The concept of advancing was very simple for Kaito.
Currently, his character template looked like this.
——CHARACTER TEMPLATE——
Akagami no Shanks
Completion: 30%
Accumulated Points: 12,450.
Percentage Cost: 1000.
Kaito always waited until he had enough points to advance 10 levels all at once.
And that was what he meant by making an advancement.
He didn't want to spend his points as soon as he earned them. He had discovered that there was a considerable difference between slowly increasing synchronization and accumulating enough progress to break through an important threshold of the template all at once.
It wasn't merely a matter of strength. There was knowledge, instincts, and experiences belonging to Shanks that remained locked behind certain thresholds, like doors that could only be opened once his compatibility reached the appropriate point.
That was why he had waited.
Ten thousand points. 200 books sold in approximately two months.
An even more absurd number of customers endured.
But he finally had them.
And, conveniently, he was far from Konoha.
There were small military installations scattered throughout the region, and different teams trained several kilometers farther away, but there wasn't any major population center close enough for him to worry too much.
At least, that was what he thought.
Until he decided to advance.
[Do you wish to continue?]
[Yes / No]
Kaito pressed yes. It wasn't the first time he'd done it.
For a second, nothing happened. Kaito remained still.
But the sky suddenly roared. Kaito raised his head and saw the clouds begin to move.
An enormous gray mass began spreading across the sky as the clouds seemed to gather around the region. The sunlight gradually disappeared and a gigantic shadow fell over the fields.
Kaito frowned.
"Shit".
Then the pain came. His entire body tensed.
Kaito dropped to one knee as he felt as though every fiber of his body had been seized simultaneously and forced to adapt to something far too immense.
His muscles contracted. His bones creaked. His breathing stopped for an instant. And then his mind exploded.
Not literally. But for several seconds, he would have preferred that.
Images.
Sensations.
Instincts.
New experiences that didn't belong to Kaito began tearing through him like sharpened blades.
Kaito gritted his teeth.
And then
BOOM.
The world simply felt that something monstrous had just awakened.
An immeasurable pressure erupted from Kaito. Grass and dust were crushed against the ground as an invisible wave swept across the region.
The trees shuddered. Leaves were ripped from hundreds of branches. An entire flock of birds burst from the forest at once.
It wasn't merely a few. Thousands of wings began desperately beating through the air.
Everything capable of flight fled.
The land animals reacted an instant later.
Deer raced through the trees. Rabbits abandoned their burrows. Wild boars fled without caring about concealing their presence.
The entire forbidden forest descended into complete chaos.
Even the most fearsome predators in that forest trembled like chickens.
Kaito slowly raised his head. He was drenched in sweat.
His hair, now carrying a faint reddish hue, began to sway slightly. And then black lightning started crackling around his body.
It wasn't natural lightning. It was the violent manifestation of a will that, at that moment, exceeded Kaito's ability to control it.
The Haoshoku continued expanding.
One hundred meters, two hundred, five hundred meters.
It swept across fields, forests, and rivers beyond Konoha.
Watch posts. Training grounds.
It made no distinction between allies and enemies. It simply passed over everyone.
Several kilometers away, a team of genin was training under the supervision of a chūnin.
One of the youths was preparing a jutsu when he stopped.
"Sensei...".
The instructor looked up.
"What?".
The birds began fleeing overhead.
The chūnin frowned and then felt the pressure.
His eyes widened.
"GET DOWN!".
He never finished the order. Because one of the genin fell first.
His eyes rolled back and his body hit the ground. The second lasted barely half a second longer. The third tried to reach for a kunai. But he fell before he could touch it.
The chūnin felt his legs stop responding. He had no idea what the hell was happening. He simply felt a primal certainty coursing through his entire body.
Something his body ordered him not to confront.
The chūnin managed to remain conscious for three seconds, then dropped to his knees. And finally to the ground.
In another training ground, two jōnin interrupted their fight simultaneously.
One turned toward the west.
"What the hell?".
The other didn't respond immediately. Every hair on his arms was standing on end.
A bead of sweat ran down his temple.
The pressure then passed over them. Both remained conscious. But neither moved.
The instincts forged through years of missions and battles screamed the same warning.
Don't move.
Both of them swallowed.
Farther away still, a patrol of four chūnin-rank ninja was moving through the trees.
Three collapsed.
The fourth managed to remain conscious by clutching the trunk of a tree while breathing desperately.
Her body simply trembled.
Kaito knew nothing about any of that. He was too busy trying to bring himself under control. To keep his Haki from spreading any farther and descending upon all of Konoha.
For the first time since obtaining Shanks's template, Kaito truly understood what it meant to possess the will of a Conqueror on a monstrous scale.
It wasn't intimidation, nor was it killing intent.
It was presence. The absolute assertion of one's will upon the world.
The weak couldn't remain conscious before it. And the strong could resist, but their bodies understood perfectly well what they had just felt.
Kaito couldn't imagine the scale it would reach once he achieved level 100 synchronization.
He looked toward the sky, and it seemed to split apart for an instant when he redirected the pressure upward. It surged into the heavens and tore open an enormous rift between the dark masses.
Kaito raised his head. And then something unexpected happened.
He smiled.
The sensation was intoxicating. There was no other word for it.
Pure, devastating power.
It was the feeling that the limits he had once considered normal had just been violently pushed forward.
His body felt lighter. His sword, though it remained sheathed, seemed to be part of him in a way he had never experienced before.
Kaito raised one hand and slowly closed it.
"Return".
The Haoshoku responded immediately.
The pressure finally began to diminish. The black lightning vanished one bolt after another.
The leaves stopped trembling. The trees grew still. The sky remained covered for several more seconds before the clouds slowly began to separate.
Kaito took a deep breath. The entire field seemed to have been abandoned by life.
Kaito opened his eyes and did nothing for several seconds.
A peculiar mark then manifested above and below his left eye. A slash that resembled the wound left by a claw.
Finally, the new knowledge finished settling into place.
[The template has crossed a development threshold.]
[Template knowledge updated.]
[Kenbunshoku Haki comprehension increased.]
[Busoshoku Haki comprehension increased.]
[Haoshoku Haki comprehension increased.]
[Combat and swordsmanship experience updated.]
[Physical adaptation completed.]
Kaito remained staring at the words, and then the main screen appeared.
——CHARACTER TEMPLATE——
Akagami no Shanks
Completion: 40%
Accumulated Points: 2,450
Percentage Cost: 3,000