Quasi-Kage

[System, how much energy do I have now?]

[System Energy: 55.3]

Looking at the Energy Points on the panel, Haku showed a satisfied expression.

These points would let him achieve roughly the same results as a year or even two years of hard training.

But Haku had actually earned them all within the past month.

After handing Tayuya the jutsu scrolls he had stolen from Danzo on Orochimaru's behalf, Haku had begun clearing out bandits in the Land of Fields.

At first, he had done it to help the Daimyo eliminate bandits who weren't under his command. That was the deal Haku had made with the Daimyo: wipe out the other factions while leaving the Daimyo's own forces intact.

But later, when Haku realized most of the bandits were wandering ninja who had only just reached the Genin level, he changed his mind.

He had originally planned to leave the Daimyo's own bandits alone, but Energy Points were far more useful to Haku. As for the Daimyo, Haku had put it this way to Tayuya:

[It's just as well if we wipe them all out. Then the Daimyo will have no one to rely on but the Sound Village. We can give him some mission slots.]

The bandits he had just wiped out had been backed by the Daimyo, and they had earned Haku a full five Energy Points.

After sending Tayuya a message with a summoning beast, Haku found a cave to rest in for a while and consider how to use the Energy Points he had now.

[Combat Power: 162! (1)]

[S-Cells: 160! (1)]

[System Energy: 55.3!]

[Special Energy: 1 type!]

[Sharingan]

[Level: One-Tomoe 10% (180)]

[Abilities: Insight Level 2, Genjutsu Mastery Level 1]

[Byakugan]

[Level: Unawakened 0% (50)]

[Abilities: Insight Level 1]

[Nine Palace Seal: Eighth Palace 3% (485)]

[Eight-Tails Tailed Beast Seed: 0% (100)]

[The number in parentheses indicates the Energy Points required to advance to the next stage.]

Looking at the various values displayed on the system panel, Haku silently considered the path ahead and how to use his energy.

The more Haku thought about it, the less happy he felt. At first, he had thought that having more than fifty Energy Points was a lot, but after thinking it through carefully, he realized they couldn't do all that much.

There were two ways to use fifty Energy Points to directly increase his Combat Power. The first was to add points directly to Combat Power, improving his physical abilities across the board.

The second was to add points to the Byakugan, relying on the energy from awakening it to passively increase his strength. But he wasn't sure whether that would work; it was only an estimate based on how awakening the Sharingan had gone.

After asking the system's AI, Haku gave up on the idea of asking the system about this again.

[Simulating whether awakening the Byakugan can increase the host's Combat Power will consume 10 Energy Points. Begin simulation?]

As Haku saw it, even if awakening the Byakugan could increase his Combat Power, the simulation would use up the energy he needed to awaken it.

In the end, Haku abandoned the idea of adding points to the Byakugan and put all his Energy Points into Combat Power instead.

He had things to do next, and his current Jonin-level strength wasn't quite enough.

[System, put all my energy into Combat Power!]

[Beginning allocation. Please wait!]

As the system's AI responded, Haku made his first energy allocation since arriving in the Naruto World.

Haku felt a tremor, then seemed to lose control of his body. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move a muscle.

Before Haku could ask the system what was happening, he felt energy start passing through his skin and entering his body. Then, as if controlled by some force, it began seeping into his cells.

As the energy entered his cells, a wave of warmth spread through him, and Haku felt his body slowly growing stronger.

The sensation was so pleasant that Haku almost wanted to moan with pleasure. Unfortunately, he couldn't control his body in the slightest.

The feeling seemed to last a long time. Only when Haku felt his body cross some kind of threshold did the warmth of growing stronger gradually fade.

[Ding! Energy allocation complete!]

The system AI's voice rang in Haku's mind, startling him back to his senses.

[Huh? This feeling!]

As soon as he regained control of his body, Haku felt something different from before.

[How much stronger have I gotten? This feels completely different from before.]

[System, bring up the panel.]

[Combat Power: 203! (Quasi-Kage) (5)]

[S-Cells: 160! (1)]

[System Energy: 2.3!]

[Special Energy: 1 type!]

[Sharingan]

[Level: One-Tomoe 10% (180) (648 days)]

[Abilities: Insight Level 2, Genjutsu Mastery Level 1]

[Byakugan]

[Level: Unawakened 0% (50) (180 days)]

[Abilities: Insight Level 1]

[Nine Palace Seal: Eighth Palace 3% (485) (1746 days)]

[Eight-Tails Tailed Beast Seed: 0% (100)]

Seeing that he had reached Quasi-Kage strength, Haku seemed to understand that the point where he had felt his strength change during the allocation must have been when he reached Quasi-Kage.

[This feeling! I feel like I could take on four versions of myself from before the allocation. But with this sudden burst of strength, I don't think I have very good control over it!]