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The Hokage nodded approvingly. "Now that the Kyūbi business is done, there is something I was hoping to ask you about Naruto-kun. A member of ANBU spotted you using some strange ability to absorb a scroll while in town. Can I ask what it is that you did?"
Naruto froze. Hell, he had not expected ANBU to be lurking around. Although, now that he knew of his status as the Kyūbi Jinchūriki, it made sense for him to be shadowed outside of his apartment or the Academy, especially since the Spandex Brigade incident.
The familiar sight of the world going grey and a box popping up in front of him was almost welcome.
[Critical Choice!]
At this time, you are left with two options: either attempt to bluff the Hokage or come clean about [The Gamer] with him. Your chances of bluffing him are almost non-existent. Be warned that your choice here will affect your relationship with the Hokage!
Choice 1: (Well Jiji, since you were honest with me…)
Choice 2: (Eh-heh-heh…what're you talking about Jiji?)
This, Naruto could tell, was an absolutely critical moment for him, as the headline of the box stated. He did not want to damage his relationship with his Jiji but at the same time, he was leery of revealing his big secret.
The blond boy froze again. Then again, his Jiji had just revealed a BIG secret of the village to him when he could have simply bluffed it out or put him off until graduation in a couple of months. He had trusted Naruto, so the only right thing to do was to trust him in return.
Slowly, Naruto reached out and pressed the first option, restarting time as he looked into his surrogate grandfather's eyes.
"Well Jiji, since you were honest with me…I should be honest with you-dattebayo." He said with a nervous swallow. "I…well, I woke up a couple of months ago to see something floating above my head…"
He then went on to give a brief explanation of his [Gamer] power, what he could do with it, how it affected things around him and so on. As he went on, he saw that the Hokage was becoming more and more sceptical, so he pulled a scroll out of his inventory as proof.
This made Sarutobi examine his arm and clothes for any kind of seal and he was baffled when he found none.
"I can't figure it out. There was absolutely no sign of chakra being used there." The old man confessed in mild disbelief. He made a note to look up this 'Gaia Theory' in his personal library at some point. He vaguely recalled having heard of it before, but couldn't recall anything other than the name.
"I wish there was a way to show you everything." Naruto said in frustration. Then he blinked as a screen popped up in front of him.
[Invite Sarutobi Hiruzen to the party?]
Y|N
Oh. How suspiciously convenient.
Hitting the correct button, he watched in amusement as his Jiji started at the sight of a box appearing in front of him. Ah, he'd been like that in the beginning…
[Party Invitation]
Uzumaki Naruto has invited you into his party.
Accept?
Y|N
Forming the Ram Handsign, Sarutobi attempted a Genjutsu Dispel using both methods he knew of, but the box remained.
With a flip of his wrist, a kunai appeared in the old man's hand and he applied a quick cut to the tip of one of his fingers, not even wincing at the sudden pain, but the box remained.
"I did the same thing." Naruto confided in him. "Either we're both affected by a stupidly powerful genjutsu, or this is for real."
Nodding, the Hokage gingerly pressed the 'Y' key and then his jaw dropped as his own status box appeared. He quickly scanned it and looked at Naruto in disbelief.
"These are my physical and mental attributes?" he asked for confirmation.
"Yup." Naruto did his best to keep his curiosity under control and not take a peek himself. Asking about or peeking at his Jiji's stat page would be like gathering information for an attack on him. If he wanted to show Naruto, then he would look, but not otherwise. "What level does it say you are, Jiji?"
"Level…Ninety-Nine." Sarutobi replied after a moment, making Naruto gape at him.
"I knew you were strong, but…!" the orphan was amazed at his surrogate grandfather. Here was he at only LV 15. The difference between them was insane.
"I also have several 'Special Statuses' that mostly involve my physical prowess taking something of a hit due to my advanced age." Sarutobi sighed. "They can be mitigated, now that I know what to instruct the Med-nin to look for and deal with, but sadly one cannot fight age indefinitely."
He spent the next few minutes looking over his Skills, his Perks and his Flaws. The wonder in his eyes grew with every clarification he came across that proved Naruto had spoken the truth.
"Naruto-kun…this is a strange and wonderful power that you have been given." The old man said at last. "It would also put a target the size of the Hokage Mountain on you if anyone found out about it. I can name several organisations who would love nothing more than to somehow gain control of such a unique ability, never mind the possibility that it might be inheritable by your children. I can lay even odds on people attempting to kidnap you in order to gain 'The Gamer' for their village via your progeny."
"Yikes…" Naruto muttered, blanching at the thought. His class had been given 'The Talk' just a few months ago and it had taken him ages to not explode into a full body blush at the sight of a girl. Getting the Gamer had really helped with that.
"As such, I am declaring this a SS-Rank secret, not to be written down and only I can tell others about it." Sarutobi stated. One possibility he did not tell Naruto about was the danger represented by Danzō and his Ne operatives. He could just imagine the old warhawk salivating at the amount of strength that his men could obtain while under the effects of The Gamer. No, he was not going to permit that to happen to either his home or his surrogate grandson.
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