c21: Ability Selection of Minato Namikaze (a.k.a. Wave Wind Water Gate)
During this past week, Ryan Wong had been keeping a close eye on the SOS messages sent by Dr. Bruce Banner through a secure Stark-encrypted comm-link on his custom S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued mobile.
Even amid other missions, Ryan hadn't forgotten his personal side quest: help Banner suppress the Hulk.
In the span of seven days, Ryan had stopped the Hulk twice.
The first incident happened the very next day. Banner had quietly slipped away to Philadelphia, hoping to lie low and avoid stress.
Unfortunately, Banner's passive demeanor made him an easy target for a group of local gangbangers affiliated with the Serpent Society's East Coast remnants.
Predictably, a shouting match escalated. Banner's suppressed rage detonated, and the jade giant burst forth—smashing thugs into parked cars and pulverizing brick walls.
But just before transforming, Banner managed to ping Ryan's number with a single press.
Ryan instantly recognized the distress signal, activated the Flying Thunder God Technique a teleportation skill comparable to stepping through a miniature Boom Tube and arrived within seconds.
Upon seeing the raging Hulk, Ryan said nothing. No banter, no delay. He went full combat mode and laid into Hulk with chakra-enhanced taijutsu, knocking him unconscious in under a minute.
That intervention netted Ryan a 6% boost in his persona simulation progress.
The second event occurred on Day Four. Banner had returned to New York. At that point, he figured it didn't matter where he went Ryan Wong, playing as Minato Namikaze, could track him anywhere, even into Latveria if needed.
While in Manhattan, Banner secretly visited his old flame, Betty Ross.
Unfortunately, Betty was laughing and chatting with another man an old college friend from Culver University, unaware of Banner's presence.
Cue emotional overload. Jealousy struck like a gamma pulse. Banner's heart rate surged, and once again the Hulk emerged.
Ryan arrived just in time but before he had to raise a fist, Hulk hesitated.
For a brief moment, the green behemoth stared at Ryan's golden chakra cloak and piercing eyes. Then, inexplicably, Hulk calmed, grunted, and reverted back to Banner.
Ryan and Bruce exchanged a silent look, equally surprised.
Ryan worried that without a fight, this moment wouldn't contribute to his character progress.
But unexpectedly, the system awarded a full 4%.
After all, it was Ryan's presence his projection as Minato that suppressed the Hulk's rage. Without him, Manhattan might've suffered another Harlem-level incident.
With these events, Ryan successfully pushed his Minato Namikaze simulation to 50% completion.
That evening, he bid Natasha Romanoff farewell and left HQ early. Back in his room, he dropped the transformation, shedding the yellow flash persona.
A calm, otherworldly voice echoed in his mind.
[Minato Namikaze (Fourth Hokage) play progress has reached 50%. You have gained 1 new character simulation slot.]
[Minato Namikaze play progress has reached 50%. Ability selection for Minato Namikaze is now available.]
Ryan immediately focused his mind's eye and accessed the system interface.
[Host: Ryan Wong]
[Current Simulation: Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage]
[Play Progress: 50%]
[Available Simulations: Minato Namikaze (50%)]
[New Simulation Slot Available: 1]
[Ability Selection Unlocked: Minato Namikaze (1 skill available)]
He let out a breath of satisfaction. "Finally… halfway there."
This past week had been grueling. From navigating S.H.I.E.L.D. bureaucracy to playing glorified superhero babysitter, Ryan had given it his all with no shortcuts, no slacking.
Now, the effort had finally paid off!
On Ryan Wong's system interface, a new display panel had appeared.sleek, glowing, and detailed like a Stark tech hologram HUD.
"System," Ryan commanded, "explain the character ability selection feature."
[Simulated character roles possess extraordinary abilities. Once play progress for any character reaches 50%, the host may choose one of that character's abilities to permanently integrate. For every additional 10% increase past 50%, an additional ability selection will be awarded.]
"This…" Ryan blinked in astonishment.
In other words, once he passed the 50% threshold, he wasn't just acting as Minato Namikaze (a.k.a. the Yellow Flash) he could actually become as powerful as him!
That changed everything.
Yes, emulating powerful characters like Minato gave Ryan tremendous battlefield advantage, but having those powers embedded in his own body, independent of cosplay or simulation?
That would be true safety and true strength.
Still, even amid the excitement, Ryan sensed a looming catch.
"If I'm not mistaken," he murmured, "the difficulty of raising play progress past 50% will increase drastically."
The system didn't respond.no denial, no confirmation. Which only made the hypothesis more likely.
That mystery would have to wait. Right now, his priority was unlocking his first ability from the Minato profile and then drawing a new character template to simulate next.
With calm focus, Ryan mentally issued the command:
"Select Minato Namikaze ability."
> [Abilities Available: Minato Namikaze – Fourth Hokage]
– Chakra Control
– Space-Time Ninjutsu
– Rasengan Series
– Perfected Sage Mode
– Uzumaki Clan Sealing Techniques
[Please make your selection, host.]
Ryan paused, scanning the list with sharp focus.
"Wait a minute," he muttered. "No Nine-Tails Chakra Mode?"
It didn't add up.
In the original Naruto canon, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the reanimated version of Minato summoned using Edo Tensei had access to the powerful Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Half of Kurama was sealed within him.
Ryan had a vivid memory of that scene golden aura, fox-shaped cloak, blitz-speed attacks rivaling even Marvel's Quicksilver. It was arguably Minato's most versatile and broken form.
But this version? The simulation didn't include it.
He quickly surmised the reason.
This Minato the one he was simulating was modeled before death. No tailed beast sealed inside him. Ryan could feel the absence of Kurama's chakra in the avatar.
So, no matter how cool it would've been to blast through enemies with a glowing chakra cloak and teleport mid-attack like Nightcrawler with an Arc Reactor, it just wasn't on the table.
Still, that didn't stop Ryan from wanting it.
The Nine-Tails Mode was a game-changer offensive, defensive, and mobile. Who wouldn't want it?
Suppressing his disappointment, Ryan shifted his focus back to the current choices.
It was time to get serious.
But after reviewing them again, his brows knit together.
A realization dawned he didn't actually have five options.
He had only one real choice.
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