Where is Jugo Making His Fortune?

Shikotsumyaku?

Where on earth did Shikotsumyaku come from!??

After observing the area carefully, Jiraiya immediately deduced the principle behind the creation of the Bone Forest.

"Forget it, now is not the time to ponder this. I must find Akiyama Shun and the others immediately!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than three figures emerged from the Bone Forest.

"Lord Jiraiya, have you finished your side? Did you manage to secure the intelligence?"

It was indeed Akiyama Shun and his two companions. Upon seeing Jiraiya, Akiyama Shun stepped forward to inquire.

"Teacher Akiyama Shun? You're all unharmed? Thank goodness!"

Seeing that all three were alive, Jiraiya rushed over and pulled them into a hug.

"Ah!! Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

Sarutobi Jun'suke shrieked the moment he was embraced.

He had sustained quite a few injuries while tangling with those bounty hunters earlier, and his clothes were now completely soaked in blood.

Aburame Takuma was only slightly better off, offering a dry laugh as he replied, "We were surrounded by a team led by an Iwagakure jounin. We almost died, but fortunately, Akiyama Shun stepped in and killed them all."

Just hearing Aburame Takuma's account made the gravity of the situation clear to Jiraiya, and his expression turned serious.

"My apologies, this was my failure as the team leader. But you say Teacher Akiyama Shun killed them all? What about this ninja with Shikotsumyaku? Did Teacher Akiyama Shun take him out too? Well done!"

After his moment of self-reproach, Jiraiya looked at Akiyama Shun with immediate admiration. He hadn't expected Akiyama Shun's performance to be this ferocious—he had even taken down a Kekkei Genkai user!

"Still, Iwagakure really knows how to keep secrets, hiding a Shikotsumyaku user like that. Though I suppose we aren't one to talk, considering Konoha is hiding an Ice Release user..."

As Jiraiya muttered to himself, Aburame Takuma interrupted him: "Um... Lord Jiraiya, the Shikotsumyaku didn't belong to the enemy. It belongs to Akiyama Shun. It was Akiyama Shun who used a large-scale ninjutsu with Shikotsumyaku to wipe them all out."

"Oh~ I see, so it was Akiyama Shun..."

Jiraiya spoke, then suddenly paused, finally processing the information.

"Teacher Akiyama Shun!? Teacher Akiyama Shun has Shikotsumyaku!??"

As if he had discovered some rare, exotic species, Jiraiya leaned in close to Akiyama Shun's face and began to examine him intently.

"No! What exactly happened back there?"

Jiraiya was completely bewildered at this point.

"Lord Jiraiya, I know you're curious, but I need to treat these two first. While I'm at it, they can tell you what happened."

Akiyama Shun gestured toward the side, where Sarutobi Jun'suke and Aburame Takuma were grimacing in pain.

"Oh, oh! Go ahead and treat them!"

Jiraiya still knew how to prioritize.

Akiyama Shun cleared a clean area and spread out some clothing on the ground. Since Sarutobi Jun'suke's injuries were more severe, he had him lie down first to begin treatment.

Opening the blood-soaked jacket, he revealed wounds of all sizes, along with patches of skin charred by Fire Release attacks.

"With injuries this heavy, you still climbed over my bones..."

Hearing Akiyama Shun's deadpan voice, Sarutobi Jun'suke gave an awkward, dry laugh: "Heh, sorry, sorry. I was just too curious at the time."

"Enough, bear with it." Akiyama Shun said, using a Chakra Scalpel to begin debriding the wounds.

"Sss—" Sarutobi Jun'suke drew a sharp breath.

Performing such surgery without anesthesia left Sarutobi Jun'suke's face twisted in agony, yet he tried his best to endure it without making a sound that might disturb Akiyama Shun's work.

Once the wounds were cleaned, he applied the Mystical Palm Technique. Akiyama Shun had performed this routine countless times at the hospital and was intimately familiar with the process.

"Alright, lie down for a while. We'll set up camp and rest here for the day."

Soon, Sarutobi Jun'suke's wounds were fully treated.

"Heh, Akiyama Shun, you really are all-purpose. You can fight, you can heal, and you have Ice Release—it makes life so convenient."

Sarutobi Jun'suke chuckled foolishly, already daydreaming about what he would do if he possessed Akiyama Shun's abilities.

Ignoring him, Akiyama Shun pulled out fresh clothing and had Aburame Takuma lie down to begin his treatment.

While Akiyama Shun was treating Sarutobi Jun'suke, Aburame Takuma had already finished explaining everything that happened to Jiraiya.

At this moment, Jiraiya's gaze toward Akiyama Shun was filled with curiosity, but since Akiyama Shun was busy treating Aburame Takuma, he had to hold his questions for now.

Soon, Aburame Takuma was also treated, and Jiraiya finally had his chance: "Teacher Akiyama Shun, what exactly was that state where your whole body changed color and you grew a tail?"

When Akiyama Shun first displayed his Ice Release, Sarutobi Hiruzen had stated that he would handle all matters regarding Akiyama Shun's Kekkei Genkai, so Jiraiya and the others had never questioned him about it.

But this transformation was different from a Kekkei Genkai; based on the description, that state sounded remarkably like Sage Mode!

What did this mean?

Was a genius really this unreasonable, to the point of hand-crafting their own Sage Mode?

Akiyama Shun explained: "I call that state Cursed Seal Transformation. After activating it, my chakra, strength, and speed are all significantly boosted. For instance, my ninjutsu Dance of the Seedling Fern—oh, that's this Bone Forest here—relies on the Cursed Seal Transformation to be used."

"Also, Cursed Seal Transformation cannot be taught. Currently, only I can activate it. You can think of it as a unique constitution?"

Akiyama Shun saw the expectant look in Jiraiya's eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking, so he cut off Jiraiya's fantasies right away.

What he said was the truth; the principle behind Cursed Seal Transformation was, simply put, to extract cells from Jugo, who possessed a "Sage-like" constitution, replicate them, modify them into "Cursed Seal Enzyme," and then transplant them into the body.

As for Jugo, who knew where he was making his fortune right now.

"Alright then."

Jiraiya quickly accepted this fact; it seemed his dream of a Konoha ninja army powered by Cursed Seal Transformation was impossible.

As for the unique constitution Akiyama Shun mentioned, Jiraiya accepted that explanation readily enough. Since he already possessed two Kekkei Genkai, having a unique constitution didn't seem all that surprising.

"Say, are we just going to lie here like this?"

Sarutobi Jun'suke suddenly spoke up to ask.

"If you want to head into the city to see if there are any other enemies, feel free to go. We won't stop you," Aburame Takuma replied.

Sarutobi Jun'suke let out two awkward laughs: "Hahaha, never mind then, staying here is actually quite nice."

Jiraiya and Akiyama Shun set up tents and waited until the injuries of Sarutobi Jun'suke and Aburame Takuma had completely stabilized before the group set off on the road back to the village.

Before leaving, Akiyama Shun also took the opportunity to completely shatter the entire Bone Forest; the bone spikes formed by the Dance of the Seedling Fern were entirely under his control.

Upon returning to the village, Jiraiya went to the Hokage office to report to Sarutobi Hiruzen about Akiyama Shun's dual Kekkei Genkai.