[Do you want to transfer the Assimilations to this body?]
[Yes] [No]
I clicked "No" again. There was no need for that right now.
Still, it's good to know I can do it if things ever go sideways. The system lets me leave my original body behind and make this one my new main. The catch is that it only transfers the character templates, not my natural abilities like the Sharingan. Bit of a letdown, but honestly, worth keeping as a last-resort option.
I pulled up the Assimilation screen.
[Asahi Nakiri - 78%]
[Hatake Kakashi - 47%]
Both were paused. Figures. It looks like assimilation only progresses while I'm in my original body. So much for trying to cheat the system.
Still, the Kakashi template reaching almost halfway isn't bad. Maybe it's because we're from the same world, or maybe because my skills already line up with his. Either way, the progress tells me something important. This version of Kakashi is from around the Third Ninja War era, probably when he was a Special Jōnin or freshly promoted Jōnin.
I've already learned a bunch of his jutsu through the template, but I can't use any of them here. This body doesn't have a chakra pathway system, which means no chakra extraction. I guess that confirms my theory that power systems don't cross worlds. Each one is bound by its own laws.
I could modify this body using Kakashi's template if I made it my new one, but no, not yet. If I mess around too much, who knows what kind of reaction it might trigger in the Omniversal Travel System.
If the connection breaks, I might not even make it back to the Naruto world, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take.
I took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "Alright, easy, just like before," I muttered to myself, trying to find a rhythm. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
At first, it was easy, almost relaxing. Then came the pain.
My lungs started to burn, my head pounded like a damn drum, and before I knew it, "Gah!" I stopped instantly, gasping for air.
Collapsing onto my knees, I crawled toward the wall, using it for support as I tried to breathe. Each inhale felt heavier and harsher, but even through the pain, a crooked smile formed on my face.
"Heh, just as I thought," I muttered between shaky breaths. "I'm not completely out of options."
Some skills could still be used, even without the templates I had pulled them from. Batman's martial arts? Still in my head. Asahi's cooking skills? Yeah, they're there too.
Sure, my body's different now, so it will take time to replicate them perfectly, but it's not impossible. Just like what I did just now, using Total Concentration Breathing.
Seems like getting Murata's template wasn't useless after all.
"Too bad," I chuckled softly, my voice a little rough. "I only got his Water Breathing, not that damn Galaxy Breathing that kept him alive during the Infinity Castle Arc. Even the Hashira didn't make it that far, huh?"
I laughed under my breath for a second, then the grin faded as my eyes focused on the floating notification in front of me.
It was from the travel system.
[Do you want to read the possessed memory?]
[Yes] [No]
"Tch, guess it's time to see how bad this really is," I sighed, tapping Yes.
The moment I did,
"ARGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
White-hot pain exploded in my head, forcing a scream out of me as the memories came flooding in all at once.
It was insane, all of it, over in just a second. It felt like the system had used something similar to Rimuru's Thought Acceleration.
"Ghh, damn it," I hissed, clutching my head. The pain didn't vanish; it just dulled, settling into a constant throbbing ache that refused to go away.
"Still hurts," I muttered, trying to steady my breathing. My vision flickered for a moment, and fragments of someone else's life danced before my eyes—faces, voices, places I didn't recognise.
No, wait. I do recognise him.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me… fuck, this body is Cid Kagenou's."
Yeah. That Cid Kagenou.
The so-called background character who secretly wanted to be the ultimate power in the shadows.
Except this version wasn't that guy. These memories, his memories, belonged to someone ordinary. No reincarnation, no Shadow Garden, no Chuunibyou delusions. Just the original Cid, or rather, the boy he would have been if no one had been reincarnated as him.
I pulled my left sleeve up, revealing a dark, blotchy mark above the elbow, a strange, pulsing thing that looked almost alive under the skin.
Yeah, this was the reason his family kicked him out.
Possession.
That's what they called it. Both my memories and his confirmed it. Apparently, this kind of thing mostly showed up in women and was incredibly rare in men.
When his family found out, his father didn't even hesitate. The moment the rumours started spreading, the decision was made. He was thrown out before the scandal could ruin them.
Having a "possessed" child was basically social suicide. The Church would have been all over them, the same Church known for hunting the possessed like wild beasts.
So yeah, they did what any noble family would do in this world: they chose the family over the outcast. Logical, cold, and still cruel as hell.
Sure, the more efficient solution would have been to kill him outright, but I guess they weren't completely heartless. Humans form attachments even to pets after living together, and this was their blood.
So instead, they gave him a handful of gold, turned their backs, and let him go. Then told the world he had drowned in a river.
Nice and neat. Problem erased.
But not mine.
Sigh.
Looks like I'll have to start working on mana control immediately.
According to the shadow, possession happens when mana exceeds what the body can handle. Too much raw energy and not enough stability causes it to eat away at the body from the inside out. It starts as those dark, cancerous blotches and then spreads. The end result is total cellular collapse—a slow, painful death.
So yeah, that's definitely not on my to-do list.
Now, it's time to start my new life by saving myself.
---
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