Heroic Spirit Possession

"Ah, then I'm as good as dead, aren't I?"

Feeling the wound on his chest, Naruto Li Ke sighed helplessly.

He'd finally gotten a cheat, only to be on the verge of dying. The irony was almost too much.

But there was nothing he could do about it. That was just how fate worked. When an individual couldn't stand against the tide, all he could do was leave it to luck.

So he held out his hand. If this really was the cheat he thought it was, then maybe he could still make a comeback after death or something.

"Before I die, let's exchange our powers and memories. That way, I can still help you in the other worlds. If you make it big someday, it'd be great if you could bring me back to life. If you can't, I understand..."

He reached out with his left hand. The person who'd been talking to him looked a little helpless, but still came over.

"Our cheats don't work quite the same way, and it's not like you have no chance of surviving... Never mind. We're short on time, so see for yourself."

With that, he reached out and shook Li Ke's hand.

The next moment, it was as if he'd touched himself. A torrent of memories and power entered his consciousness.

Li Ke's eyes flew open. He immediately understood what "don't work quite the same way" meant.

They couldn't share their abilities like the predecessors had!

They could only share their respective talents and potential, along with whatever memories they chose to reveal. They could also transfer items weighing no more than their combined body weight, though they didn't yet know whether spatial storage equipment could be sent through from this space.

But the three of them had only just gotten this cheat, so they didn't know all that much about it yet.

Feeling his body grow considerably stronger, though nowhere near four times as strong as before, Li Ke's mouth twitched.

"Well, that's... interesting..."

He'd also learned who the three people in front of him were.

The Li Ke he'd shaken hands with came from the Type-Moon World. He was currently in middle school in Fuyuki City. A wealthy landowner named Tokiomi Tohsaka lived near his home, and the man had two adorable daughters in elementary school.

As for the other two, one came from a daily-life world and was in middle school. Aside from being strong, eating a lot, and having a thick head of hair, he had nothing special about him. His world didn't seem to have anything supernatural in it, either. He looked like a completely ordinary Earthling.

The only unusual thing about him was that his family had always lived deep in the mountains, and their ancestors were supposedly wild men.

The last one came from the classic world of Harry Potter.

The problem was—

He was French, and a super-mixed-blood at that.

In an instant, countless French jokes popped into Li Ke's mind. French Li Ke rolled his eyes as soon as he saw his expression.

"Don't look at me like that. I know what you're about to say."

Even though the new arrival was about to die, he still wanted to crack French jokes. French Li Ke could only sigh helplessly.

"Sure, I'm French, but my grandfather was half American and half Chinese, my grandmother was half English and half Russian, and even though my mother was French, she was also half English and half French. So don't just call me French. You should call me a Five-Permanent-Member Person! I only became a French citizen because my grandfather and the others had to pretend to be French after France surrendered too quickly!"

After a pause, French Li Ke continued.

"And shouldn't you be thinking about how to use the Type-Moon guy's special ability to survive? I've only received my letter from Beauxbatons. I haven't even bought a wand yet, so I really can't help you right now. But you could try casting Episkey on yourself later. Who knows, maybe magic works in your world."

French Li Ke spread his hands helplessly. He'd only found out a few days ago that he was in the Harry Potter world.

So even if he wanted to find Li Ke some Potions, there was nothing he could do.

Five-Permanent-Member rice? And you're the one making fun of France! The other Li Kes couldn't help grumbling to themselves, but they nodded all the same.

"Right. Given the situation, it's the only thing we can try."

Naruto Li Ke nodded. After receiving the memories, he naturally knew what the other man meant.

For now, none of the three Li Kes could help him. French Li Ke didn't know a single spell, and from the shared memories, it seemed that his magical talent was only useful in the Type-Moon World. It had awakened the talent of the Type-Moon version of himself.

Heroic Spirit Possession.

That was just a temporary name. To put it simply, it was like being possessed by a ghost or inviting a god into your body.

He could summon a Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes to inhabit him, and decide at will whether they stayed or left. Whether they answered his call, though, was up to luck.

And even if they did answer, how much of their power he could use depended on the amount of energy he had.

As long as he could summon a Heroic Spirit, he could use magic to create a temporary body and use its heart to replace his damaged one, saving his life!

"But I can actually summon Scathach..."

Looking at his Type-Moon counterpart in disbelief, Li Ke couldn't help blurting out,

"Do I really have the potential to become a hero?"

Scathach wouldn't answer just anyone's summons. In the Type-Moon World, she only answered those of "heroes" or people with the potential to kill her.

Type-Moon Li Ke smiled awkwardly. After sharing memories with French Li Ke, he'd hurried back to his own world to see whether he'd acquired magical powers.

But when he got back, he found that he hadn't gained the wizards' ability to cast spells from Harry Potter's world. Instead, his own world's magical talent had awakened. Then he'd started absorbing the magic around him without meaning to, and summoned Scathach into his body.

Fortunately, he could decide whether she saw his thoughts, memories, and everything he saw. He could also send Scathach back at any time.

But in such a dangerous world, there was no way he'd send away a relatively easygoing Heroic Spirit like Scathach. So she'd started training him relentlessly.

"Uh, I asked my teacher about that, too. After asking me a few questions, she said I really liked fighting and didn't care about my own life at all, so I did have the potential to be a hero. She wouldn't be wrong about that."

Naruto Li Ke fell silent.

He went over the memories and found that Scathach's three questions had been simple.

"What would you do if you faced an army of enemies you couldn't defeat?"

"See if I could wage a guerrilla war. If there's someone I need to protect, I'd do that. If I had to fight and couldn't escape, I'd take as many explosives as I could and kill as many enemies as possible."

"Then what if someone from a family became your sworn enemy, and the people in that family all helped one another? If you killed one of them, the whole family would hunt you down. What would you do?"

"Kill all his relatives within nine generations. If their friends were like that, too, I'd kill their friends' whole families as well."

"If you needed to intimidate your enemies, what would you do?"

"Build a Jingguan."

"...You have the potential to be a hero."

Naruto Li Ke had wanted to argue, but then he remembered that he was much the same. When he realized that running away would only get him killed, he'd gone up against the enemy with Explosive Tags.

If that enemy hadn't been an overconfident jonin, he'd probably have been blown to pieces.

Maybe, just maybe, he had no room to criticize his Type-Moon self.

Because if he were in his Type-Moon counterpart's shoes, confronted with something that suddenly entered his body, he'd naturally say whatever he thought would intimidate it the most.

After all, back then, he hadn't known Scathach's true name, and he'd been terrified.

Type-Moon Li Ke sighed, too. At the time, he'd thought an evil spirit had possessed him. It was only with Scathach's guidance that he'd learned how to control his ability.

The price had been her insisting that he train his body and study magecraft, but that was exactly what he'd wanted.

"Afraid..."

Naruto Li Ke took a deep breath and chuckled.

"Who isn't afraid of dying?"

His words silenced all the Li Kes present. None of them had been in danger when they got this cheat. Only Naruto Li Ke had arrived here on the verge of death.

"Don't die. We don't even know what your special talent is yet."

Type-Moon Li Ke gently patted his uninjured shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"Ah, that still depends on whether your talent is useful, doesn't it? If it's like the other two guys' talents, it won't do me any good, and I'll still be screwed."

Naruto Li Ke smiled. Type-Moon Li Ke's talent had no effect at all on French Li Ke or Daily Life Li Ke. Not even the slightest reaction.

The other three Li Kes didn't know what to say, but Naruto Li Ke was perfectly calm.

"But if I die, you can at least find out whether our abilities still exist after death, right? Don't look so glum. My death won't be completely meaningless. I'll have died for a cause, more or less."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto Li Ke knew that even if he stayed here, the space would eventually disappear. He waved to the other three and offered them his final words of encouragement.

"Do your best to stay alive, everyone!"

With that, Naruto Li Ke left the space of his own accord.

The next moment, Li Ke opened his eyes again. His increased strength had cleared his mind and body, giving him a little more time to struggle.

But the agony in his heart and the pain where his arm had been severed made his body tremble. He could barely move.

Fortunately, his Type-Moon self's talent didn't require any casting ritual. It was more like an instinct.

"Ancestors of Konoha, I'm about to die trying to save Konoha. Please help me!"

Following the memories from the Type-Moon World, Li Ke activated Heroic Spirit Possession. But the instant he did, his already shattered heart gave a thump. Something felt wrong!

When his Type-Moon counterpart had used the ability, it had felt as if countless tentacles were spreading out from his body. But for him, it felt cold and liberating, and his consciousness was growing hazy.

His chakra was being drained!

And vaguely, he thought he saw a pair of purple eyes.

Is this skill going to kill me in this world?!

Li Ke was horrified.

But the next moment, a cold voice rang out.

"Impure World Reincarnation? No, this doesn't feel like it..."

As the voice sounded, a chill entered Li Ke's heart, making him curl up in agony.

As this happened, something like ashes appeared where his right arm had been severed. They quickly formed a somewhat crooked arm on his body. His right eye, which had long since been gouged out, regained its sight as well.

The feeling of his mind being drained vanished in an instant, replaced by a powerful sense of fullness. His body still felt cold inside, but with the sight in his right eye restored, the pain was gone.

Hearing the footsteps of the ninjas hurrying back after the explosion, and feeling that he had only a tiny bit of chakra left, Li Ke fell silent.

He'd come back to life, but he was almost out of chakra. The way things stood, he was still going to die against the remaining enemies!

Just then, the voice that had entered his body spoke again.

"You're a Konoha ninja? This should be the rear of Mount Kikyo Castle, shouldn't it? What's the Hokage doing right now?!"

There was a hint of anger in the voice. Only then did Li Ke remember that he hadn't blocked the connection to the other person's senses and thoughts. The other person could see everything he saw!

But he wasn't foolish enough to block this lifeline now. Instead, he spoke quickly.

"The defenses at Mount Kikyo Castle have been breached, so our squad was attacked by Earth Hidden Ninjas... I don't know which Konoha senior you are, but if you have any abilities, please use them. Otherwise, you won't find out what's going on either!"

Li Ke's words worked immediately, and he gave the other person control of his right hand.

The senior from Konoha was clearly decisive, too. The next moment, he spoke.

"Kid! You don't have enough chakra. Give me control of your body for now!"

Li Ke had no choice. He quickly handed over control, and the next moment, he watched his own hand form a seal as his mouth made a spitting motion.

He wondered why the senior wasn't forming Hand Seals properly. Then a thin line of water shot from his mouth, instantly slicing through the bodies of several Iwa Chunin rushing back.

Li Ke recognized the ninjutsu at once!

Water Release: Water Severing Wave!