Simulation

As soon as Shimizu returned home, he heard a mechanical female voice by his ear. At the same time, a stream of information appeared in his mind.

It introduced the Simulator in detail, along with its basic functions.

Shimizu could run one simulation every ten days.

Each simulation would begin at the instant he started it and project events into the future.

After each simulation, three choices would appear at random, and he could freely select one of the items from within the Simulator.

The items inside the Simulator weren't fixed. Anything he had come into contact with during a simulation could appear among the three choices for him to select.

In other words, Shimizu could even draw a bloodline!

Bloodlines were the most important thing in the Ninja World. If he drew Hashirama's Sage Body, it would be like getting an Eternal Mangekyo for free!

He wouldn't need to transplant a blood relative's eyes to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo.

It was even more orthodox than awakening the Eternal Mangekyo through a transplant. Indra, the Uchiha ancestor, hadn't needed a transplant because his bloodline was close to that of the Otsutsuki.

It was only because the bloodline of later generations of Uchiha had grown weaker over time that they needed this method to overcome the side effects of the ordinary Mangekyo and obtain the Eternal Mangekyo.

Shimizu was quite pleased with this point. He had a germ phobia, and using something that wasn't his never felt right.

Each simulation unfolded as text on a translucent screen. Later on, he would be able to experience the simulations firsthand.

Even if he died during a firsthand simulation, there would be no consequences. He would simply return to the moment when the starting point had been established.

That was basically the ability to reload endlessly. No matter how formidable his enemy was, Shimizu would be able to learn everything about them.

But all of that was a long way off. Those functions wouldn't unlock until his strength improved.

The remaining information concerned the maximum length of time a simulation could project.

The stronger he became, the further into the future he could simulate.

The time limit would also increase gradually with the number of times he used the Simulator.

At Genin level, the longest period Shimizu could currently simulate was three years.

Shimizu thought it over for a moment. That was more than enough.

It was now October of Konoha Year 43. Three years from now would be Konoha Year 46.

Year 46 was on the eve of the Third Shinobi World War. The war would break out in Year 47, giving him a chance to see its early signs—and whether his appearance might cause a butterfly effect that changed the course of the war.

[Current number of uses: 1. Begin Perfect Life Simulation?]

The Simulator prompted him again.

Shimizu stroked his chin as he looked at the translucent text. In the end, he decided to try a simulation first. After all, he could use it once every ten days, which meant he could run it several times a month. That was more than enough.

"Begin."

[Ding! Perfect Life Simulation in progress...]

[Day 1: You feel that your current rate of growth is too slow and that you have no hope of controlling your own fate within just a few short years. You decide to defect from Konoha and establish a branch of the Uchiha clan in Kumogakure.]

[Day 2: You pack your belongings and leave the Hidden Leaf Village. You hesitate over your Forehead Protector, then choose to slash it horizontally.]

[Day 3: You travel through the forest...]

...

[Day 26: You run into members of the Uchiha clan and quickly pretend to be an ordinary civilian before slipping away.]

...

[Day 92: You encounter the Konoha pursuit team sent to capture you. They badly injure you, but fortunately, you escape.]

...

[Day 98: You arrive in Kumogakure. After explaining your situation, you're given temporary lodgings and placed under surveillance.]

[Day 99: Your background passes the investigation. Early in the morning, the Raikage gives you a warm welcome and immediately assigns you three wives, even though you're...]

...

[Day 362: You have many children. Kumogakure's medical ninja feed you a kind of secret medicine, extract your cells, and use them to create children artificially.

You're happy to have successfully started a family, but your abilities come under suspicion because you've never awakened the Sharingan. You feel utterly miserable because nothing can trigger your eye's awakening; you don't have anyone important to you.]

[Day 363: Your attempt to escape fails. The extreme Militant Faction in Kumogakure, without the Raikage's knowledge, demands that you take a secret medicine said to stimulate the awakening of the Sharingan. You know that if you can't awaken it, Kumogakure will consider you useless. Your attempts to find the Raikage fail, and you can't fight city hall, so you have no choice but to take the medicine.]

[Day 364: You successfully awaken the Sharingan, but your heart fails from the effects of the secret medicine, and you die.]

[Simulation ended. Calculating results...]

[Choose one reward: One-Tomoe Sharingan, Hidden Cloud Secret Medicine, ordinary Kunai]

Shimizu stared at the death he had suffered in the simulation, speechless for a long while.

He also looked at the line saying he had many children and felt at a loss for words.

Some people in Kumogakure really did have the genes of bandits. They'd exploited him this way to rapidly multiply their bloodline.

He guessed that even if he hadn't died of heart failure, he wouldn't have escaped the side effects of having his cells forcibly extracted. His body was far too young to withstand that kind of abuse.

If he remembered correctly, the Third Shinobi World War had been instigated by the Militant Factions in various countries, and Kumogakure had no shortage of them.

That meant the Third Shinobi World War hadn't erupted out of nowhere. It was the result of long-laid plans, with various forces already stirring.

Shimizu had gone there at exactly the wrong time. If he'd gone after the war, he probably would have received much better treatment. They wouldn't have been so extreme.

The Militant Faction wanted to build up its military strength, so it had resorted to inhumane methods. In the simulation, Shimizu had been one of its victims.

"Will the outcome of what happens to me in the Simulator change depending on which items I obtain?"

Shimizu tried communicating with the Simulator, but it was like an inanimate object. Aside from the information it had just sent into his mind, it showed no signs of functioning on its own.

Seeing that he couldn't communicate with it, Shimizu gave up on asking more questions.

He could run another simulation in ten days anyway. After using it more times, he would be able to work out how it really worked.

"Here's what I can figure out so far: the version of me in the Simulator doesn't know that he's in a simulation."

Shimizu looked at how he had decided to run away on the second day and felt speechless.

He'd awakened the Sharingan on his very first simulation. His future had looked bright. Why would he choose to run away?

Only the version of him inside the Simulator would do something like that.

And even after successfully escaping, he still died a year later.

Next, Shimizu chose the first reward without much hesitation.

What use would an ordinary Kunai be? The Uchiha had plenty of them.

The Hidden Cloud Secret Medicine was no use either, unless he wanted to kill himself.

The Simulator seemed to offer three choices, but there was really only one.

"I choose the One-Tomoe Sharingan."

[One-Tomoe Sharingan awarded...]

As the mechanical female voice sounded, Shimizu felt warmth gathering in his eyes.

When he closed them and opened them again, the world was clearer than ever before.

His dark pupils turned crimson, and a Tomoe emerged in each eye, slowly revolving around the pupil.

Shimizu opened the door and walked into the courtyard.

The sky was growing dim. The sun had set in the distance, and night had fallen.

There were lots of mosquitoes at night, buzzing around over the grass.

When Shimizu looked at them, it felt as though the mosquitoes had been slowed down. Their wings beat more slowly with each flap.

Smack.

A mosquito was pinned to the dirt by a shuriken. Its sharp tip had struck right through the mosquito's abdomen, splitting it in half.

Shimizu lowered the hand he'd used to throw the shuriken, a faint smile curling his lips.

"So this is the power of the Sharingan."

He could feel a new power dwelling in his eyes. It was known as visual prowess.

Besides that, his eyes were continuously sending chakra throughout his body.

He could now perform movements that had once been difficult at a much faster, more agile pace.

His chakra reserves also seemed to have broken through some kind of bottleneck and were slowly increasing.

Before awakening the Sharingan, Shimizu had been nothing more than an ordinary Genin.

Now, with just one Tomoe, he was already moving toward the ranks of the stronger Genin. Even Chunin no longer seemed out of reach.

At that moment, his limits and potential had been broken.

If every item he obtained from a simulation went as smoothly as this one, he would grow at a terrifying pace!