An Unusual System

The Dimensional Potion System was an add-on that came with Zhou Duan when he crossed over. Of course, it was a pretty damn impressive add-on.

As the name suggested, the Dimensional Potion System was tied to potions. Whenever a researcher developed a new potion, the system would record it. Based on the potion's effects and uses, it would grant an appropriate reward. Naturally, the potions the researcher developed had to be genuinely useful—ones that could actually enhance or harm the human body.

As a potion maker, Zhou Duan had originally wanted to use the herbs in the Naruto World to develop potions that could unlock potential and increase Chakra. But the system informed him that other transmigrators had already developed and recorded those potions, leaving him no room to make a name for himself. Left with no other choice, Zhou Duan had come up with all sorts of bizarre concoctions, like the Madman Potion and the Clothes-Bursting Potion!ŴŴŴ.

But bizarre as they were, the things Zhou Duan developed had indeed been recognized and recorded by the system. And the rewards had been generous: the formula for the Brain Activation Potion, which boosted brain potential; the formula for the Chakra Growth Potion, which constantly stimulated Chakra and made it increase over time; information on all sorts of precious herbs; advanced medical equipment; and more. These were what had allowed Zhou Duan to reach the strength of an ordinary Genin in just two years, and become a Medical Genin in a little over a year—a level that took most people five or six years to achieve!

But great rewards meant great risks. Zhou Duan was satisfied with every other aspect of the system, except for one thing... it issued missions at random!

Zhou Duan still remembered the first mission the system had assigned: personally take down Kaguya! The researcher could fight alone or lead ninjas whose strength had been enhanced by the host!

Note: More than seventy percent of the damage dealt to Kaguya must come from strength gained through potions. If the damage fell short of seventy percent, the researcher would be forced to wear women's clothes and be surrounded by a group of freedom-loving muscle men for some unspeakable activities!

Such a ridiculous mission had left Zhou Duan, who had only wanted to keep his head down and coast along, utterly frustrated. But there was no helping it. He still hadn't found a way to break free of the system, so all he could do was accept his fate. That was why he'd been frantically testing new potions, hoping to quickly obtain better formulas and experimental equipment—and why he'd turned Konoha upside down!

"Thank goodness there's still plenty of time. The potions the system provides don't include anything powerful enough to take out someone like Kaguya outright, but as long as I keep researching and building up experience, I'll develop a powerful potion sooner or later.

"I just don't get it. With all these potion formulas in the system, how has nobody thought of making a potion that combines three or more Chakra natures? Look at the Tsuchikage and his All-Creation: All-Stripping Jutsu—it's practically impossible to counter. If I made a dozen people who could use it and had them surround Kaguya, attacking without a break, even she'd have a hard time. And that's not even getting into combining four or even five natures, or adding Senjutsu on top!"

Zhou Duan put those thoughts aside and looked at Jiraiya, who was lying in a hospital bed in Konoha in a pitiful state. If not for the mission, Zhou Duan really wouldn't have wanted to disturb him right now.

"System mission: Defeat the Genin who came to pick a fight

"Because of the researcher's potion, Konoha Genin Moshang Shizhen suffered an extremely gruesome fate. Moshang Shizhen swore to make the researcher pay.

"Note: To test the researcher's years of research, when fighting Moshang Shizhen, the researcher may not use any jutsu beyond the Basic Jutsu and must defeat the opponent with potions the researcher developed!

"Mission reward: A potion formula suited to the researcher's current strength. Failure: the researcher will be forced to wear a maid outfit and dance for an hour in front of the entire class!"

"Yikes, what a mission. Thank goodness I haven't slacked off on my research all these years, or this really would've been a dead end. Still, to complete this mission, I really need Jiraiya... huh?"

Though Jiraiya was an Elite Jonin with incredibly impressive disguise skills, Zhou Duan was a Medical Ninja. He immediately noticed the slight trembling of Jiraiya's eyebrows and his pounding heart—he'd just woken up, then immediately pretended to be asleep!

"Tch!"

Zhou Duan spat in disdain and spoke in a cold voice:

"Lord Jiraiya, fooling a Medical Ninja isn't that easy. I didn't make you summon a ninja frog while you were still seriously ill because I was worried about your life. But now that you've been treated, it's time you summoned one for me!"

Though Zhou Duan had warned Jiraiya, the shameless man didn't move at all. Not only had his body stopped trembling, his heartbeat had immediately returned to normal!

Seeing this, Zhou Duan's gaze grew even colder. He reached into his clothes and pulled out a scalpel.

"Looks like Lord Jiraiya won't be waking up anytime soon. But summoning a ninja frog should be easy enough. I think you just press your hand against a flat surface. As for the summoner's blood..."

The scalpel spun in Zhou Duan's hand before he brought it down toward Jiraiya's crotch.

"There's plenty of blood in this spot!"

"Please, forgive me!"

Jiraiya, who had "just" woken up, clasped both hands around Zhou Duan's and held on tight. Ignoring the pain in his body and the trembling of his lower half, he hurriedly said:

"It's just a ninja frog! Zhou Duan, there's no need for this. I'll summon one for you right now!"

As it turned out, Jiraiya really was a powerful Elite Jonin. Even with severe injuries, as long as he had plenty of Chakra, he could still summon a ninja frog about the size of a cooking pot. And it was clear that Jiraiya was on good terms with the residents of Mount Myōboku. As soon as the frog saw Jiraiya wrapped up like a rice dumpling, it immediately asked with concern:

"Jiraiya, are you all right? Who did this to you? I'll avenge you. What can I do to help?"

"There's no need for revenge. Actually, there is something I need your help with..."

Jiraiya pointed somewhat bitterly behind the ninja frog. The instant the frog turned to look, it leaped into the air, its already enormous eyes practically popping out of its head.

"Damn it, Zhou Duan! You demon! You drew blood from my second uncle, peeled off a piece of my father's skin, and stuck your hand down my master's throat to collect stomach acid! And you even—you even... Damn it, you scum! Why are you here? You—oh, no..."

The ninja frog looked miserably at Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, you haven't made another deal with this little devil, have you...?"

Zhou Duan's scalpel sliced off a piece of the frog's leg. He followed it with a flurry of rapid bandaging, and only after he was done did the frog let out a deafening scream!

"All right, all right, stop yelling!"

Zhou Duan weighed the strip of meat in his hand.

"It's just a piece about the size of your thumb. I've applied medicine and bandaged it, so you won't even have a scar. You've had half a month to see my Medical Ninjutsu in action, so you should have some faith in it. Otherwise..."

Zhou Duan looked at the teary-eyed ninja frog and gave it a "kind" smile.

"I won't be able to show my face around you again to collect materials!"