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"Akiko, are you alright?"
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After leaving the Hokage Tower, Kai asked Akiko with concern.
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Akiko shook her head at Kai, then looked at Minato.
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"Thank you, Minato. If it weren''t for you, I would have been captured." Akiko looked at Minato gratefully, her cheeks flushed.
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"Don''t mention it. We''re teammates." Minato smiled back.
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Kai scowled. He had helped rescue Akiko too. Why was she only thanking Minato?
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Shin, Kushina, and Mikoto walked behind them. Shin couldn''t help but chuckle.
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Kai, hearing Shin''s chuckle, turned around angrily.
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"What are you looking at? Want to fight?" Kushina threatened, raising her fist.
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Her threat wasn''t very convincing, but Kai was intimidated nonetheless.
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Kushina had taught him a lesson before; he didn''t want a repeat, especially not in front of the girl he liked.
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Shin and his team parted ways with Minato''s team. Shin sensed the two Anbu agents following Minato and the others.
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Good. No one was following him. He didn''t want to be monitored.
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Back at the Senju compound, Shin and the girls returned to Tsunade''s courtyard, while Nawaki went to his own residence.
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"It''s late. Let''s take a bath and get some rest," Shin said.
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He went to his room, while Kushina and Mikoto went to theirs.
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Shin lay on the tatami mat, but he couldn''t sleep.
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''I''ll chat with the System and ask some questions.''
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He called out to the System in his mind.
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"System, are you there?"
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"Always at your service, Master."
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"System, how are missions assigned?" Shin asked.
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When he infiltrated Kirigakure and stole the Forbidden Scroll, he had expected the System to issue a mission, but nothing happened.
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"System missions are random. The difficulty and rewards are also random."
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Shin was disappointed. He preferred patterns to randomness.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
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"System, can Replication Cards copy anything?"
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"Only Divine Replication Cards can copy anything. Common and Advanced cards have limitations."
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"Can you copy a person?"
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"Yes. The required card level depends on the person''s strength. Kage-level or above requires a Divine Replication Card. With a Divine card, even a world can be copied. All things can be copied."
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Shin was surprised. The difference between Advanced and Divine cards was vast.
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"What level of card would I need to copy myself?" Shin asked curiously.
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"Due to your perfect Sage Body, you would require a Divine Replication Card."
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Shin nodded. He was just curious; he wouldn''t actually copy himself. Everyone wanted to be unique.
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"System, I think there should be more card levels."
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He felt the gap between Advanced and Divine cards was too large.
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"You can anticipate a System upgrade, Master. After the upgrade, there might be new card levels between Advanced and Divine."
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"So the System can be upgraded? When will that happen?"
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"I do not know, Master."
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Shin sighed. The System was powerful, but it lacked Replication Cards.
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He currently had two cards left: one Common and one Advanced.
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He couldn''t use the Advanced card carelessly. He planned to use the Common card to copy either ocular power or physical abilities.
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As he chatted with the System, he drifted off to sleep.
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The next morning, after refining Chakra for a while, he heard a knock on his door.
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"Shin, why are you so lazy today?"
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Kushina entered, and Shin stopped his Chakra refining.
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Unlike martial arts training, Chakra refining couldn''t be disrupted.
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"Kushina, why did you barge in like that? What if I wasn''t dressed?" Shin said, exasperated.
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"So what? I''ve seen it all before." Kushina blushed slightly, then shrugged.
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She had indeed seen everything when they were younger. But that was then. Now, even though they weren''t that old, they were practically adults by Shinobi standards.
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"I haven''t been to your room in a while."
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Kushina pounced on Shin, tackling him to the tatami mat.
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Knock knock
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"What are you two doing?"
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Mikoto stood at the door, knocking gently.
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Kushina jumped up, flustered, as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
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Then she realized she hadn''t done anything wrong.
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"If you don''t come out for breakfast soon, it''ll get cold," Mikoto said calmly.
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Shin didn''t sense anything unusual in her tone, but Kushina felt a hint of danger.
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They went out for breakfast. Afterwards, Shin went to the small training ground in the courtyard.
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He continued to experiment with Ice Release. It had so much potential, as did every element, as long as the user could realize it.
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Developing Jutsu wasn''t easy. Only geniuses could do it, and the process was tedious.
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But Shin could handle the tedium. Taijutsu training was even more monotonous and tiring, yet he had persevered for years.
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Kushina and Mikoto were also training diligently. They wanted to be able to help Shin.
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During the Kirigakure incident, they had been helpless, forced to wait anxiously for Shin''s return. They would rather face danger with him than worry about him.
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They were currently sparring.
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"Mikoto, you''re attacking so fiercely!" Kushina dodged a sudden Fireball Jutsu and pouted.
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"You''re not holding back either. I won''t go easy on you."
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"I''m always serious in a fight."
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Mikoto smiled. She recalled the scene she had witnessed that morning, of Kushina pouncing on Shin, and her attacks intensified.
------
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