"This price is downright criminal!"
Lin Mu felt his heart bleed. This tiny fragment had eaten up more than half his savings!
Bang, bang, bang!
He thumped his chest a few times, slowly forcing out the pent-up breath lodged inside him.
Then he shifted his gaze to the final item.
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!
This time, it was the real Wood Release: Wood Human Technique, not a one-time trial card.
Lin Mu was so excited his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. This was a jutsu he had dreamed of for who knew how long.
Now he finally had the right to buy it!
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique price: 10,000 Gold Coins.
"..."
Lin Mu suddenly fell silent.
10,000 Gold Coins!
A whole 10,000 Gold Coins!!
At this rate, he would have to suppress Shukaku five times just to afford it.
The price was absolutely ridiculous!
Lin Mu's breathing grew faster and faster. He felt like he was about to explode.
Forcing down his urge to curse the System for being a crook, he tapped the detailed description of Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique: Chakra is passed into trees, making them grow rapidly and form a giant wooden human. Its size and combat power are comparable to Complete Body Susanoo!
(Note: Using this technique requires Senju Hashirama's genes and a massive amount of chakra.)
"It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. Even if I could afford this Wood Release: Wood Human Technique right now, I wouldn't be able to use it properly!"
After reassuring himself with several repetitions of "it's fine," Lin Mu gritted his teeth and closed the System Shop.
He only had about 2,000 Gold Coins left. He'd think about buying it once he'd saved up 10,000!
"Haa—"
Lin Mu let out another deep breath and sat up straight.
A thought stirred in his mind. He selected the Senju Hashirama Fragment, then tapped Use.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have successfully used ×1 Senju Hashirama Template Fragment!"
A pleasant, tingling sensation swept through Lin Mu's mind and body. He felt his chakra reserves and physical abilities improve once again.
He opened his personal status panel and glanced at the Senju Hashirama Module. Its activation progress had now reached 25%.
That was a quarter of the complete version.
Not bad, not bad!
Lin Mu stood up and stretched, feeling the improvement in his strength before sitting back down.
He still had another Senju Hashirama Template Fragment.
Use!
"Ding! Congratulations, you have used ×1 Senju Hashirama Template Fragment."
"Ding! Congratulations, your Senju Hashirama Template activation progress has reached 35%."
"Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully learned Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique."
???
The string of notifications left Lin Mu completely dumbfounded.
His Senju Hashirama Template activation progress had reached 35%?
And he'd learned Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique?
A tremendous amount of information poured into Lin Mu's mind. It took him quite a while to fully absorb it.
Now he was sure. This wasn't a dream. It was real!
"That Senju Hashirama Template Fragment just now was directly rewarded by the System... so it was more effective and raised the module's activation by 10%!"
"And this time, since my overall activation progress passed 30%, I was rewarded with another new jutsu."
"Previously, when my progress increased by 10%, I was rewarded with two jutsu. This time I got Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique, but I still feel like this is a much better deal."
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique: One of Senju Hashirama's signature Wood Release techniques. Chakra is passed into the seeds of trees, creating a massive dragon. The Wood Dragon has tremendous binding power; once it coils around someone, it absorbs their chakra.
Lin Mu was just as impressed by Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique.
Under normal circumstances, Senju Hashirama used this technique in tandem with Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.
The Wood Dragon could coil around an enemy and absorb their chakra, weakening them. It was a top-tier restraining technique.
Senju Hashirama had once used it to suppress the Nine-Tails' movements.
Wood Release: Wood Human Technique was also a top-tier jutsu that combined offense and defense. It could go toe-to-toe with Complete Body Susanoo!
All in all, the series of changes that had taken place that night had caught Lin Mu completely off guard.
Could it be that the System knew Prince and Uchiha Sasuke, the two chosen ones, were about to enter a period of explosive growth?
Was it giving him some good stuff so he could grow just as quickly?
Not bad, not bad!
Whatever the reason, Lin Mu had come away with a great haul.
He even had a little energy to spare, and his mind started wandering.
"I wonder where Kisame Hoshigaki is hiding right now. I'd love to have a proper fight with him!"
Lin Mu was brimming with confidence. He felt that even relying on his own strength alone, he could now take on Kisame Hoshigaki.
At the very least, he wouldn't be as miserable as he'd been before!
The more Lin Mu thought about it, the more excited he got. He could hardly wait to find someone and test out his strength.
Find someone to test out his strength?
Lin Mu suddenly paused, then slowly turned his gaze toward Naruto Uzumaki.
How about trying it on him?
The moment the idea appeared, it grew wildly and became impossible to suppress.
Of course, Naruto Uzumaki wasn't the one he wanted to test his strength on.
Naruto was still weak. He hadn't even learned Rasengan yet!
What Lin Mu had in mind was the one inside Naruto Uzumaki...
The Demon Fox Nine-Tails!
"I'll just try it... just once!"
Although Lin Mu was bursting with confidence, he still knew his limits.
The Nine-Tails was one of the most powerful demons in the world. Even with his greatly increased strength, he was nothing compared to it.
The chakra surging through his body condensed slightly.
Crack—crack—crack—
With a sound like growing trees, a Wood Dragon slowly sprouted from Lin Mu's shoulder.
It was only about 30 centimeters long.
The Wood Dragon was full of life. After growing from Lin Mu's shoulder,
it flew around a few times, seemingly confirming its target, then headed straight for the sleeping Naruto Uzumaki.
Hoo, hoo, hoo...
Naruto Uzumaki was still snoring away, unaware of Lin Mu's intentions.
Tap...
The dragon landed on Naruto Uzumaki's belly with an incredibly gentle touch.
This was where the Nine-Tails' seal inside Naruto Uzumaki was located.
Or rather, it was both a lock and a weak point.
The tiny Wood Dragon lay motionless on Naruto Uzumaki's belly.
But a strange ripple spread out at that moment.
It had begun!
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique was slowly absorbing Naruto's chakra, while continuing to draw something out from within him.
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