Chapter 3: Activation
When thinking about the powerful combat forces in the Naruto world, the first things that flashed through Ryūya's mind were the Byakugan, the Sharingan, First Hokage cells, and senjutsu—classic "cheat codes."
In Konoha, there was no shortage of shortcuts to becoming stronger, but the four above were undoubtedly the most tempting.
The Byakugan was the bloodline limit of the Hyūga clan, one of Konoha's great noble families. Together with the Sharingan and the Rinnegan, it was known as one of the three great dōjutsu of the ninja world.
Members of the Hyūga clan needed continuous cultivation and training to awaken the Byakugan. However, those with a strong Ōtsutsuki bloodline could awaken it without training.
By combining Ōtsutsuki chakra with the Hyūga clan's Byakugan, or by fusing multiple Ōtsutsuki Byakugan, it was possible to evolve it into the Tenseigan.
Once the Byakugan evolved into the Tenseigan, it would possess the power of destruction and creation. Its status and abilities were on par with the Rinnegan, allowing its user to directly reach the ceiling of combat power in the ninja world.
The Sharingan, meanwhile, was the bloodline limit of another Konoha noble clan, the Uchiha.
From the moment it awakened, the Uchiha clan's Sharingan could be upgraded from a one-tomoe Sharingan all the way to a tomoe Rinnegan, likewise leading straight to the pinnacle of ninja-world power.
Moreover, in terms of combat strength, once an Uchiha awakened the Sharingan, their strength would immediately surpass that of other ninja of the same generation—even the Hyūga clan's Byakugan couldn't quite compare.
As long as the Sharingan reached the three-tomoe stage, its owner could basically be guaranteed to become an elite jōnin.
Once the three-tomoe Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan, its user could even step directly into the ranks of Kage-level powerhouses.
The sheer power of the Sharingan was also the reason why the Uchiha clan had always been so proud.
As for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the Rinnegan, and the tomoe Rinnegan, these could already be described as outright bugs.
Then there were the First Hokage's cells—the cells of Hashirama Senju.
Hashirama was the reincarnation of Asura, the second son of the Sage of Six Paths, and possessed a Sage Body. His cells held unimaginable power.
If a ninja transplanted Hashirama's cells and successfully controlled them without suffering backlash, their physical energy would increase dramatically. Not only could they learn Wood Release techniques, but their chakra reserves and ninjutsu power would also skyrocket.
Lastly, there was senjutsu.
Senjutsu was formed when a ninja absorbed natural energy on top of physical and spiritual energy, creating senjutsu chakra, which was then consumed to release techniques.
Ninja who mastered senjutsu could enter Sage Mode. In Sage Mode, a ninja's strength and speed would increase severalfold, ninjutsu would become terrifyingly powerful, pain from injuries would be greatly reduced, and they would gain strong sensory abilities and wide-area attack capabilities.
It could be said that once someone mastered senjutsu, they could rapidly enter the ranks of Kage-level powerhouses.
Having watched Shippuden, Ryūya knew that all four of these were ways to rapidly increase his strength.
However, after careful consideration, Ryūya could only dejectedly abandon these fantasies.
The abilities of the Byakugan and Sharingan were things anyone who had watched Naruto would envy.
But precisely because he had watched it, Ryūya immediately gave up on the idea of targeting either of them.
First was the Byakugan. Under the control of the Caged Bird Seal, it was nearly impossible for outsiders to seize a pair of Byakugan under the supervision of the Hyūga main family.
Unless one directly targeted the Hyūga main family itself.
Very few people in the ninja world were capable of doing that.
And those who truly could probably wouldn't even care much about the Byakugan's abilities—especially without knowing it could evolve into the higher-level Tenseigan.
So, the Byakugan was pass.
Second, the Sharingan.
As Konoha's foremost noble clan, the Uchiha had many members, so opportunities to obtain a Sharingan weren't nonexistent.
However, the Sharingan was an Uchiha-exclusive bloodline limit. Even ordinary Uchiha clan members found it difficult to evolve it. For outsiders without Indra's bloodline, evolving it was practically impossible.
As for Sharingan that had evolved to three tomoe or beyond, their owners' strength was far beyond what Ryūya could provoke.
And even if he were lucky enough to obtain a highly evolved Sharingan, Ryūya didn't believe his current body could withstand the constant burden it placed on the user.
This was evident from the former prodigy Kakashi—long-term combat would result in chakra shortages and severe physical strain.
Given Kakashi's talent—becoming a jōnin at twelve—if not for the burden of Obito's Sharingan, his strength might have grown even faster.
So, the Sharingan was also pass.
Third, First Hokage cells.
At present, aside from a portion secretly stored by the village, only Danzō and Orochimaru possessed Hashirama's cells.
Whether it was the village, Danzō, or Orochimaru, it was absolutely impossible for Ryūya to obtain the cells from them.
Moreover, fusing with Hashirama's cells wasn't something just anyone could do. Without sufficient confidence, even if Ryūya somehow had the cells, he wouldn't gamble his life like that.
Finally, senjutsu.
At this time, only Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze in the entire ninja world knew senjutsu.
Without the toad oil from Mount Myōboku, ordinary people couldn't even sense natural energy, let alone learn senjutsu.
And with Ryūya being nothing more than a genin, it was impossible for him to ask Jiraiya to take him to Mount Myōboku to train.
As one of the three great sacred lands of the ninja world, the fortune-teller-like Toad Sage wasn't willing to accept just anyone.
As for technical "cheats" like Edo Tensei, Flying Thunder God, and the Eight Gates, these were temporarily outside Ryūya's considerations.
Setting aside how difficult these techniques were to obtain, even if he did get them, given his pitiful ninjutsu talent and shallow understanding, Ryūya had no confidence he could master them in a short time.
After thinking it through, Ryūya ultimately concluded that he had to start from the basics.
If he couldn't rely on family background or talent, then only knowledge could change his fate.
At that moment, Ryūya made up his mind to walk the path of a technology-oriented ninja.
Suppressing the discomfort in his body, he slowly got out of bed, rummaged through the house, found a ninjutsu scroll, then returned to bed and prepared to read it.
"Beep!"
The moment he opened the scroll, a sharp chime suddenly rang in his ears.
He was very familiar with this sound—it was the startup sound of a cloud storage app he often used in his previous life.
"Unknown information detected. Biological Chip Huaxia-01 officially activated. Would you like to store the data?"
A sweet female voice sounded in Ryūya's mind.
In an instant, Ryūya froze, sitting motionless on the bed.
Biological chip? Huaxia-01?
What was going on? He had never heard of such black technology before!
In a daze, the only thing Ryūya could think of was the small black card he had picked up before transmigrating.
And it had actually come along with him!
This was completely beyond his understanding.
However, after a brief moment of shock, a flush spread across Ryūya's face, and his breathing became rapid.
Could this be the transmigrator's standard golden finger?
"Unknown information detected. Would you like to record the data?"
The sweet voice sounded again in his mind.
"Record."
"Recording data. Please wait."
With a thought, a stream of information began to pour into Ryūya's mind.
This was a ninjutsu scroll that recorded the Transformation Technique.
As the information continued to flow in, the method and techniques of performing the Transformation Technique were engraved into Ryūya's mind as if carved by a blade.
"E-rank ninjutsu: Transformation Technique recorded successfully."
One minute later, the data recording was completed. Before the excited Ryūya could even test it out, a powerful wave of exhaustion surged through his body.