By adjusting the environment to enhance a ninja's abilities, the effects could be improved. It was delicate work, and simply pushing the numbers to extremes wasn't necessarily better.
With Haku's cooperation, Shinji made more than a thousand adjustments before finally finding the optimal combat environment for him.
After all those rounds of testing, the Icefield had changed beyond recognition.
Cold winds swept across the lake, but its surface hadn't frozen over completely. Icebergs of various sizes drifted across it, and the endless Icefield surrounding it had turned into a rugged glacier.
The lake hadn't frozen solid because a deep chasm extended from its bottom into the earth. It had been left there for the installation of the "reinforcement spikes" later on. Its presence allowed warm currents from the earth's veins to rise, bringing the lake to life and keeping it from becoming a lifeless block of ice.
The concentration of Natural Energy had also been fine-tuned.
Excessively intense Natural Energy would destabilize the environment, so Shinji had optimized it, increasing the areas with high concentrations of Natural Energy while reducing the concentration elsewhere.
After finishing the adjustments, Shinji said to Haku, "This will become one of the nine key nodes protecting the ninja world, and you're the guard I've chosen to defend it!"
Haku was shaken to his core. "My lord, I... can I really do it?"
After the complicated adjustments just now, he had already guessed some of what was going on. But even after hearing Shinji entrust him with such an important responsibility, he still felt uneasy.
There were plenty of people stronger than him in the Akatsuki Organization and the Research Institute. He couldn't believe Shinji would entrust such an important task to him.
Shinji said firmly, "I believe you can!"
Haku froze for a moment, then