Something I'm at least grateful for is that the Penguin Emperor made himself scarce after the fight. When Orochimaru died, Manda's link to the Elemental Nations went with him, and he disappeared. Since the Emperor really only wanted to fight the snake, he went back to the arctic; I didn't want to have to explain my summons to the Hokage.

When we came back, the official story was that I got kidnapped and the Hokage saved me. Insulting? Sure. But it meant that I could still compete in the Chunin exams, which I really wanted to do. In the meantime, the Hokage had me train the other Chunin in everything I knew how to do.

Training with the teams been going well. I say teams because Hiruzen has decided that it'd be best if I was kept busy as much as possible so I've been training with everyone and Kakashi was there to make sure it wasn't a clone.

I mean, Hisako and Nichiren didn't really need much; they weren't perfect but they popped one of my clones which honestly, to me, meant they were close enough. If I had to guess, they were near Jounin – probably they are Jounin.

But the rest of them? Definitely around mid-tier Chunin. And they hated me, I could tell. They didn't like it when I trashed them in the Academy, they don't like it when I'm trashing them now. They aren't friends so Nakama doesn't apply to them and the low charisma is preventing them from taking it in stride or having good spirits about it.

Very sad but hopefully it'll be helpful to them regardless. If they die because they had a lack of skill at some point down the line, that would be awful.

With that in mind, I'm starting to wonder what it would take for the world to not be a complete deathtrap for anyone that's not a triple S-class threat to everyone around them. I mean, the worlds had..what, three separate world wars? All about twenty years apart? My old world only had two world wars and last I checked, the third one hadn't happened after fifty years because no one wanted to see the end of the world. As opposed to here, where everyone was content to toss around city busters if it meant the other guy died and since most battles didn't take place in either side's home village, they really didn't care about collateral damage.

It's like the traditional scenario with super heroes wrecking the city every time they fight a villain, except neither side cares about collateral..so does that mean that both sides would be the villain in this case?

Intelligence Check Success: 10/6.

You know, I'm going to go ahead and just stop thinking about it. My friends aren't bad people. They really, really aren't. Nope. Hisako's a good person, Nichiren's a good person, Naruto's especially a good person. Ino, Sakura.. Heck, even Sasuke's a good guy, shockingly. A little dour, sure, but he's a good guy. Right? Right!

On to other matters.

The third phase of the Chunin exams is a tournament and if my exceptional luck is any indication, I'm going to be fighting Gaara. In the middle of the desert. I don't exactly know how, I don't know why, but I am. Which means I'm going to need a plan.

Best course of action would be to place a three-part seal onto the ground. As Gaara's chakra washes over the seal, the first part absorbs the chakra and prevents him from moving any of the sand beneath it. The second part transfers the chakra to the third part, which will cause the seal to grow in size. With any luck, the seal will end up covering half of the land of Suna before the match is done.

Second is that I need a method to destroy the sand that Gaara already has in play. I could use Dust Release to vaporize it, but I understand there's some people from Earth that would be really, really quick to report to the Tsuchikage that I had used it and that thought just doesn't appeal to me.

I might be the student of Copy-Wheel Kakashi, but I am not a copy-cat. I make up my own nonsense and keep what I like. Things that I like include thunderbolts, revolvers, hitting things so hard they explode, locomotion of all kinds and being invincible. But as far as this particular fight, only the last one is going to be practical.

Plasma release, actually, should be just what I need. It'll vaporize most of the sand and what it doesn't vaporize will be like molten piles of charcoal on green fire. The trick is going to be deploying the jutsu rapidly enough to respond to attacks coming from all sides, which would be a lot easier if I didn't have to use hand seals. Unfortunately, the perk for that, Sealless Jutsu, requires that I be level 40 which is 15 levels away.

Something that I don't think should be that hard to get, but I've got a hang-up about getting levels too fast – the game is already too easy and if it loses all of it's difficulty before canon even hits (which is completely derailed since I killed Orochimaru), I'd be sorely depressed. That is in addition to Almost Perfect starting to honestly scare me a little, but that's neither here nor there.

Intelligence Check Success: 10/9.

I think I can make something work with the Rasengan. I mean, I've been able to use it for five levels now, but I haven't really. I should fix that. With some modifications and some tweaks, I think I can use it as a..launcher for other attacks. I mean, throwing it would be really easy, but using it to throw other things, like waves of plasma, would be trickier. But doable.

Do I need anything else?

Well, if Gaara proves to be a disappointing fight, should I knock him out and wake up Shukaku?

Obviously, if everyone were aware of what I was considering, they would all obviously say no. But I'm tempted. I need to show everyone, with no doubt or hang-ups, that I meant what I said after beheading the snake. I don't need the village. I'd like to keep my friends, obviously, but I don't think the number of friends that I have is as big as I previously thought. Obviously, all of Suna would immediately panic that it got loose, but that's whatever.

If I decide to wake him up, what do I do?

Well, I match giant monster with giant monster. What kind of giant monster?

I'm not much of a fan of Godzilla. At least, not of being him. Trying to assume his form would be some kind of identity theft and I don't want it. So, if I don't want to be the King of All Monsters, who do I want to be? What is a giant monster that I am still a huge fan of after all these years?

Super Mutant Behemoth?

..little to on the nose.

Well, as long as I'm using plasma, I could try to be an Infernal. From Warcraft? Giant golem, made up of black stone and held together by green fire. And I'm already using plasma, so..why not? Why not become a giant, black golem with green flames in the face of a giant sand monster?

I can't think of a reason no too, so let's go ahead and make that that jutsu, shall we?

Well, when I get a chance. I'm being watched a lot closer, which means that I can only zip off to the vault come night-time and they're only watching the outside of the room instead of me inside; I've seen them watching, I know what they're doing. The Hokage must be paranoid that I'm going to sneak off.

Hisako hasn't so much as looked me in the eye since I killed Orochimaru. Given that her parents are ANBU members, I'm pretty sure she takes loyalty to the village very, very seriously and I was honestly considering treason.

Well, not treason. Desertion. Which is about the same thing without leave from the Kage.

"Daisuke, we need to talk," Hisako said, sitting across from me at the table. I was tuning the guitar for another song I was trying to learn – Center of the Universe by Kamelot. I love me some power metal but that was apparently going to sit on the side for a minute. "Now."

"Just say your piece," I replied, setting the guitar on the table.

"Are you going to listen?" Hisako asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I always listen," I replied, interlocking my fingers together. "The problem is when I disagree with what they're saying."

"Disagree?" Hisako had this incredulous look on her face. "Disagree? You're talking about direct orders. From the Hokage. You don't get to disagree. You don't get to go against orders. That's treason."

Intelligence Check Success: 10/6.

"No, treason is taking a direct act against the body of Konoha," I replied with a raised eyebrow. "I eliminated a traitor to Konoha and was never ordered to not go after him in the first place, so there."

Hisako hid her head in her hands with a frustrated groan. "Did you forget why you were pulled off of missions after the sewer incident?"

"You mean after I saved every clan heir in Konoha?" I asked with a frown. "I got pulled because it looked like I was in over my head. And I was. But that wasn't the first time and I went from struggling to fight a giant monster to dealing with Orochimaru like a pest. It's not the same thing."

"Right, because after that you said you were going to leave Konoha," Hisako said, starting to tear up again. She blinked the tears away. "Leave! You threatened to leave..why? Because everyone's trying to protect you?"

"I don't need their protection," I growled, shifting a glare at her. "What I need is to be left alone."

"No, what you need is to stop trying to leave us behind," Hisako snarled back. "Are you so desperate to get away from us that you'd leave the village?"

"I don't even know what I want anymore," I said with a dismissive shrug. I don't want to disappoint my friends. I want to be able to roam the elemental countries freely. I want a happy ending to the world where everyone stops fighting. I want to get to level 30. I want to get to level 50. I don't want my whole world turned upside down by horrific revelations. I want to understand the world and my place in it. I don't want to have the power to wrap anyone I meet around my finger and make them want to do anything for me. It feels like everything I want is mutually exclusive and no path leads to real happiness. "Not really."

"Can't you just want to be a good shinobi?" Hisako asked with a tint of sadness.

"If being a good shinobi means bending over backwards for every impossible demand that gets thrown my way, then no," I replied, folding my arms. "No, I don't."

"Just exercise common sense," Hisako sniffed and glared. "And follow orders. It's not har-"

"GIVE ME A BREAK!" I shouted, my fists coming down on the guitar I had set down on the table, breaking into a thousand pieces before I stood up. Hisako recoiled, her hand going for the kunai holster and suddenly, I was surrounded by Jounin with weapons drawn. Wow. Really?

"Daisuke-kun," Kakashi began levelly, his voice slightly shaky. "Calm down. This doesn't have to get out of hand. Hisako is just trying to help you. That's all."

..really?

Really?

Really?

Trying to please my friends just isn't working. It..fine. Screw all my doubts and worries, I'm heading to the vault and I am not coming out until I'm level 30 and I can make them see sense. "Fine. I'm off. You won't see me again until my issues are fixed. Don't die while I'm gone."

Hisako looked alarmed. "Daisuke-"

I was gone.

The transition from the desert to my Vault wasn't jarring any more. But this one felt..final. For good reason, but it was a little scary. I'm not even sure I'd want to see them again after this. Heck, maybe all I need is to chill out.

But I said it.

I'm not leaving this vault until everything is fixed. I may have lied, a lot, in the past. That's a problem. But I want to fix it. I want my word to start being my bond, especially with something huge like this. So..time to invent jutsu, put together all the Elemental combinations, think up every jutsu I possibly can, every Ninjutsu, every Genjutsu, until I get to level 30. No matter how much the prospect of actually reaching my goal scares me.

Time to stop being a coward and hiding behind my dump stat.

Level 26 was fairly straight forward. Get Wind release, 23 points into speech, bringing it up to 63. Level 27 was another 23 points into speech, bringing it up to 86. Level 28 brought me the Chakra Sense perk which not only let me sense chakra signatures automatically, rendering my sonar jutsu useless, it let me see chakra. Like a discount Byakugan. I couldn't see in 359 degrees around me like Neji could, but the chakra sense was stupidly useful on its own. Level 29 saw 4 points being put into Speech, bringing it up to 90. The remaining 19 points went into Melee Weapons, bringing it up to 79.

Some of the combinations turned out to be pretty fun.

Dust release was literally disintegration beams from the future which made me giggle.

Shade release, which was Water, Wind and Earth, was everything I ever needed in chakra manipulation – making me remove my Chakra Defense Network and reapply it with the Shade chakra to make it totally effective against Ninjutsu instead of only partially.

Fire, Lightning and Water made Shine release which was freaking forcefields and holograms – the obvious advantage was being able to make a clone from way off in the distance instead of right around you. Forcefields were also fun..it was literally a green lantern ring.

Quad combinations included Solid release. Earth, water, wind and fire. Yeah, solid. At first, I was wondering what kind of name it was, but it's just what it said it was – solids. The ability to make permanent solids, unlike Shine Release's force fields. Metals, toxic compounds, you name it.

Space Release was Lightning, earth, wind and water, was FTG but without the seals. It was trapping someone in a never-ending corridor as it warped around them to keep them in place. It was applying FTG to them and teleporting them to a mountain top in the land of lightning while all their comrades were fighting in Earth.

Time Release was exactly what it sounded like. Move time forward, backward, freeze it, reduce it to a dripping ball of timey whimey stuff. De-age someone to the point they were never born. Age them so far ahead they're corpse is reduced to dust. With this plus space release, I could go back to my world, rewind time back to my auto accident and make it so it never happened. Or just depose of my corpse and reassume my life. That thought..honestly excited me. Enough to bring me to tears.

The thought that I might actually be able to go home was now a real possibility. But, I mean..I like it here. Kind of.

It's all I've known for twelve years now. Going on thirteen. What would Naruto do without me? Nichiren, the Ichiraku's, Ino? I don't want to leave them behind. But, since I've started this final sprint to the home stretch, one of my biggest fears has come true.

All challenges have completely evaporated. Especially with the five-element combination; Creation Release. I could go Old Testament on my enemies now, and since Chakra gets denser (or rather; more powerful) more natures you master, I don't even think the tailed beasts could stand up to me now. Certainly not those zombie-things. Heck, if I wanted to go all the way, I'd lock my soul into a phylactery and use the Zombie Jutsu to reanimate me, turning myself into a Lich. Actually, come to think of it, I could do one better – I could get all the benefits without needing to be dead by using Creation release to ascend to immortality.

I mean, I'm not going too because I'm desperately hoping that someone, somewhere, can still put up a fight, keep a check and balance on my behavior because while absolute power does not corrupt, it does remove all barriers to corruption expressing itself and I'd be delusional if I said I was perfect. I mean..I'm trying. I just fail a lot.

Now that I've finished cataloguing my new releases, I was sitting here at a crossroads.

I only needed fifty more exp points to reach level 30.

Just one more jutsu is all it would take. I could put it off for a level, but then I'd come to the choice at level 32. Then again at level 34. And so on until I hit level 50 and then..I'd never have another chance. My perks would be my perks. I could just not take it..tell them I'm not fixing it and they'd have to deal.

But they won't.

Charisma Check Success: 4/4.

They won't because I scare them. Well, most of them. The Hokage definitely. I scare Hisako a little bit too..mostly she just hurt. Hurt because I'm not who she thought I was and hurt because I don't treasure the Will of Fire at all.

Oh, what twenty-nine levels of scaling will do for a dump stat. Amazing.

But the point of this power hike was to get Almost Perfect. To get the perk, to fix the issue..or just flip it around so I've got the opposite problem. That's a legitimate concern, right? Right. I could wind up a total pacifist because I end up seeing something to love about everyone and then I won't do missions at all. Ever.

Stop it, Daisuke!

Just stop!

Stop worrying!

Just!

Take!

The!

Plunge!

Ninjutsu Check Success: 100/30.

+150 exp.

The room was filled with blinding light.

Bum-bum-bum-Bum!

Level up!

Level 30.

There it was.

Right at the top.

Almost Perfect.

Increase all of my base stats to 9. With all the bonuses I've got, that'll be a 10.

Just take it.

..just take it.

COME ON JUST TAKE IT!

IT'S RIGHT THERE!

I took it.

11 points into Melee Weapons, bringing it to 90. 12 points into Barter, bringing it to 22.

My thoughts lingered over the accept button.

Just take a deep breath.

Everything is going to change.

Accept.

A vicious, rapid tingling swept its way through my body like I had just been hooked up to a nuclear power plant. With an audible squelch my muscles grew and compacted themselves around my indestructible skeleton, my eyes felt like they were spinning in my sockets, my skin felt like it was redrawing itself along my muscle fibers..but none of this was unpleasant. There was no pain, just..discomfort.

Eventually..finally..it died down. I stood up straight and opened my eyes.

..everything is so clear..