Hyperfrequency Perception

Li Tong had achieved his goal. He had wanted to provoke Tsunade into confirming that their bet was binding, and Tsunade had been direct enough to announce it in front of everyone. Now she had no chance of weaseling out of it.

"You little brat, you're still that confident?" Tsunade asked with a smile. She couldn't understand Li Tong's nonchalance and composure.

"I'm sure to win!" Li Tong gave a thumbs-up and pointed at his own nose.

"This brat's crazy!"

"Ah! Did Lady Tsunade scare him crazy?"

"Maybe. Lady Tsunade was going to bury him alive yesterday..."

The buzzing voices kept reaching Li Tong's ears, but he ignored them. They were a bunch of short-sighted fools.

Li Tong knew very well that if he really learned the Mystical Palm Technique in a single day, it might cause trouble. After all, something so far beyond common sense would invite suspicion. More people would probably think there was something wrong with him than believe he was a prodigy.

But Li Tong really didn't care!

His situation was already bad enough. The Rain Ninja were constantly trying to assassinate him from the outside, while the Hyuga Clan held grudges and sought revenge from within. Could things really get any worse?

The waiter brought over two bowls of noodles and some side dishes.

After Li Tong and Tsunade finished eating, they headed back to the lakeside cabin in the glow of the setting sun.

"Mystical Palm Technique... chakra nature transformation... healing power..."

As promised, Tsunade began teaching Li Tong the Mystical Palm Technique as soon as they returned to the cabin. She taught him very earnestly because she was worried that if Li Tong failed to learn it in one day, he would use that as an excuse and claim that she, Tsunade, hadn't taught him properly.

The sky had grown dark, and night was drawing near.

Outside the cabin, Tsunade and Li Tong said goodbye.

"Brat, I've taught you everything you need to know. As long as you practice diligently, maybe you really will learn the Mystical Palm Technique within ten years." Tsunade teased him, gave him a little wave, and vanished in a flash.

"Stupid woman." Li Tong cursed Tsunade in his mind as usual, then went back inside and shut the door.

Late at night.

Moonlight streamed through the window and spilled across the floor of the dim cabin.

Li Tong, who had gone to sleep some time ago, woke right on schedule. Still lying on his back, he opened the Reputation Exchange Interface with a thought.

It had refreshed again!

There were ten exchange options. Li Tong quickly scanned them from top to bottom, then suddenly stopped at one.

The eighth option: Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique, cost: 1 reputation point.

"Hidden Mist Technique!" Li Tong's eyes lit up. It was a D-rank ninjutsu, but highly practical. More importantly, he had already used four Hidden Mist Technique Cards.

The Hidden Mist Technique he could now perform was eight times as effective as a normal one!

If he used another card, the effect would double again, reaching sixteen times the strength!

"The Hidden Mist Technique Card has gotten so hard to obtain, and now it's appeared in the Reputation Exchange Interface." Li Tong muttered as he spent 1 reputation point to exchange for it.

"Ding! Reminder to host: Using the same card multiple times only affects the probability of it dropping from a kill. It does not affect its appearance in the Reputation Exchange Interface."

"I see!" Li Tong nodded, took the Hidden Mist Technique Card out of Item Space, and crunched it between his teeth.

The card turned into a streak of light and slipped into Li Tong's mouth.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on unlocking the hidden achievement 'Fifth Card.' You have been randomly awarded one Magic Card."

"Ding! Reminder to host: Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique has reached a sixteenfold enhancement, exceeding its effect limit and unlocking an additional attribute. The host can now use the Hidden Mist Technique on land without a water source."

The successive notifications left Li Tong momentarily stunned.

"Magic Card? Additional attribute?" Li Tong thought it over. The second notification was easy to understand: from now on, when he used the Hidden Mist Technique, he wouldn't need to be near water. He could create a dense mist anywhere. But the first...

Li Tong quickly opened Item Space. Sure enough, there was an unfamiliar card inside: the Magic Card that had been placed directly in Item Space.

The back of the card bore a black vortex design, while the front displayed just four words: Magic Card!

There was no other explanation.

"Sprite, what does this card do? Do I eat it too?" Li Tong asked in his mind.

"Ding! Responding to host's question." The Card Emperor Sprite answered, "The Magic Card can be eaten directly to activate it. After activation, it will take the host's current circumstances into account and randomly provide an unconventional reward, a limited-time reward mission, or unlock a new feature."

"A reward? A mission? A new feature?" Li Tong blinked blankly. "That's complicated."

Li Tong suddenly understood why it was called a Magic Card. After using it, so many things could happen.

Crunch!

Li Tong put the Magic Card into his mouth and bit down hard.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on obtaining the exclusive ability Frequency Perception. Frequency Perception effect: Based on the host's current perception ability, increase it to one hundred times its current level! Ding! Implanting ability..."

A chill pierced Li Tong's brow, then enveloped his soul.

Cold!

Incredibly cold!

It wasn't a physical cold, but a chill in his consciousness. The sensation was so vivid that it felt as if his whole body had been submerged in icy water. He couldn't control himself; his entire body trembled.

When the cold reached its peak, warmth began to spread.

The strange sensation lasted a full minute before finally fading away.

Li Tong felt unusually clear-headed, his thoughts exceptionally sharp, and his perception far more sensitive—frighteningly so... Outside the window, insects crawled along the grass and shook their wings. By the lakeshore, a frog had just leapt out of the water. On the lake's surface, a water spider skittered along. Across the lake, a yellowed leaf had just drifted down from a tree and landed in the water. In the woods on the opposite bank, a caterpillar crawled along a branch.

It was an utterly bizarre sensation, almost terrifying. Events that were happening far away seemed to be right in front of him, in his sight, in his ears.

Frequency Perception!

Before, Li Tong's mental perception could barely detect a mosquito flying outside the window. Now, after gaining Frequency Perception, his perception had increased a hundredfold, allowing him to sense what was happening in the woods across the lake.

Within a hundred meters of him, Li Tong knew everything!

Within three hundred meters, he could also sense stronger presences and sounds.

Even Tsunade probably didn't have such powerful perception!

"To think it could be this powerful!" Li Tong couldn't believe it. This reward had taken him completely by surprise! Such an important reward, just handed to him like that—as if it were a joke!

Li Tong sat up at once and crossed his legs. He calmed his mind, slowed his breathing, and gently closed his eyes.

He entered his most focused state. He wanted to find out exactly where the limits of Frequency Perception lay.

Outside, the wind blew, sending dead leaves spinning through the air... In the grass, a frog flicked out its tongue and ate a fly... Leaves rustled... Ripples formed on the lake... Someone gazed intently at him!

Li Tong's eyes snapped open.

He sensed someone outside!