A nearly imperceptible ripple fluctuated across the sky; from it, a sudden flash of light materialized into a human figure, out of which Shisui emerged.
Without warning, he began to plunge. He was falling into a precipice, his mind barely able to process the situation, but the experience granted by his current body allowed him to react instantly. He whipped out several shuriken, throwing them in four directions with the maximum force he could muster at that moment.
With no time to spare, he managed to hear one of them clash against something. Guided solely by the sound—the only sense aiding him in this predicament—he hurled a kunai attached to his spool of steel wire. The moment he felt the line tighten slightly, he gripped it firmly and held on. Driven by momentum, he swung toward the structure; upon impacting it, he used chakra to adhere to the surface and began scaling toward the summit.
A few minutes later, he finally reached the top, utterly exhausted. Even though he had taken a military ration pill, the sheer amount of effort required for such a simple maneuver underscored just how badly damaged his body was. He stumbled barely a few meters away from the edge before collapsing, hitting the hard ground heavily.
A dry, muffled groan escaped his lips as he gritted his teeth against the piercing pain coursing through his entire torso.
"DAMN IT!"
He had no idea where he currently was. After experiencing all of this, he realized how naive he had been to blindly trust this system and his new body. Though his instincts had saved him, his senses told him he had just narrowly escaped certain death; with his old body and zero experience in similar scenarios, this would have been his final goodbye.
"You bitch! Were you actually trying to kill me?" he snapped at the system, though no answer came.
Well, of course there wouldn't be one. This was no longer a talking fairy, and his name wasn't Link. Before he could do anything else, a warning flashed across the interface, notifying him that due to his constitution, the military pill's effects had worn off and his health had degraded to 30%.
And with that, he simply blacked out.
◇ ◇ ◇
Gliding through the air on a glider was a lone boy, moving as naturally as a bird. He was flying along the outer boundaries of the Southern Air Temple, something the other children rarely did. In part, this was because none of them were masters yet—only apprentices—and the other masters preferred to meditate and follow the traditional path. This traditional lifestyle clashed with the hyperactivity of this young boy, who had just recently been named a master.
As he relaxed while soaring through the sky, he felt a disturbance coming from a certain area and decided to investigate. Twenty minutes later, he had found nothing. Just as he was turning back, having drifted quite far, he managed to spot the silhouette of a person lying at the summit of one of the mountain peaks. Driven by curiosity, he decided to fly down and check it out.
With a swift motion, his routine glider compacted into a slender staff, while the rest of his descent was slowed by a draft of air until his feet touched the ground so softly they didn't make a sound. The boy quickly observed the figure sprawled on the ground and realized he was injured. Seeing this, he decided to check his condition and tried speaking to him to see if he would respond.
Receiving no reply, he tried to roll him onto his back. As he turned him over to check for injuries on that side, he swallowed a muffled gasp and recoiled slightly. It scared him half to death to see that this person was missing his eyes—even more so because it was clear this had happened recently. Once he calmed down, he could see that the stranger was stable, all things considered. So, he deployed his glider once more and took flight toward the temple to report his findings.
◇ ◇ ◇
While he was unconscious, there was little he could do; he could only perceive the smell of something resembling a stable for a brief moment until he finally began to regain consciousness. He tried to see where he was, but there was only darkness. He began to hyperventilate, though he quickly forced himself back to normal. His memories were settling now, and although he wished this were a nightmare, he understood that this was his new reality.
For the moment, he was feeling a bit better, though still quite hungry; as for thirst, it wasn't too bad, but his lips were parched. He tried to stand up, but he still felt weak, so he decided to just sit up on what felt like a tatami mat. Once his mind cleared, he decided to check the system:
'Let's see what this world has to offer. I just hope it's not a dead world.'
Immediately, a series of notifications began flashing in his mind:
[ALERT]: New energy source detected — Energybending.
[PROMPT]: Do you wish to access this energy source?
"Energybending?" Shisui frowned beneath his bandages. "Doesn't sound too different from chakra, I suppose. Accept."
[ERROR]: Insufficient authority.
[PROCESSING]: Bypass detected. The host already possesses a compatible energy system.
[NOTICE]: Overriding authority restriction.
[ACCESS GRANTED: ENERGYBENDING ENERGY SYSTEM] - Mastery Level: 3/10.
[UPDATE]: Chakra Mastery Level increased to Level 6.
Before he could process the increase, a second alert popped up:
[ALERT]: Ambient energy detected — Elemental Energy.
[PROMPT]: Do you wish to access this energy?
'Hmm, looks like I'll have overlapping abilities,' Shisui mused, but then he stopped dead in his tracks. 'Wait a minute! Energybending and elemental energy? Of course! I'm in the Avatar world! Fine, accept.'
[ACCESS GRANTED: ELEMENTAL ENERGY SYSTEM] - Mastery Level: 2/10.
[ACHIEVEMENT]: Congratulations, host. New compatible system unlocked.
[UPDATE]: Natural Energy Mastery Level increased to Level 1.
'Alright, open my status.'
[ HOST STATUS ]
Name: Shisui Uchiha.
Age: 16 years old.
Health: 60%.
Condition: Critical State / Slow Healing / Total Blindness.
[ ENERGY SYSTEMS ]
Chakra System: Mastery 6 / 10 (+1)
Energybending: Mastery 3 / 10 (+3)
Elemental Energy: Mastery 2 / 10 (+2)
Natural Energy: Mastery 1 / 10 (+1)
[ ATTRIBUTE MASTERY ]
Fire: Level 6 / 10 (+1)
Yin: Level 6 / 10 (+1)
Lightning: Level 5 / 10 (+1)
Yang: Level 4 / 10 (+1)
Air: Level 4 / 10 (+1)
Water: Level 3 / 10 (+1)
Earth: Level 3 / 10 (+1)
Shisui noticed that almost all of his attributes had gone up by one point, but the most important change was the physical sensation. As the natural and elemental energies integrated into him, he began to notice a slight difference in his senses: his sensory perception, both of energy and his physical surroundings, had expanded to at least double its previous range.
Thus, as he explored all the energies within his perception range, he noticed one in particular that stood out above all the rest: one that was easily equivalent to a Jonin's, and that was just in its current state. Most of the presences in the area had no more energy than a newly graduated Genin, and only a few could reach Chunin level. Curiously, this immense signature came precisely from the area where those with the lowest energy levels—those who hadn't even reached Genin level yet—were gathered.
'That must be Aang.'