The Mysterious Cave in the Woods

The next day, after Sasuke Uchiha left for school, Chen immediately jumped up from the tatami. He excitedly did somersaults around the room by himself, pulling all kinds of goofy antics. Even worse, he actually started doing a yangge dance.

"You are my little, little apple! No matter how much I love you, it's never enough..."

Sigh! Having been suppressed for so long had left Chen's nerves a little frayed. At that moment, he was venting all the resentment that had built up over the past year. Forgive his goofy behavior!

"Wait, now isn't the time to act like an idiot." Chen stopped his antics.

"I got carried away." Chen said reproachfully.

"I haven't trained in a year. My Physical Strength and combat ability have both declined a little! I've even gotten kind of fat." Chen complained as he pinched his arm.

Indeed, Chen had not trained at all over the past year. Every day, he ate until he was full, slept, then ate again when he woke up. Sasuke had raised him like a pig. Without exercise, putting on weight was inevitable. Since he had not trained, his strength had not improved in the slightest and had even shown signs of declining.

"System, how many Points do I have left altogether?" Chen asked the system.

"Answering Host: remaining Points: 3843. Would you like to open the Exchange Interface?" The system's icy voice sounded. Chen's newbie gift pack had expired half a month ago, so the system no longer provided him with newbie benefits. In other words, Chen had now lost the only way he could obtain Points in his current state.

"Not for now. Don't I still have one lottery draw left? Can I still use it?" Chen asked somewhat nervously.

The newbie gift pack provided a small amount of Points every day and one lottery draw per year. Chen had already drawn twice, and he was supposed to have one more chance. However, Danzo had people watching him at the time. He had been afraid that something unusual might happen during the draw and alert Danzo, so he had never dared to use that chance. He did not know whether the system had kept it for him.

"Host has accumulated lottery draws: 1. Would you like to begin the draw?" The system's emotionless voice sounded. Although it was extremely cold, to Chen, it sounded wonderfully pleasant.

"Accumulated lottery draws? So the draws can be saved up! Good, good. As long as I can still draw, that's all that matters." Chen finally let out a sigh of relief, then said to the system, "System, I want to start the draw."

"Ding! Does the Host wish to use one lottery draw?"

"Yes!" Chen confirmed. In his previous draws, he had obtained two techniques from the Six Powers—Finger Gun and Moon Step—as well as a Summoned Beast scroll for Six Paths Dog. They had all been quite practical. What would he get this time? Chen was filled with anticipation.

"The draw begins!" The system's mechanical voice rang out. "Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have drawn the ninjutsu: Chidori."

Sigh... He did not even have the energy to complain anymore. Another warm current flowed into Chen's body, and a piece of information appeared in his mind.

Chidori. An A-rank Lightning Release ninjutsu. It concentrated a large amount of Chakra in the hand to form a high-intensity electric current, then charged forward to pierce the enemy. It possessed extremely powerful penetrating force.

Chen had finally mastered his first A-rank ninjutsu, and it was Chidori, the technique Uchiha Sasuke used most often in the Original Story. This ninjutsu was not only powerful, but also looked incredibly cool. It was practically an essential skill for showing off!

"Aha! I actually drew Chidori. My luck isn't bad! I was originally planning to save up Points to exchange for it, but now I've saved a whole lot of Points! Hahaha~~~" Chen said excitedly. He knew full well how powerful Chidori was.

Having gained a new skill, Chen could not wait to test its power.

"But I can't test it here! Chidori's biggest drawback is that it's too noisy. It'll definitely alert other people, and that'll be troublesome." Chen suppressed the urge in his heart. "I haven't gone out in ages. I'll take a walk today, then go practice in that old patch of woods."

With that in mind, Chen prepared to leave. Although people still pointed and whispered at him, he paid them no mind. To avoid arousing suspicion, he put on a timid look, stopping and starting as he walked, touching this and bumping into that. Then he giggled foolishly and dawdled along, putting on all the behavior expected of an idiot, until he finally reached the woods where he had once trained.

"Damn it, I finally made it. These days, even pretending to be an idiot takes skill. This is too hard!" Chen complained helplessly as he walked through the woods.

"Huh? Why is there a Shuriken here?" Chen picked up a Shuriken from the path and said in confusion, "Someone has been here. That means this place isn't safe either. I should go farther in and take a look first."

Chen arrived at the clearing deep in the woods where he used to train. There, he saw several charred wooden posts, with Shuriken scattered all over the ground around them.

"Huh! It looks like someone has already been training here. This is bad—the training ground has been taken. What should I do?" Chen found it a little troublesome. Since someone had discovered the place and was training here, it meant Chen could no longer use it, as his secret might be exposed at any time. What he did not know was that the person training here was his own twin brother, Sasuke Uchiha. As expected of twin brothers—they had unconsciously chosen the same place to train.

"Forget it. Since someone has already claimed this place, I'll find another one. Let's go deeper into the woods." Chen continued farther in as he spoke.

"I've never been this deep into the woods before. I wonder what it's like in there." Chen thought as he walked. "But this is still inside Konoha, so there shouldn't be any danger. Besides, even if I run into trouble, I may not be strong, but I can still escape. I have Moon Step!"

With that thought, Chen had nothing left to worry about and continued deeper into the woods.

"What's that?" As Chen walked through the trees, he suddenly noticed something strange. When he went over to look, he found that a patch of ground had sunk inward, standing out sharply from the surrounding earth. It looked like a collapsed cave.

"Could this be a cave? This is already far from the outside, and this place is so hidden that it would be hard to find unless someone deliberately searched for it. If it really is a cave, no one should discover me training inside. I'll dig it out and see." Chen immediately got to work.

"Man, digging alone is too slow and exhausting. I need to find some labor." After digging only a few times, Chen suddenly realized how inefficient it was to work by himself and thought of getting help.

Chen put his thumb in his mouth and bit it open. He quickly formed several hand seals, then pressed his hand against the ground. "Summoning Technique!"

Boom! A cloud of white smoke suddenly erupted where Chen stood. When the smoke dispersed, it revealed a monster over ten meters tall. It stood upright like a man and resembled a lion, yet it also carried a hint of a dog's appearance. It wore armor, with three curved arm blades mounted on its left wrist, while its right hand held a giant scimitar in reverse grip. It looked truly imposing. In particular, it wore an eyepatch over its Right Eye, while a vertical scar extended from above and below the eyepatch, making it look even more ferocious.

This was the Summoned Beast from the summoning scroll Chen had drawn last time—Six Paths Dog!

"Today, let me fight to my heart's content!" Six Paths Dog shouted its slogan the moment it appeared. Chen, standing beside it, helplessly slapped his forehead.

"Hey! Erha, can you stop thinking about fighting all the time? Look at the situation first!" Chen was speechless. This violent maniac only had battle on its mind.

"Hm? It's you again, brat. Did you summon me this time to deal with some troublesome opponent? Where are they?" Six Paths Dog looked around, but seeing no opponent, it asked Chen in confusion.

"Sigh! Erha, I didn't summon you to fight this time."

"Bastard! If there's no fight, why did you summon me? And my name is Six Paths Dog, not Erha. Remember that! If you dare summon me for no reason again, I'll chop you up. Hmph!" Six Paths Dog snarled at Chen, then turned to leave.

"Hey! Wait a second. Erha, help me dig this place open." Seeing Six Paths Dog about to leave, Chen hurriedly called out.

"Hm? Brat, what do you take me for? You dare make me dig a hole for you? Are you looking to die?" The moment Six Paths Dog heard Chen ask it to dig, it glared at him viciously.

"Come on, don't say that! We're good buddies, brothers! Helping me out is nothing, just a little effort. When your brother is in trouble, of course you have to lend a hand without hesitation, right, Erha?" Chen said with a sly grin. "Next time, I guarantee that next time I'll let you come out and fight to your heart's content! How about it?"

"Hmph, I'll help you this once. Remember, if there's a fight in the future, you have to summon me!" Six Paths Dog ultimately could not resist the temptation of battle.

"Definitely! Definitely! I'll absolutely summon you then and let you fight ten opponents!"

"Hmph!" Six Paths Dog snorted, then raised its giant scimitar and dug into the place Chen had indicated. With its giant scimitar, Six Paths Dog only needed three swings to dig out an entrance.

"So it really is a cave. Only the outer entrance collapsed—the inside is still intact."

"Alright, Erha, go back for now. Next time I'll summon you to fight ten opponents!" Chen said to Six Paths Dog.

"Brat, remember your words. Otherwise, I'll chop you up." Six Paths Dog glared at Chen threateningly. After speaking, it turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

Chen ignored Six Paths Dog's threat and examined the cave. "What is this cave used for? I'll go inside and take a look first!" With that, he walked into the cave...