Awakening in his bed, Chiba jumped up and prepared for any sudden attacks, only to be left confused as he realized he was in his own bed.
Unleashing his observation Haki to see what was going on, Chiba was left with an overwhelming shock at what he saw.
He saw that not only had his hand come back but his body was normal, not the burnt and rail thin figure that it should have been.
Quickly exiting his room, Chiba couldn't help but be confused at what he saw. It was undoubtedly his own house, but things were different.
"Didn't Koizumi mess up a fire release jutsu that shook the house, destroying this picture frame? It happened a year, no three years ago... right?" For some strange reason Chiba felt like his mind was in a fog, like every memory blended together.
"...This large kitchen table? I realized whenever we ate at the table, Koizumi's had a sad face whenever she looked at the empty seats for her parents, so I replace it with a shorter table for just her and me."
Looking through his house Chiba found different items that couldn't possibly appear together, like a gift that he gave Koizumi a few months ago right next to his first broken training sword he threw out years ago.
It wasn't just the items and his memories, the house itself was weird. Rooms were multiple sizes bigger than they should have been, the tiny hallway stretched over a hundred feet and Koizumi's parents room had turned into an empty room the size of a warehouse!
Wondering through his house that was now thousands of feet large, Chiba eventually arrived at the doorway and witnessed the largest shock of all, his front door to the house was completely missing, not only that but his observation Haki couldn't pierce beyond his door!
Where his door original should have been, he instead found a table that he had absolutely no recollection of. On top of the table had two items, a note and a sand hourglass.
[Hello chosen Candidate, I am the entity you refered to as "System"] Reading the note, cold sweat appeared all over Chiba's body.
He never knew or even thought that his system was somehow sentient, but he continuing to read the note
[Your battle with the INVADER confirmed my choice in picking you, but there has been some complications. After the battle, your body was mostly ash where even you DNA was eroded, so i had to manually step in to prevent your demise.]
Reading the words on the note, Chiba felt the overwhelming urge to check his system template but calmed himself and continued reading the note.
[Due to the Invader breaking the rules of the tournament, I am allowed to use whatever means available to nuture host back to full health.] Chibas mind whirled at this new information.
[This healing process will take a very long time but I can't let your senses become dull for future conflicts, so i've fused this simulated world into your Mindscape. Here you don't hunger, thirst, need to sleep or even take time to regenerate your chakra.]
Looking at his now healthy body, Chiba finally understood how it was possible being back to full health.
[I know you have many questions but I am bound to silence until you've conquered this worlds challenges, only after that will the competition official begin for you...Please Candidate, use this time to grow stronger, for both our sakes.]
"Just what he hell is going on! This thing is talking about Tournament and invaders breaking Rules!"
Chiba felt a mix of emotions reading this. On one hand he isnt dead yet which was great, on the other hand it appears like he's taking part in something much bigger than himself, something even bigger than the world he's living in!
Before trying to figure anything else out, Chiba immediately wanted to know what his template looked like.
"System"
Template system:
Host: Uchiha Chiba
Status: Coma
The first template: Fujitora
Completion: 100%
Template ability:
{Fujitora}:
1. swordmanship [Advanced]
2. Soru [Master]
3. Observation Haki [Master]
4. Zushi Zushi no mi [Devil Fruit]
5. Biokinesis [Evolved]
6. Rankyaku [Intermediate]
7. Armament haki [Advanced]
8. Conquers Haki [Intermediate]
9. Yakuza Kasen
Learnt abilities:
(Ninjutsu, C rank)
(swordmanship, S rank)
(Fuinjutsu, B- rank)
(Hashirama cells, A+rank)
'The reward for killing the invader was 100% template unlock and an Ability Upgrade Token. Seeing as how my [Life Return] is now [Biokinesis], I can only assume this thing I called system used the Upgrade Token in order to keep me alive...'
Chiba messed around with the ability in this simulated world and realized that unlike [Life Return] that only allowed Chiba to make minor changes to his body, Biokinesis meant Chiba could alter and Manipulate his body far beyond what's possible for a human and it does it via calories or Chakra!
Previously whenever Chiba was injured and used his life return, he wasnt magically repairing his body, he was a speeding up the natural healing process which aged him. Not only did Biokinesis go far beyond Life Return in function, it didn't have the side affect of aging the user!
Chiba's mind was incredibly conflicted about this discovery. On one hand, his 'system' did it to saved his life, on the other hand his system took his control away from him.
'The fact that my system can take control away from me is absolutely terrifying, but it's only acted benevolent towards me so far... And I highly doubt I can removed it from me...' Chiba ruminated on this for a few minutes before letting out a long bitter sigh.
'I would be dead twice if not for this entity, not only did it reincarnate me into this world, its also currently healing me... So long as it doesn't go against me, I should work together with it, for both our benefits.'
Coming to terms with his system being a sentient being, Chiba couldn't help but become frustrated at its silence. He wanted to know what that Invader meant when he called Chiba a "Candidate" and what the hell was this "Tournament" about.
Chiba had dozens of questions that he desperately wanted answers to, but he Atleast knew how he could get them... to conquer this world's challenges, whatever that means.
Looking over his template once again, Chiba studied the change intensely. He saw his new abilites but didn't understand why he obtained a couple of them.
Rankyaku was one of the 6 marine martial art, similar to Soru and could shoot out wind slashed from kicks or hands if your mastery was high enough. It made total sense why a Marine Admiral would know a Marine martial arts, and Fujitora had been shown to use Armament Haki so that made sense why Chiba had it, but what puzzles Chiba was the last two on his list.
"It was never shown that Fujitora had conquerors Haki in the show, and what is a Yakuza Kasen?" The moment Chiba spoke that word allowed, an all wooden cane appeared out of thin air!
Chiba's hand subconsciously reached out and grabbed the falling object, feeling the surprisingly familiar and comfortable handle of it!
Like second nature, he tugged on the cane to reveal a peerless silver blade that had no guard and shined like nothing he's ever seen before.
"This blade.... It's undoubtedly one of the twelve supreme grade swords in One Piece!" Despite the blade being made out of common steel and not Adamantine like his other sword, Chiba could tell that this blade eclipsed his old one in ways he couldn't even think of!
Looking at the sword, Chiba felt a connection to it that even Fujitora didn't have with the blade. Pulling on that connected feeling, Chiba watched as the sword vanished out if existence as a look if understood bloomed on his face.
"This sword, It's connected to me similar to my Observation haki! I don't even need carry it around, I could even use it for a surprise attack in battle!"
With just a thought, Chiba made the blade reappear and disappear rapidly! With the blade in hand, he was about to practice his swordship when he came to a stop as he realized something important.
"I am in a simulated worlds where I don't hunger, thirst, sleep or even take time to regenerate Chakra. If you gave me just a month in this simulation, I would grow tremendously stronger..."
Raising his hands together, Chiba let out a wild smile as he shouted out.
"Shadow clone jutsu!"
***
Inside a konoha hospital, a group of a dozen nurses and doctors looked at the bed before them in shock and curiosity.
The fourth hokage had demanded they give this man the best treatment possible, but they didn't see a man at all! He looked more like a burnt skeleton that was somehow alive!
All of its facial features and hair were melted off leaving just skin clinging to a noseless skull! The legs and arms were devoid of all muscles, the hair and nails had long been burnt away causing the man to have a perpetual smell.
The only thing that seperated this man from a burnt corpse was the chest cavity that rose and fell once a minute! Somehow only the organs absolutely necessary to live were still functional, the man was alive by some miracle!
Taking his glowing green hands off of Chiba's body, the 50 year old lead doctor wiped the sweat off of his face and shook his head.
"He's not responding to even the strongest techniques ive got, it's very likely even his DNA was completely damaged.... we'll have to run some more tests but the chances he's gonna make it is slim to none..." the old doctor said as he looked sadly at the boy's body.
"The hokage said to do everything we can to heal him until he breathes his last breath, so we wont be giving up even if those tests come back with terrible news!"