WebNovels

Chapter 34 - Chapter 34

After playing with the kids for a while, Renji returned home, feeling satisfied.

That night, he entered his basement to work on his skills. Looking at the different icons in his vision—each representing a skill—he couldn't wait any longer.

With a thought, a stream of Demonic Energy flowed from his heart to his brain. He willed for the skill he was most excited about, [Echoes of Past], to upgrade.

The icon, which looked like a dark portal with a fist coming out of it, became more detailed and realistic. After absorbing a huge amount of his reserves, it finally solidified.

[Skill: Echoes of Past, Level 2]

[Effect 1: Holding Bonded hair that can conduct Demonic Energy allows you to use the abilities of the owner. Every Active ability use consumes Demonic Energy and a portion of the hair, causing it to permanently disintegrate. Passive abilities have no cost.]

[Note: Only two targets' hair can be used at a time.] -- (1 → 2)

[Note: Reduce the consumption by increasing the skill level.]

[Effect 2: Summon a giant Avatar of the owner of the hair by sacrificing 8% of their Bonded hair. The Avatar can use all the abilities of the owner and can burn all the remaining energy to unleash an Ultimate!] -- (10 → 8)

[Effect 3: Echoes are fully compatible with the powers of an Umbra Witch. They can use the original versions of Umbra power that you unlocked.] -- (New)

[Cost: Depends on the target.]

[Note: Hair holds memories.]

Renji was dumbfounded.

'Let's see. First, the number of targets increased from one to two. Then, the Bonded Hair that needs to be sacrificed has a reduced percentage.

And finally, the most important upgrade... What does this mean? Let's test this.'

He looked through his stash and finally chose a black ponytail of a deceased chuunin he had collected. Holding it in his hands, he used [Echoes of Past] on it.

Immediately, he felt his strength increase slightly more than before.

'This should be the passive skills of the owner of this hair, reinforcing Kushina's passives.'

Ever since he obtained Kushina's hair, he had always kept it wrapped around his torso in a layer, keeping the passives enabled. This small boost seemed to be an addition to those.

Next, he willed for the Echo to form. The ponytail left his hand and hovered as a shimmering female form appeared beneath it. It then lowered onto her head, as if it had always been a part of her. The woman looked mature, in her twenties.

Clearing his mind, he willed the third effect to activate. Immediately, her hair came alive, covering her in a cocoon of flowing black strands. When she reappeared, he couldn't help but gasp!

In front of him, the woman completely solidified, looking like a real person. She wore a provocative black leather outfit, her black ponytail shimmering with Demonic Energy and floating freely behind her.

'What the hell, System?! Did you have to be so vague about the skills?! This is way more than just being able to use the Umbra Witch skill!'

He looked into her eyes and noticed signs of intelligence. Cautiously, he spoke to her, "Hello. Do you know who I am?"

She looked at him, tilting her face slightly. "Master?"

Cough... Cough...

He choked at that response.

'What did my System do?!'

---

After a long back and forth, he figured out some details.

First, she was not the original kunoichi. She didn't seem to remember anything about the original. At most, she had some common sense and basic knowledge about the world.

Second, she seemed to consider him the Creator and the Umbra Elder—the leader of the Umbra Witches—which she believed herself to be part of. She appeared completely loyal to him.

Third, she had some of the powers Bayonetta had: manipulating hair to attack, transforming into a panther, crow, bat, and snake, and creating portals using her hair from which huge fists punched or giant heels stomped. He didn't understand the last part, as there shouldn't be any demons in this world to summon.

'Could be another thing the System modified.'

[Hair Manipulation] → Witch Weaves

[Shapeshifting] → Beast Within

[Echoes of Past] → Wicked Weaves

Finally, her combat potential seemed similar to the original, and depends on the percentage of Bonded Hair she had. Of course, it wasn't perfectly one-to-one. After all, Umbra Witch powers were unique in this world.

'She's missing quite a lot of skills—gun combat, time manipulation, etc. It seems once I unlock similar skills, she'll be able to use them.'

Of course, they hadn't tested all this yet—this was just what she had told him. Apparently, she had this knowledge embedded in her mind ever since she came into existence.

He noticed she had been curiously observing him, legs crossed, emitting a seductive air. He'd be flattered, if not for the fact that he could sense from her hair, that she was doing it unconsciously.

He cleared his throat. "Ahem... I should have asked first—do you have a name?"

She shook her head, smiling seductively. "Why don't you give me one, Master~"

He smiled helplessly. He asked her to call him Renji, or Ren, but this was the one thing she wouldn't budge on—as if it was baked into her persona.

He then tried to come up with names. The first thing that popped into his mind was the girl he had tried to save during the last moments of his life. He said it unconsciously, "Chloe..."

The woman in front of him perked up. "Chloe... I like that. Thanks for the name, Master!". She smiled happily.

"That's not—... Fine, Chloe it is. Good to have you here, Chloe."

Seeing her happy, he couldn't bring himself to backtrack.

Now came the important part—the part he dreaded to test: stopping the skill.

What would happen to Chloe if he stopped using the skill? Would she disappear? If he re-summoned her later, would that Chloe be the same one sitting in front of him now?

Chloe sensed his apprehension and stepped closer. She knelt before him on one knee, bowing her head. Her ponytail floated softly in the air.

"Master, please don't hesitate. I don't know what would happen, but my existence has only one purpose—to serve you. Even if I disappear, I'll be happy knowing you'll have more powerful companions later."

She wasn't wrong. Chloe's combat potential was similar to a chuunin's. He could summon a jonin-level Echo if he freed up the slot by unsummoning her. But...

'Damn it! What the hell is the System doing to me? The abilities it gives me test my morality to incredible levels! Just with [Hair Manipulation], if I wanted to, I could enslave every woman in Konoha—and beyond—simply by manipulating their senses! With their help, I could easily take over the world.'

'I didn't want to do that. That's why I opened a salon—to slowly collect energy and hair without harming anyone.'

'Now this... If I don't unsummon her, I'll be missing out on greater combat potential. But if I do, I can't guarantee she would still exist in some form. I might end up erasing her existence!'

---

A/N: Grammar and spelling mistakes corrected using AI

A/N: What would you do, if you were in Renji's situation?

More Chapters