"Hmm, it really is a little weird. I'll just call you Minato Namikaze, since you're playing him right now anyway."
As Wu Chen, Wu Chen understood the feeling his clone was talking about.
"That works too." Minato Namikaze nodded. "By the way, aren't you going to try Obito Uchiha? I want to see which period of Obito's life this version is from."
"Do you even need to check? He's the mysterious Masked Man! Obviously, he's Obito from the Nine-Tails incident, when he controlled the Akatsuki and the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura!" Wu Chen scoffed at Minato Namikaze, then quickly reined himself in.
That's me!
I'm mocking myself. There's something wrong with me!
"Never mind those little details. Transform and let's have a look!" Minato Namikaze urged.
Clearly, he understood Wu Chen's embarrassment at that moment.
Having himself help him out of an awkward situation felt really strange.
Composing himself, Wu Chen silently said, System, play the mysterious Masked Man!
Whoosh~
A breath later, Wu Chen vanished. Standing in his place was a mysterious Masked Man with black hair and a black robe, 1.75 meters tall, wearing a pale yellow, one-eyed mask decorated with black stripes.
Wu Chen looked at everything through his right eye, finding it a little awkward, but he could feel that his left eye had an eyeball too.
Wu Chen raised a hand and removed the mask. Looking in the mirror, he saw Obito's familiar face. His left eye was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, obviously transplanted from another Uchiha.
"Both eyes work perfectly well, so why only leave one exposed?" Wu Chen couldn't help grumbling.
At that moment, Minato Namikaze walked over as well. He looked at Wu Chen in Obito Uchiha's form with some emotion. "Even with the scars on his face, I think he's pretty handsome."
"Right? I think he's pretty handsome too." Wu Chen looked himself over. "But handsome or not, we can't let ourselves be influenced by Obito's way of thinking!"
"It's too extreme, and it's unrealistic too..."
"If you don't want his way of thinking to influence you, how are you going to play Obito?" Minato Namikaze asked.
After pondering for a few seconds, Wu Chen decided, "Forget it. I'll still use Obito's experiences and goals as a pretext! That'll make him easier to play."
"Tch~ Should I say 'that's the good stuff'?" Minato Namikaze couldn't help teasing him. "Original, you just said you didn't want Obito's thinking to influence you, and now you're going 'that's the good stuff' already."
"Ahem~ You're me. Is it really appropriate to mock me like that?" Wu Chen glared at Minato Namikaze, then said, "Gather the Nine Tailed Beasts, carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan, and create a world where Rin exists!"
"As long as I follow those guidelines, Obito won't be hard to play~" At this point, Wu Chen suddenly paused. "Perhaps completing missions isn't the only way to role-play Naruto characters. Recreating the character's goals and things like that might be another way."
"What about Minato Namikaze, then?" Minato Namikaze looked at Wu Chen. "What's his goal?"
Wu Chen shook his head. "For now, Minato Namikaze can't follow that principle. His goal is to protect Konoha, but right now there isn't a single hair of Konoha to be found. So he should stick to taking and completing missions for payment to gain Roleplay Progress!"
"In other words, Obito Uchiha is the perfect way to test your theory, original?" Minato Namikaze said.
Wu Chen nodded. "Exactly! From now on, I'll act according to Obito's guidelines. If my Roleplay Progress increases in the process, that'll prove the theory is right."
"All right, then. I'm going back to finish the mission with Natasha. Get moving as soon as you can, original!" Minato Namikaze nodded, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave Wu Chen's room.
Although he had gotten off work early, Wu Chen had actually accepted another mission. He had simply told Natasha that something had come up and given it up.
Now that Minato Namikaze was going back, he could continue that mission and gain Roleplay Progress.
Wait!! Doesn't that mean I can have my clone gain Roleplay Progress while I, the original, slack off?!
Wu Chen's eyes lit up, but immediately afterward, he remembered how the Shadow Clone Technique worked.
Everything a Shadow Clone experienced would be transferred back to the original when the clone was dispelled.
Injuries, memories, experience, fatigue—all of it would come back.
At that thought, Wu Chen knew there was no point in slacking off.
He would get all the benefits, but none of the drawbacks would go away either.
Forget it. For now, the clone and the original can both get to work!
Putting aside his thoughts of slacking off, Wu Chen sank his consciousness into his mind and checked the system panel. He wanted to see how compatible he was with Obito.
[Host: Wu Chen]
[Current role-playing character: mysterious Masked Man, Obito Uchiha]
[Current Roleplay Progress: 10%]
[Characters owned: Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze (50%), mysterious Masked Man Obito Uchiha (10%)]
[Character draws: 0]
[Character abilities selected: Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze (0)]
[Shop awaiting activation. Please click to activate]
Sure enough, it isn't as high as Minato Namikaze's initial Roleplay Progress!
Obito Uchiha's ten percent Roleplay Progress was within Wu Chen's expectations. After all, he didn't particularly agree with Obito's ideals.
But what's with this new "shop"?