Combined Ninjutsu!

[Select Equipment Divine Skill, War Against Zombie Monsters! Synthesis Champion invites you to try it out...]

After the second hour of Immersion ended, it was another game trial.

This made Akaseki suspect that, just like the previous two dramas were part of the "Prosperity Realm" series, the rewards for this drama all seemed to be game trials.

However, this was fine too...

Game trials didn't require any venue or space, and could achieve the effect of training directly.

This time, the game started, and it was the exact opposite of Temple Run...

Akaseki couldn't "run away" at all; instead, he had to face monsters constantly rushing toward him within a certain range.

These monsters swarmed in from eight directions, and Akaseki started with only shuriken and kunai...

But that wasn't the point. The point was that along with the monsters, "treasure chests" were also swarming in. The chests were labeled with various Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu... Akaseki discovered that they were all techniques he had already mastered!

At the beginning, Akaseki still couldn't use any Ninjutsu and could only use basic throwing ninja tools. Then, he shattered a Fire Style [Great Fireball Technique] and immediately discovered that he could use the Great Fireball Technique, and even... use it continuously!

Could it be that I can use Ninjutsu infinitely? That would be too practical! Akaseki's eyes lit up. This was much more cost-effective than the previous Temple Run.

After all, practicing Ninjutsu without consumption and continuously was incredibly efficient—usually, when practicing Ninjutsu, even a Jonin would be drained after using a dozen high-cost techniques.

However...

Akaseki immediately realized something was wrong!

It was indeed continuous use, but...

It didn't require Akaseki to activate it himself at all. After performing the hand seals once, it just kept spewing fire. It looked effective, but for Akaseki, there was no training effect at all!

Calculated this way, the cost-effectiveness of this game was quite low...

Soon, in the second wave of rewards, Akaseki chose the Earth Style [Earth Prison Dome of Nothingness], and suddenly received a prompt...

[Fusion successful, obtained combination Ninjutsu "Roasting Hell Technique".]

Akaseki:!!!

It gives combination Ninjutsu directly?

Isn't this cost-effectiveness off the charts?

Although it wasn't as good as a Kekkei Genkai, which is a fundamental fusion and mutation of Chakra nature, combination Ninjutsu was also very strong. It often allowed one to achieve twice the result with half the effort, and... it didn't seem like there were only two types of Ninjutsu to choose from. If he could combine multiple attributes, wouldn't he take off?

Suddenly, Akaseki's attack pattern in the game changed. Instead of just continuously spewing fire to burn monsters, he first "clattered" the earth to rise, trapping the enemies with earth and stone, and then burned them from the outside—in addition to damage, it now had an enemy-trapping effect.

It's just that...

This... have I learned it?

Akaseki hesitated for a moment. He didn't feel like he had learned any new Ninjutsu. Then, seemingly thinking of something, he hurriedly activated his Sharingan—actually activating the Sharingan had no effect in the game, he was just using the Sharingan to analyze the "combination Ninjutsu" he was currently using!

The good news was that Akaseki felt his Sharingan was memorizing this combination Ninjutsu!

The bad news was that judging by the recording efficiency, he couldn't remember it at all...

Before Akaseki could be disappointed, he discovered something else.

That was that the "copying" of the Sharingan now was somewhat different from before!

Previously, when Akaseki copied Ninjutsu, if a copy failed once, he had to start over. He would have to ask Fugaku or Yashiro to go slower. If they slowed down to the point where they couldn't even use the Ninjutsu anymore and Akaseki still hadn't copied it, then it couldn't be copied.

But now it was different...

Akaseki discovered that even if his "copying" failed, the progress was saved, and he could continue copying next time!

After a little thought, Akaseki understood the reason!

When "copying" someone else's Ninjutsu, as long as it wasn't successful, it was a failure.

But right now, theoretically, he was copying the Ninjutsu he was currently using, so the progress was preserved.

In other words...

Theoretically, in this situation, no matter how low the copying efficiency was, he would eventually be able to copy it!

The third wave started quickly, but the copying progress was still minimal.

Looking at the various rewards, Akaseki first ruled out other Ninjutsu—adding other Ninjutsu now might not only overwrite the [Roasting Hell Technique], but the difficulty of copying would definitely be greater.

At the same time, Akaseki discovered...

"Earth Clone *2? What is this?" Akaseki found a reward that wasn't Ninjutsu or ninja tools, so he decisively chose it.

After shattering this box, two clones appeared beside Akaseki. They would automatically use the same techniques as Akaseki, his output suddenly increased significantly, and even... the efficiency of copying Ninjutsu improved!

Akaseki secretly rejoiced and continued to copy.

It's just that...

[Roasting Hell Technique] had only just been copied to a superficial level when Akaseki "died" here.

"No, no... although the Roasting Hell Technique has the effect of hindering enemies, its lethality is actually lower, and changing directions is very slow. Even with clones, it can't stop the fifth wave of enemies at all..." Akaseki shook his head helplessly.

This game that could copy "combination Ninjutsu" looked great, but... after dying a few times, Akaseki discovered that the efficiency was far from as high as he had initially imagined!

Although the progress could be saved even if the replication failed upon death because it was "himself" using the ninjutsu, continuing the replication process was not easy...

After all, it was impossible to randomly get the same combination of ninjutsu every single time!

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, the number of ninjutsu Akaseki knew was vast...

Take the Roasting Hell Technique for example; Akaseki would have to randomly roll "Great Fireball Technique" and Earth Prison Dome of Nothingness in the next game, and choose them upon starting, before he could continue the replication.

Furthermore, there was a need to balance "game strength" with "real-world replication efficiency."

In the beginning, Akaseki naturally only considered the combination ninjutsu he could replicate and didn't care about "game strength" at all, but the result was...

He died too quickly!

The efficiency couldn't be improved at all...

Conversely, if he only considered "game strength," once he fused some super powerful combination ninjutsu, he could indeed keep the game going, but his Two-Tomoe Ninjutsu Eye couldn't replicate them at all.

Usually, in such cases, Akaseki would simply end the game and start a new round!

To achieve the most efficient replication, he needed to balance the two.

The result was that of the eight hours of trial play (one hour in reality), most had passed, and Akaseki hadn't successfully replicated a single ninjutsu.

However, it wasn't as if there was no hope...

For relatively simple "combination ninjutsu" like the Roasting Hell Technique, Akaseki estimated he could replicate it after rolling it two or three times. If it weren't for the first few rounds where he wasn't very familiar with the mechanics, he might have already successfully replicated a combination ninjutsu.

Additionally, Akaseki understood that if he possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan now, his replication efficiency would greatly increase. Some simple combination ninjutsu could be replicated in a single game, meaning he wouldn't have to rely on "probability" to find them a second time, and his efficiency would naturally skyrocket.

Even now, it wasn't impossible to succeed; after all, there was still the next opportunity for a trial run.

[External disturbance detected, Immersion interrupted...]

"Tanuki... Tanuki..."

With some time still remaining in his game trial, Akaseki was passively jolted awake. Opening his eyes, he saw that the Little Tanuki Beast had also woken up and was nudging him...