The moment he clicked to use it, Lin Mu felt a tingling itch in his chest.
That was exactly where the tiny piece of flesh had flown into him when he obtained the Hashirama Cells!
It seemed that when he obtained the Hashirama Cells, the system had already fused them into his chest.
But Lin Mu had no time to think about any of that. His heart was filled with excitement!
Hashirama Cells! Those were Hashirama Cells!
With the Hashirama Cells, Lin Mu could awaken his first character module—the Hashirama Module!
Who was Hashirama? He was the God of Shinobi, the reincarnation of Asura, son of the Sage of Six Paths!
He was the leader of the Senju Clan, one of the founders of Konohagakure, and the First of the Land of Fire's Hidden Leaf Village.
During the Warring States period, he had used his overwhelming strength to capture Tailed Beasts far and wide. At the Five Kage Summit, he had followed Tobirama's suggestion and traded the Tailed Beasts for money, distributing them equally among the Five Great Nations.
The Nine Tailed Beasts, feared throughout the ninja world, had been as helpless as toys before Hashirama's Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!
His strength had even surpassed that of Uchiha Madara, who was known alongside him as a "legendary ninja."
After recalling Senju Hashirama's tremendous strength and remarkable achievements,
Lin Mu once again suppressed his excitement and began carefully sensing the changes in his body.
At first, the tingling in his chest began to spread throughout his body.
"Mm..." The sensation was incredibly comfortable, as though even Lin Mu's soul had been elevated.
As his cells gradually transformed into Hashirama's Wood Release Cells, Lin Mu noticed that his body was changing at a visible rate.
His muscles gradually filled out, his hair grew longer, and even his height slowly increased.
Time passed. Three hours later, the transformation into Wood Release Cells was nearing its end.
Compared to three hours earlier, Lin Mu had undergone nothing short of a complete transformation.
If he had previously been an ordinary, scrawny ten-year-old boy, now he had begun to look like a teenager.
Lin Mu stood up and stretched. His bones crackled all over like popping beans.
He clenched his fists, and Lin Mu felt as if he had an endless supply of strength.
He brought up the system panel again, and sure enough, it had changed considerably.
First, Lin Mu's rank had gone straight from Genin to mid-level Chunin.
His strength was already comparable to Gaara's during the Chunin Ninja Exams.
Lin Mu had a feeling that he might be able to fight Rock Lee with the Five Gates open.
Continuing to scan the system panel, Lin Mu noticed a new section.
Physique: Kekkei Genkai—Wood Style Body (can evolve into Sage Body; Senjutsu can be purchased in the System Shop.)
The Ninjutsu section had also changed—
Ninjutsu: Wood Style Jutsu
Just as he'd expected! When Lin Mu saw the words "Wood Release," his heart leaped with joy again.
Wood Release was a Kekkei Genkai created by Senju Hashirama through the combined nature transformations of Earth Release and Water Release chakra.
With a Wood Style Body, Lin Mu's ability to understand Earth Release and Water Release Ninjutsu would also greatly improve.
And that was without even mentioning Wood Release's immense power!
As Lin Mu excitedly took in his new body, he suddenly noticed the fruit knife on the table.
Lin Mu paused. After a moment's thought, he stepped forward and picked up the fruit knife.
He slashed it hard across his own arm!
A long, deep wound opened under the sharp blade.
But incredibly, it healed at a visible rate.
Lin Mu only felt that it consumed some chakra, which was negligible compared to the vast amount of chakra his Wood Style Body provided.
"That's right. This is Hashirama's automatic healing without hand seals."
Watching the wound close so quickly, Lin Mu grew even more excited. He clearly remembered Uchiha Madara once saying that no one on the battlefield could kill Hashirama!
With this added protection, Lin Mu had another powerful safeguard in this other world.
What's more, he could purchase Senjutsu from the System Shop in the future and upgrade his Wood Style Body into a Sage Body. That would make him even more powerful.
Of course, all of that was still a long way off. Lin Mu put those thoughts aside and decided to try out Wood Style Jutsu first.
Lin Mu immediately calmed his mind, extended his right hand, and tried to gather chakra in it.
Crack—crack—
Lin Mu's right hand gradually turned to wood before his eyes.
And as he continued to pour in chakra, Lin Mu could clearly feel his right hand growing harder and harder.
Lin Mu felt like he could punch straight through a wall!
But of course, he wouldn't do that. He wasn't about to wreck his own home just to test a new ninjutsu.
Lin Mu glanced around and finally settled on the wooden table in his home.
"Bang!"
The sturdy hardwood table shattered on impact.
Amazing! Lin Mu exclaimed in admiration, unable to stop himself from running his hand over his fist.
After a long while, he stared at the shattered table on the floor, gathered chakra, and channeled it into the pieces.
Then, a miraculous sight unfolded.
At the broken edges of the table, which had split in two, little shoots slowly emerged and joined the pieces together. Before long, the table was as good as new.
What an incredible technique!
Lin Mu had only just begun to use his Wood Style Body. Once he became more skilled,
he would be able to perform all kinds of ninjutsu without even using Hand Seals. That alone would give him a huge advantage in battle.
Meanwhile, as Lin Mu underwent the transformation brought on by the Hashirama Cells and experienced his Wood Style Body, Orochimaru was already stunned in the secret base in the forest.
"Hashirama Cells—where are my Hashirama Cells?!"
The woman Orochimaru had transformed into was no longer the calm, beautiful figure from before.
She had the body of a woman and the tail of a snake, with a green face and fangs. She looked like the monster Medusa, ready to devour anyone who crossed her path.
The experimental subjects submerged in liquid inside the glass tanks trembled at the sight of the crazed Orochimaru. They no longer looked anything like the vicious creatures that had faced Lin Mu.
"Was it him?"
Orochimaru suddenly stopped raging as the image of the little brat he had spotted in the bushes moments ago came to mind.
"Heh heh heh, what a nasty little boy!"
Orochimaru suddenly transformed back into the beautiful woman with bright eyes and white teeth, but the chill in her voice hadn't lessened in the slightest.
Orochimaru turned and walked over to the glass tank. She gently stroked the glass in front of her, as if speaking to the experimental subject—or perhaps to herself.
"Heh heh heh. When I destroy Konoha tomorrow, I'd better not find you, little boy."
The experimental subject inside the glass tank Orochimaru was stroking huddled motionless in the corner, as though it had lost its life.
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