2 - 2 - An Extra Boon

Ryo stood silent for a moment in thought; the weight of his choice pressed heavily on him, and he did not want to make a mistake once again.

He weighed his options carefully, the gears of his mind turning, 'I have to pick a clan with a dojutsu. While the Uzumaki or the Senju would be nice due to their chakra reserves, dojutsu are just too overpowered to pass up. And also, I should be set on chakra due to having fifty times the amount I would originally have. So now, which one? The Uchiha with the Sharingan or the Hyuga with the Byakugan? If I pick the Hyuga, I risk being born into the branch family and being branded with their cursed seal at birth, and I will be oppressed by the main family, so I think I should pass on the Byakugan. That leaves the Uchiha, which could also be bad depending on what time I'm born into.'

With a steady gaze fixed on the godlike being, he broke the silence and asked, "What time period will I be born into?"

The godlike being cloaked in an aura of omnipotence answered, "It will be six years before the Second Great Ninja War."

Ryo paused, allowing the weight of his newfound timeline to settle in, 'Okay, I can work with that. That will give me plenty of time to get strong enough to survive the Uchiha massacre. I might even be able to prevent it from happening. It also gives me plenty of time to prepare for the 4th Great Ninja War.'

He raised his head, locking eyes with the mysterious being, and declared with unwavering certainty, "I select the Uchiha clan."

The being revealed its shock again, remarking, "The Uchiha? I'm surprised. I thought you would have selected the Otsutsuki clan, but once again, it is your choice."

Ryo wanted to slap himself for not thinking of the Otsutsuki clan, but he couldn't, so he quickly asked, "Is it too late to change my pick?"

The being responded with a gentle shake of its head, the finality in its voice unmistakable, "Yes, I truly am sorry. There's nothing I can do once I selected the Uchiha. But you're lucky. I mentioned I like you, right? So, how about this: I'll give you one more boon that will hopefully help you survive. I'll allow you to have a small cheat. I'll allow you to have a save point, which means that you can pick a certain time to save, and if you kill yourself, you will be brought back to that point in time. But I will remind you death isn't your friend. If someone else does the deed for you, there's no coming back. With this, you should have far greater odds at survival."

Ryo stood, or rather floated, there and didn't know what to say. This being had truly done him a huge favor with this cheat. With it, he could essentially redo his life choices. If he needed to, he could also use it to train endlessly, and the best thing about it was if he was about to die, he would have the ultimate safety net; he could just kill himself, and then boom, he'd be back at his save point, perfectly fine.

The being, catching a glimpse of his grin, offered further insight, "I'll also tell you this: the save point has times when it can't be used, and before you get worried, you will know when these times are, so don't worry about accidentally killing yourself and not going back to the save point. The only time you can't use the save point is during a fight or when you're lethally wounded. It wouldn't be much of a cheat if those two were an option, now would it?"

"Damn," Ryo muttered under his breath. He then paused for a moment in thought and asked, "Does the save point just send me back in time, or does it create a new alternate universe?"

The being stated calmly, "It sends you back in time, so there is no alternate universe where people are grieving your dead body."

The being spoke again, a tone of inevitability in its voice, "Well, I guess it's finally time to put you in the Naruto world, so good luck." Ryo then felt the world around him slip away into nothingness, and then, a moment later, he woke up, his surroundings unfamiliar.