It agonized him to give up on the trench coat. Regarding the basics of character design, it was one of the best ways to add fir to someone. John Constantine, Harry Copperfield Dresden, Castiel, Rick Deckard…a man with the right coat just exuded aura in a way that was hard to quantify. The fact that it had magical powers felt like it was secondary to that fact.

  But at the end of the day, even its natural abilities were something that could be accomplished by sealing. Just about everyone could learn how to make a storage seal, if they really wanted to. Failing that, they could also be bought by the requisite suppliers, on the off chance a shinobi was too zy or disinclined to learn.

  With a heavy heart, Tobio turned his gnce toward the other perks in the list.

  Cradle was a setting he was peripherally familiar with, just off the rip. Not so much the specifics of what happened in the world, but just that it was a western take on cultivation. Which already meant that the power levels were going to be retively insane, compared to anything else on the market. He just didn't know enough about madra, or the creature in particur, to make an educated guess on what it might do for him.

  Hell, if it relied on a magical source of energy or systems that weren't even present here, it might be harmful to the creature in question. Turning away from the Sylvan Riverseed, Tobio turned his attention to the st perk on the list.

  On the surface, it wasn't all that fshy. Yet even so, that didn't mean it wasn't useful. Someone could argue that it was the most useful out of the bunch, given the fact that it provided a low-level danger sense. He wouldn't know what a given danger was, sure, but the ability to be aware that he was potentially at risk of walking into an ambush, or a trap, would be invaluable.

  Even with how strong he was, that in literally in comparison to Genin. A sufficiently motivated Chūnin could likely take him out, if they put any amount of effort toward the task. For his side of things, it was the biggest reason why he felt like he had to take this option. It'd be just too stupid not to.

  With his choice made, he confirmed, and the white text vanished. In it's pce was…nothing. Oh sure, there was the feeling of that void inside of him expanding ever so slightly, but in terms of actual sensory information…?

  Nada.

  Though when the realization hit him, Tobio could only close his eyes and sp his forehead at his stupidity. I've Got A Bad Feeling About This worked just fine, he was willing to bet. The problem was that he wasn't in any danger for the effect to actually kick in.

  At the very least, it meant that his apartment was safe. Until someone decided to bug it, booby trap it, or something else. Stressing about his safety to that point was just needless catastrophizing, though.

  With the excitement of the day behind him and a mounting hunger, Tobio worked on getting some dinner started. Rice, grilled fish, and some cheap broccoli made it a retively meager affair, but it was filling enough after the exertion of the day.

  There was the brief sounding of the vilge-wide arm, briefly causing a spike of panic to run through him…until he remembered what the cause was. Just Naruto being an idiot, and getting his graduation the old-fashioned way.

  The next two days passed by briskly enough, with scarcely all that much time to get anything done. So in the end, he mostly just lounged around his apartment, and satisfied that deep-seated, instinctual feeling of ziness that made the entire experience all the more rewarding. It wasn't until the 22nd that the actual graduation ceremony was set to take pce, and the students had that time off to begin with, so he wasn't going to waste the opportunity to be an exceptional bum when it was mandated by the academy.

  If there was anything productive to be done, he swore to put it off until the future. For now, he'd earned this reprieve after the two weeks of training he'd done to get there.

  That being said, when the morning of the 22nd rolled around, he was out the door bright eyed and bushy-tailed. He wasn't the only one, either, as the graduating students of the year filed in, handed their hitai-ate, and almost immediately tied them onto their bodies. Contrary to what most people thought, forehead protectors could technically go elsewhere as per the regutions, but most shinobi just tended to put them on their foreheads out of tradition.

  Tobio didn't do anything different in that regard, tying it firmly across his forehead and calling it a day. Maybe he'd have a different opinion if circumstances called for him to start taking up wearing armor, or something like that, but for now he was happy with the pcement. Instead, he gnced around at the room, seeing well over twenty graduates, but mostly the important people he recognized from canon.

  Shino, Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke, Hinata, the works. It was a little strange even now, to transte them from the ft medium of animation to the real world. Across the board, their appearances held in a more realistic medium, though in the case of Naruto…

  Well, that eye-searing shade of orange left something to be desired. That, and his loudmouth attitude, though he was also twelve, so to a degree that could be broadly forgiven. The blonde, incorrigible knucklehead having barged into the cssroom, proudly bearing his own forehead protector, speaking of his own special graduation…

  Though, most people just assumed he was bragging and lying out of his ass for whatever reason.

  "What's your deal, teme? What's with that look on your face all the time?!" Also, being literally right behind the loudmouth, while he beefed with Sasuke, left something to be desired.

  "My problem is that I'm looking at you, dead st," Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes zily. "Who'd you even bribe to pass the exam?"

  "I passed fair and square, duck-butt! Believe it!"

  This was growing a little more tiresome than Tobio would have thought possible. Then again…he could theoretically shut the two of them up, if he was willing to live up to his mob character destiny.

  Personally, Tobio was of two minds at the time.

  So far, he'd been very careful not to rock the boat so far. There would definitely things he'd like to try and alter in the future, because the canon timeline had a few close calls for his liking. But ultimately, that meant he was more or less focusing on the doing what was expected of him…besides beating Sasuke at the spars.

  This wasn't even something that was fundamental to the retionship of Sasuke and Naruto. It was just a goofy, shonen humor situation that happened to the two boys along the way. Yet even so, the notion of just pying the role that was expected of him rubbed Tobio the wrong way. If he was going to be stuck here in this world, pying second fiddle to the way things were meant to be was going to get old, quick.

  He'd see the timeline bend or break one way or another before he did.

  Whatever it was, that strange void inside of him, swelled with the potency of something shifting. Much to his surprise, new quests popped up, hovering briefly before his very eyes.

  [NEW QUEST: CHANGE THE TIMELINE IN A MINOR WAY.]

  [REWARD: 1x MINOR ARTIFICE PERK ROLL.]

  [NEW QUEST: CHANGE THE TIMELINE IN A MAJOR WAY.]

  [REWARD: 1x MODERATE ARTIFICE PERK ROLL.]

  [NEW QUEST: CHANGE THE TIMELINE IN A SETTING-ALTERING WAY.]

  [REWARD: 1x MAJOR ARTIFICE PERK ROLL.]?

  Was this…some kind of recognition of his resolve? He didn't think that it was all that impressive to say in the moment, but apparently, the force that was behind tossing him all these quests figured it was time for Tobio to put his money where his mouth was. The prospect would have been terrifying if it didn't come with eyewatering amounts of magical power.

  "Why do you have such a stick in your ass, teme?" Naruto barked, still gring daggers into Sasuke's eyes.

  Scoffing, the Uchiha closed his own eyes, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Nothing you could ever understand, Uzumaki."

  The growl that came from Naruto was one of deep, long-held annoyance as he huffed, jumping off of the table in a surprisingly dexterous roll. "It's an attitude like that! It just pisses me off…"

  If he was being honest, Tobio was pretty sure that Naruto's tune would have changed if he understood precisely how good of friends they would have ended up being.

  It was still good to have new quests, as Iruka came in and walked to the front of the cssroom. He had the look of a proud teacher on his face, if a little strained when he saw Naruto's antics with Sasuke, as he cleared his throat and drummed his knuckles against his desk.

  "Alright, settle down everyone!" The man spoke, everyone more or less settling back down into their seats at that. Sasuke's flood of fangirls dispersed, Naruto practically squatted in his seat in the next row over, and all of the students fixed him with a rapt expression of attention.

  Once he was confident that everyone had settled down, Iruka nodded, the scarred man sighing softly. "First and foremost, I should say that it's been a privilege to teach you all over the st few years. Seeing the types of shinobi you've grown up into, and will continue to develop into, has been one of my greatest joys as a teacher."

  "Provided you heed the lessons learned in these walls, I'm sure you'll go far in your careers."

  While Iruka wasn't entirely faultless for how he treated Naruto at times, it was clear as day that the man enjoyed being a teacher. And, unlike some other notable exceptions, he wasn't bad at it. Some people could argue that the kids weren't all that prepared for the grim realities of shinobi life. Tobio didn't necessarily disagree.

  That being said, given the sheer density of Cn heirs in the css, he was more prepared to bme their parents than their academy teachers. He couldn't imagine being the head of a big Konohagakure Cn, and not using every resource to ensure that his heirs were totally prepared for the life and death struggles that awaited them. Not doing so just felt…wrong to him.

  Then again, he could be surprised by the fights and struggles to come. It was one thing to know about the world through manga and television shows, but it was different to live in it. The general competence of people across the board could be much higher than in the media he'd consumed back on Earth.

  "Starting with team four, we'll have Midoriya Unagi with…"

  And so on he went, listing out the given compositions of the teams in each year. They tended to be pretty banced, and none of the rosters were entirely unfamiliar from their canon counterparts. Team Seven was all deeply surprised by the fact that they were all pced together, Ino bemoaned not getting put with Sasuke, it was all well within the parameters he'd been expecting.

  "Nakamura Tobio, Mishima Hibachi, and Kato Ami. You're going to be under Kanden Tekuno, as of this moment."

  …Did he even recognize most of those names? Not particurly, beyond Tobio's own faint memories of his cssmates. His eyes drifted over to the first of them, to a boy with messy brown hair, shoved underneath a light beanie. Stone-colored eyes stared back at him, with Hibachi wearing a yellow-ish beige t-shirt overtop an orange, long-sleeved shirt. Finishing off with a set of grey cargo pants, he had a pair of those near-ubiquitous sandals common across Konoha's shinobi popution.

  Meanwhile, the other girl was just as hard for him to pce. He thought she might have been in some filler content, bullying Sakura, but that scarcely narrowed anything down all that much.

  A head of purple hair, styled with one side much longer than the other, and the rest of her outfit was…

  Normally, Tobio would call it a little impractical, yet he'd seen Kurenai's monstrosity of an outfit. Compared to some of the things that female shinobi could get away with wearing, it was surprisingly reserved. Perhaps a little light on the armoring, though that was something they could fix in the future if they managed to gel as a team.

  The alternative was being pced into the General Forces, the ultimate resting pce of mob characters in Konoha, even if he had to drag them kicking and screaming into companionship and pass their sensei's test. He'd do it if he had to. The alternative wasn't even worth considering.

  They didn't have long to look amongst each other, though. The man that walked through the door was another unfamiliar Jōnin to him, though again, Tobio suspected he was from some filler content that he didn't recall at that moment. More than anything else, his first thoughts was that the guy was…

  Big.

  Fat wasn't the right word, either. There were certainly some big-boned characters in the series, sure, but the existence of the Akimichi in Konoha made most ninja painfully aware of what a rge shinobi was capable of. While they might not be as agile as their counterparts, the muscle-gut, power-lifter build did have some benefits, even if it was on the rarer side.

  He even had his fk jacket fully unzipped and a rge belt around his waist. Briefly, Tobio wondered if that had something to do with whatever his specialty might have been. No shinobi reached the rank of Jōnin without at the very least something they did better than most others, but whatever Tekuno's trick was, it didn't click immediately for him.

  None of them would get too much time to gawk at their new, potential sensei, however. The man looked at the three of them, standing near the doorway, and tilting his head back the way he came. "You three, with me."

  Without another word, he filed out the door. Ami, Hibachi, and Tobio shared some brief looks of confusion, before scrambling out after him, and following in his wake. There weren't any words, though, as the man silently led them out of the academy, and into the busy streets of Konoha once more.

  It was an uncomfortable sort of silence, until they reached the edge of the one of the training grounds. There the man turned, fixing them with a solid, steely stare. For a brief moment, Tobio thought that his new sensei might have been some kind of hard-ass…

  …Until the man's stern expression cracked, and he smiled at the three of them. "Sorry for the stone-faced routine, but I just couldn't help myself," he admitted, chuckling softly. "The faces the three of you made…"

  Ami clicked her tongue, face flushed and arms crossed in front of her chest. "I wasn't that bad!"

  "Sure, sure," Tekuno acquiesced, rolling his eyes at her words. "But, I think we should do proper introductions now, don't you think? Nothing so stuffy as what Umino-san was doing at the academy. We'll start with name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future."

  Hibachi blinked. "Is that standard for new Jōnin-sensei to do with their students?"

  "You're not my students yet, but we'll get to that part shortly," he promised. "For now, I'll start us off."

  Jerking a thumb his way, the man cleared his throat and gave them all big, beaming smile. "I'm Kanden Tekuno, Jōnin, Bukijutsu specialist, with a secondary specialty in traps, and a little bit of dabbling in fūinjutsu. I like good food, good company, and I'm a sucker for…upstanding literature, like the Icha Icha series."

  Ami's eyebrows furrowed together. "What's Icha Icha?"

  "…A romantic masterwork, but probably something you'll appreciate more when you're older," Tekuno gently stated, continuing on. "I dislike stuffy, long meetings, and sour food. My hobbies include calligraphy, cooking, and reading. My dream for the future is to live to retirement and open my own food stall. You next."

  He pointed to Hibachi, who blinked, suddenly caught off guard, before looking at everyone else. Clearing his throat nervously, he reached up and ran a hand back through his hair, adjusting his hat in the process.

  "Alright, uh…" Working his jaw back and forth, he was attempting to find the right words, before nodding sharply. "I'm Mishima Hibachi. I like drawing, pying with my yo-yo, and reading manga. In terms of things I dislike, I guess…paperwork, hospitals, and sitting in css. Beyond that, the big thing I like to do in my own time is gardening."

  "And your dream for the future?" Tekuno asked, prompting the boy a little.

  He paused, rubbing his chin slowly. "Not sure if I'd call it a dream so much as a hope. I'd like to discover a new type of pnt no one's seen before."

  The big Jōnin shrugged. "Hey, it's all good to me. Anything goes for this little exercise. Now, you're up, Kato-san."

  Unsurprisingly, the girl had been bursting at the seams to speak. "I'm Kato Ami, and I like shopping, dresses, and cute boys, present company notwithstanding."

  Tobio and Hibachi both winced at that. He knew he wasn't the most handsome, but that wasn't his fault! Those Cn bastards were bred for looks in some cases, how the hell was he supposed to compete with that?! Did he need to be that defensive over something that wasn't that important?

  No. Was he still a little bent out of shape about it? Yes.

  "I dislike know-it-alls, and I'm not very good at genjutsu. For hobbies, I mostly like tailoring, and I've made everything you see here myself."

  That was a little more impressive, since her clothing while perhaps not to his tastes, seemed well-made enough. It got a thoughtful hum out of Tekuno, as he nodded slowly, and began to look Tobio's way.

  "Last but not least, Nakamura-san. You're up."

  After hearing Ami and Hibachi y out their own likes, dislikes, dreams, it caught him a little ft-footed. So far, Tobio had been thinking purely about survival, first and foremost. That wasn't a bad thing, in and of itself, but if he was going to be stuck here, in this world…it wouldn't be enough.

  He needed to find something to live for. Something to strive for, some dream to reach, more than anything else in this world.

  "Well, I'm Nakamura Tobio," he began, lips creasing into a thoughtful frown. "I like sleeping, eating, drinking, stuff like that. Right now, I thought there was more to myself, but I'm learning right now that I've been a very boring person in my life."

  Tekuno's eyebrows were steadily raising at those words, but Tobio didn't stop there. "I'd say if I had anything I dislike, it's bullies, cowards, and blowhard idiots that don't know anything but choose to speak out of line time and time again."

  "No real hobbies, but if I had to say what my dream was, above anything else…

  Deep thoughts were needed about the type of man he was. And when he came to a conclusion, the results were pretty simple.

  Back in his world, he hadn't been anyone of real consequence. The specifics might have still eluded his memories, but this much Tobio knew for sure. No one looked up to him, no one uttered his name in awe, and he certainly didn't have any real power back in his old world. Here, those same restrictions didn't apply.

  If he wanted to achieve any real power, like founding his own cn, that was totally viable. Or, if he wanted to become wealthy by dint of his new abilities, that was within reach too. But then there was a quiet part of him that saw those as mere stepping stones, both of them a given by the dint of his Mixed Blood and the steadily growing powers under his reach.

  He could live for mediocrity and comfort again…or Tobio could see how far these new abilities of his could be taken in this new life.

  "…I want to shake the world," Tobio answered, something like a feverish light glinting in his eyes. "A dream's meant to be some pie in the sky hope, right? Then I want it all."

  His hands flexed at his sides, as he looked up at Tekuno with a big, toothy grin, canines fshing all the while. "Making my own cn, becoming the next shinobi no kami, becoming fantastically wealthy…I'll do it all."

  Tekuno's eyebrows were raised at the boy, as Ami and Hibachi watched him with their own expressions of shock. Right before a smirk crossed his features, and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

  "But failing all of that, I'll take just surviving the next couple of years, y'know? This isn't exactly a profession people die old in." The outliers that did manage to make it to old age? They tended to be the deadliest shinobi of them all.

  Ami snorted, rolling her eyes at his words. "Big talk…"

  "I managed to beat Sasuke at the spars a few days ago, didn't I?" Tobio pointed out, making the girl's lips pucker. "If I could do that, then the sky is the limit for a cnless orphan like me."

  "There's no harm in dreaming high, at least in my books," Tekuno nodded approvingly, smiling at the three of them. "In an ideal world, we'd segue right into training pns, discussing your specialties and hopes for shinobi life. That being said, technically while you've graduated, the tests haven't finished. Not yet, anyway."

  "Huh?" Hibachi genuinely seemed confused, looking up at Tekuno curiously. "There's more tests?"

  "In this life, kid, the tests never end. Remember that much, if nothing else. For you three, I've got to dispense my own little test tomorrow, at this training ground."

  Sweeping an arm out toward the forest, it seemed innocent at first gnce…but first appearances were intentionally deceiving in their line of work. "It'll be a simple, fun hiking trip. And if the three of you can make it to the end, you'll be accepted as my students. That easy."

  Tobio had some serious doubts it'd be that easy, but he was excited for the challenge. What kind of man would he be if he walked away without even trying, and gave up before he saw what rigors he'd be brushing against? No man worth shaking the world, that was for sure.

  "So all we've got to do is make it to the end of the forest?" Ami asked, squinting suspiciously at the expanse of greenery. She was smart enough to realize that this wasn't going to be as simple as it sounded.

  "That's it," Tekuno nodded, something like amusement glinting in his eyes. "I recommend the three of you don't eat anything too heavy tonight and prepare accordingly. I'll see the three of you at 8:00am sharp."

  Without giving them any time to question the man further, he vanished in a shimmer of movement. It made them blink, as he practically evaporated from sight. Some kind of movement jutsu, if he had to guess. It left the three fresh Genin standing there, a little shellshocked from his words.

  Tobio less so, since he already knew a test like this was coming.

  Ami was the first one to recover, though, looking between the two boys critically. "…Neither of you are gonna screw this up for me, are you?"

  "Shouldn't we be asking you that question?" Hibachi shot back.

  She sniffed imperiously at the thought of it. "Of course not. Are you crazy? I might not have gotten the grades that the amazing, gigantic forehead did, but I'm prepared for this in my way."

  That was an impressive amount of confidence; unfortunately, Tobio didn't know if it was justified. He'd have to just take it on faith for now. With her piece said, Ami stomped off, leaving Hibachi and Tobio alone.

  "…Was she always so…?" Tobio trailed off, looking for the right words.

  "A bitch?"

  "Not quite what I would have picked, but…sure?"

  Hibachi shrugged. "I've heard she's always been a little prickly, though it got worse after the Yamanaka 'picked' Sakura over her. S'none of my business, though, provided she doesn't slow us down."

  "That confident in your own abilities?" The Oni-blooded boy asked.

  He shook his head a little. "Not really. But you're plenty capable enough for the three of us. If you can dole out an ass-beating to Sasuke like the one I saw, I'll take it on faith you can drag us past the finish line if we're not up to snuff."

  …Was that a compliment? It felt like a compliment. "Thank you?"

  "You're welcome," Hibachi replied, nodding back his way. "For now, I'm out of here. My dad's already gonna be asking a bajillion questions about the day, and he'll be wondering where I got to after we were let out. Catch you ter, Tobio."

  With that, Hibachi sauntered off, leaving the young Oni alone. He wasn't sure what he had in store for his future, but he did have one silver lining, in the form of a new pop-up in his vision.

  [QUEST COMPLETED: GRADUATE FROM THE ACADEMY.]

  [REWARD: 1x MINOR ERUDITION PERK ROLL.]?

  Another potential roll was enough incentive for him to rush home, if only so he could investigate his next roll. Ideally, it'd be something that'd be useful for the next day. If it wasn't, he'd still be happy if any of them were useful. So, with bated breath, he spun up the reward once he was behind the closed doors of his home.

  That hollow inside swelled and pulsed, as new possible rewards id themselves before his very eyes…

  Psychic Abilities - Channeling (One Dot)World of Darkness: SorcererThe psychic world's answer to the Path of Ephemera, channeling is sometimes called Necro-Psi, and often confused with the aforementioned Path. It allows the psychic to interact with the spirits of the dead, but not other forms of spiritual beings, perceiving their presence and even drawing upon their skills and experiences.[1] The channeler may sense nearby ghosts in a vague sense, and channel the skills and knowledge of one ghost of choice, once per day.OriginTsukihimeIt's not really possible to determine the value of a human life or one individual's character with a single word...at least, most of the time. Still, every life in this world has a single defining word for them - a compulsion and an instinct that their actions move in harmony with. You also possess such an Origin, such as 'Taboo' or 'Nostalgia,' which gently guides your actions towards it, though you possess an awareness of it and can choose to ignore it without any detriment to your own choices. Any actions you follow that line up with your Origin, particurly Magecraft, will enjoy a minor but noticeable boost in competence as you work in tune with your own nature in this world. You may choose any Origin except for 'Void'.Elemental ProficiencyFinal Fantasy XIAll bckmages are specialists in elemental damage from afar and you are no exception to this. You find magic based on the elements is easier to cast, taking slightly less magic to achieve the same result as other mages would need to achieve the same effect.These were certainly some…interesting choices.

  The problem was that all of the options were good in their own ways. Tobio would be lying if he said he couldn't have seen a reason to use any of them.

  While Channeling by itself wasn't all that powerful, it was also a perk that was fundamentally meant to be upgraded. A long-term investment rather than something that'd give him benefits right then and there. Cross-legged on his bed, he squinted at it, as if looking at the hovering words would help him discern the right choice.

  In the end, he chose to turn away from it, though. As much as he'd like to channel the skills and abilities of long-dead shinobi, the other perks were just as good. Maybe even better, depending on how things shook out for them.

  Whereas Elemental Proficiency was practically custom-built for a world like Naruto, where the predominant power system hinged on elemental interactions. The process of learning to mould all the elements was a long one, and something that could help ease that process was worth its weight in gold. It'd turn him into something of a very mild prodigy when it came to those select ninjutsu.

  Even so, that st perk called to him in a way that was hard to describe.

  An Origin was more than just some funny word that described you. It was your purpose for being in the world. Everything you did, very subtly, was guided toward the Origin. In some situations it could ruin your life, in the famous case of Kiritsugu's Severing and Binding. And in some cases, it could be an immense boon to your Magecraft or actions, even if it wasn't actively awakened.

  He knew it wasn't the most optimal idea. It wasn't the smartest option to take. But he took it all the same, come what may.

  Inside of himself he felt that void of his compact and compress, squeezing down around his very soul. His entire being preparing to align with a concept just waiting to be seeded inside of him. The real question was, what did Tobio want inside of him?

  Did he want the conceptual leanings of strength, no matter what? Something more esoteric, like anemoia? Or…did he want to lean into his hot-blooded Oni heritage, and go for something that fit that a little bit more?

  Not quite the burning fires of ambition, or glory, but something else. A little more abstract, an idea of what he wanted to do. Burning bright, fast and quick, a sudden burst…

  Ignition.

  Something about that just felt right, as he closed his eyes, and let it settle inside. Floating down into his core, invisible and immaterial, he felt a brief vibration inside of that hollow of his Self as it filled up with the raw potential he was seeding there. Bit by bit, getting settled, until finally, that void grew still once more. For a few brief moments he wasn't sure anything had actually happened, until…

  It felt like he was burning up, quick and hot, for a few brief seconds. Every single cell in his body threatening to come undone, in one immense, glorious confgration, before settling back down to something cooler as the seconds drifted by.

  When Tobio's eyes opened up, he was once again drenched in sweat, and with a deep-seated ache throughout his body…but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't more than a little happy with the results. They may not have been the most clear, this was true. He just felt like it was the right choice for him, and who he was.

  For now though? He was tired, the day was ending, and he needed some fuel for the metaphorical fire. Getting started on dinner, it wasn't long before he settled back down and got some rest for the trials ahead.