Just imagining the dazed expression on his enemy's face after having their traits reset, Kei Yamanaka couldn't help but smirk.
Still, this Keyword Reset had a bit of a gamble to it.
If all at once, an enemy's Red-Rank Skills were reset into Purple, Blue, Green, White, Gray, or even Black Tier Traits—that would be acceptable.
But what if a Purple-Tier Trait was reset straight into a Red-Rank Skill?
Now that would be a real disaster!
You couldn't seriously expect an enemy who was moments ago ready to fight you to the death, to suddenly grow stronger—and then feel grateful enough to drop to their knees and call you "Dad" on the spot.
"This thing…"
Kei Yamanaka scratched his cheek.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to exclude it from his combat strategy.
He wasn't like Tsunade, a born gambler.
The kind of thing that gets your heart pounding—and might get you killed if you're not careful. Better avoided whenever possible.
Using it occasionally to reset White-Rank Skills and try turning trash into treasure was enough.
Alternatively, keep it as a backup in case loved ones or friends ever got plagued by Black-Tier Traits later on. Saving it for emergencies would be better.
Setting Keyword Reset aside for now, Kei shifted his attention to the newly unlocked "Concept Skill Draw Opportunity."
In truth, he'd drawn several rather bizarre skills before.
For example, Danzo's [Wild Imagination], the [Fragile Skin, Tough Life] gathering dust in storage, and recently acquired [Own Nothing] and [Expired Milk].
Did those even count as Concept Skills?
If so, the reward's value might drop several tiers.
"System, draw a Concept Skill!"
[Congratulations, Host. You've obtained the White-Rank Skill 'Everyone's Luck Rank E'.]
[Everyone's Luck Rank E (White)]: When activated by the Host, within sensing range, once someone issues a 1v1 challenge that gets accepted, all fate-related skill effects of both fighters will disappear. Luck drops to the lowest level. The probabilities of mistakes, critical breakthroughs, lucky events, passive triggers, and reinforcements arriving are all greatly reduced. Injury chance increases, and the chance of death slightly rises.
"What the hell... So it's all about macho 1v1 showdowns, huh!"
Staring at the clearly visible White-Rank Skill, Kei didn't know how to feel for a moment.
It weakens the enemy—but drags me down to their level too.
Against someone like Jiraiya, who possessed fortune-based traits such as [Heaven's Chosen Mentor], which made him nearly immortal until fulfilling his destined mission, this effect might prove surprisingly effective.
But against normal opponents, would it even matter?
It might even introduce uncontrollable variables into battle due to random chance?
"Hmm～Can be toggled on and off freely, not limited to myself but affecting everyone within my sensor range?"
Rubbing his chin, Kei considered whether to try resetting this skill.
This was his first time encountering a skill that could be freely toggled on or off after activation.
The conditions for use were a bit harsh, but if used correctly, it could still serve as an ace up his sleeve.
And...
What if he reset this trait?
The replacement trait of the same series and tier might be a little better than this one!
He didn't need much improvement.
Even just a Green-Tier Trait that gave enemies luck rating E while leaving his own unchanged.
Its practical value in combat would be immeasurable!
Everyone knows Lancers always end up with the short end of the luck stick—just look at how they usually fare...
The more Kei Yamanaka thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was worth trying. Immediately, he mentally issued an order to the system.
"System, reset the White-Rank Trait 'Everyone's Luck E.'"
[Reset complete. Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the Black-Tier Trait 'Omen of Misfortune.']
Omen of Misfortune (Black): When the Host actively activates this trait, within the detection range, if someone issues a 1v1 challenge, the opponent will inevitably accept. During this duel, all fate-related traits affecting both fighters will be nullified. Both participants will enter the states of "Misfortune Overcast" and "Cursed by Fate," significantly increasing probabilities of mistakes, illness, misfortune, incidents, injuries, and death.
"...6."
Kei Yamanaka remained silent for a moment, then spent quite some time studying the detailed explanations of the "Misfortune Overcast" and "Cursed by Fate" statuses before finally giving his verdict.
Simply put, those two statuses covered every unlucky scenario he could imagine—and even those he couldn't.
Once the [Omen of Misfortune] determined that a 1v1 battle had started,
You'd literally choke on cold water, pull a muscle just lifting your foot, suddenly need to use the bathroom right before the fight starts, and the moment the fight started, you'd already soil your pants!
With such a status... forget fighting—it'd become a race to see who croaks first from pure bad luck!
"You send the challenge and they have no choice but to accept… System, you've got to be kidding me!"
Externally, Kei wore the expression of an old man on the subway staring blankly at his phone.
Inside, he was already plotting.
Next time he faced an enemy too strong to handle alone, maybe he should let Jiraiya step forward first and trigger the "Omen of Misfortune" with them.
His own pride made him reluctant to take that kind of damage.
Jiraiya, however, had endured countless wars—he could probably handle it!
And even if they couldn't win, he could just deactivate the trait later to save his friend.
Then send Minato Namikaze next!
Choza Akimichi could work too—he's got high survivability and won't drop easy.
After several rounds like this, even an Otsutsuki would keel over on the spot.
"What if I just go with this?"
Kei scratched his cheek, knowing keyword resets were rare chances he should save for big plays.
Still, while the [Omen of Misfortune] might be a bit hard on friends,
If used multiple times, most of his childhood best friends would probably end up cutting him off forever.
But when facing enemies he truly couldn't defeat, this skill could also be a miracle-level comeback card.
Friendship or Victory?
Ultimately, the greater duty to protect the peace of the ninja world and safeguard humanity's happiness prevailed.
Guided by the noble belief that sacrificing his friends' well-being ensured peace across the ninja world, Kei decisively chose to activate the trait.
Staring at the sole black-colored listing on the system interface,
He gave a small nod.
Black? Sure—but not so black he couldn't stomach it!
"Guess I should make more friends from now on. Otherwise, I might not have enough backup when it really counts!"
Kei Yamanaka muttered under his breath.
He decided that after returning, he'd start reaching out to his former classmates — other ninja from his cohort — and try to strengthen those connections.
Of course, they didn't necessarily need to be from the same class.
He found that Uchiha kid, Obito, seemed promising.
Now that Madara Uchiha had been defeated, shouldn't the boy at least show some gratitude?
Come to think of it, those elders in the village never stopped talking about the Will of Fire, always saying they did everything for Konoha. When it really came down to it, they wouldn't just stand by and do nothing, would they?
They were all survivors through and through. Surely they wouldn't break so easily!
With elders above, duties below, and dear friends in between…
Perfect!
Feeling satisfied, Kei Yamanaka gave a nod before turning his attention back to the three remaining Keyword Draw opportunities.
This time's "Concept Keyword Draw" hadn't turned out too badly.
Now he could only hope that this ordinary Keyword Draw would bring a few pleasant surprises too.
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