"After falling so many times, I finally learned how to climb trees."
Shin was a mess, covered in dirt. He'd lost count of how many times he'd fallen from the tree.
But it had all been worth it. Shin could now make his way steadily to the top, and he'd finally learned how to control all that chakra.
"Shin, how did you do that?"
Kushina gazed at Shin in astonishment, her eyes sparkling.
"Hehe, want to learn?"
Kushina quickly nodded.
"If you want to learn, I'm not going to teach you. That's what you get for making fun of me earlier." Shin folded his arms. When he'd fallen from the tree earlier, Kushina had teased him plenty.
There was no helping it. His enormous reserves of chakra were especially difficult to control, and without anyone to guide him, he'd had to figure everything out on his own. Of course he'd fallen plenty of times.
You could say that Shin had learned to climb trees entirely by fumbling his way through one failure after another.
"You're so petty. You're still mad." Kushina made a face at Shin.
"By the way, Shin, you don't like me calling you that, right? If you teach me how to get to the top of the tree without using my hands,
I won't call you Shin anymore. How about that?"
Shin really didn't like Kushina calling him Shin. It made him sound so young. But Kushina had gotten used to calling him that, and she couldn't seem to stop, even when he asked her to.
There was a reason Kushina called him Shin: he was younger than her. Well, only by three days, but three days still counted.
Kushina had always wanted Shin to call her "big sister," but he was a transmigrator. How could he call Kushina, who was the same age as him, his big sister?
"All right, then."
Shin nodded at Kushina, then taught her everything he'd figured out himself.
With Shin's tips and guidance, Kushina learned to climb trees in only half an hour. She was very talented.
"Shin, I learned faster than you did," Kushina said excitedly.
Shin had practiced for more than three hours, while Kushina had needed only half an hour. But that didn't mean Shin was less talented than her.
Shin had figured it out on his own, while Kushina had his guidance. She'd avoided countless detours.
After teaching Kushina to climb trees, Shin took her to a small river nearby to practice Water Walking.
Water Walking was indeed harder than tree climbing. Water couldn't support you, and the slightest mistake would send you tumbling into the river.
Fortunately, Shin had already learned to climb trees. He fell in only twice before he could walk and even run across the water.
Compared to Shin, though, Kushina had a rough time. She'd fallen in more than ten times, and Shin couldn't help laughing.
Kushina spent several hours splashing around in the water before she finally learned Water Walking.
"Kushina, you've joined the ranks of the geniuses," Shin told her.
Learning to climb trees and walk on water at just five years old, while controlling her chakra with precision, certainly made her a genius.
"Let's go back and change our clothes." Kushina touched her soaked clothes and spoke to Shin.
They went back and changed, then had a meal. It was already three in the afternoon, and they were only just having lunch.
Kushina had stubbornly insisted on learning Water Walking before eating. She'd refused to have a meal otherwise, which was why they'd eaten so late.
After eating, Shin didn't go to train. Instead, he took Kushina toward the clan grounds.
"Shin, why are we going to the clan grounds?" Kushina looked up at him in surprise.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't call me Shin anymore?" Shin raised a hand and lightly tapped Kushina on the forehead.
"I'm used to it. I'll change eventually."
Kushina rubbed the spot Shin had tapped and gazed at him with a wounded expression.
Shin chuckled. He figured it would be hard for Kushina to break the habit.
"Anyway, Sh... Shin, why are you going to the clan grounds? You don't like going there."
Shin and Kushina lived outside the clan grounds and rarely went into the clan. They only went when they needed to buy something.
This time, they weren't going shopping. Shin wanted to use one of the system's Copy Cards.
Once they entered the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, the place grew lively. The grounds were quite large, and the Uzumaki Clan had more than two hundred people, young and old.
They were nothing compared to the clan in its heyday during the Warring States period, but they still counted as a major clan in any shinobi village.
"By the way, system, when I use a Copy Card, can I see what abilities the other person has? How am I supposed to copy them if I don't know what they can do?"
"The master will have to figure that out for himself. This system doesn't have that ability."
"You're useless, system." Shin grumbled.
Fortunately, Shin knew a thing or two about the Uzumaki shinobi. He took Kushina to the Uzumaki Clan Grounds' training field.
The training field was huge. Most members of the Uzumaki Clan came there to train.
Shin ignored the Chunin and Genin and searched slowly for an Uzumaki Jonin.
There were quite a few Jonin in the Uzumaki Clan. How could a large clan not have at least a few?
But finding a Jonin on the training field would be difficult. Even when they came to train, Jonin usually chose secluded spots.
The training field was huge, so finding a Jonin really wasn't easy.
A Common Copy Card could copy a Jonin's chakra and physical abilities at most, which was why Shin was looking for one. He wanted to get the most out of it.
"Oh!"
Shin suddenly spotted someone he knew. As it happened, the man was a Jonin—and one who specialized in Taijutsu.
"System, use a Common Copy Card to copy Uzumaki Yan's physique."
Physical ability included strength, speed, endurance, agility, flexibility, and other attributes. A copy could target strength or speed individually, but Shin wasn't stupid.
If he could copy everything at once, why do it one attribute at a time? He couldn't afford to waste Copy Cards.
In an instant, Shin felt his body swell. Some mysterious force strengthened his bones, while his muscles grew firm and solid.
He also felt more agile.
"This power is incredible." Shin threw a punch, sending a fierce gust of wind through the air. His strength was seven or eight times greater than before.
Thanks to his Perfect Sage Body, Shin had already been tremendously strong. He'd practically had monstrous strength.
Now that his strength had increased seven or eight times over, Shin felt he could break a tree in half with a single punch.
"System, does the strength I copy add to my original strength?" Shin asked the system a very important question.
"Yes. The strength copied will be added to the master's original strength."
At the system's confirmation, Shin's eyes lit up. If it kept stacking, would he even need to learn any ninjutsu?
If he could stack his physical abilities until they reached Might Guy's level when he opened the Eight Gates, wouldn't he be invincible with Taijutsu alone?
"System, can I keep stacking it forever? Is there no limit?"
"The Copy Cards are the only limit. As long as the master has Copy Cards, he can keep copying other people's physical abilities and strength to improve his own physique."
Before you continue