Healing His Injuries

Ding! The host has completed the Chunin Ninja Exams mission!

Chunin Ninja Exams Mission: Hunt the Arlong Pirates

Mission Rank: C+

Mission Status: Completed!

Rewards Issued: Summoning Slug, Byakugou Seal, Creation Rebirth, and 1,000 Strength Mission Points.

Ding! Level up!

Host: Jotaro J. Rodney

Race: Human

Level: Chunin

Attributes: Wind, Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Yin, Yang

Ninjutsu: Great Fireball, Phoenix Sage Fire, Water Clone...

Taijutsu: Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, Shadow Leaf Dance, Konoha Whirlwind, Konoha Great Whirlwind, Eight Inner Gates!

Kekkei Genkai: None

Mission Points: 1,340.

Lying on the bed, his body felt utterly weak.

The room was plain and somewhat messy. There were plenty of books, along with scattered notes on the desk.

The air carried a sweet-and-sour citrus scent that was extremely pleasant.

He had not been taken away by his mother. Instead, Nami had rescued him after coming over to check on the situation.

The battle at Arlong Park had attracted the attention of many villagers from Cocoyasi Village. Nami had taken the initiative to go there. She was still technically a member of the Arlong Pirates, so Arlong and the others would not attack her.

When she was nearly there, she found Rodney. Thinking he had failed, she hid him in the grass before heading to Arlong Park. That was when she discovered the place had already been reduced to ruins, with Arlong's corpse lying atop a pile of rubble.

She was utterly shocked. Could their nightmare really have ended just like that?

So easily?

Unable to believe it, she cautiously approached and used the knife she carried to stab Arlong's already-cold corpse. Only after stabbing it several times did Nami finally confirm it—the nightmare was over!

The nightmare she had wanted to kill countless times had been killed by Rodney!

She burst into tears beside Arlong's corpse, venting all the emotions that had built up in her heart over the years. She did not know how long she had cried before remembering that Rodney was still hidden in the grass.

The girl summoned all her strength, carried Rodney back, and settled him in her own room.

"Mr. Rodney, are you feeling any better?" A girl with short blue hair and bronze-colored skin entered the room. She showed Rodney great respect.

Rodney had killed Arlong, the mountain that had weighed on the heads of more than a dozen nearby villages. He had freed her beloved sister from having to risk her life on the sea, and spared the villagers, who had long been consumed by guilt, from having to hurl vicious abuse at the Nami they loved.

All of that was thanks to Mr. Rodney.

"Miss Nojiko? I'm doing all right physically. I just can't move." Rodney's voice was weak, as if he had spent several days cultivating immortality. This was what happened when he used up too much Chakra.

Back then, Hatake Kakashi had been in the same state when fighting the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza. His Sharingan had drained his energy for too long. He had not had much energy to begin with, yet he had imitated the enemy and used several large-scale jutsu, directly draining all the Chakra from his body and leaving himself bedridden for a long time.

That had also been the peak of Zabuza's life. He had nearly killed the hope of the shinobi world!

Rodney's current condition was similar. His internal injuries had accumulated. Arlong had not posed much of a threat to him; instead, Kuroobi had inflicted considerable damage. Fish-Man Karate had left him with internal injuries. If he did not receive treatment in time, problems would arise.

"I see. Then please continue resting. Do you need anything?" Nojiko asked.

"Nothing. Where's Miss Nami?" He had been lying there for two days. Nami seemed to be leading people in digging all the valuables out from beneath the ruins. Those were the funds that the Arlong Pirates had extorted from Cocoyasi Village and the other villages over the years, after all.

Nojiko said, "Nami and the others are distributing the money."

"What about Arlong's head?"

"Following your instructions, the village butcher has already cut it off."

"Mm, sorry for the trouble." After saying that, he closed his eyes. If he could not move his hands, he could not form Chakra, so for the time being, he could only be a cripple.

Damn it. I'm never using up all my Chakra again.

I never should have opened the Eight Inner Gates!

A day later, Rodney could finally control his hands. With Nojiko's help, he formed the seals needed to gather Chakra and began condensing it.

Half a day later, his hands formed seals at an extremely slow pace: Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Goat!

He slapped his hand against the bed, and black runes spread outward in all directions like a spiderweb.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Bang!

White smoke billowed up, and a blue-and-white slug less than a meter long appeared beside the bed.

"Nice to meet you, Lord Rodney!" The slug's voice was ethereal and gentle, like that of a kind older sister next door. Seeing Rodney's injuries, she said, "You're injured. Do you need treatment?"

"Go ahead. Heal my internal injuries first, but I don't have much Chakra left right now."

"Without your Chakra, your treatment will be slower. However, as long as your Chakra does not run dry to the point where I can no longer maintain the Summoning Jutsu, it will be fine," the slug explained.

Compared with the summoning beasts of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, slugs were more skilled at healing. However, without sufficient Chakra, they could not achieve exceptionally powerful regeneration.

When Tsunade had been cut in half, the slug had needed to maintain the contract while also treating the Five Kage, greatly reducing the speed of her healing. But once Tsunade recovered, the Five Kage quickly came back to life on the spot.

Its healing ability was affected by its summoner. However, unless the summoner was an especially powerful medical ninja, the impact was not significant.

"Then I'll have to trouble you. Go ahead."

"Yes."

The slug climbed onto Rodney's body and began treating him.

At once, Rodney felt a cool sensation. The feeling of having gone far too long without water in a desert was swept away.

It was like finding an oasis and diving straight into the water.

"My Chakra..." He felt the speed at which his Chakra recovered increase.

The slug explained, "Lord Rodney, you've learned the Byakugou Seal, so you can resonate with my Chakra. I'm accelerating your Chakra recovery now. Once you complete the Byakugou Seal, I'll be able to transmit a small amount of Chakra to you."

Its Senjutsu Chakra was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

She could only let the summoner recover a little Chakra. Otherwise, the summoner's body would not be able to endure it, and problems might arise.

"I have strength again." With that, he seized the momentum and began refining Chakra!

"Mr. Rodney, you... Ahhh!" Nojiko and Nami pushed open the door. The two girls saw the slug lying atop Rodney and screamed in fright.

Nami was a little calmer. She pulled a collapsible baton from the four-dimensional pouch at her chest and swung it at the slug.

"Wait! It isn't an enemy!" Seeing that Nami's baton was about to strike the slug, Rodney hurriedly stopped her. Nami quickly halted and looked at him and the slug in confusion.

The slug turned her head and said, "Please don't worry. I'm treating Lord Rodney."

"Ah! A bug! And it can talk?" Nojiko and Nami exclaimed in surprise.

The One Piece World did indeed have many strange creatures, but talking animals were still relatively rare. There were practically none in the East Blue. Even though Nami had traveled throughout the East Blue for years, she had never encountered such a strange creature.

Rodney explained, "The slug is my companion. She can heal my injuries."

"I see... But it's a bug... So disgusting." Nami rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Although, as a "lady," her attacks carried plenty of force and she had beaten the three main fighters of the Straw Hat crew black and blue, she still had a ladylike side.

Hearing that, the slug's feelers drooped, and she seemed somewhat hurt. Realizing that she had misspoken, Nami quickly apologized. "Sorry, I'm a little afraid of bugs."

"It's all right. No problem." The slug's older-sister-next-door voice was very soothing. That was, as long as one did not associate it with the God of Guns from the Land of Shadows. Yes, as long as one did not think in that direction.

Speaking of which, quite a few older women shared that voice...

"Tsunade and Sakura are still the best among the kunoichi..." The slug muttered under her breath, but Rodney heard her.

Rodney: "..."

It seemed Big Slug Sister still had quite a grudge in her heart...

However, judging from what the slug had said, she had not been created by the system as an independent summoning beast. Instead, she was connected to the Naruto world, and the plot might already be nearing its end—at least halfway through.

Then, could he use the slug to perform a reverse summoning, teleport himself into Shikkotsu Forest, and then enter the Naruto world from there?