Overclocked Perception

Li Tong had achieved his goal; he wanted to goad Tsunade into establishing a guarantee for this wager. Tsunade was direct enough to shout it out in public, which meant she would have no way to back out or act shamelessly later.

"You brat, you're actually this confident." Tsunade wore a smiling expression, unable to fathom Li Tong's indifference and composure.

"I'm going to win for sure!" Li Tong held up his thumb and pointed at the tip of his nose.

"This brat is crazy!"

"Sigh! Could he have been scared out of his mind by Lady Tsunade?"

"Very likely. Lady Tsunade was talking about burying him alive yesterday..."

The buzzing of flies continued to reach Li Tong's ears, but he ignored them. They were just a bunch of short-sighted people with limited horizons.

In truth, Li Tong was well aware that if he really learned the Mystical Palm Technique in a single day, it would likely invite trouble. After all, such a departure from common sense would arouse suspicion; more people would probably think there was something wrong with him than would consider him a genius.

But Li Tong truly did not care!

His current situation was already far from ideal—with Rain Ninja constantly attempting to assassinate him from the outside and the Hyuga Clan holding a grudge on the inside, could things really get any worse?

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

After finishing their meal, Li Tong and Tsunade walked back toward the lakeside cabin under the glow of the setting sun.

"Mystical Palm Technique... inducing a change in the nature of chakra... the power of healing..."

True to their agreement, the moment they returned to the cabin, Tsunade began teaching Li Tong the Mystical Palm Technique. She taught with great focus, fearing that if Li Tong failed to learn it in a day, he would use her lack of proper instruction as an excuse.

The sky had darkened, and night was falling.

In front of the cabin, Tsunade bid Li Tong farewell.

"Brat, I've taught you everything I can. As long as you practice diligently, perhaps you might actually learn the Mystical Palm Technique within ten years," Tsunade teased. She gave him a wave of dismissal and vanished in a flash.

"Idiot woman," Li Tong habitually cursed her in his heart before entering the cabin and closing the door.

Late at night.

In the dim cabin, moonlight spilled across the floor through the window in a sheet of silver.

On the wooden cot, Li Tong, who had long since fallen asleep, woke up right on time. He lay on his back, motionless, and opened the Reputation Exchange Interface with a thought.

It had refreshed!

Scanning the ten exchange items from top to bottom, Li Tong's gaze suddenly locked onto one.

Eighth item: Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique, price: 1 Reputation Point.

"Hidden Mist Technique!" Li Tong's eyes lit up. It was a D-rank ninjutsu, but its utility was immense. More importantly, Li Tong had already consumed four Hidden Mist Technique cards prior to this!

The effect of the Hidden Mist Technique he could currently unleash was eight times that of the standard version!

If he consumed one more, the effect would double again, reaching sixteen times!

"The Hidden Mist Technique card, which had become so hard to drop, actually refreshed in the Reputation Shop," Li Tong muttered, spending 1 Reputation Point to exchange for it.

"Ding! Reminding the host: repeated use of the same type of card only affects the drop rate from kills; it does not affect the Reputation Shop refresh."

"So that's how it is!" Li Tong nodded, took the Hidden Mist Technique card from his Item Space, and crunched it to pieces.

The card turned into a stream of light and dove into Li Tong's mouth.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for achieving the hidden achievement 'The Fifth Card'. Randomly rewarding the host with one Magic Card."

"Ding! Reminding the host: Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique has reached a sixteen-fold amplification, breaking through the limit of its effect. Subsidiary attribute unlocked: the host may now cast the Hidden Mist Technique on land without the need for a water source."

The successive notifications left Li Tong stunned.

"Magic Card? Subsidiary attribute?" Li Tong pondered carefully. The second notification was easy to understand—it meant that from now on, Li Tong didn't need to be near water to create dense fog. But the first one...

Li Tong quickly opened his Item Space, and sure enough, there was an unfamiliar card inside—the Magic Card that had been placed directly into his inventory.

The back of the card featured a black vortex pattern, while the front bore only four characters: Magic Card!

There were no other explanations.

"Sprite, what does this card mean? Is it meant to be eaten too?" Li Tong asked internally.

"Ding! Answering the host's question," the Card Emperor Sprite replied. "The Magic Card can be consumed directly. Upon use, it will combine with the host's current situation to randomly generate an unconventional reward, a time-limited reward mission, or unlock a new function."

"Reward? Mission? New function?" Li Tong blinked blankly. "That's complicated."

Li Tong suddenly understood why it was called a Magic Card; the possibilities of what might happen after using it were simply too vast.

Crunch!

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

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the exclusive ability: Frequency Perception. Effect of Frequency Perception: Based on the host's current sensory ability, it is enhanced one hundredfold! Ding! Ability implanting..."

A cold sensation pierced the center of Li Tong's brow at that moment, then enveloped his soul.

Cold!

Extremely cold!

This was not a physical cold, but an icy chill within his consciousness. The intuitive feedback felt as if his entire being were submerged in ice water; he couldn't control himself, and his whole body began to tremble.

When the cold reached its peak, it began to turn warm.

The strange sensation lasted for a full minute before it completely faded away.

Li Tong felt his mind become exceptionally sharp, his thoughts crystal clear, and his perception grow keener—terrifyingly so. Outside the window, a fly crawled across a blade of grass, twitching its wings. On the lakeshore, a frog had just leapt from the water. Across the lake, a withered yellow leaf drifted from a tree and landed on the surface, while in the woods on the opposite bank, a caterpillar crawled along a branch.

It was a bizarre, almost frightening sensation; events occurring far away from Li Tong felt as if they were right before his eyes, right beside his ears.

Frequency Perception!

Li Tong's original sensory awareness could at most detect mosquitoes flying outside his window, but now, having gained Frequency Perception, his sensory capabilities had surged a hundredfold, allowing him to directly perceive the situation in the woods on the far side of the lake.

Within a hundred meters of his body, Li Tong knew everything!

Within three hundred meters, even the stronger auras and sounds could not escape his detection.

Even Tsunade likely did not possess such powerful sensory abilities!

"To think it would be boosted to this extent!" Li Tong found it incredible. This reward was far, far beyond his expectations! Such an important reward had been given so casually, as if it were a joke!

Li Tong sat up abruptly, shifted into a cross-legged position, calmed his mind, slowed his breathing, and slowly closed his eyes.

He entered a state of absolute focus; he had to know where the limits of Frequency Perception truly lay.

Outside, the wind blew, swirling withered leaves in the air... In the grass, a frog flicked its tongue, devouring a fly... Leaves rustled and swayed... The lake water rippled... Someone was watching!

Li Tong snapped his eyes open.

He sensed it—there was someone outside!