Step 9.5

In principle, I did everything right when I tried to activate the illusion barrier with a voice command. But the activator phrase was from the "factory". When I read it, it made me want to bang my head against the wall. I would have done so had I not been strapped to the bed. The activator phrase was, "In the name of the moon, open the illusion barrier".

My second discovery was that I was being followed. How I came to this conclusion, yes all because of the reputation drop reports. Last week I had reports of a reputation drop with someone I'd never seen before. It puzzled me then how it happened. Here it is again. During my summoning ritual, my reputation with Anbu, aka The Cat, had fallen twelve times to minus a thousand and six hundred.

According to the journal entry, he knocked me out before I could finish the ritual.

- I hope Hapsiel takes the time to love him.

- I almost did, didn't I?

I don't believe that he was just passing by, but the logs definitely indicate that he was there for eight hours. So the fact that he was watching me can be considered one hundred percent confirmed.

Then the question is: why am I here in the hospital, though tied to a bed, and not under interrogation by the good Uncle Ibiki with all the torture he knows? I was too suspicious, speaking in Russian(yes russian-_-) and as if I were talking to myself, at least so it seemed from the outside, they must have suspected that I had been captured by a fox.

And it is only the complete integrity of the seal and the absence of the possibility of digging in my head that saves me. I need to be more carefully and think about what I'm doing.

Fortunately, my last screw-up with the ritual could be blamed on mushrooms. Thanks to the system for them. In principle, you can blame it on them, and tell them that I have been eating them for a long time. That should explain all my weirdness, even the fact that I spend half the day in the toilet. I could put it down to poisoning. If I'm lucky, I'll be more cautious in the future.

But the ritual, even though it wasn't complete, was useful. Besides the fact that the system gave me the tambourine and the mushrooms, which were taken away from me, it was clear why the mushrooms, but why did they need the tambourine? Or did I summon something? But in the logs of this is not a word. Only one more dubious achievement appeared.

*Param Pampam.

*Congratulations!!!

*Gained the achievement of "Stoned Shaman".

"Stoned Shaman":

*You can use a tambourine and ritual to summon your kindred beings.

Why do I think this achievement is dubious, well first, I was taken away from the tambourine, and without it can not repeat, and secondly, and perhaps most importantly, what is my true name, from this it turns out that I will summon some crap.

But it was also very useful without all the nasty wording and dubious benefits of such an acquisition. My mana was unlocked, so now I'm a real mage, although my reserve is low and my mana regeneration is weak, but that's also good.

I also partially unlocked the fox chakra, and now I can use two-tenths of one percent of their full power. And that's quite a lot. Maybe that's why they knocked me out. And my stamina increased by two units, and my chakra control improved by five. Now I could feel my chakra, and that was a start, now all that was left was to develop it.

Later, med-nin came by, examined me, asked me questions. I, of course, with the most honest face I could muster, told him. I found what I called "magic mushrooms" on the orphanage grounds; why magic mushrooms, because if I ate one, I would be in a good mood all day, and if I ate two, I would be in a magical mood.

He listened, nodded, and asked me if I had any stomach pain. Of course, I honestly confessed that yes, my stomach has been bothering me lately. This "Doctor" enlightened me that it was all because of mushrooms, and that I shouldn't eat them anymore, or I would die. I assured him that I would no longer eat them, and I had run out of mushrooms.

After med-nin, I got a visit from someone I certainly didn't expect to see, Sarutobi Hiruzen, aka the third Hokage, aka the sparse brute who made my life so much fun.The fourth's inheritance was definitely pocketed by him and the elders. I doubt that Minato didn't have any savings, and Kushina was a Uzumaki hime, so she obviously didn't come to the village empty-handed.

But that's all lyric.The main thing is that after all my punctures, I expected to see Danzo or Morino Ibiki with a set of torture weapons, but not the "Third" one. What does he want from me?

When he came into my room I didn't even have to act surprised. At first he asked the standard questions, like how life, health, but after that all hell broke loose. This bi**h of dog had been eating my brain with a teaspoon for three hours. She was propagandizing about the power of friendship, love, unity, and, of course, the WILL OF FIRE.

By the end of the monologue I even began to believe in this very "will". Yeah, that old baboon could talk anybody out of anything.

After he finished brainwashing me and discharged me, the old baboon decided to take me for a walk. As if he had nothing better to do than walk with an orphan. Our walk together ended at Ichiraku Ramen, where the kind-hearted grandfather kindly treated me to ramen.

Now my previously sleep-deprived paranoia was awakening. And it was whispering that there was a reason. And if you remember that the system, after using mushrooms, did not reflect their effects in any of my reports. There were no reports that I had consumed a mind-affecting substance. So I'm no longer sure I'm not getting anything in my ramen.

After a hearty lunch, I said goodbye to the third, and went home to think about what to do now. And my suddenly awakened paranoia was not ignored by the system.

*Param Pampam.

*Congratulations!

*Gained the achievement "Paranoid."

*If you don't see a sneaky trap in a broom standing in the corner, it doesn't mean it's not there, it means it's well camouflaged.

"Paranoid":

*Chance of detecting a trap + 10%.

*Chance of detecting a trap + 15%.

*Chance of revealing a secret plot + 3%.

Yes ... the system has splurged on a normal achievement, something big has died somewhere. I should check the fox, because I don't know.

****

A recent urgent report about the jinchuriki cleared up a lot of things. Hiruzen made his next move. He couldn't plant the tabs because of the unknown protection, so he decided to use other methods. But apparently he hadn't counted on Jinchuriki to consume the hallucinogens planted on him in excessive quantities, and too often. To think that he had found these mushrooms himself was foolish. Yes, and a check of the orphanage grounds yielded nothing.

There was no doubt that it was Hiruzen. His further actions confirmed this. Given the shortcomings, Sarutobi gave orders to give free food vouchers to jinchuriki at the ichiraku ramen. There, a loyal third person would properly dose the dru*s and conduct propaganda in favor of Sarutobi Hiruzen. And at the same time will develop an attachment to this man and to the village.

This method was less reliable than tabs or seals, but because of the protection of the mind, no other options were possible. It was also worth including someone in Jinchuriki's entourage through whom he could exert his influence.

Having come to these conclusions, Danzo began to select a suitable candidate.