[Skill: Phantom Troupe's Curse]
"I've never heard of this skill before."
Hyuga Arin looked at the skill book that had just flown out of the furnace.
Normally, he had at least some knowledge of most skills, but this one was completely unfamiliar to him.
"Why wasn't this introduced during the closed beta?! If I'd known, I would've waited for the open beta!!"
The closed beta had been incomplete in far too many areas.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to learn it directly.
After all, it looked like a powerful skill—one formed by fusing so many abilities together. At the very least, it had to be a top-tier skill.
[Phantom Troupe's Curse (No Level)]
A massive amount of information flooded into his mind.
After a long while, Hyuga Arin finally opened his eyes.
"This skill…"
In a sense, it was extremely powerful.
Every time it was used, a spider tattoo would appear on the user's body. Based on the number marked on the tattoo, the user would gain all the abilities of the corresponding Phantom Troupe member.
And it wasn't limited to a single use.
As long as chakra could sustain it, he could use it thirteen times in succession—directly gaining the abilities of the entire Phantom Troupe.
But… those abilities didn't really boost him that much.
He already had plenty of abilities, and the useful ones had already become his own skills. Why would he repeatedly borrow the Phantom Troupe's powers?
Even Hisoka's abilities were included. As long as he obtained Hisoka's number, he could use both Bungee Gum and Texture Surprise.
Flowing Rock Crushing Fist had been neutralized in the fusion—it was completely gone.
"Still… this thing can be used to build a faction." Hyuga Arin pondered internally.
This curse mark wasn't just for himself—it could also be applied to others. For ninjas, this was practically the equivalent of granting a bloodline limit.
And when used on others, he only needed to expend chakra once. As long as the recipient continuously supplied energy, the effect could be maintained indefinitely.
"It's kind of like Kakashi's Sharingan."
Except the spider curse consumed far less chakra than a Sharingan—something even a genin could afford.
"A faction, huh…" Hyuga Arin rubbed his chin.
He had no real interest in building a power base. His subordinates killing people wouldn't give him experience, so why bother?
But now that he had this ability…
He could technically build a faction and have them capture ninjas for him to kill.
That… was actually feasible.
(Innocent ninjas: Thank you so much—seriously.)
He closed the Furnace interface, and the alchemical cauldron vanished.
Only two features remained unviewed.
He clicked on Sub-Profession.
There wasn't much to say about it.
The list was even longer than the main professions.
Herbalist, Miner, Tailor, Doctor, Blacksmith, Jeweler, Scientist…
Every trade imaginable was there.
The way to gain experience was similar to normal professions. Herbalists earned experience based on the rarity of herbs gathered, miners based on ore quality.
As for Tailor, Blacksmith, Jeweler, Scientist—those required completing an actual product to gain experience, and each project took far too long.
Hyuga Arin immediately gave up on those.
In the end, he chose Doctor.
He was already proficient in medical ninjutsu—wasting that would be a shame.
And in the future, when facing enemies, he could:
First, beat them to the brink of death to gain the first batch of experience.
Second, heal them to gain a second batch.
Then kill them to gain a third batch—plus loot.
One enemy, three harvests.
[Skills acquired: Diagnosis, Treatment]
[Medical ninjutsu detected—Diagnosis and Treatment merged into Medical Ninjutsu]
[Medical Ninjutsu leveled up]
[Medical Ninjutsu (Lv4) EXP (0/4000) Traits (None)]
A vast amount of medical knowledge appeared in his mind.
Hyuga Arin looked at Medical Ninjutsu with a satisfied expression.
If only all skills were like this—leveling up on their own without needing experience.
Unlike the other skills, which stubbornly refused to upgrade unless he personally dumped experience into them.
Finally, his gaze landed on the Awakening Skill.
[Hunter Awakening Skill (Please input required conditions; awakening will complete automatically)]
In the game, there had been a skill pool. By inputting keywords, the system would lock onto the corresponding awakening skill.
But now that he'd transmigrated, that original awakening skill pool should no longer exist.
So would the awakening really be constructed purely from keywords?
Hyuga Arin fell into deep thought.
If it truly worked based on keywords… then what did he need most?
"First, I need a barrier—to prevent enemies from escaping."
The sudden retreat of the Iwa-nin had robbed him of valuable farming opportunities.
That had honestly hurt him a bit.
Weren't people supposed to fight to the death on the battlefield? Why did they run?
"Second, I need to enhance my strength…"
He pondered further.
His combat style had already taken shape—long-range sniper mode, with solid close-combat ability as well.
What he lacked was mid-to-long-range sustained combat, but that could be solved by farming more skills.
"Then… overall enhancement."
He entered three keywords:
[Containment, Barrier, Comprehensive Strength Enhancement, Enhanced Recovery]
[Skill awakening in progress…]
[Awakening…]
[Please raise Nen Ability to Level 5]
Hyuga Arin: "…"
What could he even say?
Of course not every skill was as cooperative as Medical Ninjutsu.
[Nen Ability (Lv3) EXP (0/20000) Traits (None)]
[Nen Ability (Lv4) EXP (0/40000) Traits (None)]
[Nen Ability (Lv5) EXP (0/80000) Traits (None)]
A massive number of Nen-related techniques flooded into his mind.
At Level 4, he unlocked advanced applications of Ten and Ren—En and Ken.
At Level 5, he unlocked Hard, the advanced combination of Ten + Zetsu + Ren + Hatsu + Gyo.
Two levels gained, two advanced Nen applications learned.
But when he looked at his remaining experience pool—
[Experience Pool: 5,080]
Sixty thousand experience… gone just like that.
Over a hundred thousand had dropped straight down to barely five thousand.
At this rate, maxing out Nen Ability would take millions of experience.
Hyuga Arin felt a headache coming on.
Judging by the upgrade costs of these skills, combined with the experience required for leveling up, he had a terrible feeling:
Even if he farmed the entire ninja world clean, it still might not be enough to reach max level.
Then he looked at the system notification.
[Skill awakening in progress]
[Skill awakening successful]
[Nen Awakening Skill: Game Dungeon]
Another wave of memories surged into his mind.
"Another chakra-devouring monster…" Hyuga Arin rubbed his temples.
Activating it once consumed 3,000 chakra. If he invested even more chakra, the range could be expanded further.
"Where am I supposed to get extra chakra to pour into this? My total chakra is barely over three thousand!"
As his level increased, his chakra pool grew—but so did the chakra consumption of his skills.
Day ??? of wanting to become a jinchūriki.
[Hunter-exclusive awakening skill unlocked]
[Chakra cap increased by 1,000]
[Chakra growth per level increased]
[Name: Hyuga Arin]
[Profession: Hunter]
[Sub-Profession: Doctor]
[Level: Lv36 (0/25,500)]
[Chakra/Nen: 3600 / 3110 + 1000 + 500]
[Experience Pool: 5,080]
"Heh."
Hyuga Arin let out a cold laugh.
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