A full 1,500 experience points were distributed, with eighty percent of them allocated by Motomu to his Heart.
He waited for a moment.
Once the system notification chime finished.
Motomu opened the panel.
[POKEMON: HEART]
[LEVEL: 17]
[TYPE: FIRE/FIGHTING]
[CURRENT EXP: 40/170]
[BASE STATS: HP: 20 | ATK: 7 | DEF: 6 | SP. ATK: 30 | SP. DEF: 21 | SPD: 5]
[IVS: 4/31]
[EVS: 0/100]
[NATURE/ABILITY: JOLLY]
[MOVES: TACKLE, EMBER, ARM THRUST]
[PASSIVE MOVES: NONE]
[DESCRIPTION: EFFORT IS WORTHLESS IN THE FACE OF BEING PAMPERED]
He wondered if it was because the IVs were too low.
The Heart hadn't evolved even after reaching the level 10 threshold.
Motomu only spared a moment of concern for that before shifting his attention to the move selection.
The moves available at levels 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 were all things like Ember, Incinerate, and Low Sweep.
Motomu skipped past a few of them and opened the level 17 move page.
[1. BULK UP 2. MINIMIZE]
[3. FLAME CHARGE 4. BURN UP]
First, Burn Up was instantly ruled out.
Burning up the opponent's held berry? That was truly useless in this world.
Aside from Burn Up, the other three options were somewhat interesting.
[BULK UP: DEFENSE AND ATTACK POWER INCREASED BY 10%]
He had seen this before; it was a buffing-type move.
A ten-percent increase in defense and attack power would strengthen moves like Arm Thrust out of thin air.
As for Minimize, it would be extremely useful for Motomu to maintain his physical integrity.
As the Pokemon's health bar went up, its size kept increasing.
Without Minimize, the Heart would eventually grow too large to fit back inside.
[FLAME CHARGE: WRAPS THE USER IN A WEAK FLAME AND CHARGES THE TARGET. EVERY USE INCREASES SPEED BY 1 POINT UNTIL THE FLAME EXTINGUISHES.]
???
A move that provides continuous buffs?
That seems incredibly powerful!
With this move...
As long as he left the Heart somewhere else to shine and radiate heat before a battle.
He could infinitely stack attributes.
Though it was a bit troublesome, this was the prestigious attribute-stacking playstyle.
The faster the speed, the faster the Heart would pump.
His Chakra Burst Mode would become even stronger.
Wasn't this effectively a weakened version of the Gate of Death? Except his was just a minor variant.
The only side effect could be resolved by placing the Heart in a safe location.
Why does this feel like Voldemort's Horcruxes?
He hesitated for a long while.
Instead of making an immediate choice, Motomu turned his attention to the level 10 passive moves.
[THE HEART HAS LEVELED UP; IT SEEMS TO HAVE REALIZED SOMETHING]
[FINAL DISCO: WHEN HP IS EXHAUSTED, MOVE EFFECTS INCREASE A HUNDREDFOLD]
[HANGING BY A THREAD: WHEN HP IS EXHAUSTED, THE POKEMON LOCKS ITS HEALTH FOR 30 MINUTES]
[GLASS CANNON: DEFENSE IS PERMANENTLY 1, ATTACK X100]
[ENLARGE AND HARDEN: DEFENSE INCREASES PROPORTIONALLY AS THE POKEMON'S SIZE GROWS]
The first three passives were practically interlinked.
Taken individually, they would be outdated options.
But stacked together...
Low-health eruption, absolute health locking, and high attack with low defense.
It was an unstoppable combination.
Pure numerical power.
If he could watch an ad to select them all, Motomu would definitely do it.
Unfortunately, the system didn't have such a thing as advertisements.
Even though he knew these three were mechanical anomalies.
Motomu didn't dare gamble on picking one and waiting for the other two to appear in a later refresh.
If they never appeared again, he'd be finished.
His most stable choice.
Had always been 'Enlarge and Harden.'
After choosing Enlarge and Harden, Motomu used Minimize to replace Tackle.
[CURRENT MOVES]
[1. MINIMIZE 2. ARM THRUST 3. FIERY ABYSS 4. LAVA PLUME]
[CURRENT PASSIVE MOVES]
[ENLARGE AND HARDEN]
The move slots changed.
Motomu concluded this level-up selection.
As for Flame Charge, he would have to see if he could unlock it later.
There was still plenty of summoning time left.
Motomu leaped over Garaga's wriggling serpentine body and headed deeper into Ryuchi Cave.
The underground caverns were vast and gloomy.
His footsteps kicked up echoes in the silence.
Several hours passed.
He found no trace of the White Snake Sage, nor did he see any sign of the Three Himes who acted as trial judges.
Finding nothing, the summoning was released and he was sent back.
Several days passed quickly in a blur of low-level missions.
At the edge of the Konoha forest.
He stacked the last bundle of firewood neatly.
"Finally finished. You two are really fast at chopping wood."
"Kakashi's swordsmanship is just that good. One strike per piece."
Obito and Kakashi jumped down from the woodpile.
With this mission complete, the three of them finally met the mission requirements for the Chunin Exams.
It was still early.
Staring at Kakashi, who was ignoring him, an excited Obito thought for a moment and continued.
"Kakashi, the strength requirements for the Chunin Exams aren't low."
"How about we spar a bit?"
"Not interested."
"Yo!"
"Who wants to spar!?"
A unique voice rang out through the dense forest.
Kakashi's dead-fish eyes looked up, focusing on two eccentrics who suddenly appeared at the edge of the woods.
These two guys.
Dressed in strange green jumpsuits with bowl-cut hair hanging down.
They were sprinting toward them upside down, supporting themselves with their hands under the setting sun.
It looked like they just happened to be passing by and overheard.
"Oh, it's Guy."
"Long time no see!"
"And this is?"
Motomu smiled and took the initiative to greet them.
With a sharp *shing* sound.
The hand-standing Guy supported himself with one hand while flashing a grin with blindingly white teeth, giving a thumbs-up.
"It really has been a while, Motomu, Kakashi, Obito!"
"This is my father, Might Duy."
"Father!"
"The youth of my dueling spirit has been ignited!"
"Son, are you about to challenge a genius to a duel!?"
"Yes, Father, I am ready!"
"If I fail the challenge, I will do one hundred laps around Konoha on my hands as a penalty!"
"That's my boy!"
"If the challenge is successful, I will run three hundred laps around Konoha!"
"If I can't do it! I'll continue running three hundred more laps tomorrow!"
Before Motomu could say anything else, the two of them began an incredibly abstract display of hot-blooded passion.
"Motomu, accept the 33rd duel of my youth!"
Listening to their performance, Motomu's lips couldn't help but twitch.
He had no desire to accept a 33rd challenge.
"Sorry, I'm busy this time. Lord Orochimaru has something for me."
"Oh, oh, oh!"
Guy's hand-standing hands moved as he turned to look at Kakashi.
"Kakashi, Obito! Accept a challenge from my youth!"
"The new ninjutsu I learned will definitely defeat you!"
Kakashi and Obito looked at each other, and before they could even react to Guy seeking them out again.
They heard Guy's father, Might Duy, speak with a serious expression.
"Guy, that technique is meant to be used to protect your comrades."
Might Duy's words made Guy pause, but he quickly straightened his back again.
"Father, I understand! But it's precisely because I want to protect my comrades that I need to test it!"
'That technique, huh.'
Motomu sized up the father and son with interest.
Might Duy—at this stage, a Konoha Genin with mediocre strength, an ordinary appearance, and one might even say a bit disheveled.
But Motomu knew that this was a hidden, formidable character.
One day in a few years, this man would use the Eight Inner Gates Formation with a mortal body.
He would pummel the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist until only three remained alive.
And he would leave an indelible shadow in their hearts forever.