Bing San returned home in a daze, under the gazes of a crowd who looked at him with envy, jealousy, admiration, or pity.
As soon as he got home, he went straight to his bedroom and flopped onto the bed, pulling the covers over his head. He looked like he'd been thoroughly wrecked.
For a moment, Bing San lost focus and forgot that his three clones had been training outside for a long time.
The three clones dispersed at once. The shock to Bing San's body knocked him unconscious on the spot.
When Bing San woke up, rubbing his throbbing head, he realized it was already the middle of the night. He opened his status panel and found that nothing had changed.
However, the physical changes were real. Thanks to the Strength Clone's constant training, his coordination and resistance to impacts had improved considerably.
The Speed Clone had spent a long time practicing tree climbing and Water Walking, greatly improving Bing San's Chakra control. Of course, these were all passive physical reactions. After all, a clone's attributes couldn't grow; only one attribute could match the original's highest stat, while the rest stayed at an ordinary person's level.
The Intelligence Clone spent every day studying Ninja techniques, but it didn't have much effect on Bing San's body. That was because the three clones' consciousnesses were always synchronized with Bing San's.
Bing San could now sleep while keeping his clones active. In practice, this just meant having the three clones eat Ration Pills and begin gathering Chakra while he slept. It didn't take any brainpower, after all.
After learning about Bing San's unusual clones, both Danzo and Orochimaru wrote their names on the Summoning Scroll.
As a result, the Speed Clone often helped the two of them escape and deliver messages.
But Bing San's biggest gain wasn't any of that. It was the Chakra left over by the three clones.
That was right. Not only had the three clones failed to use up the Chakra Bing San had divided among them, they had returned a large amount of Chakra to him. Bing San felt that he now had almost three times as much as before.
In other words, if Bing San used Water Release: Water Clear Wave again, it wouldn't strain him at all. He could even afford to use a hand-seal-light version. (The fewer hand seals, the more Chakra gets wasted.)
Bing San rubbed his temples hard, and once he felt a little more clearheaded, he remembered that it was time for his daily draw. He'd had plenty of draws over the years, but few of them were useful. Still, it was like buying lottery tickets: even when you knew the odds were terrible, you couldn't help taking another shot.
The wheel spun rapidly, then stopped on a white box. Bing San thought he was done for. Based on his past experience, the flashier the color, the more likely it was to be something good. He opened his inventory. Whenever he saw it, he couldn't help complaining that it wouldn't hold anything that didn't come from the system. It was hardly ninja-like at all.
A white treasure chest sat quietly beside the Small Returning Pill in the inventory. Bing San opened it. There were two items inside: one was a halo, and the other was a symbol. He tried to take them out for a closer look, but with two quick flashes, they entered his body.
Bing San jumped in fright and hurriedly checked his status panel.
Host: Shimura Bing San (Cyborg), Strength: 15 (10) Agility: 21 (10) Intelligence: 33 (10) Constitution: 10 (10) Note: Intelligence mainly affects Ninja techniques by determining Chakra generation speed and technique release speed. Chakra is like a mana bar; it doesn't have that much to do with intelligence.
His basic attributes had barely changed. He checked his skills. Hm. Was there an extra skill now? Where had the other one gone?
Bing San carefully read the skill description, looking utterly bewildered. What was this thing? He'd never played this game before.
Skill: Ice Release (Specialization) (from World of Warcraft). Effect 1: Freely switch between Water Release and Ice Release effects. Effect 2: Water Release and Ice Release power increased by 15%; Chakra cost reduced by 10%. Effect 3: Target resistance to Water Release and Ice Release effects reduced by 6%. Effect 4: Fire Release damage taken increased by 50%. (Only wimps play Arcane; real mages play Frost and Fire—by Magna Aegwynn)
Bing San was completely baffled. He scratched his head, then decided to try it out. He brought his hands together and formed the Tiger seal, then spat a Water Arrow Technique at his pillow. With a shift of his thoughts, the water arrow he'd just fired turned into an icicle. It stabbed into the pillow, radiating a bone-chilling cold, and a large patch of ice formed across the bed. Strangely, Bing San didn't feel cold at all. In fact, standing on the ice felt incredibly refreshing.
While Bing San was still testing out the sensation, three figures appeared in the room in a series of flashes. They were dressed in black Ninja uniforms and wore masks—Root Ninjas. The three of them looked at one another, then one asked Bing San, "Young Master Bing San, what happened?"
Bing San jumped, but quickly realized that these were new bodyguards Shimura Danzō had assigned to keep him from getting killed. Bing San shook his head, and the three vanished in a series of flashes.
Not long after, Shimura Danzō arrived and pointed at the layer of ice on the pillow. "What happened here?"
Bing San was just as confused. He only shook his head to show that he didn't know. It wasn't that he didn't want to explain it to Danzo; how could he explain the system?
Danzo was curious for a while about Bing San's sudden ability to use Ice Release, then asked him to release some Chakra so he could sense it. True to his reputation as the Shinobi World's Pot Kage, Danzo figured it out after a simple examination: Ice Release was made up of Wind Release and Water Release Chakra.
Danzo rubbed his chin, and whatever he was thinking about made him chuckle twice. But with the way Danzo looked, his smile was more frightening than a grimace. Bing San's little eyes kept darting toward the door, and he wanted to turn and run.
The next day, Orochimaru came to the Shimura residence as well. After examining Bing San, he said to Danzo, "It seems the child was stimulated yesterday. The Chakra in his body started unconsciously changing in some way to protect him.
"This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The new power the child has gained resembles the Ice Release of the Yuki Clan in the Land of Water, but it's actually completely different.
"The Yuki Clan's Ice Release is mainly composed of Wind, Water, and Yin Release Chakra, with Wind Release as its foundation. That's why the Yuki Clan's Ice Release is graceful and nimble, yet immensely powerful.
"But this child's Ice Release is composed of Water, Wind, and Yang Release, with Water Release as its foundation. If he develops it well, his Ice Release will be stronger and cover a wider area.
"However, our experiment has completely failed. It seems we'll have to start over. As far as I know, no one has ever possessed two Kekkei Genkai at the same time."
Orochimaru licked his lips after speaking, watching Bing San as if he wanted to dissect him but couldn't bear to.
When we run into Mei Terumi later, go study her instead. She has two Kekkei Genkai. Don't come messing with me. This is a skill, not a Kekkei Genkai.
Danzo nodded. "With a great war imminent, I don't have time to slowly experiment with you. Do as you see fit. But let me make one thing clear: if you get results, you'll share them with me. If something goes wrong, though, I won't clean up after you."
Orochimaru gave a sinister chuckle, tossed Bing San a scroll, and left.
Danzo glanced at it, said nothing, and left too.
Bing San formed the seals to open the scroll. Inside was a Ninja technique: Ninja Art: Snake Illusion Body. It made others mistake the user for a harmless snake. Combined with the Transformation Technique, it was a fantastic way to stay alive. After all, there were plenty of small animals in the Shinobi World, and Ninja had no interest in killing some useless little snake.
At last, Bing San found the final light at the bottom of his character panel: a special item called Frost Carving. Its effect was to increase Frost damage by 3%, but remove Frost's slowing effect. (Frost isn't the same as freezing. Frost is moisture that condenses on an icy surface; freezing is being frozen in water.)