This Beauty Looks Familiar

The sound approached from the distance, moving at a leisurely pace. It took a full two minutes before it finally arrived beneath the large tree.

"Who exactly is it?"

Lin Mu felt restless, unable to determine if the newcomer was friend or foe.

If it were a friend, that would be fine, but if it were an enemy, given his current small stature, Lin Mu knew he would likely be in grave danger.

About five minutes passed, and the outside had fallen silent.

Unable to suppress his impatience, Lin Mu reached out a finger, intending to part the leaves to check the situation.

"Little brother, are you looking for me?"

Before Lin Mu could even push the leaves aside, he felt a cold hand rest upon his shoulder.

Lin Mu was shocked to the core, and cold sweat instantly broke out across his skin.

Turning his stiff neck, Lin Mu slowly looked back, and when he saw the person before him, he couldn't help but freeze.

It was a woman—or to be precise, a woman as beautiful as a celestial being.

Her pupils were clear and bright, her eyebrows arched like willow leaves, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly. Her fair, flawless skin glowed with a faint pink hue, and her thin lips were as delicate and succulent as rose petals.

Whether in his past life or this one, Lin Mu had never seen a woman this beautiful.

Yet, he stood there like a wooden chicken, not because of her beauty, but because he realized he recognized her.

This is...

Orochimaru!

Orochimaru was proficient in the Living Corpse Reincarnation, and this woman was a body he had once inhabited.

Lin Mu forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart, knowing he must not panic at a time like this.

Orochimaru, disguised as a woman, did not know that Lin Mu had seen through his identity.

He reached out a finger, as delicate as pink jade, and hooked Lin Mu's chin, laughing, "What's wrong, little brother? Is big sister that scary?"

"How could that be? Big sister is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!"

Lin Mu hurriedly suppressed his inner fear, putting on an innocent and naive expression, his mouth as sweet as if it had been smeared with honey.

But inside, he was screaming frantically...

How can I be this unlucky? Did finding the Hashirama Cells earlier use up all my luck? How did I run into the big boss the moment I stepped out?!

"Giggle, what an interesting little brother. Why are you here so late?"

After hearing Lin Mu's words, the woman Orochimaru had transformed into covered her mouth and giggled, her expression instantly brimming with charm.

Lin Mu's brain raced, frantically trying to figure out how to answer Orochimaru.

If he said the wrong thing, he was finished!

"I made a bet with my classmates during the day to see if I dared to come into this forest in the middle of the night to retrieve this branch I marked earlier."

After his brain worked at top speed, a flash of inspiration struck, and he thought of a countermeasure.

He reached out and held up the branch he had snapped in his nervousness before Orochimaru.

He continued, "It's this one, pretty big sister. Am I very brave?"

Orochimaru glanced at the innocent-looking Lin Mu and thought to himself: A child this small shouldn't be lying, and I see he must be a candidate for the Chunin Exams. Killing him now might affect tomorrow's plan.

So, he reached out a snow-white, soft hand to pat Lin Mu's head and said, "Little brother is truly a brave child. But it's so late, and it's dangerous outside. Hurry back!"

Lin Mu was overjoyed to hear this, but after a moment of thought, he quickly put on a worried look.

"Aren't you afraid, pretty big sister? I heard from my classmates that you might run into man-eating ghosts in this forest at night!"

The woman Orochimaru had transformed into laughed again, reached out a finger to poke Lin Mu's forehead, and said, "Even a little brat like you isn't afraid, so why should big sister be? Hurry along!"

Hearing this, Lin Mu felt a weight lift from his heart.

Still, he pretended to be reluctant, waved at Orochimaru, and then left.

Watching Lin Mu walk away, Orochimaru smiled.

"What an interesting little brat."

He turned slowly, his lower body gradually transforming into that of a snake, and he began to crawl slowly toward the tree hollow above.

"Giggle, it's time to see how my little experimental darlings are doing!"

Meanwhile, Lin Mu was already close to running out of the forest.

Although he was exhausted to the point of collapse, he didn't dare to stop for even a second.

That was Orochimaru!

Orochimaru!

As one of the Sannin, his fame was in no way inferior to Jiraiya or Tsunade.

That he had managed to deceive Orochimaru this time and preserve his own life was the greatest of fortunes.

Once Orochimaru entered the laboratory later and discovered that the Hashirama Cells had vanished into thin air, who knew what he might do!

The thirst for life allowed Lin Mu to break through his physical limits; his mere ten-year-old body had somehow managed to sustain a run all the way from the forest to Konoha.

Only after entering Konoha did Lin Mu breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Although Orochimaru was set to launch an invasion of Konoha tomorrow, at least it was safe for now.

Lin Mu jumped through the window into his small room, grabbed the water on the table and gulped it down, then collapsed onto his bed, gasping for air.

A narrow escape... truly a narrow escape!

"Ding! The system has been officially activated!"

Just as Lin Mu caught his breath, the system's emotionless, mechanical voice rang in his ears.

He was stunned; it turned out that only half an hour had passed since he began activating the system.

Conversing with Orochimaru just now had made him feel as if every second were a year.

He never wanted to experience the feeling of dancing on the edge of a blade ever again in this life!

After lying on the bed for another fifteen minutes, Lin Mu, now completely calmed down, opened the system panel.

Name: Lin Mu Rank: Mid-level Genin Status: Good Skills: Clone Technique Gold: 0 Mission: Consume Hashirama Cells, awaken Wood Release.

Lin Mu was taken aback when he saw his rank was Mid-level Genin.

According to his memories of watching Naruto before he transmigrated, the ranks in the world of Naruto were roughly divided into Genin, Chunin, Jonin, and Kage.

After a moment of thought, Lin Mu understood what this meant.

The system had categorized these levels based on the host's power level.

Lin Mu pondered that, according to this classification, people in the Ninja Academy like Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha should be classified as High-level Genin.

And High-level Genin had the potential to become Chunin. Someone like him, a Mid-level Genin, didn't have much hope.

As for Naruto Uzumaki right now, he likely couldn't control his power yet, so his strength might only be at the Low-level Genin stage.

Lin Mu could understand the status bar.

As for the skills bar, as a mere Genin, the only thing he could call a ninjutsu was the Clone Technique.

As for the 0 in the gold bar, Lin Mu pretended he didn't see it.

Seeing the current mission, Lin Mu was stunned once again.

Although he had already obtained the Hashirama Cells, recalling the hardships of the past three years, he still felt deeply moved.

He opened his inventory, selected the Hashirama Cells, and without even looking at their description, he impatiently chose to use them.