Chapter 3 —Testing the Technology Templates
In the dead of night, inside a cave thirty kilometers from the explosion site, Tsukigami Ren casually tossed the more than twenty Sand shinobi forehead protectors he had collected into a corner of the cave. Leaning against the cave wall, he sat down. Even in the pitch-black darkness, he could see clearly—likely another effect of the Technology Template.
'Technology Template.'
Murmuring inwardly, Tsukigami Ren closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his mindscape. There, a luminous interface floated in the void, resembling a web page layout with multiple tabs arranged side by side.
The first tab was labeled Host. He tried selecting it.
The page immediately opened, revealing new information.
Host: Tsukigami Ren.
Below that was a note: Host is unique and cannot be changed. Non-host entities cannot install templates.
Energy Collection Template: Capable of collecting energy—electrical energy, thermal energy. (Additional types to be added later.)
Installed Templates:
(The Terminator) T-800 Robot Template:
An endoskeleton robot constructed from hardened alloy.
Energy consumption: 10 per hour under intense activity; 2 per hour while idle.
Can expend energy for repairs.
(Bloodshot) Blood Nanite Template:
Replaces the host's entire blood supply with nano-scale machines.
Capable of repairing any damage and enhancing physical strength to a certain extent.
Energy consumption: 1 per hour; during repair state, energy consumption depends on damage severity, up to 30 per hour.
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Installed Weapon Templates:
SPAS-12 Shotgun Template:
Fires 12-gauge shotgun shells. Can be used through the arm.
Energy cost per manifestation: 3.
Energy cost per shell manifested: 0.2.
Minimi Light Machine Gun Template:
Also known as the M249 Light Machine Gun.
Combat rate of fire: 700–1000 rounds/minute.
Effective range: 1000 meters.
Energy cost per manifestation: 5.
Energy cost per bullet manifested: 0.1.
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Seeing that he currently had only four technology templates, Ren exited the Host tab and looked at the second tab: Technology.
Opening it revealed: Installed T-800 Robot Template, Blood Nanite Template. Searching for new templates…
He exited and clicked the third tab: Weapon Templates.
Installed SPAS-12 Shotgun Template, Minimi Light Machine Gun Template. Searching for new templates…
Exiting again, he clicked the fourth tab: Technical Templates.
Ten simple words: None installed. Searching for new templates…
Finally, he opened the fifth and last tab: Energy Storage.
Current stored energy: 1770 points.
Storage limit: 5000 points.
There was no further information.
Of those 1770 points, most likely came from the thermal energy generated by the detonating tags he had sacrificed.
Withdrawing from his mindscape, Tsukigami Ren couldn't help but touch his arm. He squeezed hard.
He could clearly feel that his strength had increased significantly. His body was far more durable, and his sensitivity to pain had greatly diminished.
Taking out a kunai, he measured against his forearm.
Without hesitation, he sliced open his arm, carving a ten-centimeter-long wound deep enough to expose bone. Yet no blood flowed. Instead, black-gray material gathered at the wound.
And the moment his arm was cut open, he saw that his bones were no longer bones—but the metallic endoskeleton of a Terminator T-800, gleaming with cold steel luster.
Before he could examine it further, countless nano-scale machines flooded the wound, rapidly repairing it. It was like black-gray sludge surging and reshaping itself over the injury. Within just a few breaths, the wound had fully healed, leaving no trace.
As someone who had loved movies in his previous life, Tsukigami Ren immediately understood—this was the Blood Nanite Template. Nano-machines had replaced all the blood in his body.
"Bang!"
He stood up and turned, throwing a full-force punch into the solid cave wall.
A dull thud echoed as his fist collided with the stone. Cracks instantly spread across the rock surface.
His knuckles were mangled into bloody pulp.
Raising his fist, he examined it carefully. Beneath the shredded flesh, the steel skeleton was exposed—completely undamaged. Nanites rapidly swarmed across the ruined flesh, repairing it at astonishing speed. In less than a single breath, his fist was restored as good as new.
Checking the energy reserves, repairing his fist had consumed nearly 2 energy points.
"Bang bang bang bang…"
After a moment of silent thought, Tsukigami Ren raised both fists and began punching the cave wall frantically.
The cave filled with a series of dull impacts. Cracks spread and widened across the rock face as stone fragments scattered. Within moments, he had punched a half-meter-deep crater into the wall.
"Extremely durable. Tremendous strength. Roughly ten punches should be enough to break through an Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
Watching his fists repair once more, the exposed metal skeleton intact, Tsukigami Ren evaluated calmly.
With this body, in the coming war, he could definitely kill more—and stronger—Sand shinobi.
...
After another period of silence and contemplation, he turned and walked out of the cave.
Gunfire was loud. It would easily expose his location. This was a battlefield—day or night, it would attract attention. But he had to test it.
And sooner or later, he would be exposed anyway.
His vengeance did not allow him to hide and bide his time.
Outside the cave, Tsukigami Ren found a small tree as thick as a bowl. Raising his right arm, he aimed at the trunk.
After consuming 3 energy points, his forearm and hand elongated and transformed—morphing seamlessly into a shotgun integrated into his arm.
The SPAS-12 Shotgun.
The transformation took no longer than clenching a fist.
Spending 1 energy point, he manifested five shotgun shells directly into the weapon.
He aimed at the tree and fired.
"Bang!"
The gunshot resembled a plastic bottle exploding—but far louder, reverberating through the night. A shell casing ejected from the chamber, only to disintegrate midair like weathered stone. Clearly, the system maintained technological secrecy.
The bowl-thick tree trunk had been blasted halfway through.
At close range, if an ordinary shinobi took a shot like that to the torso, death would be inevitable—even if not immediate. With the speed of shotgun pellets, most chūnin would struggle to react, let alone evade.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
He adjusted his aim and fired four consecutive shots at a large tree five meters away with a half-meter diameter.
The bark exploded outward, steel pellets embedding deeply into the trunk. The shotgun's spread covered roughly a forty-centimeter diameter. Against something like a wooden door, one shot would blast a gaping hole through it.
His hands—even his feet—could transform into shotguns. Any ordinary chūnin engaging him at close range would be courting death. Even jōnin would be in serious danger.
After testing the shotgun, Tsukigami Ren consumed another 5 energy points to transform his arm into the M249 light machine gun, then spent 30 energy points manifesting 300 rounds of ammunition.
His right arm had become the M249.
Raising it, he aimed at a tree fifty meters away. With his enhanced strength, one-handed operation was effortless.
"Da-da-da-da—!"
Within seconds, dozens of rounds poured out. The crisp gunfire echoed through the night forest, carrying for miles.
"Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa—!"
Wood chips and bark exploded from the distant trunk, though the tree did not fall. To cut down a half-meter-thick tree would require hundreds or even thousands of rounds—or dozens of large-caliber bullets.
After firing dozens of rounds, Tsukigami Ren ceased fire. Through the T-800's enhanced vision, he could clearly see the tree riddled with bullet holes.
The M249's initial performance was satisfactory.
He adjusted his aim to a tree one hundred meters away.
"Da-da-da-da—!"
Gunfire rang out again, bullets streaking red as they sped forward.
Two hundred meters. Three hundred. Three hundred fifty. Four hundred.
By the time all 300 rounds were expended, the barrel glowed red-hot.
Nodding in satisfaction, Tsukigami Ren felt his confidence deepen.
The M249's muzzle velocity was 747 meters per second—faster than the speed of sound. The gunshot would not give enemies advance warning. The bullets were small and difficult to detect. Without defensive ninjutsu, ordinary genin and chūnin would not survive a sweep.
From hundreds of meters away, most ninjutsu wouldn't even reach him.
Even against a thirty-man shinobi squad, he could fight again—this time without relying on ruinous trap preparations.
However, there was still one more experiment to conduct.
After today's tests and transformations, he had consumed 70 energy points.
He still didn't know exactly how much real-world energy one point represented.
And that was something he needed to determine as soon as possible.
After all—
Energy was the capital that would determine whether he could fight without restraint.