eyed rat who wanted to wipe out my clan, I knew I had to work hard just to survive.
Otherwise, I would definitely become cannon fodder in the Third Shinobi World War.
And I wasn't wrong.
At seven years old, I was sent to the front lines after being forced to graduate early, along with many others.
Not because I was talented but because I was needed to fill numbers.
I was sent to the academy by the clan not to cultivate connections or prestige, but to fill numbers. I was an orphan with average talent, while most of the truly gifted were trained privately within the clan by senior members, using methods never shared outside.
Still, I wasn't completely pushed aside.
I was allowed to take part in some clan activities. I received benefits, like being allowed to choose a few jutsu from the clan library, even if they were low-ranked because I wasn't strong enough for the higher ones. My allowance was better than what civilian orphans received, and my parents' inheritance was never taken.
For that alone… I was luckier than most.
Speaking of luck, getting Iaian and Kakashi was actually a pretty good outcome.
From Kakashi, even though I didn't get Obito's Mangekyō, I still inherited all of his jutsu. And the number keeps increasing as the Assimilation progresses. Along with that came his jōnin-level skills and combat experience.
Judging by the feel of it, this version of Kakashi should be from before the timeskip, probably around his ANBU period.
He really was a versatile shinobi.
As for Iaian… there wasn't much that needed to be said.
He was one of the disciples of the strongest swordsman in One Punch Man. Even Fubuki had mentioned that he was qualified to be an S-rank.
By this world's standards, if I only consider attack potency and ignore the sheer versatility that defines a proper jōnin, then he should at least be jōnin-level. Maybe even elite jōnin.
So even if I didn't pull some completely broken template like Gojo or Rimuru, this was still far better than ending up with someone like Iruka… or worse, a Magikarp.
What mattered now was making those skills and abilities truly my own.
Learning to form hand seals with one hand.
Learning how to fight while attacking with one arm and dodging with the others.
Adapting the new combat style I am learning to a body that was no longer whole.
That was the real challenge ahead.
After all, no matter how many abilities I possessed, if I didn't know how to use them properly, if I couldn't turn them into something dangerous then they were nothing more than wasted potential.
I hoped that this time too, the Gacha would give me something useful. Someone or something that could genuinely push my strength further.
Only then did I realise it.
…Wasn't today the day?
After waiting patiently for one point every single day, the total had finally reached thirty.
[Points — 30]
Which meant I could do my second spin now.
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